Dealership extracting urine.
Discussion
Okay, I live in the USA now where customer service is supposed to be exemplary and what not. Today my wife drove the car home from work with the "check engine" light on. So far so normal. I check all the bits n fluids I can and everything seems normal. The car was Serviced at Mazda of Escondido 4 weeks ago.I call the dealership and ask for a diagnostic check as I suspect the service tech didn't reset the service indicator/check engine light.
Dealership "No problem. Come in today and that'll be $105 USD plus sales tax."
Me: "Err excuse me but its just a check engine light and the car runs great as it was serviced 4 weeks ago."
Dealership: "We understand that Mr.XXXXX but when that light comes on it could be any one of hundreds of problems, a lot of them serious enough to damage the car or endanger yourself."
Me: " Just to be clear, this actually happened before with your dealership and the tech forgot to reset the service indicator. Are you telling me that I have to come back in, pay $120 for a 5 minute diagnostic, because your technician forgot to reset the counter?"
Dealership: " We have the best technicians in the automotive industry Mr. XXXXX, our staff are extremely thorough, we will be happy to assist you when you come in and please feel free to speak to our service manager regarding the invoice amount."
Me: "Fine, book me in Friday 8.30am"
So with disgruntled feelings and my piss percolating away towards boiling temperature...
I called the "Pepboys Auto store", found out they do FREE ENGINE DIAGNOSTICS and promptly raced down there (2 min down road versus 25 to Mazda), waited 10 mins, guy popped the car on the diagnostic machine, told me the service counter needed reset and the gas cap sensor was telling me it wasn't secured tight. He fixed everything in 2 minutes and told me there was no charge and was there anything else I needed!
I then proceeded to buy an AC recharge kit which I would've asked the dealership to install. I then drove home engine light free and much happier. Called the dealership and canceled my appointment. 2 hours later the service manager calls me to ask what the problem is?
Me" I went to Pepboys Auto, got everything done for free and I just saved myself $120 and 30 minutes of driving, there's no problem. I'm really quite happy. Oh I also had my AC recharged which I would've had done at Mazda."
Dealership: "Well Mr.W that's your choice but we have the latest software updates to diagnose your car and we would have applied a 10% loyalty discount in this case."
Me: "So its still over $100 to put right something which should have been included in my expensive 'b' service 4 weeks ago?"
Dealership: " I can't comment on that Mr. W but thank you for your feedback and offering Mazda your business, if anything comes up in future please call me directly."
Moral of today's adventure is to always assume the dealership is screwing you over, shop around and you might be pleasantly surprised.
I almost feel bad that the service guy had to defend a losing position but if they'd done the honourable thing in the first place this would never have been an issue.
Will I get anything from Mazda in future? Probably nothing other than servicing as our warranty is tied to Mazda Dealerships.
Dealership "No problem. Come in today and that'll be $105 USD plus sales tax."
Me: "Err excuse me but its just a check engine light and the car runs great as it was serviced 4 weeks ago."
Dealership: "We understand that Mr.XXXXX but when that light comes on it could be any one of hundreds of problems, a lot of them serious enough to damage the car or endanger yourself."
Me: " Just to be clear, this actually happened before with your dealership and the tech forgot to reset the service indicator. Are you telling me that I have to come back in, pay $120 for a 5 minute diagnostic, because your technician forgot to reset the counter?"
Dealership: " We have the best technicians in the automotive industry Mr. XXXXX, our staff are extremely thorough, we will be happy to assist you when you come in and please feel free to speak to our service manager regarding the invoice amount."
Me: "Fine, book me in Friday 8.30am"
So with disgruntled feelings and my piss percolating away towards boiling temperature...
I called the "Pepboys Auto store", found out they do FREE ENGINE DIAGNOSTICS and promptly raced down there (2 min down road versus 25 to Mazda), waited 10 mins, guy popped the car on the diagnostic machine, told me the service counter needed reset and the gas cap sensor was telling me it wasn't secured tight. He fixed everything in 2 minutes and told me there was no charge and was there anything else I needed!
I then proceeded to buy an AC recharge kit which I would've asked the dealership to install. I then drove home engine light free and much happier. Called the dealership and canceled my appointment. 2 hours later the service manager calls me to ask what the problem is?
Me" I went to Pepboys Auto, got everything done for free and I just saved myself $120 and 30 minutes of driving, there's no problem. I'm really quite happy. Oh I also had my AC recharged which I would've had done at Mazda."
Dealership: "Well Mr.W that's your choice but we have the latest software updates to diagnose your car and we would have applied a 10% loyalty discount in this case."
Me: "So its still over $100 to put right something which should have been included in my expensive 'b' service 4 weeks ago?"
Dealership: " I can't comment on that Mr. W but thank you for your feedback and offering Mazda your business, if anything comes up in future please call me directly."
Moral of today's adventure is to always assume the dealership is screwing you over, shop around and you might be pleasantly surprised.
I almost feel bad that the service guy had to defend a losing position but if they'd done the honourable thing in the first place this would never have been an issue.
Will I get anything from Mazda in future? Probably nothing other than servicing as our warranty is tied to Mazda Dealerships.
JenRN said:
Lesson learned....don't go to the d stealer, they live to screw people over.
EFAIn any case, I have known people in Aus who have been quoted $700 at a holden dealer for parts which they could have shipped from the UK for under $200.
Personally, as long as warranty is no longer a concern, I just find a good local mechanic and avoid stealers like the plague.
I had a similar thing happen with the service indicator on my Skoda.
I took the car back to the dealer, they immediately took the car into the workshop and plugged it in to the diagnostics and sorted the problem.
Time from arriving at dealer to driving away: less than 15 minutes. Total cost to me £0.00
So, not all dealers are out to screw you though, sadly, those that don't are the exception.
I took the car back to the dealer, they immediately took the car into the workshop and plugged it in to the diagnostics and sorted the problem.
Time from arriving at dealer to driving away: less than 15 minutes. Total cost to me £0.00
So, not all dealers are out to screw you though, sadly, those that don't are the exception.
Mr Fenix said:
Okay, I live in the USA now where customer service is supposed to be exemplary and what not. Today my wife drove the car home from work with the "check engine" light on. So far so normal. I check all the bits n fluids I can and everything seems normal. The car was Serviced at Mazda of Escondido 4 weeks ago.I call the dealership and ask for a diagnostic check as I suspect the service tech didn't reset the service indicator/check engine light.
Dealership "No problem. Come in today and that'll be $105 USD plus sales tax."
Me: "Err excuse me but its just a check engine light and the car runs great as it was serviced 4 weeks ago."
Dealership: "We understand that Mr.XXXXX but when that light comes on it could be any one of hundreds of problems, a lot of them serious enough to damage the car or endanger yourself."
Me: " Just to be clear, this actually happened before with your dealership and the tech forgot to reset the service indicator. Are you telling me that I have to come back in, pay $120 for a 5 minute diagnostic, because your technician forgot to reset the counter?"
Dealership: " We have the best technicians in the automotive industry Mr. XXXXX, our staff are extremely thorough, we will be happy to assist you when you come in and please feel free to speak to our service manager regarding the invoice amount."
Me: "Fine, book me in Friday 8.30am"
So with disgruntled feelings and my piss percolating away towards boiling temperature...
I called the "Pepboys Auto store", found out they do FREE ENGINE DIAGNOSTICS and promptly raced down there (2 min down road versus 25 to Mazda), waited 10 mins, guy popped the car on the diagnostic machine, told me the service counter needed reset and the gas cap sensor was telling me it wasn't secured tight. He fixed everything in 2 minutes and told me there was no charge and was there anything else I needed!
I then proceeded to buy an AC recharge kit which I would've asked the dealership to install. I then drove home engine light free and much happier. Called the dealership and canceled my appointment. 2 hours later the service manager calls me to ask what the problem is?
Me" I went to Pepboys Auto, got everything done for free and I just saved myself $120 and 30 minutes of driving, there's no problem. I'm really quite happy. Oh I also had my AC recharged which I would've had done at Mazda."
Dealership: "Well Mr.W that's your choice but we have the latest software updates to diagnose your car and we would have applied a 10% loyalty discount in this case."
Me: "So its still over $100 to put right something which should have been included in my expensive 'b' service 4 weeks ago?"
Dealership: " I can't comment on that Mr. W but thank you for your feedback and offering Mazda your business, if anything comes up in future please call me directly."
Moral of today's adventure is to always assume the dealership is screwing you over, shop around and you might be pleasantly surprised.
I almost feel bad that the service guy had to defend a losing position but if they'd done the honourable thing in the first place this would never have been an issue.
Will I get anything from Mazda in future? Probably nothing other than servicing as our warranty is tied to Mazda Dealerships.
1 Hour diagnostic is pretty typical these days for a check engine light.Dealership "No problem. Come in today and that'll be $105 USD plus sales tax."
Me: "Err excuse me but its just a check engine light and the car runs great as it was serviced 4 weeks ago."
Dealership: "We understand that Mr.XXXXX but when that light comes on it could be any one of hundreds of problems, a lot of them serious enough to damage the car or endanger yourself."
Me: " Just to be clear, this actually happened before with your dealership and the tech forgot to reset the service indicator. Are you telling me that I have to come back in, pay $120 for a 5 minute diagnostic, because your technician forgot to reset the counter?"
Dealership: " We have the best technicians in the automotive industry Mr. XXXXX, our staff are extremely thorough, we will be happy to assist you when you come in and please feel free to speak to our service manager regarding the invoice amount."
Me: "Fine, book me in Friday 8.30am"
So with disgruntled feelings and my piss percolating away towards boiling temperature...
I called the "Pepboys Auto store", found out they do FREE ENGINE DIAGNOSTICS and promptly raced down there (2 min down road versus 25 to Mazda), waited 10 mins, guy popped the car on the diagnostic machine, told me the service counter needed reset and the gas cap sensor was telling me it wasn't secured tight. He fixed everything in 2 minutes and told me there was no charge and was there anything else I needed!
I then proceeded to buy an AC recharge kit which I would've asked the dealership to install. I then drove home engine light free and much happier. Called the dealership and canceled my appointment. 2 hours later the service manager calls me to ask what the problem is?
Me" I went to Pepboys Auto, got everything done for free and I just saved myself $120 and 30 minutes of driving, there's no problem. I'm really quite happy. Oh I also had my AC recharged which I would've had done at Mazda."
Dealership: "Well Mr.W that's your choice but we have the latest software updates to diagnose your car and we would have applied a 10% loyalty discount in this case."
Me: "So its still over $100 to put right something which should have been included in my expensive 'b' service 4 weeks ago?"
Dealership: " I can't comment on that Mr. W but thank you for your feedback and offering Mazda your business, if anything comes up in future please call me directly."
Moral of today's adventure is to always assume the dealership is screwing you over, shop around and you might be pleasantly surprised.
I almost feel bad that the service guy had to defend a losing position but if they'd done the honourable thing in the first place this would never have been an issue.
Will I get anything from Mazda in future? Probably nothing other than servicing as our warranty is tied to Mazda Dealerships.
For a background, this is an OBD2 issue, roughly similar to European EOBD but it's on all cars sold in America since 1996.
Basically, a "CHECK ENGINE" or "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" light has NOTHING to do with actually servicing the car, it indicates a fault code in the emissions control or engine management system. Sounds to me like someone left their gas cap loose, this WILL trigger a code, it generally comes up as "Evap system leak - major" or something to that effect. Basically, the gas tank (Petrol tank) isn't properly sealed and fuel vapor will vent into the atmosphere, this will kill baby seals, dolphins and manatees and promote the spread of communism as we all know.
If you just had your car serviced, this is about as linked to it as if your steering wheel broke in half.
The difference between a place like Pep Boys and a typical dealership is that Pep Boys is using what's probably a $99 generic OBD2 scanner that can read codes and reset the light. The dealer is probably using a $10,000 scanner that can actually diagnose your car and it's being done by, ideally, a tech who works on nothing but Mazdas for a living and actually knows what does and does not break on them.
I'm not defending dealerships, I'm the used car manager where I work and I butt heads with our service department all the time, they just cleaved me but good on a Scion TC but in this case I think your anger is misdirected.
Puzzles me why anybody would go to a franchised or manufacturer owned dealer for a service, they might have the fancy equipment but the 17 year old apprentice they put on the job won't know how to use it. I can't remember ever having a good job done by a dealer.
Always use a small independant now, they have to be good to get and keep their business and they make an effort, no marketing bulls
t wither, they just get on with the job.
Always use a small independant now, they have to be good to get and keep their business and they make an effort, no marketing bulls
t wither, they just get on with the job.I love the dealership responses though!
You wouldn't be treated so politely here in the UK! A surly service manager would probably have put the phone down on you when you began to question them here!
I love great customer service, even if the outcome is not to my liking.
This took place in the US I guess?
You wouldn't be treated so politely here in the UK! A surly service manager would probably have put the phone down on you when you began to question them here!
I love great customer service, even if the outcome is not to my liking.
This took place in the US I guess?
Something to bare in mind, but it does happen.
Cars store fault codes (I can't remember the exact name now), but if it's something minor like a reading is outside it's tolerance, then it stores the error but doesn't show you on the dash. If this error continues for, say, 10 driving cycles (where a driving cycle is defined as, for example, 30 mins running, or all temperatures getting above a certain point for a period of time) then it will produce an error.
However, unfortunately this can may happen after you've been for a service - so it will appear as though the dealer has done something, when in truth it's just that the stores codes finally went over the drive threshold.
Equally, your gas cap surely can't have anything to do with the service - so in essence it wasn't their fault?
Cars store fault codes (I can't remember the exact name now), but if it's something minor like a reading is outside it's tolerance, then it stores the error but doesn't show you on the dash. If this error continues for, say, 10 driving cycles (where a driving cycle is defined as, for example, 30 mins running, or all temperatures getting above a certain point for a period of time) then it will produce an error.
However, unfortunately this can may happen after you've been for a service - so it will appear as though the dealer has done something, when in truth it's just that the stores codes finally went over the drive threshold.
Equally, your gas cap surely can't have anything to do with the service - so in essence it wasn't their fault?
bazking69 said:
Is the 'check engine' light the same one that advises you when the car is due a service then on Mazdas? I'm guessing not but stand to be corrected before I have my say...
Nope, I don't think that most Mazdas even have a "Service" light. The "Check Engine" light can also be a "Service Engine Soon" light or an illuminated yellow outline of an engine. It's completely unrelated to the car needing any sort of routine servicing and is tied to a fault in the emissions control system.
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