Reasons why you don’t go to a main dealer for a service
Discussion
monkfish1 said:
jamoor said:
RazerSauber said:
Another gripe of the main dealers was deciding to take my Transit to the local Ford dealer when tracing a mystery misfire. Symptoms were Engine Malfunction message on the dashboard over 50mph. They managed to diagnose a cracked piston in cylinder 1. This was diagnosed without removal of injectors, glow plugs, engine head, anything. they quoted £8500 for a new engine (including £600 to dispose of the old engine?!). Stuff that, not throwing £8500 at any repair. It's a transit, not a Lamborghini. I think they didn't want the work in all honesty, the didn't even charge for the diagnosis and the free fault finding mission they give to all visiting vehicles (although this did show up a snapped drop link for me to fix afterwards). Turned out it was an injector on cylinder 2. Perhaps Mystic Meg's diagnostics were having an off day..
Indeed why would they book a mechanics time to diagnose a fault and repair which may not work at £85 an hour and all of the liability that comes with it when they can drop the oil in one for the same hourly rate with zero liability.That or they wanted you to buy a new van. Either way they didn’t want to work on your vehicle.
Coire said:
I hate main dealers with a passion. They boil my piss and make me irrationally rage filled.
I don't have a problem with the overcharging, upselling, the ridiculous suits, the sales bull, the expensive oil, and everything else that gets levelled their way. It's not exactly uncommon for businesses to set up with a strategy of milking the thick or unwary and if the market can bear it then let them get stuck in.
What I have a problem with is the dishonesty and contempt shown whenever anyone dares to exercise their right to a warranty repair. They will push their dishonesty far beyond stubbornness to the point that any warranty claim may as well have to be submitted by a lawyer to have any chance of getting approved.
I've had a car belching oil vapour out of the engine to be told that some oil has been spilled on the exhaust. Before its first oil change. Claim denied. £80 diagnostic thanks.
I've had a van in for a chirping turbo that was sat on for a week to be told there was nothing up with it. It managed a couple of feet out of their parking space before it sat down and died with every warning light lit. Claim still denied. £80 Thanks.
Car fitted with clearly the wrong battery and would not stop-start in traffic. No sir it's normal behaviour. Claim denied, give us cash though.
I could go on, but it's worth mentioning that in the first case the piston rings were blown, in the second the turbo had eaten it's bearings, and in the third I needed to get a lawyer involved as the vehicle became unsafe in traffic.
With that level of dishonesty would I then pay over the odds to have them change engine critical parts that may or may not do to spec, and may affect the vehicle for years to come? A root canal with a used toothpick is more appealing.
Customer service for the win.
You should go on one of the Tesla threads, when someone mention that not having to spend thousands on preventative maintance isn’t a bad thing and it’s only once a year and a few hundredI don't have a problem with the overcharging, upselling, the ridiculous suits, the sales bull, the expensive oil, and everything else that gets levelled their way. It's not exactly uncommon for businesses to set up with a strategy of milking the thick or unwary and if the market can bear it then let them get stuck in.
What I have a problem with is the dishonesty and contempt shown whenever anyone dares to exercise their right to a warranty repair. They will push their dishonesty far beyond stubbornness to the point that any warranty claim may as well have to be submitted by a lawyer to have any chance of getting approved.
I've had a car belching oil vapour out of the engine to be told that some oil has been spilled on the exhaust. Before its first oil change. Claim denied. £80 diagnostic thanks.
I've had a van in for a chirping turbo that was sat on for a week to be told there was nothing up with it. It managed a couple of feet out of their parking space before it sat down and died with every warning light lit. Claim still denied. £80 Thanks.
Car fitted with clearly the wrong battery and would not stop-start in traffic. No sir it's normal behaviour. Claim denied, give us cash though.
I could go on, but it's worth mentioning that in the first case the piston rings were blown, in the second the turbo had eaten it's bearings, and in the third I needed to get a lawyer involved as the vehicle became unsafe in traffic.
With that level of dishonesty would I then pay over the odds to have them change engine critical parts that may or may not do to spec, and may affect the vehicle for years to come? A root canal with a used toothpick is more appealing.
Customer service for the win.
Edited by Coire on Thursday 27th February 13:17
monkfish1 said:
sparks_190e said:
monkfish1 said:
hi court said:
Read nearly all 14pages of this, just like to clear a few things up as a dealer employee for many years.
8) techs in the garage are just fitters, the ones any good go and setup by them selves. Wrong. On so many levels. The techs I know who have set up by themselves weren't wanted badly enough by the dealer so they let them go. The ones genuinely pretty good are retained and rewarded in surprising ways ££££.
Yes, arent they just. As ive said before on this thread, motivate people to do the wrong thing and they will. Smashing through work in order to get bonus, simply cannot and never will result in good quality work.8) techs in the garage are just fitters, the ones any good go and setup by them selves. Wrong. On so many levels. The techs I know who have set up by themselves weren't wanted badly enough by the dealer so they let them go. The ones genuinely pretty good are retained and rewarded in surprising ways ££££.
Edited by hi court on Monday 24th February 23:38
As i say, hardly the techs fault, they are human and will respond to the pressures applied. Or get shown the door.
Most people wouldnt even notice if the undertray fell off.
You will never persuade me the current bonus structure used by most main dealers is a good thing, at least as far as customer outcomes are concerned.
The success of our buisness was in no small part due to the way the main dealers treated the customers. Lets be honest, taking their business was like taking candy from a kid.
I have used a small indie not far from me for years. The chief mechanic retired, but anyway I booked it in for a service, gearbox oil change, full valet and aircon recharge. In the evening he hadn't finished and needed to keep it another day. After three days all he had done was change the oil and recharge the aircon, saying they had been too busy. I even supplied the gearbox oil change kit myself. He then presented me with a bill for £450, which, when I looked at it, I dropped on the floor and said that when he had worked out a proper bill I'd settle it. That was six months ago and I still have heard nothing, apart from the body shop side man meeting up with me and apologising for the bad service. The car is booked in for a door to be repainted (someone keyed it) but I shall not be using the servicing side again. A friend took his wife's runabout in and finally got it back a week later with a bill for £800 as well. So it isn't just main dealers sadly. A pity, because I've had good service from the garage for years.
Seventeen pages in and I've just ordered a new Trolly Jack for my car !
I'm 60 years old. And I still enjoy the feeling of fitting Disks and Pads, doing my own Oil changes etc.
Luckily I have the health to do it still.
I buy my cars at 4 years old so no Handcuffs. Couple of Grand tucked away for any major suprises, but its rare thing.
Anything too clever and its my Indy German Specialist, £75 an hour so not super cheap, but is a nice place to be compared with the local Audi place !
All ex Audi/BMW Guys and incredibly knowledgeable.
I'm 60 years old. And I still enjoy the feeling of fitting Disks and Pads, doing my own Oil changes etc.
Luckily I have the health to do it still.
I buy my cars at 4 years old so no Handcuffs. Couple of Grand tucked away for any major suprises, but its rare thing.
Anything too clever and its my Indy German Specialist, £75 an hour so not super cheap, but is a nice place to be compared with the local Audi place !
All ex Audi/BMW Guys and incredibly knowledgeable.
My brother put his Velar in for a warranty job on his heater on Monday , no courtesy car available , so I had to collect him.
Rang Monday afternoon to see when he could collect , told the software was being sorted.
Rang later to be told it needed some parts.
Rang Tuesday, will get someone to ring you back , no call.
Rang Wednesday to complain , no manager to take the call but someone would email him your details , no call.
Rang back late Wednesday to be told his car was ready .
Went to collect , no manager would discuss the poor service he’d had.
But they’d done a safety check and gave him a quote, new discs and pads needed at £1200 and four new tyres required at god knows how much , not bad for a car with. 20,000 miles covered from new.
And they wonder why dealerships get a bad name ?
Rang Monday afternoon to see when he could collect , told the software was being sorted.
Rang later to be told it needed some parts.
Rang Tuesday, will get someone to ring you back , no call.
Rang Wednesday to complain , no manager to take the call but someone would email him your details , no call.
Rang back late Wednesday to be told his car was ready .
Went to collect , no manager would discuss the poor service he’d had.
But they’d done a safety check and gave him a quote, new discs and pads needed at £1200 and four new tyres required at god knows how much , not bad for a car with. 20,000 miles covered from new.
And they wonder why dealerships get a bad name ?
Buster73 said:
My brother put his Velar in for a warranty job on his heater on Monday , no courtesy car available , so I had to collect him.
Rang Monday afternoon to see when he could collect , told the software was being sorted.
Rang later to be told it needed some parts.
Rang Tuesday, will get someone to ring you back , no call.
Rang Wednesday to complain , no manager to take the call but someone would email him your details , no call.
Rang back late Wednesday to be told his car was ready .
Went to collect , no manager would discuss the poor service he’d had.
But they’d done a safety check and gave him a quote, new discs and pads needed at £1200 and four new tyres required at god knows how much , not bad for a car with. 20,000 miles covered from new.
And they wonder why dealerships get a bad name ?
We live in a world where even half the folks on a forum like this, know next to nothing about cars and have zero inclination to do any work themselves. 15 years ago it would have been a different story, and in 15 years time the vast majority of people will be utterly clueless about cars.Rang Monday afternoon to see when he could collect , told the software was being sorted.
Rang later to be told it needed some parts.
Rang Tuesday, will get someone to ring you back , no call.
Rang Wednesday to complain , no manager to take the call but someone would email him your details , no call.
Rang back late Wednesday to be told his car was ready .
Went to collect , no manager would discuss the poor service he’d had.
But they’d done a safety check and gave him a quote, new discs and pads needed at £1200 and four new tyres required at god knows how much , not bad for a car with. 20,000 miles covered from new.
And they wonder why dealerships get a bad name ?
There are a million reasons why this is the case, finance deals, easy availability of credit, cars built to be difficult for the home mechanic to repair or modify. Back in the day it was cams, modified heads, twin carbs, forged pistons, etc, now it's "screw making it reliable, just remap it, and when it blows up i'll get a new one".
Decades ago I was a mechanic for a bit.
do you know what's missing from this thread- everyone's experiences in getting yr car welded up each yr for its MOT. its been 17 pages of moaning about fitting parts.
personally I was absolutely delighted to sell all my welding stuff in about 2002 ish, as no car ever needs welding now.
and as for fixing cars- well now and then for me- but its now not worth the effort to take time away from family/work, just to save tuppence and give myself a load of grief.
eg, my car needed a full set of 4 discs and pads. My local brilliant ind dealer did them for me for £350. my parts cost for all that was £250. not worth the effort at all for me to bother saving £100.
turns out I was right- one of the discs had seized on the hub- they advised one of the hardest jobs they'd had to do and it need removing with a cutting torch. that would have a right joy for me to discover, with car stripped on my drive in Feb. I'd have pretty much be stuffed.
but like any service in life you pay for, garages, or pubs, or hotels will have good service delivery or not.
do you know what's missing from this thread- everyone's experiences in getting yr car welded up each yr for its MOT. its been 17 pages of moaning about fitting parts.
personally I was absolutely delighted to sell all my welding stuff in about 2002 ish, as no car ever needs welding now.
and as for fixing cars- well now and then for me- but its now not worth the effort to take time away from family/work, just to save tuppence and give myself a load of grief.
eg, my car needed a full set of 4 discs and pads. My local brilliant ind dealer did them for me for £350. my parts cost for all that was £250. not worth the effort at all for me to bother saving £100.
turns out I was right- one of the discs had seized on the hub- they advised one of the hardest jobs they'd had to do and it need removing with a cutting torch. that would have a right joy for me to discover, with car stripped on my drive in Feb. I'd have pretty much be stuffed.
but like any service in life you pay for, garages, or pubs, or hotels will have good service delivery or not.
austinsmirk said:
Decades ago I was a mechanic for a bit.
do you know what's missing from this thread- everyone's experiences in getting yr car welded up each yr for its MOT. its been 17 pages of moaning about fitting parts.
personally I was absolutely delighted to sell all my welding stuff in about 2002 ish, as no car ever needs welding now.
and as for fixing cars- well now and then for me- but its now not worth the effort to take time away from family/work, just to save tuppence and give myself a load of grief.
eg, my car needed a full set of 4 discs and pads. My local brilliant ind dealer did them for me for £350. my parts cost for all that was £250. not worth the effort at all for me to bother saving £100.
turns out I was right- one of the discs had seized on the hub- they advised one of the hardest jobs they'd had to do and it need removing with a cutting torch. that would have a right joy for me to discover, with car stripped on my drive in Feb. I'd have pretty much be stuffed.
but like any service in life you pay for, garages, or pubs, or hotels will have good service delivery or not.
... Which is fine and the sensible thing to do.do you know what's missing from this thread- everyone's experiences in getting yr car welded up each yr for its MOT. its been 17 pages of moaning about fitting parts.
personally I was absolutely delighted to sell all my welding stuff in about 2002 ish, as no car ever needs welding now.
and as for fixing cars- well now and then for me- but its now not worth the effort to take time away from family/work, just to save tuppence and give myself a load of grief.
eg, my car needed a full set of 4 discs and pads. My local brilliant ind dealer did them for me for £350. my parts cost for all that was £250. not worth the effort at all for me to bother saving £100.
turns out I was right- one of the discs had seized on the hub- they advised one of the hardest jobs they'd had to do and it need removing with a cutting torch. that would have a right joy for me to discover, with car stripped on my drive in Feb. I'd have pretty much be stuffed.
but like any service in life you pay for, garages, or pubs, or hotels will have good service delivery or not.
However, this thread is about main dealers and their apparent dishonesty/ treating customers like idiots/ charging silly money for basic jobs.
I'm struggling to think of another industry with such a bad reputation and where bulls
tting is seen as acceptable.I can give plenty of reason not to use main dealers but I really enjoy using my local Mercedes dealer.
They've identified issues within warranty that I would never have known of.
Email you a video of the technician working on your car.
Don't interfere with your dashcam.
Ask whether you want your car washing or not and actually act on your response.
Keep you updated on progress of the work if you have opted to wait whilst they do the service.
Give you great loan cars if you leave the car behind and are not arsy if you bring it back with 500 miles on it done in a day
Have a lower hourly rate that my previous Volvo dealer who would insist that even your car mats would need coding if they're just being taken out to be vacuumed so would incur a fault diagnosis charge.
(I might have exaggerated on the last point).
They've identified issues within warranty that I would never have known of.
Email you a video of the technician working on your car.
Don't interfere with your dashcam.
Ask whether you want your car washing or not and actually act on your response.
Keep you updated on progress of the work if you have opted to wait whilst they do the service.
Give you great loan cars if you leave the car behind and are not arsy if you bring it back with 500 miles on it done in a day
Have a lower hourly rate that my previous Volvo dealer who would insist that even your car mats would need coding if they're just being taken out to be vacuumed so would incur a fault diagnosis charge.
(I might have exaggerated on the last point).
Red 4 said:
austinsmirk said:
Decades ago I was a mechanic for a bit.
do you know what's missing from this thread- everyone's experiences in getting yr car welded up each yr for its MOT. its been 17 pages of moaning about fitting parts.
personally I was absolutely delighted to sell all my welding stuff in about 2002 ish, as no car ever needs welding now.
and as for fixing cars- well now and then for me- but its now not worth the effort to take time away from family/work, just to save tuppence and give myself a load of grief.
eg, my car needed a full set of 4 discs and pads. My local brilliant ind dealer did them for me for £350. my parts cost for all that was £250. not worth the effort at all for me to bother saving £100.
turns out I was right- one of the discs had seized on the hub- they advised one of the hardest jobs they'd had to do and it need removing with a cutting torch. that would have a right joy for me to discover, with car stripped on my drive in Feb. I'd have pretty much be stuffed.
but like any service in life you pay for, garages, or pubs, or hotels will have good service delivery or not.
... Which is fine and the sensible thing to do.do you know what's missing from this thread- everyone's experiences in getting yr car welded up each yr for its MOT. its been 17 pages of moaning about fitting parts.
personally I was absolutely delighted to sell all my welding stuff in about 2002 ish, as no car ever needs welding now.
and as for fixing cars- well now and then for me- but its now not worth the effort to take time away from family/work, just to save tuppence and give myself a load of grief.
eg, my car needed a full set of 4 discs and pads. My local brilliant ind dealer did them for me for £350. my parts cost for all that was £250. not worth the effort at all for me to bother saving £100.
turns out I was right- one of the discs had seized on the hub- they advised one of the hardest jobs they'd had to do and it need removing with a cutting torch. that would have a right joy for me to discover, with car stripped on my drive in Feb. I'd have pretty much be stuffed.
but like any service in life you pay for, garages, or pubs, or hotels will have good service delivery or not.
However, this thread is about main dealers and their apparent dishonesty/ treating customers like idiots/ charging silly money for basic jobs.
I'm struggling to think of another industry with such a bad reputation and where bulls
tting is seen as acceptable.t is king these days, it's all about appearances, marketing, it's about what you say you can do (what what you actually do), it's become so engrained in our society that it's absolutely everywhere.We've even reached a point where you're considered untrustworthy if you don't spin some BS, and it goes hand in hand with the expectation for everyone to be an extrovert.
Why else do people trust car salesmen? or come away from a garage having been told something like "oh this took us all day, it was nightmare, but we've only charged you for 1 hour" and genuinely feel they got a good deal, when in fact they screwed something up (like snapping a wheel stud) and spent all day fixing their mistake.
Last time I went to a main dealer for a service was in 2000 when I owned a Subaru Impreza Turbo. From memory I effectively paid £200 for an oil and filter change and for the car to get covered in scratches while they washed it.
I drive sheds now and my dad is a mechanic so I buy the filters on eBay and he gets the oil from work. I have actually just bought genuine Renault Oil, Air, Pollen and Fuel filters for £40 so I plan on spending an hour or two servicing the car and giving it a good checking over.
Years ago I bought a four year old Renault Scenic with full Renault service history, and the first time I serviced it myself I discovered the air filter had never been changed.
Basically why would I pay someone £2/£300 to do something I can do in an hour and will actually do a better job.
I drive sheds now and my dad is a mechanic so I buy the filters on eBay and he gets the oil from work. I have actually just bought genuine Renault Oil, Air, Pollen and Fuel filters for £40 so I plan on spending an hour or two servicing the car and giving it a good checking over.
Years ago I bought a four year old Renault Scenic with full Renault service history, and the first time I serviced it myself I discovered the air filter had never been changed.
Basically why would I pay someone £2/£300 to do something I can do in an hour and will actually do a better job.
Red 4 said:
... Which is fine and the sensible thing to do.
However, this thread is about main dealers and their apparent dishonesty/ treating customers like idiots/ charging silly money for basic jobs.
I'm struggling to think of another industry with such a bad reputation and where bullstting is seen as acceptable.
It's the constant upsell that drives me away. However, this thread is about main dealers and their apparent dishonesty/ treating customers like idiots/ charging silly money for basic jobs.
I'm struggling to think of another industry with such a bad reputation and where bulls
tting is seen as acceptable.Brakes - it's cashcow for dealers. Some assume that if the car needs the next service in 20k/1year and the pads/discs won't last that long then they give the death threat warning of new brakes despite a possible 19k worth of meat being left in them. Brakes will be at full retail plus VAT and labour plus VAT. Your average non-PH washing machine driving amoeba will fall prey to that.
Same with tyres.
Oil flush for a "better oil change"
Air con service for £30 which is often no more than a air freshener bomb and the system on full with recirc.
It's why I avoid stores such as WHSmith who insist on upselling at the till. It's nasty. It's Chav. FRO.
I find it amusing that the same old posters who love to constantly dealer bash, as demonstrated on other threads, have found their way onto this one also.
Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
Mexman said:
1. Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
2. I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
3. Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
I'll translate this for everyone for the sake of transparency.2. I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
3. Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
1. It isn't the dealers. It's the customers' fault.
2. This thread is full of made up stories. It isn't the dealers fault. It's the customers' fault.
3. It's the customers' fault. They just like to complain and are a bunch of whingers.
Really ?
Edited by Red 4 on Friday 28th February 10:33
Mexman said:
I find it amusing that the same old posters who love to constantly dealer bash, as demonstrated on other threads, have found their way onto this one also.
Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
It is also about people who have had sh*tty, dishonest, incompetent service from main dealers, Just because some put a suit and tie on,and have expensive showrooms, does not mean they are not still, sh*tty, dishonest, incompetent, individuals and or dealerships.Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
Mexman said:
I find it amusing that the same old posters who love to constantly dealer bash, as demonstrated on other threads, have found their way onto this one also.
Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
I’d be interested to put some of the detractors in a service department for a month. I think the experience would open their eyes to how much some customers can be a cause of all the problems, versus the dealership...Maybe some of the issues, are not the dealers, and perhaps, some should look closer to home?
I'm not saying that some of these stories are not justified, and that is true of every aspect of a service industry but I would guess a lot of them are jackanory.
Some people just like to complain, moan, throw toys out of the pram, and go through life whinging about every level of service they ever encounter, whether it be a holiday, a restaurant, a shop or whatever, and will never be happy.
Trip advisor?
itcaptainslow said:
I’d be interested to put some of the detractors in a service department for a month. I think the experience would open their eyes to how much some customers can be a cause of all the problems, versus the dealership...
No doubt some customers can be a pain in the arse.They aren't the ones doing half a job, rushing, overcharging and being generally incompetent/ dishonest though.
Challenging customers are a different argument altogether.
I see a trend here - blame the customers. You and mexman are clearly cut from the same cloth.
Edited by Red 4 on Friday 28th February 11:09
A few examples of the service provided by main dealers.
Partners BMW was taken for service at a well known BMW dealership, came back with a bill item of almost 38 quid,for `special lubricant' for two doors, boot lid, and bonnet. When asked what `special lubricant' cost 38 quid for two doors boot lid and bonnet, they came back with you wouldn know it as it is a `special BMW lubricant' I told them that unless they told me what it was, I would not be paying for it, So they told me, in a whispered voice no less! it was a special lubricant called W...D...40!
Took my new Jeep to the dealership for its first service, When I returned to pick it up it was no where to be found at the dealership. It was finally located in a pub car park a half mile down the road, and when I got to it, it had dent in the rear wing. I pointed this out and the c**t behind the counter said Ah yes!, we were wondering if you wanted us to fix that for you. When I pointed out to the c**t, that he was the same c**t who had done the walk around the vehicle with me that morning, to check that there was no body damage, he just went quiet and called his manger, who after seeing my copy of the booking in sheet, agreed to get the damage repaired. Brand new car now damaged by dealership, A great way to start.
Then there was the time I took my new Scirocco to the dealership for its first service, when I got it back, there was a ratchet wrench shaped dent in the top of the radiator, and a corresponding dent on the underside of the bonnet. Clearly some d*ng had slammed the bonnet down, without checking to see if any tools had been lfet there. At first they tried to say that I had done it, whilst `working' on the car myself, When I asked why I would be working on a brand new car, that was just about to go for it first service, they couldn't answer. A nice shouting match in their showroom which happened to be in front of quite number of `potential customers got that one sorted.
Then there was the time another of my cars went in for a routine service, in which they told me the cam belt needed changing, and that the front tyres were 90% worn, when I told them that they themselves had changed the cam belt, just a few months and 6000 miles ago, they suddenly discovered it did not need a cam belt change, I also pointed out that the front tyres were just 5 days old, so if they could tell me how they had become 90% worn in 5 days, I would be very interested.
Since I have had quite a number of cars, I could present a few more instances, of the lying, dishonest , incompetent behavior of what were supposed to be reputable main dealers. Some it seems, need to be avoided like the plague whenever possible.
Partners BMW was taken for service at a well known BMW dealership, came back with a bill item of almost 38 quid,for `special lubricant' for two doors, boot lid, and bonnet. When asked what `special lubricant' cost 38 quid for two doors boot lid and bonnet, they came back with you wouldn know it as it is a `special BMW lubricant' I told them that unless they told me what it was, I would not be paying for it, So they told me, in a whispered voice no less! it was a special lubricant called W...D...40!
Took my new Jeep to the dealership for its first service, When I returned to pick it up it was no where to be found at the dealership. It was finally located in a pub car park a half mile down the road, and when I got to it, it had dent in the rear wing. I pointed this out and the c**t behind the counter said Ah yes!, we were wondering if you wanted us to fix that for you. When I pointed out to the c**t, that he was the same c**t who had done the walk around the vehicle with me that morning, to check that there was no body damage, he just went quiet and called his manger, who after seeing my copy of the booking in sheet, agreed to get the damage repaired. Brand new car now damaged by dealership, A great way to start.
Then there was the time I took my new Scirocco to the dealership for its first service, when I got it back, there was a ratchet wrench shaped dent in the top of the radiator, and a corresponding dent on the underside of the bonnet. Clearly some d*ng had slammed the bonnet down, without checking to see if any tools had been lfet there. At first they tried to say that I had done it, whilst `working' on the car myself, When I asked why I would be working on a brand new car, that was just about to go for it first service, they couldn't answer. A nice shouting match in their showroom which happened to be in front of quite number of `potential customers got that one sorted.
Then there was the time another of my cars went in for a routine service, in which they told me the cam belt needed changing, and that the front tyres were 90% worn, when I told them that they themselves had changed the cam belt, just a few months and 6000 miles ago, they suddenly discovered it did not need a cam belt change, I also pointed out that the front tyres were just 5 days old, so if they could tell me how they had become 90% worn in 5 days, I would be very interested.
Since I have had quite a number of cars, I could present a few more instances, of the lying, dishonest , incompetent behavior of what were supposed to be reputable main dealers. Some it seems, need to be avoided like the plague whenever possible.
Edited by Pan Pan Pan on Friday 28th February 11:25
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