Overheard At Toyota Dealer's Service Dept

I had to track down an intermittently working HVAC system in my Buick once and it took quite some time to find the problem. Now, let's say this was the same problem the customer had at the Toyota dealer. The writer tell the customer that it was a bad ignition switch and it'll cost X to repair. If the customer says yes, he pays for the time and the switch. If the customer says no, who's going to pay for all that time that went in to finding the problem? In this case, I have to side with the dealer.

 

You forgot that if you need a part for the repair, the parts departman now has to look it up, then see if they have it and then if they don't, try and find it and price the part accordingly.

 

???

 

I have an issue when I tell them what it *isn't* and they still screw with that part of the car.

Had a big blow-up with the Chrysler dealership over a decade ago. I took the car in because the timing belt broke, and they wanted to sell me a radiator flush, too. I told them that I'd already had the radiator flushed and filled with new coolant last season at my regular service shop.

Got the car back and was driving it that weekend and the car started to over head with white fumes coming from under the hood. I popped the hood to find my radiator cap lying on the engine block NEXT TO MY RADIATOR.

I was madder than a hornet, and even madder than that because it was Sunday and I couldn't call anyone in the disservice department at Baxter Chrysler to rip them a new one.

We got it all sorted out between us the following week. :madgrin:
When it was all over they never gave me guff again.

 

I get people on the phone all the time, who want to find out how to do something, try to take up my time, and then either do it themselves or go elsewhere. It's a precarious balancing act, weeding out the time-wasters from the actual good clients.

My biggest advice: put everything in writing; get customers to sign quotes.

 

That is good advice and even the law in some jurisdictions.

 

That's why I was surprised this scenario would even develop at a dealership.

Because every dealership service center I've dealt with over the past 10 years, has the operating procedure of having you deal with a service advisor, who always presents you with an upfront estimate.

I'm surprised if this didn't happen. If the service advisor forgot or neglected to include the hourly rate or flat charge for diagnostics upfront, in an estimate for service, then perhaps I can understand "just a little" why a customer might be surprised or upset....even if they really have little grounds to be upset.

 

I bet the 2 hour is merely the wait time, especially at a busy dealership. The SM is bluffing about the 2 hour diagnosis. They don't like to admit cars just sit for their turns while customers wait.

 

A minimum diag time is usually right on the repair order and the customer usually signs right by it before anything's done.

 

I suppose the dealership will also want to charge me for the advertizing they sendout and for the time they spend counting the profit they make on the sale of there overpriced parts and service.

 

Dealers sometimes charge for the diagnosis or repair time listed in the book, if their actual time is less.

 

Well, unlike indies, there's a lot of people at a dealer. The customer does have the option of not going to one.

 

? ? ?

 

Clients are horrible to deal with, BUT you don't know the whole story.

Me arguing with my dealer may sound somewhat similar...

Short version: so did my Volvo dealer. I bought the parts they suggested.
Replaced one broken part and the new part has the same failure within a month.
Did not replace the second part as it functions without any noticeable issues.

Longer version: one thing was broken and destroyed another part according to the mechanic. The first was a known issue and it destroying the second part was a known effect. I bought them both as fitting the first costs 3 hours in labour.

When coming home I fitted the first part in an hour (and I am not handy at all, truth be told I did have a spare rubber piece this element goes into, so I did not have to remove the broken part out of this piece of rubber).

This new part failed within a month. (Failure means it functions as it should, but there is oil in the electrical connector: I've since found out oil hardly conducts electricity, so although it is an unwanted effect, it does not affect performance),

The second part functions perfectly without replacing it.

I have gained more information and on a dedicated Volvo forum, no one can explain why the first part would destroy the second. (First heats the oil-fumes from the crankcase ventilation system right before feeding it into the inlet of the turbo to prevent icing up due to the turbo causing underpressure and is always switched ON (a PTC), the second is a vacuum relay for the engine mounts that switches the mounts of off the vacuum feed over 1000rpm (mounts are softer on idling): they have nothing to do with eachother whatsoever beside\s being on the same fuse, imho).

Have contacted them twice but they fail to call me back as promised...

Oh, btw: they also wrote down 90€ for a missing brake-fluid-cap on the worksheet. I don't think this is on the actual bill though...
I found an extra brake-fluid-cap in my engine-bay fuse-box some weeks later...

Mind you, this is an official dealer... As was the Ford dealer placing my directional tires the wrong way round. As was the official Honda motorcycle dealer who uses wrong lubricant destroying a part that should last the lifetime of the motorcycle within 50k miles, and I think I have a few more examples... The dealers I come across are, in my experience, hardly more competent than hacks on the back-streets...

My first visit to the Toyota dealer since buying the Prius is round the corner... (Them checking it out before buying it doesn't count )

 

but this dealer can also think.. ok maybe a new client lets help him out as service and show him and ( mouth to moutj advertising ) others what a great dealer we are
for long term reputation! and long term happy and new clients

 

Monopolists do not concern themselves with their reputation.

 

Working in a photo retail shop I sometimes feel that way, working for free.... In the end even though our service is great IMO, and most cases competitive to online prices, we are "showroomed" so hat these folks can cheat the tax man!

These same folks will complain about road repairs, lack of law enforcement, fees to use parks and fields, and such!

But :focus: the issue is one what dealerships and other repair shops charge for labor. Hear $100-150 on average. Not sure, and I am sure I will be corrected, but mechanics do not work like let's say hairdressers at better shops - getting a 50% cut of the service provided.

Add to that repair shops routinely rip consumers off by using "repair guides" - guides that show that x job should take y hours to do, but generally take z hours that are less than y hours by a good mechanic.

An additional thing is that from what I have been told is that service writers at dealerships are paid on commission based on the total of the bill - so no wonder when you bring a car in for "free" service that they find something else that needs to be done!

 

Mechanics get 25%+/- of the hourly rate.

While most mechanics often beat the book time, in fact it is virtually the only way that you can make a living at it, there is the occasional rat-hole that runs 2-3 times more than what the book will pay. The system prevents people from having to pay for the rat-holes, as well as weeding out the guys that aren't very good.

 

You hit on something there, and we have no details to really decide if things were fair or not.

Been a number of years since I needed to take a car in to have an issue diagnosed. My Subaru Baja was trouble free for 9 years. Hope my new Prius gives me the same in the next 9 years.

Prior to that I worked with a local garage that didn't charge for diagnosing the issue and even offered the opportunity to walk across the street to a chain parts store to save on the parts. They were always busy, but they are now gone due to redevelopment of the area. They used the book rate for the repair to off set loss on the diagnostic services and in some cases the parts. In the end I used them till the Baja.

Just surprised that there is not a dealership that has decided to standup and offer "true pricing" for routine service and repairs.