re: Service at Car Dealerships

Dealers only give a shite about warranty work, they don't have to care about their service to avg joe's. It shouldn't be that hard to find a decent oil change place these days if you don't want to do it yourself

I don't care what service is being done, I get close enough to watch them. And dealerships are just as bad as anyone at sloppy or non-existent work; that a dealership is using a certified mechanic to change oil is ridiculous.

Maybe not true everywhere, but my local Walmart does the best job at oil changes and tire rotations since they have a area where I can see my vehicle the entire time. I also get to pick the oil and filter I want from their shelves.

quote:

---

Dealers only give a shite about warranty work

---

Warranty work pays the dealer less than retail. They would much rather a customer pay ticket than a warranty job ticket all things being equal.

I wouldn't worry about service... only American cars, in particular Chrysler products break down.

I get free oil changes at my Toyota dealer here in Ruston. For a few years while living in Dallas, I took my Nissan to a Bankston Nissan in Irving, even though that car was out of warranty. One of their service guys was as honest as I've ever found. He knew I wanted to keep my costs down and made recommendations with that in mind.

When a Mazda and a Honda that I owned got out of warranty, I started using another mechanic in Mesquite that a co-worker recommended. Taking it to a dealer is the safest thing to do unless you can find out about an honest mechanic. Hopefully, you don't encounter a dishonest service center at a dealer.

I won't talk to one of the reps at the dealership here. He's an old guy that needs to be put out to pasture.

A mechanic at a Chevrolet dealership put 2X the amount of oil in my Tahoe during a routine oil change. I went on a long trip and kept noticing my vehicle was blowing blue smoke. I checked the dipstick and the level was several inches over the fill line. I went to a Jiffy Lube, drained the oil and refilled properly. The manager took pics of the dipstick and the amount of oil drained, then wrote a letter that I used to threaten the Chevrolet dealership. The dealership ran pressure checks on my engine to ensure the seals were not damaged.

Moral of the story is that dealerships hire morons too.

quote:

---

You save maybe $20 doing it yourself, but then you have to factor in your time to go get materials, dispose of old materials, time to actually do it. I changed my own oil for 10 years and have since said F that, I have better things to do.

---

Really? I can change the oil in mine and my wife's car in under 30 minutes, saving anywhere from $30 to $50 vs. getting it changed at the dealer. I could go cheaper at the jiffy lube but I don't trust those grease monkeys any further than I can throw them.

So do I think my time is worth $60 to $100 an hour? Yes, yes I do. I expect the problem in your case is not that you are worth more than that, but rather incompetent in your oil changing.

quote:

---

I'm sorry that you are poor and had to buy a lemon of a car.

---

Oh STFU. I seriously doubt you are a baller.

Service departments are the true profit centers of automobike dealerships.

I learned this after I got the $800 bill for my first and last dealer oil change on my BMW!
Only parts and materials involved were oil, oil filter, engine air filter and AC air filter for my 98 740i.

Later on I sold automobiles for 5 years and did a little homework which revealed that income from sales did not begin to cover tge overhead. Service is tge big moneymaker by far.