Car Service

[maryannette]

Okay, I'm used to stopping at the drive-through or ordering in a restaurant and getting the suggestions - Fries with that sandwich? Appetizers? But, not when I take my car in for service! I'm changing shops because of it. The Toyota dealer has been servicing my car since I bought it from them. I've always been satisfied with the service, convenience, price, etc. They started calling me at work while servicing my car earlier this year to tell me that they found other things that need to be done. Last time it was transmission fluid, balance tires and align, and new battery. I let them service the transmission. He said that the tires looked bad and that it needed to be aligned and the tires balanced. I told him that the last time they balanced the tires the report showed very little improvement overall and one tire was actually worse after balancing. He asked about the battery - they checked it and it was on the "lower end of the performance range". I told him I didn't want a new battery just because of that. I have another shop that we use and I'm happy with. They get my RAV4 now.

 

[snickerd3]

I despise dealerships for repairs for those very reasons. We haven't found our car guy yet since we moved, but luckily (knock on wood) I have only had to do oil changes, tire rotations, and new tires. All of which can easily be done elsewhere faster and cheaper.

Although I'm going to have to do something soon as I am coming up on 100K and the transmission fluid is probably due for changing and oil change place wont touch it.

 

[NCcarguy]

There's a reason people distrust mechanics so much. I really am thinking about quiting this business we are in and starting up a mechanics shop. There has GOT to be a market for an honest up front shop!!! There has to be.

If I ever have one call me with things like that, it's the last time I use them. There are too many options to deal with that.

 

[Flyer_PE]

This appears to be a fairly new trend at the dealers. Jiffy Lube among others has been doing this for a long time. I don't mind being offered the service so long as they (1) tell me before they actually do the work and (2) don't give me a hard sell routine when I tell them I'm going to defer the maintenance. If they do either, my business goes elsewhere.

 

[MA_PE]

suggestive selling....love it or hate it...it works. when times are slow and you have staff milling around looking for work an owner has two choices 1) drum up work for them to do, or 2) let soem of them go.

I wholeheartedly agree with Freon I despise it when you say no thanks and they start giving you a hard time. Sometimes it's appropriate like if they're doing brakes and notice the shocks or bearings are pretty worn or you have a hole in the muffler and thyey say all the hangers are in tough shape.

One case that really frosts my weenie is when the sales guy asks you if you want to buy the extended warranty on an electronic component like a TV and when you decline they say something like "well the remote isn't covered by the factory warranty. If you get home and the remote doesn't work then you stuck." or "the screen is opnly covered for 90 days if it goes bad after 3 months you're not covered." FU.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I hate the barrage of crap thrown at me from Jiffy Lube workers. It's always something...air filter, wish shield wipers, transmission oil, battery, etc. I got significantly less of that crap once I replace my air filter with a K&N. Now they pretty much leave me alone because they think I know how to work on my own car. The truth is that I just know how to replace my own air filter, but I'm sure as hell not buying anything they're selling.

 

[Flyer_PE]

One case that really frosts my weenie is when the sales guy asks you if you want to buy the extended warranty on an electronic component like a TV and when you decline they say something like "well the remote isn't covered by the factory warranty. If you get home and the remote doesn't work then you stuck." or "the screen is opnly covered for 90 days if it goes bad after 3 months you're not covered." FU.

My usual response to them is that if it makes it to the mfg warranty, odds are it will make it past their extended warranty also. Your store doesn't get an extra 30 bucks from me for that.

 

[snickerd3]

I hate the barrage of crap thrown at me from Jiffy Lube workers. It's always something...air filter, wish shield wipers, transmission oil, battery, etc. I got significantly less of that crap once I replace my air filter with a K&N. Now they pretty much leave me alone because they think I know how to work on my own car. The truth is that I just know how to replace my own air filter, but I'm sure as hell not buying anything they're selling.

Same thing happened here...although it was always more of your filter needs changing but we can't do it bc they don't stock honda air filters.

 

[MGX]

When the business model switched from providing repair service to supersizing maintenance I left.

I blame more reliable cars that fail far less often, shops need to keep money coming in and this is the result; people don't want to service their cars as it is and being subjected to an annoying onslaught of sales makes it less so.

 

[TouchDown]

This appears to be a fairly new trend at the dealers. Jiffy Lube among others has been doing this for a long time. I don't mind being offered the service so long as they (1) tell me before they actually do the work and (2) don't give me a hard sell routine when I tell them I'm going to defer the maintenance. If they do either, my business goes elsewhere.

Ha! JiffyLube a couple years ago approached me to replace the radiator cap on my Honda Minivan that was 3 years old.

I told him to show me how it failed. He then went out into the work area and returned with a pressure gauge on a bicycle pump with a fixture to attach the radiator cap. They pressurize it and then see if it holds. YOu could watch the gauge fall.

I asked him if I could see the unit. He passed it over, I unscrewed the cap, cleaned off all the crap and buildup on their test instrument, cleaned off my NOW DIRTY cap, put them back together and retested.

AMAZINGLY it held pressure. I told him he should think about implementing a cleaning procedure before he screwed anyone else out of any more money for this test.

He kind of scowled at me, took the tester back and went back onto the floor.

There are some good grease monkeys out there, and there are just some monkeys. IF you have someone else service your vehicle, educate yourself and ask questions. What I've found is the guys who know what they're doing and will take the time to talk with you about a problem are pretty trustworthy. FInding a good mechanic is a process - and not all shops stay good all the time.

 

[Flyer_PE]

^ I'm double-lucky in that regard. I have a mechanic buddy at one of the local dealerships that can get me discounted parts and has access to a lift. We also have a trustworthy shop nearby that can take care of anything beyond what we can do on his free time.

 

[chaosiscash]

I just do my own work whenever possible. My dad was pretty good about showing how to actually fix things when I was younger, which seems to be a lost skill among a lot of my generation. If I ever get anything beyond my skill level, I buy one of my mechanic buddies a few beers and they come by and show me what to do. Sometimes it pays to be a little bit redneck.

 

[ALBin517]

When the dealership tries to sell me on flushes and the like, I tell them it's my wife's vehicle. "I don't know what she has had done. Just make a note of it." Then I take the list home and call my dad, who's a former dealership mechanic. Generally, he will say 60% of the stuff they suggested is BS. And half of the remaining items will already be done.

That's part of it though - they call in the middle of the day and ask what I've had done. Do they think I keep my service records on my person? Maybe once I'm old and retired I'll be able to remember if I had my transmission fluid changed three years ago but I have too many irons in the fire right now.

I got significantly less of that crap once I replace my air filter with a K&N. Now they pretty much leave me alone because they think I know how to work on my own car. The truth is that I just know how to replace my own air filter, but I'm sure as hell not buying anything they're selling.

I got the laundry list at a Jiffy Lube and next time in, I brought my own new air filter. So when they brought it to the window to tried to sell me one, I said, "Yeah I know. Just drop this one in there for me."

He didn't suggest anything else after that.

 

[EM_PS]

I went to a place i hadnt been to before. . .oil change w/ free car wash deal - Cripes, the guy tries to persuade me how badly my engine needs synthetic, or a synthetic blend, and I'm like no thanx, just the black conventional stuff that comes out the ground is good. . .then it was how badly my tranny needed to be flushed (probably true, but not gonna pay this place $90 for that). . .then the kicker, guy actually checks my cabin (underdash) air filter! (I have never done this), shows me how bad it is (it was too), tells me dealers charge $80-90 for the replacement, but he can do it for $60. i finally told him i just came in to get the oil changed, and that IS really all i want! So afterwards at home I order a replacement cabin air filter for the Ody from Amazon for $12.50. I'll do all filter replacements on all our vehicles, its just I don't always get around to checking them. I'm hoping cuz i was a new customer at this place is why they gave me the hard-sell routine. . .if it keeps up i'll go elsewhwere

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I had this problem with the local Honda place recently. They would drum up work that supposedly needed to be done immediately that would cost $750+. We'd run it by my FIL who used to be a mechanic as a reality check. Some of the stuff they told us were flat out lies.

They prey on people's fear in times like these. People aren't wanting to take on 5 years of payments in the event they lose their job, and are looking to hang onto their existing cars longer. The service side of things is whats keep the dealers going now with sales stuff.

They called once a week reminding us of scheduled service until we told them them we were taking our cars elsewhere and to stop harassin us.

 

[roadwreck]

They called once a week reminding us of scheduled service until we told them them we were taking our cars elsewhere and to stop harassin us.

I got a call over the weekend from the dealership "reminding" me of my scheduled service appointment I had on Monday. I was like "What service appointment?"

Apparently since I had taken my car into the dealership for service a few months back (I had no other choice they were the only ones that could do the repair) they decided to enroll me in some automated program that schedules service visits automatically when they determine it's time for one. They had calculated that it was time for an oil change. To be fair they made a pretty good on that assumption. I had changed the oil the previous weekend. I kind of wish I had paid someone to do it since I had such a hard time getting the friking oil filter off. It's in an awkward position on my car where no tools can be used to get to it and it was stuck on there pretty well. Next car I buy I'm looking at where the filter is before I buy it. I hate changing the oil on my car. I don't know why I do it myself every time.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I don't know why I do it myself every time.

Best 30 bucks spent every 5K miles. They usually get it done in 15 minutes and I don't have to worry about getting rid of the oil.

The dealership I bought my car from keeps sending me 'maintenance coupons.' They're about 20-25 miles away, but I have a dealer 2 blocks away. I think their coupons are pretty much a lost cause.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I got a call over the weekend from the dealership "reminding" me of my scheduled service appointment I had on Monday. I was like "What service appointment?" Apparently since I had taken my car into the dealership for service a few months back (I had no other choice they were the only ones that could do the repair) they decided to enroll me in some automated program that schedules service visits automatically when they determine it's time for one. They had calculated that it was time for an oil change. To be fair they made a pretty good on that assumption.

The dealer by me kept calling me and telling me I needed some big stuff, like timing belt replacement, etc. done. I told them again and again that I had that done it a different dealer before I moved here, but that never stopped them.

 

[roadwreck]

Best 30 bucks spent every 5K miles. They usually get it done in 15 minutes and I don't have to worry about getting rid of the oil.

The reason I quit taking it somewhere to have it done was b/c the places that will do it while you wait would always hassle me about not chaning my oil every 3k miles. I did it every 5k miles like the owners manual tells me to. Either that or they would try to sell me other services I didn't need. If I took it to an honest mechanic or the dealership I'd have to leave the car with them until they could get to it which typically meant a day without my car. Both options were undesirable so i opt to do it myself and curse the designers of my car every time. My wife's car is easy to change, it's like Toyota knew what they were doing when they designed the car. Disposing of the oil is pretty easy too. There is an auto supply store that's just down the road that takes it for free. That's where I buy the supplies from and when I'm done I return the stuff I don't need anymore.

 

[Flyer_PE]

I just started buying oil in 5 qt containers. The nice thing with these is that the old oil can go right back to the store for recycling and I don't have to hang around and wait for them to empty and then bring my can back.