What's the deal with dealerships?

[TurboDan]

Haven't you guys ever worked on cars before? It takes time and parts...

Lol on commission. It was the factory service; all filters (two cabin, two engine), oil/filter change (they only do synthetic, which IMO is excessive, but w/e), brake fluid bleed and flush, rotate tires, and they check various things (mostly fluff; the only thing I care about is fluid level in the diffs, transfer case, and A/T). I also got a loaner for two days.

LoL. Funny this thread has come up right now. I took my Land Rover to my mechanic at a local LR customs shop on Wednesday, and he did an oil change with synthetic, air filter changes, coolant flush, differential fluid change, check of pretty much everything, and a dust-off of an under-seat sensor that's been known to spoil.

It was half your $700 bill, and took the length of one afternoon, during which time I took my beach chair and sat by the ocean up the street. No Range Rover loaner from the stealership required. 

And technically, the diff fluid is only supposed to change every 100K. But since I off-road the thing I figure do it at 50K instead.

[TurboDan]

Aren't motor mounts consumables?

Last car I can remember replacing motor mounts on was a '91 Mazda Protege that we had. Saab Story and VW never had 'em replaced. My dad's ancient '02 A6 which has like 140K at this point never had them replaced (that car never really had anything replaced, to be honest). My mom's Durango that she traded in last year for the Tiguan never had 'em replaced and that truck had like 150K on it.

[TurboDan]

Jesus Christ.  You never have your cars serviced?

I have the fluids changed at proper intervals and have done the timing belt/waterpump on all the cars I've owned since I was 17. Have I gone to a dealer for a phantom XX,000 mile service that costs a fortune? Never.

I'm also in the midst of taking some automotive repair/tech classes in my free time to increase my personal knowledge. I'm hoping (with the future investment in quality tools, as well as picking my buddy's brain who's a Mercedes tech) to almost eliminate third party service on my vehicles as much as possible. Stealership prices are a borderline crime, and no way I'll stand for the scam. Plus working on cars as a hobby seems really, really fun!

[TurboDan]

Just maybe if you didn't drive $1,500 cars you'd understand.

I haven't driven a sub-$30K car for a decade, and what I "understand" is that luxury car dealerships see plenty of "live ones" and "reel 'em in" routinely using unnecessary "service" calls as an excuse.

[850CSi]

LoL. Funny this thread has come up right now. I took my Land Rover to my mechanic at a local LR customs shop on Wednesday, and he did an oil change with synthetic, air filter changes, coolant flush, differential fluid change, check of pretty much everything, and a dust-off of an under-seat sensor that's been known to spoil.

It was half your $700 bill...

All that for $350?

[Secret Chimp]

I haven't driven a sub-$30K car for a decade, and what I "understand" is that luxury car dealerships see plenty of "live ones" and "reel 'em in" routinely using unnecessary "service" calls as an excuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burn_centers_in_the_United_States

[Madman]

I haven't driven a sub-$30K car for a decade, and what I "understand" is that luxury car dealerships see plenty of "live ones" and "reel 'em in" routinely using unnecessary "service" calls as an excuse.

Before I bought the Caterror, I took it to a Cadillac dealership to have it inspected.  Even though I haven't darkened their door since, I still get robocalls from them "reminding" me of some unnecessary service/wallet lightening they think needs to be done.  Amazing how they can tell when my car is due for servicing, despite the fact they don't know how many miles I drive!

Even if only a small fraction of people fall for this scam, that's still a huge amount of cash this dealership is raking in.

[GoCougs]

LoL. Funny this thread has come up right now. I took my Land Rover to my mechanic at a local LR customs shop on Wednesday, and he did an oil change with synthetic, air filter changes, coolant flush, differential fluid change, check of pretty much everything, and a dust-off of an under-seat sensor that's been known to spoil.

It was half your $700 bill, and took the length of one afternoon, during which time I took my beach chair and sat by the ocean up the street. No Range Rover loaner from the stealership required. 

And technically, the diff fluid is only supposed to change every 100K. But since I off-road the thing I figure do it at 50K instead.

Ha, ha. "Custom" (indie specialty) shops are a joke (and not an especially funny one).

[GoCougs]

I haven't driven a sub-$30K car for a decade, and what I "understand" is that luxury car dealerships see plenty of "live ones" and "reel 'em in" routinely using unnecessary "service" calls as an excuse.

What you "understand" is you prefer hacks to work on your car.

[GoCougs]

Having money in the bank and no debt is much nicer than taking a bath on a depreciating asset.

lol - I paid cash for my car and if you're worried about a "depreciating asset" stop buying cars.

[AutobahnSHO]

feeding the troll= silly

[TurboDan]

feeding the troll= silly

Yeah I know. Just like 'Cougs needs to pay $900 in attorney fees to contest a $100 traffic ticket, I guess he needs to pay $125/hour and get a loaner car for two days to get an oil change. Whatever.

[SVT666]

Some of the biggest "hacks"  I've seen work for dealerships.

[850CSi]

Some of the biggest "hacks"  I've seen work for dealerships.

lol reminds me of the time BMW service advisor told me z0MG I HAD TO BUY a $500 BATTERY FROM THEM BECUZ THE E90's ELECTRONICS ARE TOO MUCH FOR A NORMAL ONE

[GoCougs]

Some of the biggest "hacks"  I've seen work for dealerships.

Sure, there are some hacks at dealers but there are WAY more at indie shops; if they weren't hacks they go work for the dealers and make a lot more money.

Indie shops exist for people who buy cars they can't afford so they have no choice but to cheap out on service and repairs.

[850CSi]

Sure, there are some hacks at dealers but there are WAY more at indie shops; if they weren't hacks they go work for the dealers and make a lot more money.

Indie shops exist for people who buy cars they can't afford so they have no choice but to cheap out on service and repairs.

Dafuq? TROLOLOLOL

[GoCougs]

Dafuq? TROLOLOLOL

Supremely well-timed ironical CaseinpointSPIN.

[850CSi]

Supremely well-timed ironical CaseinpointSPIN.

Supremely well-timed ironical CougstrollingasusualSPIN

[GoCougs]

That was such goodly contextual timing the 'SPIN's gonna think we're in cahoots.

[TurboDan]

Sure, there are some hacks at dealers but there are WAY more at indie shops; if they weren't hacks they go work for the dealers and make a lot more money.

Indie shops exist for people who buy cars they can't afford so they have no choice but to cheap out on service and repairs.

Being good friends with a guy who is a mechanic at a Mercedes dealership, I have to laugh at this. He does OK but isn't exactly rolling in dough given the hierarchies and dealership politics that exist where he works. His plan is to open an indie Benz garage for the expressed purpose of making more money. But I'm sure you won't believe that and will somehow link a dude who works at a car dealership to some Ayn Rand mind warp of socioeconomic theory.

Furthermore, it would seem to me that the types of people who allow themselves to be ripped off for $100 wiper blades, $150 oil changes and needless repairs at dealerships are precisely the types of people who would buy a car they couldn't afford. Me personally, I'm not sure what the wisdom would've been in handing $1,400 to the local Land Rover dealership to install my trailer hitch over going literally down the street to a tech who used to work at the same dealership and giving him less than $300 in parts and labor to do the exact same thing.

[850CSi]

You guys really need to stop feeding the troll.

[TurboDan]

lol reminds me of the time BMW service advisor told me z0MG I HAD TO BUY a $500 BATTERY FROM THEM BECUZ THE E90's ELECTRONICS ARE TOO MUCH FOR A NORMAL ONE

I was once told by a dealership service department that I have a "very advanced vehicle" which requires a "total rewiring" of the truck to install a trailer hitch and connection for the brake lights.

I was also told that windshield wipers would cost $180. LoL.

[TurboDan]

You guys really need to stop feeding the troll.

It's a boring Saturday afternoon. I'm kinda enjoying it.

[GoCougs]

You guys really need to stop feeding the troll.

Dude, that big fat piece of YouownedyourselfSPIN is yours and yours alone.

[GoCougs]

Being good friends with a guy who is a mechanic at a Mercedes dealership, I have to laugh at this. He does OK but isn't exactly rolling in dough given the hierarchies and dealership politics that exist where he works. His plan is to open an indie Benz garage for the expressed purpose of making more money. But I'm sure you won't believe that and will somehow link a dude who works at a car dealership to some Ayn Rand mind warp of socioeconomic theory.

Furthermore, it would seem to me that the types of people who allow themselves to be ripped off for $100 wiper blades, $150 oil changes and needless repairs at dealerships are precisely the types of people who would buy a car they couldn't afford. Me personally, I'm not sure what the wisdom would've been in handing $1,400 to the local Land Rover dealership to install my trailer hitch over going literally down the street to a tech who used to work at the same dealership and giving him less than $300 in parts and labor to do the exact same thing.

He's going to be a business owner, not a tech at some indie shop.

Sorry, don't believe your second paragraph.

[Rich]

Dan at Grassroots Garage in Kernersville, NC was a former factory trained mechanic at a MINI dealer.  Left to start his own shop and did great work when I needed my MINI serviced after the factory maintenance plan was up.  He let us hang out in the shop with him and we got to see what was up with the car as he was working on them.

[MrH]

I do my own service. Because I'm better than you guys

[850CSi]

Dude, that big fat piece of YouownedyourselfSPIN is yours and yours alone.

Dafuq? This trollbot is relentless. I'd give it credit for its relentlessness if I was sure it was actually human.

Actually, this is explains everything. Cougs is a google beta test AI experiment Laconian is secretly running on us. Same geography, same car, etc.

[TBR]

I think the right independent mechanic is just as good or better than a dealer but still significantly cheaper. Are there a lot of bad ones out there? Yeah, absolutely.

I have gotten to the point where I pretty much just go to a dealer. It is definitely more expensive, but it's also easier, and I feel better that the job is getting done right.

FWIW, my family has NEVER done regular service on cars beyond oil changes (and the timing belt on the Subaru, per my insistence), and it hasn't caused any problems.

[Cookie Monster]

I do my own service. Because I'm better than you guys

Dude, Miata has never seen a stealership since I got it.