The importance of the status symbol aspect of vehicle ownership.

[Soup DeVille]

In about 1968 I knew a guy who worked at the Chrysler Assembly plant just outside St. Louis.  He bolted fenders on pickups.  He told me it was really frowned upon to drive a foreign car to work.  Domestics were acceptable but foreign cars were likely to get vandalized.

I thought that dealer loyalty crap ended years ago.  I guess I shouldn't  be surprised it still goes on though.  So someone who moves to a new town is crapped on by local dealer because he bought the car somewhere else.  Wonderful business model.

No, that has t changed. Most assembly plants have three lots for employees; conforming, non conforming, and foreign. Chrysler is actually the most relaxed about this.

[Soup DeVille]

No..someone who is new to the neighborhood is treated as a potential new car buyer. It is when they are proven to be "taking advantage of what we offer our loyal customers" that you get served last. Now, if you are a service customer who comes in and says they bought their car at XYZ, but it is too far to travel for an oil change...you're SOL. If you bought your car from XYZ, but you're dissatisfied with their service department, you may not be first, but you won't be last.

Why do you think we're trained to ask questions? We were supposed to learn your motives for being there; your likes and dislikes; where you worked and who you knew. It is what made me good---I loved learning about people, but it also served the dealership. If the owner asked me about a customer, I pretty much knew their life history.

If we found you worked for a huge employer, you were probably treated a little better than average---because you'd talk about how great we were to your co-workers and they'd come buy a car. Heck, the Pontiac-GMC-Cadillac dealer gave customers fifty bucks for referrals that resulted in a sell.

Yeah, that system can't end soon enough.

[Raza]

This is retarded. Even if the thinking is to reward people who bought the cars there, wouldn't a dealer want to grow his base, getting customers who didn't buy their cars there to consider it next time with good service?

Easier to keep a customer than get a new one.

[SJ_GTI]

They get reimbursed for the "loaner" and then they get a big discount on it from the manufacturer and sell it...so yeah, they make money there too.

Yeah, I know. Its SOP there.

Point was that if there is this secret preference for dealership sold cars at the service dept...no big deal then since any extra time they take to fix my car...is just spent with me driving one of their cars. 

[JWC]

Yeah, I know. Its SOP there.

Point was that if there is this secret preference for dealership sold cars at the service dept...no big deal then since any extra time they take to fix my car...is just spent with me driving one of their cars. 

There is a lot that goes on though most people don't realize. A customer who bought at the dealership, gets a better loaner. Or, what happens a lot, is a customer who didn't buy there gets told parts are on order and will take a week to get, just so we can pull the loaner back for a customer who bought from us. They may only need an oil change, and you may need something more involved, but they take precedence.  Even though your parts will arrive within two days, you'd get rescheduled to next week.  Parts departments get blamed for a lot of shit like that...LOL.

[veeman]

JWC, I appreciate your insights.  Just reflecting on my personal experiences, what you say rings true and I never realized before.  I had no idea a dealer knows where you got work done on your car in the past from a few key strokes and they actually look up this information. 

Was wondering... If you buy a car on the internet, such as from CarsDirect, the actual transaction goes through a dealership.  Does the "transacting" dealership consider this a vehicle bought from the dealership or do they not because they probably made less money on the transaction itself. 

[JWC]

JWC, I appreciate your insights.  Just reflecting on my personal experiences, what you say rings true and I never realized before.  I had no idea a dealer knows where you got work done on your car in the past from a few key strokes and they actually look up this information. 

Was wondering... If you buy a car on the internet, such as from CarsDirect, the actual transaction goes through a dealership.  Does the "transacting" dealership consider this a vehicle bought from the dealership or do they not because they probably made less money on the transaction itself. 

It is a consideration. They'll always be polite, but you're never really "their" customer. Retired employees from the assembly plants purchase their vehicles direct from the manufacturer and delivered locally--but it is seen about the same as a Mary Kay car coming in for delivery.

Another consideration is how and where a new vehicle is financed. I always went through USAA for my purchases, which upset the managers at my dealership. Banks give dealerships incentives for financing through them. Dealerships prefer you go through them for financing.

And just to be clear, they don't know where maintenance was performed on your car (unless it is a lease vehicle), but they can tell whether or not it was them by looking at the computer history. Warranty work is on record with the manufacturer so that is found easily. And that includes where and when the vehicle was bought.

[12,000 RPM]

What value does this tribalism bring to the customer?

[BimmerM3]

What value does this tribalism bring to the customer?

It's not for the customer. If it were, they'd advertise it.

[shp4man]

So you guys don't think other businesses prioritize service for loyal customers?  Seriously?

[12,000 RPM]

So you guys don't think other businesses prioritize service for loyal customers?  Seriously?

Yes, but not in such a counterproductive, vindictive, irrational manner.

Plus like SJ_GTI said, they can take as long as they want as long as the loaner is free and the car gets fixed.

Some places can't even do that though. The summer I worked at Pep Boys, they forgot to bolt a wheel on one car, and they swapped +/- and fried the electrics on this guy's classic car. It was a mess. I know some good service guys though.

[shp4man]

Yes, but not in such a counterproductive, vindictive, irrational manner.

Plus like SJ_GTI said, they can take as long as they want as long as the loaner is free and the car gets fixed.

Some places can't even do that though. The summer I worked at Pep Boys, they forgot to bolt a wheel on one car, and they swapped +/- and fried the electrics on this guy's classic car. It was a mess. I know some good service guys though.

LOL at Pep Boys. Sounds about right.

[Byteme]

It is a consideration. They'll always be polite, but you're never really "their" customer. Retired employees from the assembly plants purchase their vehicles direct from the manufacturer and delivered locally--but it is seen about the same as a Mary Kay car coming in for delivery.

Another consideration is how and where a new vehicle is financed. I always went through USAA for my purchases, which upset the managers at my dealership. Banks give dealerships incentives for financing through them. Dealerships prefer you go through them for financing.

And just to be clear, they don't know where maintenance was performed on your car (unless it is a lease vehicle), but they can tell whether or not it was them by looking at the computer history. Warranty work is on record with the manufacturer so that is found easily. And that includes where and when the vehicle was bought.

Mercedes can tell you the service history of the car for any work performed by any Mercedes dealership. Or so I've been told.


About 4 months ago I had the local Mazda-Ford dealer replace the airbag in the 6 under recall.  When I went to pick it up they showed me a readout that said no routine service had ever been performed on the car.   They kind of insisted I was courting danger.  I thought about telling them the oil's gone 80,000 miles and is probably good for 80,000 more, but instead just told them I do all maintenance myself.

[AutobahnSHO]

I thought about telling them the oil's gone 80,000 miles and is probably good for 80,000 more,