I am so Fn done with dealer service Dept.

Hambone1 · 04-20-2011, 09:19 PM

Its weird, my one experience with the service department of the dealership I bought mine from was totally cool. My air dam had come loose (wife nudged a curb) and the guys popped it up on a lift, reattached it, no charge. Took all of 5 mins. I'm dreading having to go in for any kind of significant work though

zmyride · 04-20-2011, 10:01 PM

The lightbulb(taillight) on my previous DD(toyota) went out, so i went to the dealership and bought a new one from the Parts department for like $2.

Then I went outside and asked the service manager if he could help me replace the bulb. He said he could ask the service tech guy to help me but he would have to charge me $75.

F*ck that.

I think nowadays the profit margin for selling a new car is very minimal so dealership find more creative ways ripping you off by charging you more for service.

TreeSemdyZee · 04-20-2011, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zmyride

The lightbulb(taillight) on my previous DD(toyota) went out, so i went to the dealership and bought a new one from the Parts department for like $2.

Then I went outside and asked the service manager if he could help me replace the bulb. He said he could ask the service tech guy to help me but he would have to charge me $75.

F*ck that.

I think nowadays the profit margin for selling a new car is very minimal so dealership find more creative ways ripping you off by charging you more for service.

Don't kid yourself, the margins are still pretty good.

I had a dealership quote me $90 to reset the TPMS and the service tech did it for free without telling anyone. He was a car guy too (even though he drove an S2000

).

Cell · 04-20-2011, 10:35 PM

Something very similar happened with me at Toyota. I took my highlander in to see if they can fix the hood from not open and they told me it will take 250 dollars + 2 hours and the removal of body panels to fix it. I got so piss that I told them that I did not want them to service me anymore.

Once I took the car back home I went ahead and examined the situation. I find that the wire came loose from the lever which was the cause for the hood not opening. I ended up fixing it within 5 minutes...

When I bought my 370z the salesmen gave me 5 free oil changes which I will never use because I know how bad the service/techs are with dealerships.

2ndZ · 04-20-2011, 11:47 PM

In this economy some dealers aren't making a lot of money so they stoop to this.

c41006 · 04-21-2011, 12:00 AM

These kinds of stories make me so mad! Once I had the check engine light in my old G35c come on and when I took it to the dealer they told me that my throttle body would need to be replaced and that it would cost me $700. I said no thanks and drove the car another 20K miles with no issues

jaedub · 04-21-2011, 12:09 AM

hdskull · 04-21-2011, 12:09 AM

Sorry to hear. I have had bad experiences and good ones.

christian370z · 04-21-2011, 12:18 AM

I've had some mixed experiences as well with dealerships in the past, there are some truly great dealers out there though and finding them is a bit easier with resources like forums where you can tap into other peoples experiences.

Waiz · 04-21-2011, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christian370z

I've had some mixed experiences as well with dealerships in the past, there are some truly great dealers out there though and finding them is a bit easier with resources like forums where you can tap into other peoples experiences.

The problem with dealerships is that they normally put the most inexperienced techs as the ones who do the oil changes/ routine stuff.

After West Covina put oil all over my engine bay I vowed to never set foot in a service bay unless it was for something covered under warranty. That sh't is not cool with me.

christian370z · 04-21-2011, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waizzz

The problem with dealerships is that they normally put the most inexperienced techs as the ones who do the oil changes/ routine stuff.

After West Covina put oil all over my engine bay I vowed to never set foot in a service bay unless it was for something covered under warranty. That sh't is not cool with me.

I hear you on that one man, I too support indies such as SpecialtyZ since not only are prices so much better and you talk to fellow enthusiasts, you don't have to put up with the bull crap either.

The problem is that ignorant car owners go in and actually pay up for these fraudulent work orders certain dealers convince them they need.

Waiz · 04-21-2011, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christian370z

I hear you on that one man, I too support indies such as SpecialtyZ since not only are prices so much better and you talk to fellow enthusiasts, you don't have to put up with the ******** either.

The problem is that ignorant car owners go in and actually pay up for these fraudulent work orders certain dealers convince them they need.

Yeah you hit the nail on the head right there for sure!

shesha · 04-21-2011, 02:05 AM

My GF took her car for it's first oli change on a brand new car. She was Alone and they tried to tell her that there's a recall part for he car. Get this they said it's not covered under warranty, and they would have to charge her $750.

She called me and asked what she should do. I told her to ask for her car back and the F out of there.

Con artists and scammers.

Pharmacist · 04-21-2011, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shesha

Let me just start with this Santa Monica Nissan in CA, has the biggest scam artist and con men working there.

Saturday 7:30 am I get up and take the front and rear brake pads to a local shop I was referred to by my friend. He said he would install the new brake pads for $150. Cool I thought better than the $500 the dealer wanted. lol.

I drop the car off. I'm walking around trying to kill time. I get a phone call 45 min later. "Can you come back to the shop we need to show you something"
I get there. And the guys says who ever worked on my car before them busted my lug nut with the tire lock. I'm like Fuuuuuuuuu this happened last year to the opposite side of the car so I knew it was faulty crap nuts.

I get back to the garage, and I see that half the lock ripped off, while half remained. They said that they didn't want to mess with it, and that they could not get the tire off without damaging the rim. ( I knew deep down inside that they were the ones who broke it).

I called the dealer, and said I am on my way over there to get the broken nut off, I told them this is the second time this has happened to me. The service rep said come on down. I get there and a scene from out of a movie ensues. He goes in the back and grabs a service tech. They speak, and both nod. The service rep says "well we are going to need to keep your car for half a day, and you are looking at 3 hours of labor. We will need to remove the entire axle etc......."

I looked at the service rep and said it's fine I just want it off. If I get a flat right now I can event put a spare on. He said ok it will run about $375.00.
This is when I lost my ****. I looked at him and said are you fn kidding me, its a small strip of a broken lug nut?

"why is it when ever I bring my car in for anything the first word you guys blurt out is $375.00, broken mirror $375.00, broken lug nut $375.00. I know you guys work on commission, but what about my look made you think I was a stupid idiot and would fall for that **** you just fed me?"

At this point he walks away. I was so mad I got in my car and drove off. I went to pep boys I asked the service dude to take a look at it and give me advice. He said if I find a real tire shop, they would be able to remove it. So I cruise on down to nearby Culver City which has a tire shop on every corner. I stop at the first one I see, a little mom and pop shop. The guy comes out, I show the problem to him, and in the span of 2.5 min he pops it off. Then he walks away. I told him how thankful I was, and that no one wanted to help me in this god forsaken city. I asked how much he wanted, and he said nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

So from $375 and three hours, and the complete removal of the axle to 2.5 min and nothing. God I was raging inside. I handed the guy $20.00 said thank you and made a return apt. next week to finally have my pads installed. $125.00 by the way.

I took the busted nut back to SM Nissan so I can confront the con mam. My luck, he had already left for the day. I grabbed his co worker, showed him the nut, and told him to pass along a message that I know he was full of it, and I had it removed in a matter of 2 min, for no charge.

What happened to taking care of your customers? What happened to doing whats right in hopes of earning a customers repeat business? I am so turned off by this ****, that #1 I will never set foot inside a dealership service dept again, and #2 this will be my last Nissan ever (although Infiniti treated me miles better)

Sorry for the rant, I know some will post some kind of ridicule or sympathy for me but I just wanted to share with you what I got accomplished in a matter of 6 hours last Saturday which was nothing!!!!!!!!!!!

You could have saved yourself a lot of money, a lot of time, and a lot of headaches by doing your own maintenance work. This is what I do. Fluid changes, brake jobs, maintenance, and simple mods are all done in my driveway with a basic set of tools and a service manual.

JGreenwood07 · 04-21-2011, 09:21 AM

After my experience this past weekend, I agree 100%. It's going to be hard for me to trust dealerships anymore.

Brought car in for simple alignment. Tech drove it 20 miles for test drive, put rock chips on hood and car was making funny noise when engaging clutch for about 30 mins after I got car back.

From now on I will have to watch the entire process I guess.

04-20-2011, 10:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Cell A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,449 Drives: A Garbage Truck Rep Power: 22	Something very similar happened with me at Toyota. I took my highlander in to see if they can fix the hood from not open and they told me it will take 250 dollars + 2 hours and the removal of body panels to fix it. I got so piss that I told them that I did not want them to service me anymore. Once I took the car back home I went ahead and examined the situation. I find that the wire came loose from the lever which was the cause for the hood not opening. I ended up fixing it within 5 minutes... When I bought my 370z the salesmen gave me 5 free oil changes which I will never use because I know how bad the service/techs are with dealerships. Last edited by Cell; 04-20-2011 at 10:39 PM.

04-20-2011, 11:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
2ndZ Base Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 7 Drives: 2010 370Z Red 7AT Rep Power: 16	Tough times In this economy some dealers aren't making a lot of money so they stoop to this.

04-21-2011, 12:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
hdskull Track Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: San Diego Posts: 680 Drives: '10 Black 370Z 6MT Rep Power: 18	Sorry to hear. I have had bad experiences and good ones. __________________ ^ Kenwood DDX616 \| Polk DB6501 \| Llumar 23% tint \| STi-R Clear Lens SSR Type-F \| F.I. 18" CF \| Stillen Gen 3 \| KW V3

04-21-2011, 12:18 AM	#9 (permalink)
christian370z A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Newport Beach Posts: 3,900 Drives: 2010 370Z/Saab 900se Rep Power: 433	I've had some mixed experiences as well with dealerships in the past, there are some truly great dealers out there though and finding them is a bit easier with resources like forums where you can tap into other peoples experiences. __________________ -320whp / 259wftlbs- SP Rays -- RE-11s -- SpecialtyZ Tune -- Swift Springs -- Stillen 25R Oil Cooler -- Stillen G3 Intakes -- Berk HFCs -- F.I. 12" CBE -- Stillen Sway Bars -- Es14 Spring -- INGS+1 lip -- CF Spoiler -- GTR Start Button -- VLED Parking Lights -- PWJDM V2 shift knob

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04-20-2011, 09:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
Hambone1 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Bellevue, WA Posts: 438 Drives: 370Z MB 7AT Sport Rep Power: 15	Its weird, my one experience with the service department of the dealership I bought mine from was totally cool. My air dam had come loose (wife nudged a curb) and the guys popped it up on a lift, reattached it, no charge. Took all of 5 mins. I'm dreading having to go in for any kind of significant work though

04-20-2011, 10:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
zmyride Track Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 631 Drives: 10 Black Sports 7AT Rep Power: 17	The lightbulb(taillight) on my previous DD(toyota) went out, so i went to the dealership and bought a new one from the Parts department for like $2. Then I went outside and asked the service manager if he could help me replace the bulb. He said he could ask the service tech guy to help me but he would have to charge me $75. F*ck that. I think nowadays the profit margin for selling a new car is very minimal so dealership find more creative ways ripping you off by charging you more for service.

04-21-2011, 12:00 AM	#6 (permalink)
c41006 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 9,034 Drives: '10 G37 Coupe BO 7AT Rep Power: 114	These kinds of stories make me so mad! Once I had the check engine light in my old G35c come on and when I took it to the dealer they told me that my throttle body would need to be replaced and that it would cost me $700. I said no thanks and drove the car another 20K miles with no issues

04-21-2011, 12:09 AM	#7 (permalink)
jaedub Track Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 906 Drives: 2010 Black 370Z MT Rep Power: 306

04-21-2011, 02:05 AM	#13 (permalink)
shesha Base Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 159 Drives: 370z Silver Rep Power: 17	My GF took her car for it's first oli change on a brand new car. She was Alone and they tried to tell her that there's a recall part for he car. Get this they said it's not covered under warranty, and they would have to charge her $750. She called me and asked what she should do. I told her to ask for her car back and the F out of there. Con artists and scammers.

04-21-2011, 09:21 AM	#15 (permalink)
JGreenwood07 Base Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 137 Drives: '10 Z Sprt/Tour/Nav Rep Power: 16	After my experience this past weekend, I agree 100%. It's going to be hard for me to trust dealerships anymore. Brought car in for simple alignment. Tech drove it 20 miles for test drive, put rock chips on hood and car was making funny noise when engaging clutch for about 30 mins after I got car back. From now on I will have to watch the entire process I guess.