I am so Fn done with dealer service Dept.
 

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?:mad: "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!!!!!!!!!!!

Service depts in dealerships in Los Angeles are a complete ripoff (other than Fontana Nissan)

In the future you should try Amplified Motorsports, Corner 3, or Precision Z.

So you found the worse and best help in one day? People are losing all morals these days. What ever happen for looking out foe the next man?

Sorry about your frustration and glad things worked out in the end. This is just an example that you should get a second opinion in many cases....especially when things 'don't smell right'.

Just for reference, all Nissan dealers are independently owned and operated. Nissan has very little control over the dealers. You shouldn't hate Nissan for this. Just find another dealer.

Lesson for the day: Support small businesses.

Lol... ouch. :D

:iagree:

This, in a nutshell is Nissan's biggest problem. Every service department that I've gone to in this area pulls some of the same crap that you describe. If I was mechanically inept, I could spend thousands without blinking.
Glad you got it fixed by someone who still understands what real business is about. Providing a product or service that is needed without raping your customer.

Wow. Quite the day.

You have the wrong dealer installed locks and there was a tsb for the early Z's. I had the same problem and bought replacement locks only have them break because the dealer was still using the wrong locks. I went to the dealer and asked them to replace them and they said well we have to prove that we installed them? WTF?? What we're these guys smoking!! They thought I bought them on my own and broke them and just wanted free locks!! I left pissed and went to another dealer (Cerritos Nissan) and they were nice to just give me lugs since the correct locks were not available. I feel your frustration. :mad:

http://www.the370z.com/370z-technica...heel-nuts.html


Downey Nissan Service
Sucks Monkey Balls

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

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 :icon17: ).

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.

Tough times
 

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