Dealer Changes Oil

[BigDenCCMD]

My wife took our Jeep Liberty to the dealer for some problems with turn signal. The service manager calls and says they'll have to replace. Fine. Says the oil should be changed. I say "NO!". I just changed it about 2 weeks ago (Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 for the winter). Other things they want to do: change air filter (I changed it some time this year, no), rotate tires (Okay), wiper blades (no, I can do it cheaper), adjust parking brake (yes, please). Wife comes home - they did everything I asked them not to, and didn't do what I did ask them to do!

Needless to say I will be over there this week. I was thinking about leaving the oil they put in for about 1,000 miles. I just hope I don't get a big hassle over them paying for the new Penzzoil Platinum!

 

[dkryan]

Your story is not a surprise and one of the many reasons dealerships continue to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to lousy service departments.

Find out what type of oil they're using (and what type of filter) before you decide to run it 1k, though I doubt it'd be detrimental for that short of an OCI.

Clearly, you'll want to find a reputable independent mechanic instead of re-visiting that dealership again.

 

[simple_gifts]

Make sure your wife didn't "sortof" capitulate and then register a complaint with your state's consumer affairs. Chances are they will not act specifically on your case, but if 20 people in one year identify the dealer as habitually doing work not authorized, the dealer may get a call.

I always sign a work authorization document that says "no oil," "customer provided gearbox oil" etc etc. There is no confusion.

 

[Eddie]

Yes: Check with wife first as they may have pushed saying "you really should for safety reasons" I rarely have found service writers will not comply IF it is made clear what you want & don't want. Too many people like me will cause the dealership a headache if they blandently do the wrong thing. Mistakes do happen however and they should make an effort to correct their mistake if it truly was their fault. A soft approach is always good but, if you don't succed then to the manager.

 

[texasproud]

Although I rarely visit the dealer, I always leave them with written instructions(note taped to steering wheel)on specifically what I want done. Even then it does not work 100% of the time.

 

[BigDenCCMD]

I did check with my wife about authorizing work. The service manager did seem to intimate that she had said "check it out and see what needs to be done". She did not authorize anything, just wrote on one of those leave it forms as she was going to work and being picked up by a fellow worker. She has been around cars all her life as her dad and uncle have competed in drag racing. Sometimes she picks up noises in car, etc. before I do! I think that when the service manager called me they had already changed the oil. I deduced that by the tone in his voice when I told him not to change the oil. I'll post again with the outcome.

 

[Chris142]

Jeep/Chrysler stealers are the worst for upselling uneeded stuff.

I took my 02 TJ in for them to replace the faulty TPS sensor under warranty.

They tried to sell me.......

Radiator flush for $99. Duh! I work at a radiator shop and had replaced the coolant with new GO-5, 2 weeks before.

They said that the oil in my axles "Looked original". I had changed it over to Torco syn a week before. They never even looked because if they had they would have seen the new silicone gasket ooozing out and my greasy paw prints all over the covers.

Wanted $180 for this "Service".

Told me that my oil filter was subpar and the wrong # and that my oil should be changed. The FL1A filter that was on it was a much better filter than the rebadged Fram they would have put on.

$29.95 for this.

Claimed that my Jeep has a miss and wanted $69 to diagnose it. Said most likely that it needed new spark plugs.

Odd, it runs fine and the plugs were 2 months old.

After the 4th call at my work where they tried to sell me something I told them ( Kind of rudly) to fix what it was in for, don't touch anything else and don't call me untill the TPS has been replaced.

 

[rpn453]

I filled my g/f's car with Mobil1 and a NAPA filter to prepare it for our -40C winters one fall. About 2 weeks later she took it in for something else at a local garage she often used (I was living 500km away) and they changed the oil. She had specifically told them not to and wasn't charged for it, but somehow a Mopar filter was on there afterwards. Just another reason why nobody else touches my car.

 

[bobo]

Demand a refund for all the work that was done that did not need to be done. If they don't cooperate, threaten to report them to the Better Business Bureau or equivalent in your state.

Demand to speak to the service manager and raise **** in front of other customers.

It works for me!

 

[Big Jim]

quote:

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Originally posted by texasproud:
Although I rarely visit the dealer, I always leave them with written instructions(note taped to steering wheel)on specifically what I want done. Even then it does not work 100% of the time.

---

This is the best idea. It helps to leave a copy on the dash as well as presenting a copy to the service advisor at the start of write up. This truly cuts down on misunderstandings.

Good dealership seldom have this type of problems. They hire and train to avoid them. That doesn't mean that they arn't agressive sellers though.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Refund, refund, we want a refund!

 

[ARB1977]

quote:

---

Originally posted by BigDenCCMD:
My wife took our Jeep Liberty to the dealer for some problems with turn signal. The service manager calls and says they'll have to replace. Fine. Says the oil should be changed. I say "NO!". I just changed it about 2 weeks ago (Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 for the winter). Other things they want to do: change air filter (I changed it some time this year, no), rotate tires (Okay), wiper blades (no, I can do it cheaper), adjust parking brake (yes, please). Wife comes home - they did everything I asked them not to, and didn't do what I did ask them to do!

Needless to say I will be over there this week. I was thinking about leaving the oil they put in for about 1,000 miles. I just hope I don't get a big hassle over them paying for the new Penzzoil Platinum!

---

Ive been taking my 2002 Toyota Tacoma every 5K for service only because i bought those prepaid maintence coupon crap eventhough i bring in my own synthetic oil. They've never came back to me with any add on issues like you need to replace this or that maybe because its still under warrenty. Maybe once the warrenty is up is when they will nail it to me good. I was playing golf with another two some the other day and one of the other guys took his expadition in for a 90K service they call him back and tell him that his wiper blades need to be replaced, he just replaced them two weeks ago. Customer service sucks now and days.