Dealer tried to rip off my Sister

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Azeem
I was helping a relative to buy a set of tires because he had no money and tires were showing the metal wire,he justified his need for the help by HAVING to get his 1994 Ford Ranger truck ,which obviously need a paint job and clutch is slipping BAD, fixed at the dealership because his timing belt snapped on the 2.3 engine which IS NOT interference engine. he said it was $1300 because he wanted to get it fixed RIGHT.


I immediately understood how all these dealerships are still in business despite all the tricks they do.


$1300 for a t-belt on a Lima engine is straight up robbery! There is probably no easier vehicle on this earth to change a t-belt on than a Lima I4 Ranger.


I've only done 1 t-belt. And it was my Capri with the 2.3,turbo
And yeah. It was easy. 2 timing marks to line up,install belt,tighten tensioner,done.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I spent many years working at an Olds dealership in Clearwater, FL. I also moonlighted at several indie shops. BOTH had some honest folks and some dishonest.

These days a stealership's fav scam is unneeded service. They try and sell stuff that is not even in the owners manual and shorten the intervals for scheduled service to the point of ridiculous!

I'm sure many folks never even notice. But any service facility can clean your clock if you let them.

 

[dishdude]

From my experience there are two different issues that generally occur:

1. Inept Techs that misdiagnose, screw up a repair or break something (unintentionally) in the process of a repair.

2. Service Advisors with quotas.

There was a national chain that used to set quotas such as 12 sets of struts this week. What if you didn't get 12 cars in that needed struts that week? It didn't matter, you were expected to sell 12 sets.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^That is poor management. I run a business and love incentive based pay as it rewards the guys who hustle.

But i hate it when they set you up so you have to lie or cheat someone to make your daily bread. I could never work there.

 

[daves87rs]

Been lucky...the ones that I have been to have not tried to do anything stupid.


Then again, I usually know the process of what needs to be done before they can say much. Hard to cheat a person then.

Last dealership run I made (to get a steel wheel) got me to change my surp belt, which for a minute, almost made my think I'd been had. (looked okay on the outside). It was not until I looked underneath that I saw a few nice cracks...


made me feel better about going on that 400-500 mile trip I was making...

 

[bmwjohn]

something to remember is that dealers in the US are required to have a dealership usually on a very expensive piece of land with a fancy facility and provide latest equipment to their newly updated technicians. (IIRC it is not uncommon in Europe to have a small, fancy showroom downtown and the repair facility in a cheaper area). An individual shop can be in a commercial area that, while overpriced in many cases, is substantially cheaper and probably not equipped with the very, very latest dealer only technical equipment. This does not impact the integrity issue but it does change the cost structure.

 

[Spector]

Originally Posted By: bmwjohn
something to remember is that dealers in the US are required to have a dealership usually on a very expensive piece of land with a fancy facility and provide latest equipment to their newly updated technicians. This does not impact the integrity issue but it does change the cost structure.


Indirectly it can impact the integrity though as they have to push the service dept to extract every last dollar from customers to cover the overhead. Recent online upsell from my dealer was a cabin filter they stated "IS RECOMMENDED EVERY 10,000 MILES". Love to see in what manual they were looking, my manual says 15,000, their cost $54.95. Upselling to those not willing to either DIY or read the manual. the manufacturer of course always defers to the dealer as being correct as they are on sight and know the conditions. SAD! they just do not realize how much business they lose by attempted upselling of service, I just never return

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: Spector
they just do not realize how much business they lose by attempted upselling of service, I just never return


INDEED!

Yep, these short sighted crooks end up losing money in the end. Plenty of customers don't go back and raise cain, they just never go back, and of course they tell everyone they know
"not to go to (insert company name here)".

There was just a Consumer Reports article in a recent issue that shows that even less than savvy consumers have an "instinct" about $tealerships, and they are right!

Most consumers prefer independent shops over $tealerships.

 

[k24a4]

On the flip side, $tealerships are the reason I decided to self-educate on things automotive. Guess I owe them a half-hearted, "thanks" for that.