Dealership Oil Change Experience

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...if the coupon had said that a non-OEM filter would be used for this special, or if I was informed of this beforehand, I would not have any problem with it.



I remember a good story by a car salesman about a woman buying a used car from him.

I don’t remember the exact price, but the car was listed basically at the lowest price possible from dealer’s perspective, as the car sat on the lot for quite some time and they wanted to get rid of it. The lady kept bargaining with the salesman despite his attempts to explain to het that this is as low as they will go.

She bought the car but was very upset about the whole deal, the salesman asked her why was she upset, she did get the car for a very good price after all. Her reply was that she did not get a discount. The salesman was still confused and put a hypothetical situation for her:

He asked: "If the car was originally listed $1k above the listed price, and I bargained with you and, at the end of the day, you paid for the car exactly the same as you just paid, would you be happy ?"

The answer was "YES"
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Some people just can't be happy with what they have or get, there is always something "wrong".
 
Ive NEVER had a non-oem service part put on my car at a dealer. This practice is typ dissallowed by corporate. Not saying the non-oem part is BAD (in fact it may be BETTER). As a continued cost saving trend, these days most oem service parts are not JDM/OEM equivalent - like the toyota denso "Thailand" filters or Subaru service Belden (Bedlam!) spark plug wire or Fram oil filters. Now OTC you automatically get a Fram OCOD painted white or black or blue with a service part number instead of a gorgous TokyoRoki. And now the argument becomes moot, I suppose.
Still, No China parts for me, they already own 1/2 the States.

Sorry for the rant. Or maybe not.
 
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I've love to have a nice garage and 50degrees to do my oil changes.. Just did my tire rotation and oil change the other day with 33degrees and 15mph winds... The wind is definitely worse.. had to hold a funnel up so i didnt get the wind oil all over. I used to replace the crush washer every time..

but haven't lately. It seems to be ok as long as no gorilla's crank down on it when you put it back on.
 
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Okay, but part of the issue is what else do they do and not inform the customer about? As to the discounted oil price, it is,as stated, a loss leader intended to find all other possible service avenues to generate income, many of which are not necessary. They know they can sell enough customers on un needed service (injector cleaning etc) that easily makes up for the oil change loss. Myself, I refuse to put up with their upsell pitch and never go to a dealer unless absolutely necessary. So, if one does not mind the upsell than accept the cheap oil change. But understand, dealers rarely do anything for nothing!

Why should a tech be paid for the GM inspection especially if not requested by the customer!
 
I would expect that non OEM parts are used at dealerships a lot more than you think. Years ago I spent about 10 hrs replacing the power steering pump on my 98 chevy truck. Don't ask why it took so long, but anyway, after I got it all back together, I had a leak at the back of the pump. It was January and cold and I wasn't about to do it all over again so I took it to the dealer I bought the truck from.

During the coarse of the repair which I had to help the tech do the repair, he asked me where I bought the pump from. I told him at the local parts stores. He told me that they use pumps and other parts from that particular store all of the time. The pump that I used was not a name brand and definately not a GM part.

I've also seen local parts stores delivery trucks at various dealers. Most people would never know that a non OEM part was used and most dealer installed parts are only warrantied for a year so usually no one is the wiser.

Wayne
 
I will chime in now,,,I will state my argument,,,and then I will shutup.I have noticed that no one has mentioned one very important issue.The OP here stated that the tech got paid .3 tenths of an hour to do his oil change and that was based on a labor rate of $120.00 an hour,,,let me just say this,,,,WRONG,WRONG,,,not just wrong,,,but horribly wrong,,,the tech is paid 3 tenths of an hour based on his HOURLY rate,,,which in most cases is about $10.00 an hour,,,so,,lets re-do the math,,,one tenth would be $1.00 oh now,,,lets multiply by 3,,,uh oh,,,look out he gets payed $3.00 to do your oil change and inspection,and check your tires,and fill your washer fluid,and check you brakes,,,etc,etc,etc,,,,Now,,let me ask you this,,,would you want to do all of this for 3 bucks,,,,he does all of this because it is required by the dealership and if he doesn't do it,,,he doesn't have a job.Most "lube goobs",,bring homw and average of,,,maybe,,$250.00 a week,,,the dealership makes $25,000.00 for his labor.I worked for dealerships for 30 years,,,I am master certified from Chrysler,GM,Mitsubishi,,,and during that time,,,I never brought home more than $25000.00 a year,,,why,,,because the dealership gets rich off of the labor,,, they hardly have to pay for.Just remember,,,the technician,,DOES NOT get paid a percentage of the labor rate,,,he gets paid a percentage of HIS HOURLY RATE



Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Burt
I never understand how they get away with charging so little for oil changes anyway. Obviously they are losing money on the oil change to get a chance to find other things to fix.

That's why advisors love to sell those glorified 7500 mile packages, because they can get away with charging $80-100 for them. Although they are viewed as rip-offs, they are actually what they should be charging for an oil change, rotate tires and inspection.

Oil changes are priced at $30-$40 because that is the market price. When I took my Saturn to the Cadillac dealer, I noticed from the invoice that they paid the tech 0.3 hours to do the oil change and 0.3 hours to perform the GM GoodWrench multi-point inspection. That is 0.6 hours at the shop's labor rate of $120/hr, or $72 in labor alone! And I paid $29.95 for the oil change.

Of course, most dealers won't pay their techs for the multi-point inspections, only the oil change itself. Even then, 0.3 hours at $120/hr is still worth $36-- and if that labor was being earned from say, an alternator replacement, they would have earned that full $36. So, oil changes must be a real money loser for dealerships if they are unable to upsell brakes or some highly profitable maintenance work.
 
The substitute filter is a decent quality filter.Your dealer experience doesn't seem too bad compared to what some get.Now with the SN oils it may not be necessary to drain oil as often as before.
 
Originally Posted By: beaker60

I will chime in now,,,I will state my argument,,,and then I will shutup.I have noticed that no one has mentioned one very important issue.The OP here stated that the tech got paid .3 tenths of an hour to do his oil change and that was based on a labor rate of $120.00 an hour,,,let me just say this,,,,WRONG,WRONG,,,not just wrong,,,but horribly wrong,,,the tech is paid 3 tenths of an hour based on his HOURLY rate,,,which in most cases is about $10.00 an hour,,,so,,lets re-do the math,,,one tenth would be $1.00 oh now,,,lets multiply by 3,,,uh oh,,,look out he gets payed $3.00 to do your oil change and inspection,and check your tires,and fill your washer fluid,and check you brakes,,,etc,etc,etc,,,,Now,,let me ask you this,,,would you want to do all of this for 3 bucks,,,,he does all of this because it is required by the dealership and if he doesn't do it,,,he doesn't have a job.Most "lube goobs",,bring homw and average of,,,maybe,,$250.00 a week,,,the dealership makes $25,000.00 for his labor.I worked for dealerships for 30 years,,,I am master certified from Chrysler,GM,Mitsubishi,,,and during that time,,,I never brought home more than $25000.00 a year,,,why,,,because the dealership gets rich off of the labor,,, they hardly have to pay for.Just remember,,,the technician,,DOES NOT get paid a percentage of the labor rate,,,he gets paid a percentage of HIS HOURLY RATE

Hmm, you may be right then. Though, I haven't heard of this before-- AcuraTech never mentioned this to me. Is this a practice that is industrywide or just at certain dealers?
 
beaker60 I've been on about what are you saying before. You guys should get paid more. I think if "mechanics" were paid their due then consumers as a whole would get better service. Now you have guys going to school to become certified and enjoy the work only to find they cain't support a family on the wages. So they leave and seek other employment and we're left with who to work on our cars? Guys who cain't find employment anywhere else.

Pay the man! I always tip the guy who does my oil change 5 bucks and he looks at me like he's never been tipped before! I know the economy is in shambles and how can I advocate tipping the guy who changes your oil but I look at it like this...my car is a big investment to me...much bigger than lunch and I still tip the server!

If the way it is set up would allow for the men/women to make a fair living we would get much better service.
 
Yes Critic,,,this is across the board.Every single dealership in this country pays their techs this way,,,this is how they make money.Warranty times are ridiculas.If I had to,,,oh let's say,,,change your water pump,,under warranty,,I would get payed .8 tenths of an hour.Now,,if my hourly rate was $18.00 an hour,,that means,I got paid,,$14.40 to do your water pump..thats right,,I got paid less than 15 dollars and it may have taken me 2 hours to do it,,because the tech is always getting pulled off to do something else the dealership needs you to do,,,like someones oil change,,so now,not only is the customer waiting for his water pump,,but the customer that getting his oil change is waiting,and everybody is wondering why the tech is getting mad.And the dealership is just sitting back getting rich off of both jobs and like what was stated before,,the trained tech gets fed up,,he quits,,and the guy who was working at Micky D's just yesterday,,,he's the one doing your oil change,,do you see where I'm going with this.The only one,,,and I mean the ONLY ONE making money is the dealership,,,They are ripping the customer,they are ripping the technician,they are ripping whoever they can to come out ahead,,,,sort of like Vegas.I'm not angry with the customers,because they don't know how it works,in fact,,I can't be angry with the customer because,,,I'M a CUSTOMER,,just like everyone else.If more customers understood what was going on,,,we wouldn't need discussions like this one.The other thing is,,,99% of the technicians do not want to treat customers the way they HAVE TOO.The dealerships force the technicians to UPSELL,,,if you don't upsell,,you lose your job,,,and I have lost mine because I refused to rip off my customers.I have literally gotton in knock-down drag out fights with service managers because I wouldn't rip off people the way they wanted me too,,,and then I lost my job!I'm sorry for being so long-winded about this,,but I wish that I could spend everyday,telling everyone how this works,,but PLEASE,,and I mean this,,do not blame the technician for what happens at dealerships,,it's not his fault,,he is forced to do what he does,,or he doesn't have a job,,and jobs are a scarce commodity these days.Oh,,,and one last thing,,,and I have said this before many times,,"It took 28,college trained engineers,to design and build the vehicle you drive,,,and everyone expects one technician to fix it in one hour for ten dollars an hour",,,it doesn't equate.
 
my best friend works for a local toyota dealership. guess what type of water pump goes in your 5sfe when you get the timing belt, idlers and water pump replaced (at this specific dealer)? a cardone reman from advanced auto. it is even hard to tell the difference because the reman still has aisin stamped on it.

i am not saying all dealer ships do this, but the one i am mentioning is very dishonest. i am sure they are charging the oem price for the parts.

we have another gm dealership in town that gives customers a choice of gm parts or aftermarket. alot choose the aftermarket option because of the cost.

is it aloud by corporate? maybe? who knows, you would have to have access to the dealers contract with corporate. mike

p.s. to the critic: i think you got outstanding service from the dealer.
 
That is why I always wondered where the $100-120 an hour labor charge comes from.
I work for an aerospace company and our engineering hourly rate is at $100 and hour and it includes all costs associated, so the engineers with years of experience and thousands spent on education never see that rate.

How can a dealership, employing few master techs and the rest are people with minimal education / skill have a higher labor rate?
confused2.gif


That is the reason I refuse to pay such extravagant rates, I know it's a rip off. You get, at best, an adequate service, expansive parts (that are now apparently sourced form aftermarket not OEM by a lot of dealerships, but the price is still as if they were OEM) and labor, and on top of that you have angry techs working on your car because the get screwed as well.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
That is why I always wondered where the $100-120 an hour labor charge comes from.
I work for an aerospace company and our engineering hourly rate is at $100 and hour and it includes all costs associated, so the engineers with years of experience and thousands spent on education never see that rate.

How can a dealership, employing few master techs and the rest are people with minimal education / skill have a higher labor rate?
confused2.gif


That is the reason I refuse to pay such extravagant rates, I know it's a rip off. You get, at best, an adequate service, expansive parts (that are now apparently sourced form aftermarket not OEM by a lot of dealerships, but the price is still as if they were OEM) and labor, and on top of that you have angry techs working on your car because the get screwed as well.


Many other people and overhead costs have to comeout of that $120 hour rate. In addition to the touch labor tech, you have service advisor, billing people, parts people and slew of others. Also the cost of of utilities and the note from the bank has to be paid. After all that, then "maybe" the owner gets his dime out of it.

It is not like they charge $120, pay the tech $10 and $110 is pure profit. Over the years, many dealerships have been required due to franchise agreements for storefronts to have certain amount of space, look and feel. This has required many dealership owners to take out the high dollar loan for the megaplex type dealership construction and that has costs needing to be paid.

Everybody is a little socialist when they want to cry about wages but nobody wants it to come out of their pockets in the end, so the status norm stays the same. People are not slaves to jobs and if they take a job not making their bills, then they either lower their debt or expand their skill set for a better paying job. I do not buy into the bull puckey that the consumer should accept substandard work because the worker is getting paid a low wage. If the market for oil tech is $10 and hours then that tech should be doing the best oil change service for that price.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
That is why I always wondered where the $100-120 an hour labor charge comes from.
I work for an aerospace company and our engineering hourly rate is at $100 and hour and it includes all costs associated, so the engineers with years of experience and thousands spent on education never see that rate.

How can a dealership, employing few master techs and the rest are people with minimal education / skill have a higher labor rate?
confused2.gif


That is the reason I refuse to pay such extravagant rates, I know it's a rip off. You get, at best, an adequate service, expansive parts (that are now apparently sourced form aftermarket not OEM by a lot of dealerships, but the price is still as if they were OEM) and labor, and on top of that you have angry techs working on your car because the get screwed as well.

You got it wrong. $100-120 is the "shop labor" charge not an individual mechanic labor charge
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
KrisZ said:
If the market for oil tech is $10 and hours then that tech should be doing the best oil change service for that price.


Exactly...it's called work ethic.
 
Originally Posted By: Hootbro
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
That is why I always wondered where the $100-120 an hour labor charge comes from.
I work for an aerospace company and our engineering hourly rate is at $100 and hour and it includes all costs associated, so the engineers with years of experience and thousands spent on education never see that rate.

How can a dealership, employing few master techs and the rest are people with minimal education / skill have a higher labor rate?
confused2.gif


That is the reason I refuse to pay such extravagant rates, I know it's a rip off. You get, at best, an adequate service, expansive parts (that are now apparently sourced form aftermarket not OEM by a lot of dealerships, but the price is still as if they were OEM) and labor, and on top of that you have angry techs working on your car because the get screwed as well.


Many other people and overhead costs have to comeout of that $120 hour rate. In addition to the touch labor tech, you have service advisor, billing people, parts people and slew of others. Also the cost of of utilities and the note from the bank has to be paid. After all that, then "maybe" the owner gets his dime out of it.

It is not like they charge $120, pay the tech $10 and $110 is pure profit. Over the years, many dealerships have been required due to franchise agreements for storefronts to have certain amount of space, look and feel. This has required many dealership owners to take out the high dollar loan for the megaplex type dealership construction and that has costs needing to be paid.

Everybody is a little socialist when they want to cry about wages but nobody wants it to come out of their pockets in the end, so the status norm stays the same. People are not slaves to jobs and if they take a job not making their bills, then they either lower their debt or expand their skill set for a better paying job. I do not buy into the bull puckey that the consumer should accept substandard work because the worker is getting paid a low wage. If the market for oil tech is $10 and hours then that tech should be doing the best oil change service for that price.



So you're saying that the $120 an hour covers all other expanses for the whole dealership? Why is that? Aren’t the parts sold at a profit as well, that should cover the parts guy, the service advisor sells services which aren't all labor as well, you have fluids, parts and other things that are all sold at profit. Also aren't there salespeople that make profit on selling cars? So the dealer has all these sources of profit but only the labor covers the cost of running the place? Sorry I don’t buy it.

Again, I realize dealers are not charities, but this is ridiculous and there is no excuse for it. Upgrades to facilities and equipment should've been budgeted from the beginning not passed along to the customer as increased labor charge. It's not like dealers don't know about them, it's in their contracts.

I mean, do you go to your boss and ask him for a raise because you just bought new appliances or had to repair the roof on you house? Of course not, so why should a dealer do the same?
 
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