Dealership Oil Change Experience

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ

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?


It all pools together to cover costs. Car sales, parts sales and service sales all have overhead factored in. Believe it or not but that is how it works. Try running a multimillion dollar business and tell me how you are going to cover cost?

Can not help if you believer or not believe the reality of business.

Also, if the dealership is of a larger stock holding ownership, then expect that 25% plus profits have to be maintained above costs. Everybody wants to find a "Fat Cat" to demonize but in the end, reality and perception are two different worlds.

 

[FZ1]

I got 2 words for you boys. "Express Lube". My Honda dealer has a drive thru lube facility with a drooped work bay so the techs can stand up,below your car,and do the filter/drain/new filter thang. Seperate waiting room where you can watch your car,29 point check,free air,etc. $15. I bring my own Auto Zone "5 quart deal" of M1 EP w/M1 filter for $35. You boys can argue the merits,I'm just Gittin' my Awl changed.

 

[KrisZ]

Quote:
Try running a multimillion dollar business and tell me how you are going to cover cost?


And a multimillion dollar aerospace corporation is what somehow easier to run?

If they have a lower hourly rate, while paying for engineers, instead of high school dropouts (not that I think that everybody that works at the dealership is a high school dropout, but they're not university types either), then what does it tell you about the dealer?

The difference is that in aerospace everybody knows the true cost of repair and running the facilities, but in automotive, people are just clueless and accept everything dealer tells them at face value. How else can you explain, for example, the same service at Honda will be much cheaper than at Acura dealer? Charging $150 for 3qts ATF drain and fill or $100 for a can of throttle body cleaner and injector cleaner, 25% profit my [censored].

 

[pavelow]

As long as they didn't put a Fram or some other cheap [censored] filter on it, you're good to go.

 

[someguy]

The OP name is perfect for his post.

The local Nissan dealer will change the oil in Pathfinder and rotate tires for $30 and its 5 3/8 qts. Last time they used a Nissan filter and Valvoline 5W-30 bulk or at least they had a Valvoline reminder sticker. They will do every other oil change while under warranty and I hope they find something to fix for free while its there.

 

[buster]

This is the worst thread of all time.

 

[bigmike]

Originally Posted By: beaker60
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.


This sounds like what my neighbor's grandkid told me not that long ago. When I first met him, he told me he was a GM certified ASE mechanic. He also told me he just quit because the oil changers were making more money than he was. After listening to his story and reading your explanation, it sure sounds plausible.

It really is sad. This guy has a good talent, but can't use it to get by because he's being stepped on from above.

 

[yeti]

buster -- you state that this is the worst thread of all time (joking).several posters have said, in different ways, that the OP is whining.what about many recent threads about whining/itching about everyday goings on ? -- one about a guy that got burned/or not by a dealer (66 replies of 2099 views). or, is anyone sick of his job ? 114/ 4314 views.or, getting depressed between oil changes? (55 of 1477).a recent one itching about some driving stupidity (5 of 368).there's often someone itching about -- somebody cut me off, or why can't people merge properly -- or some other inane bee sss, about which most posters do not care. the proof is in the replies per views.
my favourite is a kid asking for advice on how to pick up a female in his class.all of the above are classic funny stuff.i can't stomach reading every post in these inane/stupid/ goofy threads -- but some are funny, and entertaining.
so -- to those that often post the whining/itching type threads-- keep up the good work.
there was a recent request to helen/mods to create a section for something, but i don't recall what was the subject matter. perhaps, a forum/section could be created for inane/stupid/whining threads, as well. it would free up a lot of space on the other fora,such as auto general topics, pcmo, and general topics. food for thought.i can picture helen/mods smiling.
at any rate, opinions of threads are subjective, and, to each his own.but, replies/views ratio is a telling factor.have a good night, all.
what say you, buster?

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Originally Posted By: buster
This is the worst thread of all time.

I think we should start a thread debating this.

 

[Silver]

Originally Posted By: buster
This is the worst thread of all time.

OMGWTF

 

[Camu Mahubah]

Originally Posted By: pavelow
As long as they didn't put a Fram or some other cheap [censored] filter on it, you're good to go.


Pavelow? Is that a helicopter?

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
I had planned to change the oil myself, but the weather was too cold for me to do the oil change in my unheated garage.


What is too cold in Cali these days? 72 degrees? I've changed the oil in my car when it was 15F with about a 20 mph wind.

Seriously......for 15 bucks I cannot believe the amount of belly-aching you did.

 

[hounddog]

Warranty times aren't bad.It goes with the job.Techs know this when they hire on.Warranty times a 130% is Chilton flat rate.Most good techs hit right on warranty flat rate or beat it.