On April 15 I took my GMC Sierra 1500 to the dealer just south of Denton, I requested they perform the 30,000 mile service, first they wanted to do 'their' recommended service at a cost of 400-500 dollars. I said, "no way it runs good leave the fuel injectors alone, just do whats in the owners manual." Instead of checking and adding as required they drained and replaced the rear end lube, they drained out synthetic gear lube and filled with new at a cost of 27 dollars a quart x2. Total cost for the rear end service was 141.64 including 10 dollars to throw away my good gear lube. When I picked up my truck I questioned the charge for locking rear end service as my truck doesn't has a locking rearend, and was told by the service writer that all GMC's have locking rear ends. I realized then I was talking to someone willing to lie to clear a service ticket. I paid the bill, got my truck out of hock and out of their hands. When the customer followup arrived I unloaded, over the next few weeks I talked to many people and the final call was from the operations manager, He was pleasant and agreed with me that a wrong had been committed, he agreed to refund the charge for the rear end service. Today I received the check for 141.64 dollars.
Sad story good outcome
- Thread starter Bob Woods
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That is sad. Too bad GM will not take long term corrective action.
My local Honda dealership is no different. When I took my wifes 2003 CR-V in for a simple recall safety fix, they tried to tell me it needed the 30k service done for $400! I asked them what all needed to be done? They gave me a paper outlining what they do and when I compared it to the owners manual, several items aren't even called for. They lumped all CR-V's that are 95 and newer, into the same catagory as far as work needing to be performed. The latest generation is nothing like the older ones and require a whole different service interval.
Oh well, consumer beware.
Oh well, consumer beware.
Wife just took the Durango in for TPS sensor warranty repair (truck was stumbling sometimes at idle). Dealer (Mechanicsville Dodge in Richmond) recommended a 250 dollar fuel injector servicing. The Durango only has 25,000 miles on it. She told them no.
I don't really like the term stealership, but unfortunately many dealers deserve it.
They do it because they can. Most people are totally unaware of what their car really needs. It's not just the old stereotype that it's females either. I find that most customers think that if a dealership has "Honda" or "Chevrolet" on the sign, they actually think that those companies run the dealerships....that's why I think they trust them so much. In other words, it's like "nobody know's my Honda like Honda does". Like I said before, the consumer needs to be aware and educate themselves.
I must be lucky-every dealership that I have dealt with had been extremely good and honest with me. When I had my Dakota Granger Motors went above and beyond several times. Jordan Nissan has been excellent to work with (just had my Z in there for the 120K mile service last fall). And I can't say enough good about Bud Mulcaheys Jeep. Maybe it's a midwest thing...
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It's pressure from above. It isn't limited to dealers. Our local Firestone (the plant used to be down the street from the store) performs exactly what you want done. They'll sell you tires and this and that if you want it..but they know the capacity for economic insult of the average, or even atypical customer. On the back of every ticket is the "suggested services" that they send up the corporate chain. For my alignment and front wheel balance (somewhere around $75 total) the recommended services were over $450. I asked about it ..the service manager just laughed and said "I gotta tell them what they want to hear" ..and that was the end of it as far as he was concerned.
A pretty practical remedy I think.
A pretty practical remedy I think.
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