Today when picking up my 97 Camry from service at the Toyota dealer, I asked if they were recommending 10k OCIS with full syn for the 07 Camry that my wife owns. Realize that Toyota recommends 10K oci in the 2010 and newer Camry's with the exact same engine. The service writer responded that they don't recommend full syn in the 07 at all because the seals in that engine will leak with full syn. Right on the filler cap it suggests 0W20 as a viscosity choice. At least in 07, there were no 0W20 choices available that weren't full syn. Moreover, the 97 Camry that I was picking up and in which they had just installed full syn has 238,000 and doesn't leak oil.
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Where do they find service writers
- Thread starter teddyboy
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Service writers like this do not inspire confidence in the dealership at all.
My landlord is a service writer. One who quit turning wrenches in the 80's.
His opinions are facts, and anybody who does not agree with him on everything is a drooling knuckle dragger. Then out comes the lecture why he is right and everybody else is wrong. There is no room for debate. Black and white, and only he has the foresight to know what is always best.
I apparently am an idiot for NOT using 20w 50 with a zinc additive, or a straight 30 in my rebuilt 318.
Also, everybody online is a drooling knuckle dragger who knows nothing about anything.
My mind is always somewhere else when he begins these lectures as I pretend to listen, and ignore.
His opinions are facts, and anybody who does not agree with him on everything is a drooling knuckle dragger. Then out comes the lecture why he is right and everybody else is wrong. There is no room for debate. Black and white, and only he has the foresight to know what is always best.
I apparently am an idiot for NOT using 20w 50 with a zinc additive, or a straight 30 in my rebuilt 318.
Also, everybody online is a drooling knuckle dragger who knows nothing about anything.
My mind is always somewhere else when he begins these lectures as I pretend to listen, and ignore.
The best service writer I ever worked with was a mechanic until somewhere in his 50s he decided his body wasn't happy with that sort of work anymore. The second best was a guy he found selling furniture in the store across the street and trained to be his replacement when he retired.
Mostly, service writers are just whoever walks in off the street and can speak English somewhat fluently. The highest paid service writers tend to be pretty women.
Mostly, service writers are just whoever walks in off the street and can speak English somewhat fluently. The highest paid service writers tend to be pretty women.
I love the knuckle dragger reference......Very funny.
Pretty women. I could see that possibly being true.
Pretty women. I could see that possibly being true.
The Stealers are funny you can ask 3 different people one question and get 3 different answers
Basically if it's under warranty it's working perfect if the warranty is expired it needs expensive repairs.. That seems to be the way they All work here in NJ..
Here is a good one i heard at a dealer a while back a women was complaining about a stalling issue on her 5 month old car the dealer checked it out and found the problem! Get this... There was 33 pounds of air in the front left tire and almost 40 pounds in the other and that is why it sometimes stalled out...
Here is another crazy excuse when under factory warranty:
your car is designed to smoke every now and then.. This was at a v.w. stealer...They always try to get out of warranty work because they Make very little money on that kind of work! Always remember two words when a stealer says he wont fix it under warranty...Lemon Law that way you get the newest model free!
Basically if it's under warranty it's working perfect if the warranty is expired it needs expensive repairs.. That seems to be the way they All work here in NJ..
Here is a good one i heard at a dealer a while back a women was complaining about a stalling issue on her 5 month old car the dealer checked it out and found the problem! Get this... There was 33 pounds of air in the front left tire and almost 40 pounds in the other and that is why it sometimes stalled out...
Here is another crazy excuse when under factory warranty:
your car is designed to smoke every now and then.. This was at a v.w. stealer...They always try to get out of warranty work because they Make very little money on that kind of work! Always remember two words when a stealer says he wont fix it under warranty...Lemon Law that way you get the newest model free!
teddyboy
Thread starter
Originally Posted By: yonyon
The best service writer I ever worked with was a mechanic until somewhere in his 50s he decided his body wasn't happy with that sort of work anymore. The second best was a guy he found selling furniture in the store across the street and trained to be his replacement when he retired.
Mostly, service writers are just whoever walks in off the street and can speak English somewhat fluently. The highest paid service writers tend to be pretty women.
If I wanted to get really bad advice from a pretty woman, I'd just call my ex wife.
The best service writer I ever worked with was a mechanic until somewhere in his 50s he decided his body wasn't happy with that sort of work anymore. The second best was a guy he found selling furniture in the store across the street and trained to be his replacement when he retired.
Mostly, service writers are just whoever walks in off the street and can speak English somewhat fluently. The highest paid service writers tend to be pretty women.
If I wanted to get really bad advice from a pretty woman, I'd just call my ex wife.
Well, he was indeed wrong about this . Really, no big deal.
He may be right about 99.9% of other things.
He is a service writer there [for more than 2 weeks] because he is making the dealership money.
He may be right about 99.9% of other things.
He is a service writer there [for more than 2 weeks] because he is making the dealership money.
Kestas
Staff member
Nobody aspires to be a service writer. It's a job you end up with.
Being in such a position empowers the service writer and tends to give him a swelled ego.
Of course the exception is the retired mechanic yonyon mentions.
Being in such a position empowers the service writer and tends to give him a swelled ego.
Of course the exception is the retired mechanic yonyon mentions.
I once had a service writer debate with me whether the crankshaft damper was part of the powertrain or not...
I had another service writer debate with me as to why the technician had to test drive my car for ten miles after installing a new ignition lock cylinder...
Service writers are just glorified receptionists from what I have seen. Then again, with my distaste for those places, I honestly haven't seen many. I really try to avoid dealerships if at all possible. They make me feel in need of a shower. Ughhh.
I had another service writer debate with me as to why the technician had to test drive my car for ten miles after installing a new ignition lock cylinder...
Service writers are just glorified receptionists from what I have seen. Then again, with my distaste for those places, I honestly haven't seen many. I really try to avoid dealerships if at all possible. They make me feel in need of a shower. Ughhh.
It's hard for any dealer's to find service writer's that know anything about fixing or maintaining a vehicle because most knowledgable people would rather turn wrenches than deal with customers. A good tech also makes more money than a good writer.
As far a training, most writers do receive training from the manufacturer, but it is geared more toward selling service. They do not receive any technical training. Writer's are told by the manufacturer to follow their guidlines to the letter. They are trained by the dealership to sell as much as they can.
Not many customers ask technical questions, and do put their full faith in the service department to take care of their vehicle. Writers,for the most part do not have answer even basic technical questions, but when they do, they are expected to answer truthfully, even if the answer is "I don't know, let me go ask one of the techs."
Also keep in mind, the writer is your point of contact, and the person you are going to hold accountable, and they know that very well. They also know that their dealership may have practices that don't follow the manufacturer's recommendations, like, using 5w30 conventional oil instead of 0w20 synthetic.
When you question them on such items, they are not going to want to accept blame for that, and then have to tell you that they can redo the oil change, but you will have to pay the difference in cost for the 0w20 that they will get from the parts store at full retail and then mark up 100%.
There are good writers out there, and they are knowledge junkies. They will ask questions of their techs and read everything they get their hands on. They are the ones that love cars, but also enjoy working with people. If you are a technically inclined customer, sure, you will stump a writer. It's not their job to fix them, it's their job to be able to communicate your concern to the technician in detail, and then relay what happened to repair your vehicle in simple layman's terms. But again, the best writers will go above and beyond to learn about the vehicle that come into their shop.
As far a training, most writers do receive training from the manufacturer, but it is geared more toward selling service. They do not receive any technical training. Writer's are told by the manufacturer to follow their guidlines to the letter. They are trained by the dealership to sell as much as they can.
Not many customers ask technical questions, and do put their full faith in the service department to take care of their vehicle. Writers,for the most part do not have answer even basic technical questions, but when they do, they are expected to answer truthfully, even if the answer is "I don't know, let me go ask one of the techs."
Also keep in mind, the writer is your point of contact, and the person you are going to hold accountable, and they know that very well. They also know that their dealership may have practices that don't follow the manufacturer's recommendations, like, using 5w30 conventional oil instead of 0w20 synthetic.
When you question them on such items, they are not going to want to accept blame for that, and then have to tell you that they can redo the oil change, but you will have to pay the difference in cost for the 0w20 that they will get from the parts store at full retail and then mark up 100%.
There are good writers out there, and they are knowledge junkies. They will ask questions of their techs and read everything they get their hands on. They are the ones that love cars, but also enjoy working with people. If you are a technically inclined customer, sure, you will stump a writer. It's not their job to fix them, it's their job to be able to communicate your concern to the technician in detail, and then relay what happened to repair your vehicle in simple layman's terms. But again, the best writers will go above and beyond to learn about the vehicle that come into their shop.
At a zoo!
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Originally Posted By: salv
There are good writers out there, and they are knowledge junkies. They will ask questions of their techs and read everything they get their hands on. They are the ones that love cars, but also enjoy working with people. If you are a technically inclined customer, sure, you will stump a writer. It's not their job to fix them, it's their job to be able to communicate your concern to the technician in detail, and then relay what happened to repair your vehicle in simple layman's terms. But again, the best writers will go above and beyond to learn about the vehicle that come into their shop.
Thank you for acknowledging this. I am a service writer of sorts ( i dont work at a dealership, I work for Goodyear, but I am often the person recommending services and such based on what my tech tells me ). My tech hates it if I come talk to him , because almost all my sentences start with "how?" "why?" "what?" "when?" . My aim is to have a informative answer for any question a customer might have. Or I tell them Ill find out and call them back.
Its the same with service writers as with any other occupation. You are going to have your bad apples. Dealerships are the most lucrative , hence more people get greedy and become shady. But I have found good honest knowledgeable people just about anywhere including Meineke, Firestone, Discount Tire, Goodyear. Its the person , not the job.
There are good writers out there, and they are knowledge junkies. They will ask questions of their techs and read everything they get their hands on. They are the ones that love cars, but also enjoy working with people. If you are a technically inclined customer, sure, you will stump a writer. It's not their job to fix them, it's their job to be able to communicate your concern to the technician in detail, and then relay what happened to repair your vehicle in simple layman's terms. But again, the best writers will go above and beyond to learn about the vehicle that come into their shop.
Thank you for acknowledging this. I am a service writer of sorts ( i dont work at a dealership, I work for Goodyear, but I am often the person recommending services and such based on what my tech tells me ). My tech hates it if I come talk to him , because almost all my sentences start with "how?" "why?" "what?" "when?" . My aim is to have a informative answer for any question a customer might have. Or I tell them Ill find out and call them back.
Its the same with service writers as with any other occupation. You are going to have your bad apples. Dealerships are the most lucrative , hence more people get greedy and become shady. But I have found good honest knowledgeable people just about anywhere including Meineke, Firestone, Discount Tire, Goodyear. Its the person , not the job.
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
...
Basically if it's under warranty it's working perfect if the warranty is expired it needs expensive repairs...
Too often this has been my experience too.
And as written by others above, service writers tend to have very little technical knowledge about the vehicles. Ask them a logical technical question and most are clueless.
I wonder why many dealers don't realize that a customer's experience with warranty repairs (or any service) is a big factor towards whether this customer will come back for any business at this dealer.
...
Basically if it's under warranty it's working perfect if the warranty is expired it needs expensive repairs...
Too often this has been my experience too.
And as written by others above, service writers tend to have very little technical knowledge about the vehicles. Ask them a logical technical question and most are clueless.
I wonder why many dealers don't realize that a customer's experience with warranty repairs (or any service) is a big factor towards whether this customer will come back for any business at this dealer.
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