GN dissed at a Buick Dealership!

[daily driver]

So I go to my local GMC-Buick dealership the other day thinking that would be a good place to get the front end aligned on my 86 GN. The dealer has been in that location for quite a while and I have had them work on my 02 GMC Envoy once and ordered 86-87 Buick parts from them more than once. I am about third in line early Sat morning and when the service advisor approaches the car from the front , he looks at it and starts the usual questions, "What year model?", "What can I do for you?" He sits in the car and writes down the miles and looks around at it inside (stock GN interior) and out and says "Hey, nice car, looks like you've taken care of it." Then he walks around back still looking (maybe he is looking for the emblems that are not on it anymore?) Anyway he stands there and just when I think he is going to tell me that they can take care of me and my prized 86 GN, he says "So, what is it, a Monte Carlo?" I was not expecting that. I said "Why would I be here if it was a Monte Carlo?" He just shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't know much about the old ones" so I introduced him. "This is a 1986 BUICK Grand National" He said, "Yeah, uhh, cool, I was born in 84" I then went on to tell him a few things I thought he should know if he was going to work at a Buick dealership. I was probably wasting my breath. Turns out they were not too sure about working on the car so I said nevermind and left. What was I thinking!?

 

[SouthernCal GN]

Some time ago, I took my GN to a Buick dealer for an oil change.....at the counter, the service writer (a self proclaimed muscle car freak) noted on the paperwork that the car was FWD, and then wanted to debate the fact that the car was in fact RWD.


I changed the oil myself.

 

[SS_Sean]

I had my car towed to the Buick Dealership here in town at about 2200 hours. I went home and called them first thing in the morning for an electrical problem. The dealership calls be back about three hours later and said their mechanic has refused to work on the car because it's heavily modified. I advised them the wiring is essentially stock, and they said they will not work on it, and that I needed to come remove the car. Absolutely amazing. I will never, ever do business with them again. Turns out the problem was a bad battery that was intermittently shorting internally.

 

[SGRIM]

There was only one mechanic in my whole town at one time that could work on these cars. He was at the Buick dealership but after that

There have been some serious deals made on that ignorance. One dealership traded an old lady for and wholesaled it as a regular regal...

 

[turbopete]

Teach the kid a lesson

Take him for a ride, starting with a nice long burnout down the dealer's parking lot. I don't think he will have any more questions about Monte Carlo's with Buick badges...

 

[FreeBoost]

There was once a time being a qualified mechanic meant being able to diagnose an automotive problem, electrical or mechanical. It seems that today Dealers mechanics are nothing more than trained monkeys that can only turn wrenches or change components their computers tell them to. It's pretty sad then lay persons (as most of us are) are better at figuring out the problems these cars have than the dealers.

 

[turbojimmy]

There was once a time being a qualified mechanic meant being able to diagnose an automotive problem, electrical or mechanical. It seems that today Dealers mechanics are nothing more than trained monkeys that can only turn wrenches or change components their computers tell them to. It's pretty sad then lay persons (as most of us are) are better at figuring out the problems these cars have than the dealers.

Sad but true. I get tired of telling 'mechanics' how to fix my car. I don't have the time to do it myself, and would gladly pay them to do it, but they want to argue with me. I always wind up doing it myself. Then I know it's done right. Or, if it gets f'd up the person that's responsible actually takes accountability (me).

Jim

 

[BadAssGN]

There was once a time being a qualified mechanic meant being able to diagnose an automotive problem, electrical or mechanical. It seems that today Dealers mechanics are nothing more than trained monkeys that can only turn wrenches or change components their computers tell them to. It's pretty sad then lay persons (as most of us are) are better at figuring out the problems these cars have than the dealers.

Sadly this Stereotype rings throughout the industry.

I am a Very Qualified Heavy Truck Technician at a Kenworth Dealership.

I am certainly not a Trained monkey/ parts changer.

I take offence to be grouped into this stereotype.

The fact is, Dealership Techs have Troubleshooting steps that Must be followed in order for the dealer to be payed by the factory.( when warranty)

For instance, Clearly the vehicle is not Charging, I can't just change the alternator, I have to provide Output voltage and Amps. Voltage drop values on battery cables, and Battery load test printouts so the warranty Analysts can perform a failure analysis.

Dealer Techs are Higly trained and Must Follow protocol.

Cut them some Slack.

I can go on and on about the crap we face.

if Automotive dealer techs are different, then I apologise.
:redface:

 

[GNeric]

OMG!!! This describes our 22 year old "Master Tech" here at Toyota. He passed everything on paper but can not diagnose anything to save his life. He is just a parts exchanger that gets paid a lot and then has some excuse to tell the Service Advisor and they don't know better so they believe what he says. Example: 04 Tundra gets towed in for no start. He takes jump box out and starter "sounds" bad so he orders one. Next day when starter shows up, he removes intake and replaces starter. $816 and 2 hours later, truck has exact same problem. Now he has to find out what happened. Never did a starter draw test to see if it was bad. Found a loose wire in an aftermarket alarm system not closing relay properly and they backflagged him the full amount. ALWAYS asks me for help "what do you think about this?" I have stopped helping him and just either tell him "HMM...I don't know" or "Sorry, I am busy with my own work". He needs to move on down the road but can't fix anything anyway so he won't last anywhere else.

There was once a time being a qualified mechanic meant being able to diagnose an automotive problem, electrical or mechanical. It seems that today Dealers mechanics are nothing more than trained monkeys that can only turn wrenches or change components their computers tell them to. It's pretty sad then lay persons (as most of us are) are better at figuring out the problems these cars have than the dealers.

 

[QuickBuick87]

I have actually had a GM parts counter person ask me over the years:
Grand National.........That a V8??
Is that front or rear wheel drive??
They never made them with turbo V6's!!??
and MY personal favorite.....is that an auto or 5-speed!!

And no....I'M NOT KIDDING!!

 

[stunnin6]

i went to a local nissan dealership in my g/n to get a part for my suv,as i pulled in i could see a bunch of sales men looking at my car next thing i know they're calling other guys from inside to come and look at my car, i left the hood open so they could gander at the goods,as i came back out they were asking me a gazzillion questions about it,one guy told me his brother was across the street looking at a new zo6(THERE ARE ALOT OF DIFERRENT DEALERS ON THIS ST.) and that his brothers vette could take me, i quickly responded i'm game just tell your brother to pay the note and all the taxes and licensing and i'll race him for the pink slip,he got on his nextel and told his brother next thing i hear is chirp hell no i'm not racing one of those things, i told him i had smoked one recently and that his brother would have lost his new vette,yeah but you guys are right most mechanics today are just plug and play diagnose the problem,they wont tear into the engine if that's the case it goes back to the factory or replace the entire unit

 

[bison]

There was once a time being a qualified mechanic meant being able to diagnose an automotive problem, electrical or mechanical. It seems that today Dealers mechanics are nothing more than trained monkeys that can only turn wrenches or change components their computers tell them to. It's pretty sad then lay persons (as most of us are) are better at figuring out the problems these cars have than the dealers.

I could never work at a dealership service dept or any service dept that had nothing but morons. Id be constantly fixing their f ups. A lot of the guys on here have probably forgot more than some of those morons will ever know.

 

[BW Jones]

I have actually had a GM parts counter person ask me over the years:
Grand National.........That a V8??
Is that front or rear wheel drive??
They never made them with turbo V6's!!??
and MY personal favorite.....is that an auto or 5-speed!!
And no....I'M NOT KIDDING!!

Better yet ........ try going to a Pontiac dealership and ordering something for an '89 TTA. They'll argue that a turbo 3.8L V-6 was never offered in the '89 Trans Am and that someone must have changed the engine! And then they give you that look that implies you're ignorant.

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

Better yet ........ try going to a Pontiac dealership and ordering something for an '89 TTA. They'll argue that a turbo 3.8L V-6 was never offered in the '89 Trans Am and that someone must have changed the engine! And then they give you that look that implies you're ignorant.

x2, I head that at my local dealership as well, I left and ordered parts here on TB.COM and had my local mech. fix it

 

[INEEDAGN]

Sadly this Stereotype rings throughout the industry.

I am a Very Qualified Heavy Truck Technician at a Kenworth Dealership.

I am certainly not a Trained monkey/ parts changer.

I take offence to be grouped into this stereotype.

The fact is, Dealership Techs have Troubleshooting steps that Must be followed in order for the dealer to be payed by the factory.( when warranty)

For instance, Clearly the vehicle is not Charging, I can't just change the alternator, I have to provide Output voltage and Amps. Voltage drop values on battery cables, and Battery load test printouts so the warranty Analysts can perform a failure analysis.

Dealer Techs are Higly trained and Must Follow protocol.

Cut them some Slack.

I can go on and on about the crap we face.

if Automotive dealer techs are different, then I apologise.
:redface:

X2

Sorry guys, but you can't expect very many people to be familiar with a niche vehicle 20 years after the fact. Sure, you and I know that electronically they are virtually identical to any FWD 3800 from the late 80's, and there are very few vehicle specific parts here, and that this is multiport EFI and DIS in it's easiest, most basic form, but to someone who hasn't ran across one it can look intimidating. I've heard so many comments like "that thing has more sensors than the space shuttle" and "how can you keep finding parts for that thing". We all know there are morons in the industry that don't belong here but they usually weed themselves out over time. Most dealership techs are highly trained people that know their brand pretty well.

 

[asd60303]

I've only took my GN to the dealership once to pick up a part for my brothers GTO. There were a few car salesman that came out and were looking at it, it was pretty cool. They just asked your basic questions. You can't expect everyone to know alot about these cars.

 

[need boost]

I took mine for a front end alignment the other week and they had a new guy here at our dealership. I got lucky !!!!! Soon as he came out his eyes popped out his head and he said Oh man, I haven't seen one in a long time! I used to change head gaskets on these all the time when they came out from people turning up the boost to much lol. He went on and on about them giving me compliments on mine all the time. True turbo buick fan. He did a perfect job as well and when we got done we took it for a test drive and I let him drive her while I rode which is something I never do but he impressed me. I even told him to step on it a little but he wouldn't do it lol, he said let me pull over and you drive . Needless to say he got back out of it at the dealership with a HUGE smile on his face ! I even gave him a 20 buck tip and told him to have a good weekend and get a 6 pack on me. Sometimes you get lucky guys !!!!! Daniel

 

[gnxtc2]

I think this can happen at any repair shop. I take my GN to a recommended alignment shop. Mind you, they have a supposed alignment guru there. I hand the alignment guy my alignment specs and proceed to tell him "Do not go by factory specs. The car is not factory." Note: I put tubular arms with 1st Gen F-body spindles and manual steering on the front end which I made him aware of before he starts working on it. Guy says no problem.

He won't drive it and tells me to drive it on the rack. He set up the car and tells me to start it. I ask why do I have to start it. He tells me you have power steering and the computer says "Start it". I tell him the car has manual steering. At this point I felt like driving my car off the rack but I'll give him a chance. So he proceeds to get the toe in/out into specs. Then he tells me all done. I reply "What about the caster/camber?" He looks at me with his eyes and mouth open. Now he has to do some work. It took him 1.5 hrs to do the driver's side and he could only get it close and gave up. I told him forget about the passenger side.

What I notice today, there is no work ethic. Most want to wing it and be done with it. There is no more pride when someone does something.

That's why the illegals from Central America are cleaning up around here due to our own fault. I believe when someone gets laid off and wants unemployment, the unemployment office should have a list of jobs to hand out. There are plenty of contractors that need manual labor to be done, pick up litter from the highways, clean graffitti, etc, etc.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[klrv6]

Some time ago, I took my GN to a Buick dealer for an oil change.....at the counter, the service writer (a self proclaimed muscle car freak) noted on the paperwork that the car was FWD, and then wanted to debate the fact that the car was in fact RWD.


I changed the oil myself.

A slight demonstration would have easily proved it is rwd. As both tires are cooking, you could roll down your window and point to the rear tires as they are spinning "Look B$%^&, RWD!!!"


I worked at a dealer in Lexington, KY for a year. I worked on exactly 1000 cars that year. Only three came back on me. I made well below minimum wage because I refused to be like the other guys and hit the target of 75% come backs. That was the number management said was considered a good mechanic. Really? 75% of the cars were allowed to go out the door still broken. I saw one guy use on of those abrasive grinding disks to clean up the heads when he replaced the intake gaskets on a pristine ZR1. He just washed it all down the lifter valley with brake cleaner and put it back together. I hated how they would butcher cars just to make a few more dollars.

 

[FreeBoost]

The fact is, Dealership Techs have Troubleshooting steps that Must be followed in order for the dealer to be payed by the factory.( when warranty)

I once a took a completely stock Monte Carlo to a dealer with an intermitant no start problem. I even offered to let them use the GM shop manuals I had for the car. The response was "We have all the manuals - we don't need yours." The next day they return the car saying they can't find the problem and that will be $200. Needless to say they didn't get paid for their good intentions. The really sad things is that I used the manual that they turned down, followed the diagnostic chart (the very one the Dealership Techs Must followed) and solved the problem.