Some Honest Places Left!

[SGRIM]

My 05 Duramax GMC wrecker has been down for all most a month... Well carried to a GMC/Chevy dealer that I normally deal with a lot, as they solicit my business frequently, and got an estimate for 44 to $4,800 Said needed all new injectors, leveling pumps, and fuel pumps...

Well carried to another local dealer that some friends recommended in another town. Got a call yesterday it was ready... Fixed it for the big price of $157:biggrin: I know the guy thought I was crazy I yelled so loud I thanked them a million times and promised to bring all my work I could to them...

All it was a little programming issue and a ground had came loose going to one of my injectors... Checked all inj's and said some where getting close but to just run some cleaner through them and keep riding:biggrin:

I am just floored that some can be so full of it and others are still good enough to be honest...

 

[Rubicon 327]

Wow, that is something right there! I would go back and throw it in the face of the other dealer......yeah I know not worth the trouble!

I have to go to the dealer tomorrow and have them look at my #6 glow plug that my scanner says is bad. Of course they have to scan it themselves cause they don't believe me ....which fine but don't be so snotty about it which "SHE" was. And I asked if they would fix it that day and she says " we don't just keep glow plugs on the shelf, that's like a $175.00 part..........I almost went off on her but just bit my tongue and will wait and see how "my dealer" will treat me.

Glad your new place took care of you!

 

[SGRIM]

Wow, that is something right there! I would go back and throw it in the face of the other dealer......yeah I know not worth the trouble!

I have to go to the dealer tomorrow and have them look at my #6 glow plug that my scanner says is bad. Of course they have to scan it themselves cause they don't believe me ....which fine but don't be so snotty about it which "SHE" was. And I asked if they would fix it that day and she says " we don't just keep glow plugs on the shelf, that's like a $175.00 part..........I almost went off on her but just bit my tongue and will wait and see how "my dealer" will treat me.

Glad your new place took care of you!

I plan to let the owner know, as he is the one that solicited my business and promised to take care of me to start off with...........

Good luck tomorrow, isn't great talking to people that absolutely have no business talking about a vehicle let alone specific parts...

 

[LC2ROD]

Glad you made out. Moral of the story...ALWAYS get a second opinion! I would definately bring it to the attention of the other dealer and tell them how impressed you were with the honesty of the dealer that fixed it for less than the tax you would have paid to those thieves.

 

[Rubicon 327]

I plan to let the owner know, as he is the one that solicited my business and promised to take care of me to start off with...........

Good luck tomorrow, isn't great talking to people that absolutely have no business talking about a vehicle let alone specific parts...

Thanks, I'm probably gonna need it!

Yeah she seems like she could be fun to deal with! I'm hoping to get them all done under warranty otherwise I'll probably just bring it home and do it myself.

 

[gnxtc2]

My 05 Duramax GMC wrecker has been down for all most a month... Well carried to a GMC/Chevy dealer that I normally deal with a lot, as they solicit my business frequently, and got an estimate for 44 to $4,800 Said needed all new injectors, leveling pumps, and fuel pumps...

Well carried to another local dealer that some friends recommended in another town. Got a call yesterday it was ready... Fixed it for the big price of $157:biggrin: I know the guy thought I was crazy I yelled so loud I thanked them a million times and promised to bring all my work I could to them...

All it was a little programming issue and a ground had came loose going to one of my injectors... Checked all inj's and said some where getting close but to just run some cleaner through them and keep riding:biggrin:

I am just floored that some can be so full of it and others are still good enough to be honest...

Very few dealership mechanics are true mechanics. Most of them are just parts changers and can't diagnosis an issue if their life depended on it.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[GNTIM]

What gnxtc2 said, but that applies to all shops, I think. You also have to look out for the tech who wants to sell as much as possible to pad his paycheck. These were the most frustrating things I had to deal with as a shop owner.

 

[Black3]

Very few dealership mechanics are true mechanics. Most of them are just parts changers and can't diagnosis an issue if their life depended on it.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

Yup. Old school mechanics who can trouble shoot are getting few and far between. They can scan for codes and swap the parts they're told to but, put a carb in front of them and they wet themselves.

 

[GNBRETT]

wow! what a bouch of scumbags! I would go onto every truck site on the planet and post a thread just like this naming the dealership in BIG BOLD letters.

 

[1987BuickGN]

Thats a shame that happened to you but I do not think its the "dealerships" (as a whole)fault this occured. I know we sometimes want to punish the whole for the actions of a few, but I wouldnt trash the name of the dealership because 1 of their employees didnt do thier job. I would ask to speak with the service manager, correspond your dealing and service experience. State someone in their service department is not either a) a very honest/trustworthy employee or b) not qualified to make assessments/troubleshoot the work as presented. Then state you dont feel its unreasonable to ask what will be done to correct this error/practice of doing business. Thats what I would do.

With that said, I was a technician for maybe 20 years. I stopped working on cars about 10 years ago. In the late 80 to early 90s working at a GM dealership we were taking in more work than we could do. We were always on a 5-7 day backlog before a car could come into the shop. My best friend has stayed in the business but has move onto a different "skill group". He now does used car make ready. The reason I bring this up, in talking with him I find times have changed and made a bad way of making a living worst.In the past you would have to compete,cheat,lie, buddy up w/ advisors, etc to get the "gravy" work.Now delearships are finding that work is tough to come by.Instead of trying to get a particular job, now techs try to make all they can on the select jobs they do get.In the past techs would "flat rate" jobs primarly on warranty work to basically get paid for work they didnt do.It was common practice to save parts that could be turned in for some other job and get paid to do something you hadnt done.Now the technician (and not all) in order to survive attempts to sell all he can so he can make a pay check,at the customers expense. To be honest, I hated every minute of working on cars under the systems most had in place. Crappy insurance, no sick time, no holiday time, they gave you vacation time but you were afraid to take it wondering if someone was going to backflag you while you were off, had to compete with other technicians for work, always had to be aware of people manipulating the system taking work out of turn or work that you had prior diagnosed, had to always be aware of someone sabatoging your work, pranks dealing with tools or toolboxes (oh, and you have to hope your 50k dollar toolbox doesnt get stolen cause their insurance didnt cover your belongings)....again, my experience was it was a crappy way to make a living and I have to assume its gotten worst with less available work...sorry for the mini rant....just wanted to share my thoughts.....

What has occured obviously is wrong, but the systems these dealers have in place sure does magnify a problem that has not gone away since Ive been around....

 

["Turbo-T"]

Sounds about like when my dad worked as an auto body repairman in the late 70's/early 80's for a few car dealerships. He would tell me stories on how they'd often snicker behind the doors about who they ripped off that day, by selling them whatever unnecessary repair to their vehicle, and laugh all the way to the bank about it.

 

[machinegun]

Not all shops are like this although it is hard to find any that are.

True mechanics are getting even harder to find, most cant diagnose anything and just throw parts at issues.

I cant count the number of times I have worked on a vehicle for a customer who was grateful to pay the 35 to 45 dollar man hour to fix their issue. Others would just say needs this that or the other thing for x amount of dollars and I would fix it for half to a third of the price for labor and a few inexpensive parts. It is amazing to me that so many seem to listen to the computer but dont bother to check items such as grounds, corroded connections or deteriorated wires.

I will say that I do get some customers who do not want to spend money on labor as they feel they are not getting anything for it, I send them down the road as it is not worth my time to deal with them.

I am lucky since I do not do this for a living but to help support my performance and shooting habit, however when I did do it for a living I still could not just replace parts to make a buck.

I am happy with this thinking and would not change it, too bad to some the quick sale and easy money means more than doing a good job.