[rant]
Why is it when you need info about your car you have NO ONE AT ALL to ask. I mean that I can post here and wait for an answer but the place that should have ALL of the answers the dealer doesn't know jack **** about cars in general much less the cars they service.

You can't call the factory and talk to the engineer that knows about the part you want to know about so it is completely fair to call the dealer and ask your questions. Anyone ever had a parts department do the research for you and call you back. I would bet less than .0009% of the time that happens.

I just wish our only link to our cars manufacturer was worth a rap
[/rant]

 

Hear that. I hate dealing with those people.

 

they are stunnas...

 

They don't know anything and don't really care much. It would be much appreciated if they just said "You know what, I honestly don't know, but I'll try my best to find out for you". That would be good customer service. Not only are they knowledge-less, but they have terrible customer service. I've learned more on H-T, under/in my car and spending time with my head buried in the Helms than I have learned anywhere else. Hell, I had a service manager at a dealer tell me that my car had a bent strut!!!

 

I only wish the service manager was an ex-technician. At least then, he would have proper diagnoses about time and costs of repairs.

A friend of mine broke one of the valve cover studs, the service manager told him it would be a 3 hour repair costing about $200. I replaced the stud for him in 20 minutes for $3 (cost of the stud).

 

What is improper about the quoted cost and time?

How do you think they make a buck?

 

but if dealers had all the answers h-t wouldn't b as fun i agree it does suck that honda and acura dealers seem to be around to sell cars and that's about it.... but it's always nice to find a service manager who won't let anyone but his best mechanic touch your car -rob

 

There are a few that know what's going on.

 

You think 3 hours vs 20 minutes is an accurate quote? The won't make any money if they give out they over quote by 900%. A more accurate quote would be 1 hour of labor @ $70.

 

If I was the person who quoted you three hours to change the part, you would be charged for three hours of labor and your car wouldn't be ready for three hours.

Get it?

That's how dealerships work.

 

Here's my dealer rant:

Since I didn't have a power bleeder at the time and it was time for a scheduled maintenance anyway, I decided to have the dealer install my stainless brake lines and replace the fluid with ATE.

Well, they made me talk to a technician when I dropped the car off in the morning to explain what I wanted done. So I explain it to him and he starts asking me if the ATE is DOT3 or DOT4 and telling me that DOT3 is what is recommended by Honda and I should just stick with the Honda brake fluid. I guess I should have known better right then and just left, but no, I'm stupid, so I just explained to him that the ATE was what I wanted to use and could he please use that. Fine.

So I pick up the car that evening and get in to drive it away and find that when I press on the brake pedal, it goes all the way to the floor with very little effort. This obviously means that the system hasn't been bled all the way, so I take it back and tell the tech receptionist the problem. She goes and gets the mechanic (different mechanic) who proceeds to tell me that he's sure that he got all of the air out and the only reason that the pedal is so squishy is because the brake fluid I gave them to use is "more watery than regular brake fluid".

Now I guess I probably should have torn the guy a new a$$hole and demanded that they fix it immediately, but I really don't like to argue with people and between the dude in the morning giving me **** about the brake fluid and this moron now claiming that his screw up was due to the fluid being "watery", I could tell it would be a big argument to get them to fix it. So I just said "um, yeah, right", left, drove home very carefully, and bled the brakes.

Anybody want to guess if I got any air out?

No more dealers, never again, not even for scheduled maintenance if I can avoid it.

 

Back on topic. So what you are saying is that dealerships are not morons, they just act that way to make a buck.

As a business, over charging one customer isn't going to make you money in the long run. Great service and fair prices will get you repeat customers that will make you more money.

This is the information era (internet, tv, etc.), you can't assume your customers are F'N idiots.

 

I had a problem at one dealer. They kept messing **** up all the time. So I stopped going to dealers for about 4 months. Started a new job and there was a dealer by my office. needed an alignment so i brought it it. They said they couldnt do it because of the lips on the Spoon rims. They didnt have the right part to do it. I said Ok Ill bring the stockers tommorrow. But they had washed my car for me free of charge since it was filthy. Needless to say I have had ZERO problems with this dealer and I actaully look forward to them servicing my car. Of course if helps when they have over 1.5 milllion dollars of NSX in the parking lot and rated one of the top dealers in the country. Thats my story and I am outta here!!!!

 

A lot of them have very little knowledge, but they have much more knowledge than the general public.

All dealerships charge an arm and a leg for work. The average consumer can not do repairs on his vehicle himself and is willing to spend the extra money to take it to the dealership for repairs. People believe that the dealership should know what they are doing, since they sell the vehicles.

You are giving people far too much credit. Try asking non-car enthusiasts if they have a timing belt or a timing chain on their car.

 

Reid, I see your point, but I'm with Tommy.. There is a difference between making a profit and flat out ripping people off. What is even more appalling is getting unsatisfactory work done to your car and getting a big bill/ripped off. Like Tommy said, they should've charged one hour service and they made their profit. In reality it only took them 15 minutes. Good, HONEST service will bring that custumer and MORE customers in the future. Word of mouth travels fast, especially when unsatisfactory work is performed. to dealers who don't know **** and rip people off...

 

Most dealers suck..example 1) When I bought the R, I had to teach them about the car and the parts that were different then GS-R. 2) The other day, with my new hatchcrap, the head person in the service department........."Ah, what kind on engine is that, Why did you put it in there?

Andy: who can't stand going to dealership......makes me sick.

 

Yeah they are kind of stupid. But it's just their job. I asked the parts guy if he could find out what the bias ratio was on the Type R LSD and he had no clue what I was talking about. Oh well, sometimes you can't have all the answers.

 

If you can't do your own wrenching try and find a reputable mechanic. A well known "family" mechanic is a plus. Fortunately, I know a guy, almost like an uncle that I can trust with any car and know he's not ripping me off and his work is top-notch..

 

Well, i dont want to toot my own dealers horn, but we do go that extra mile here 90% of the time. I tell employees and managers alike, if you dont know the answer, dont BS them. These people are on the internet and can find out the answers and find out that you are lying.

Our parts guys know cars and for the most part can tell you what you need to know or find it out for you. We didnt become the #1 dealer for customer satisfaction in the US by being ******** and lying ya know! (we have since lost the number 1 dealer ranking but are climbing right back up there....its hard getting to number 1...its even harder to stay there...but we're still the same great people.)

 

asahi is StUnNa #1

 

I just went to the Acura dealership in town to pick up a PCV valve. After 10 minutes of searching, the parts guy said that it wasn't available separately, it comes as part of the manifold

 

if you need help geting part #'s from honda, I just got the dealer parts cd with all of complete diagrams of honduhs, acura, motorcycles, and power equipment

dont ask how i got it, and no, you cant have a copy y'all