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better to buy where you intend to get it serviced?

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Comments

  • masspectormasspector Member Posts: 509
    Which infiniti do you have and what do you not like about it so much?

    zues- I guess mine and other buyers mind set is more on routine maint service than warranty work. I, as a buyer, am hoping my brand new car does not need any waranty work. I am sure you have seen otherwise in your experience.
  • zueslewiszueslewis Member Posts: 2,353
    most definitely on your statement. The people I deal with, and throwing myself into that group, wish that maintenance was all we had to deal with. I've dealt with more breakdowns and problems in 7,000 miles than most people see in 100,000 miles, if ever.
  • peeetepeeete Member Posts: 136
    I have a G35. It is an overall great car, but the driver seat is painful due to the seat controls being on the right side next to your leg. There are discussions about this on Edmunds, and a big one on Freshalloy. THere is a tsb on it, but Ive had it done and it doesnt work. The pain is so bad my foot was going numb after my drive today. This should not be happening in a 30K car.

    In addition, my dealer has been generally rude and unhelpful. Im not going to go through the details here, but I had an expectation, perhaps incorrect, that a "premium" dealer should provide "premium" service. Frankly my old Honda dealer Curry Honda in Yorktown Heights NY was fantastic and worlds above these guys.

    Even Infiniti consumer affairs took over a month to respond to my inquiry. "Sorry for the inconvenience" was all that I got.
  • masspectormasspector Member Posts: 509
    Sorry for the bad experience. I like the G35 alot, but not crazy about the interior look. Just curious because I have a QX4. I have not had a lot of service visits but the ones I have done have been fine.

    As far as premium dealers go, just ask my friend about his 99 lexus rx300 that had the oil sludge problem that toyota fought admitting to. They're car dealers. Yeah they have a more expensive product, but I have heard of just as bad or worse experiences from premium dealers as the regular ones.

    Thats funny we have a Curry Honda in my area too.
  • peeetepeeete Member Posts: 136
    I know Curry has a few stores outside of Westchester. They are headquartered near me. Most of their stores are guilty of "highway store syndrome" ie they are horrible. The Honda delaership, for some reason, is a huge exception. Their service is really great; they are very friendly, and their general manager is nice too. So their are always exceptions.

    You are correct regarding the variations in dealer quality regardless of price point. Many Infiniti dealers appear to go the extra mile for their customers, based on what I have read. Mine unfortunatly has an attitude.
  • brady_bunchbrady_bunch Member Posts: 21
    Sorry guys... I've been out of town for a few days. Man... look at all the commotion I caused with (what I thought) was a simple question. :)

    audia8q,

    >How much of a savings are we talking about???
    About $2000 (plus the interest financed over 4 years)

    >What is the service reputation of the dealer you intend to service your new car?
    Dunno... I don't even know anyone that owns a Subaru. :/

    >What kind of grief do you have to go through to save some $$$ at the other dealers to buy the car??
    Nothing so far. I spent a few minutes via email to one of the dealers in Austin and that's it. I haven't been in the actual store so I don't know if there are any specific hoops I would have to jump through.

    >How long do you plan on keeping your car?
    I've had my Miata for about 9 years so I would anticipate having the WRX for longer if it holds up (which I expect it will). The only reason I'm getting a new vehicle is the Miata is no longer practical with 2 kids. :)

    Thanks for all the input guys!
  • rivertownrivertown Member Posts: 928
    Good luck, Brady!

    (I hope your kids knwo how lucky they are to do the WRX carpool thing!)
  • janzjanz Member Posts: 129
    from our local 5* DC dealership for our JGC and we did not purchase it there. We drove about an hour to a smaller town for a better price.

    I wouldn't have even considered purchasing
    there especially based on the way I was ignored for 30 minutes as I was searching the lot and office for a salesman. Perhaps it's because I'm female. In any case, they also sell VW, Audi, Lexus, BMW and have a reputation of being uppity not negotiating on sales prices.

    On the other hand, my boss purchased her Jetta there and has had MAJOR electrical problems with her to the point that it's undrivable. She has run into nothing but dead ends in getting them to help. (The car IS out of the warranty by time, but barely out of warranty by mileage.)
  • brady_bunchbrady_bunch Member Posts: 21
  • audia8qaudia8q Member Posts: 3,138
    for $2000 savings I would buy from the "other" dealer.....but since dealers pay the same for new cars I'm always suspicious of a big difference like $2000....either something is different on the car or the potentially servicing dealer is only quoting MSRP until you get ready to haggle.

    Once you go down to the two dealerships we really don't know if they are working for your business or not.

    Rich
  • occupant1occupant1 Member Posts: 412
    it's better to buy the car at the dealer you intend to service it at, at the very least, you can use it as a bargaining tool...

    give me 5 free oil changes and I'll come up $100 on the car's price...

    finance your maintenance...what a deal!!!
  • thelthel Member Posts: 767
    I've bought several Hondas from the local Honda store, and have spent a small fortune with teir service department over the last 3-4 years. I have not been able to leverage any better deals b/c of this.

    In fact, the best deal I got their was the first car I bought, a 2001 CR-V in 2000. Paid $100 over invoice for it.

    For the Matrix I just bought, I went about 3 hours out of town to get it b/c I was in town (KC) anyway, and the local dealer did not have any of the XRS models in stock. So I bought it at the out of town dealership instead of going home and paying the local dealer $100-$200 to send some guy to go get it from the out of town store.

    If I have a warranty claim, will I take it to the local store? You bet. If they give me any guff about it, then i'll go somewhere else and never return to the local dealer...ever. I realize that it is the local dealer's right to refuse me warranty service, but they shouldn't expect it to engender any good will for the future if they do.
  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    Anytime that I buy a car for personal use, part of the offer includes a phrase that ANY dealer logos are to be removed from the car completely. If I need warranty service (which is rare as I buy the cars out of warranty as a general rule) I place an out of town dealer plates on the vehicle.

    That eliminates a lot of the "you didn't buy it here" nonsense that I have encountered over the years.
  • driftracerdriftracer Member Posts: 2,448
    requires the service advisor to run a VIN report, showing warranty status, before warranty work is done.

    It says right on the history where you bought it - I don't allow dealer tags or emblems either, though - they didn't give it to me for free, so I'm not advertising for them.
  • yamanyaman Member Posts: 113
    On our Acura,the dealer gives us free state inspections,every other oil change free and a free loaner on overnight service.On our MB,the dealer picks up the car,washes and vacuums it and leaves a loaner (all for free)-So,at least in our case,having the cars serviced where we bought has pretty significant benefits.
  • thelthel Member Posts: 767
    I don't know of any Toyota, Honda, or Mazda dealers that perform any of those complimentary services (Mazda does do free loaners, the one I got was a cig-smelly Impala from Enterprise with a do not smoke sign on the dashboard LOL).

    I have yet for the "you didn't buy it here so screw you" phenomenon to happen to me.

    I also have yet for the "you've bought so many cars and spent thousands of dollars at our store so here's a freebie we don't give to just anybody" phenomenon to occur either.

    I know that many of the pros that post here say that they do these things for their customers but they also appear to have a higher level of professionalism than any of the dealers that I've encountered around here.

    About the only benefit I've seen from my repeat business is a bit more of a "here's the keys,: attitude come test drive time than I get at some of the other stores. That and the sevice techs know my by my first name...not necessarily a good thing. ;)
  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    I see a LOT of dealerships that offer loaners when your car is in the shop for warranty repairs. The local Chevy dealer has 5 loaners, the local Olds-Nissan dealer has 8 loaners. A number of the places that DO not offer loaners arrange for a ride to get you to work.

    Car washes, etc - that is more along the lines of some of the luxury brands ...
  • glenonokaglenonoka Member Posts: 3
    Don't believe everything you hear. I was given a great sales pitch when Tri County Toyota in Limerick, PA sold me a used car. I only own new cars, but they made such great claims on how their certified gold warranty was going to take care of me, that I went with a used car instead of a new one. Sadly, it was all lies and deception. See my painful experience at:
    http://mysite.verizon.net/vzenvv0t/myexperiencewithtricountytoyota/
  • stockmanjoestockmanjoe Member Posts: 353
    The sales and service department are totally different. The service manager is happy to take your money regardless of where you bought the car. He doesn't even care what make it is if it is someting they can repair and you got the cash he'll work on it.

    Also the sales force turns over so rapidly your salesman will be selling copiers by the time you bring the car back for service anyway.
  • moonlight293moonlight293 Member Posts: 23
    My respect to you for your perserverence. Am looking to buy a used car; thanks for sharing your experience. Info on the warranty claims is helpful.
  • joel0622joel0622 Member Posts: 3,299
    I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have picked up the phone and got a good customer taken care of in Service. Be it a loaner car, a bump in the line because they were leaving on a trip, my cost on tires, complimentary oil changes, and the list goes on. Back when we used to have Demo's my demo would spend 3-5 days a week loaned out during the day while a good customer dropped there car off for service. I was spending $100 a week in gas when gas was $2.00 a gallon.

    Then again I have been here 14 years and have plans no of entering into the lucrative world of Copy machine Sales.

    So depending on if you have a professional sales person or not would really be the deciding factor in this convo.
  • canddmeyercanddmeyer Member Posts: 410
    I agree, buy it where you want, and service it where you want. Dealers in my experience don't do you any favors. There are exceptions of course, but in Sacramento County I haven't experienced nor heard of any special treatment with the exception of Acura dealers who go all out to keep their customers happy. Chevy, Toyota, Ford, and Honda haven't done anything for me I haven't paid for.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Before there were things like CSI surveys, some stores, especially domestics would flat out refuse to do warranty work on cars people had bought from another local dealer.

    In those days, anyway, they hated warranty work in the first place since it didn't pay nearly as well as customer pay.

    I heard the crusty owner of a small Buick Dealer tell a demanding customer once...

    " If that Mega Store was good enough to cut my throat for a hundred dollars, they ought to be good enough to do your %$#@ warranty work and you ought to be able to find your way back there!"

    I'm sure things are better these days.
  • mitzijmitzij Member Posts: 613
    As tempted as I have been to tell some people that, I bite my tongue. A customer is a customer is a customer. We can't afford to cherrypick. Hey, maybe I'll steal that megadealer's customer out from under him! A happy service customer often becomes a happy sales customer.
  • fezofezo Member Posts: 10,384
    Don't the manufacturers require a dealer to cover warranty work no matter where the car was bought? I remember a big deal years ago because that was GM and Chrysler's policy but Ford allowed the dealer to refuse work on cars not sold by teh specific dealer. During all that Ford changed their policy to that of GM and Chrysler because they were getting tons of negative publicity.

    I've had no problems getting warranty work done at the local Honda dealer but then I hardly ever have any and the reason I didn't buy at that dealership is that I bought an Ody when they were hard to find and tehy didn't have any.
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
  • mitzijmitzij Member Posts: 613
    Yes, dealers are required to warranty work on any vehicle. A Chevrolet dealer has to honor the warranty on all Chevys. Many dealers snake around this by claiming 'we don't have an appointment for two weeks', or some such excuse. You, as the customer, can't prove otherwise, so you get stuck waiting, or going back to your selling dealer.
    Usually, when a customer sheepishly says 'I didn't buy it from you guys, but...', I grin and say I'll forgive them 'this time' ;)
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 22,533
    "...when a customer sheepishly says 'I didn't buy it from you guys..."

    Of course the customer could add--"...but if you do a good job for me on this warranty work I might buy from you next time". Then if they give you a bunch of baloney they've lost a potential sale.

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

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