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better to buy where you intend to get it serviced?
maxwella11
Member Posts: 14
giving the dealer you intend to service it with last crack to beat any deal you may have found?
do you indeed get better service if you bought it at the servicing dealer?
do you indeed get better service if you bought it at the servicing dealer?
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Comments
Be careful about the lowest gross profit and the highest interest rate scenario.
Additionally, an independent franchised dealer can refuse service on vehicles not sold by their dealership. At two of the dealers I worked at (in service), I was specifically ordered "if it doesn't have our badge on the back, it doesn't come through the door".
The main premise there was at a smaller dealer in my hometown, we'd see folks after the fact that didn't give our dealership an opportunity at all during the purchase process, then go to Houston to the Chevy Supermarket, Landshark, I mean Landmark Chevrolet to talk to a salesman that wouldn't be working there in a week and to get a service tour in a department they'll never see.
That's why places like Landmark have such good CSI ratings - most of their customers are from 80 miles away or further.
Then, of course, the hometown dealer has to listen to embellished stories of fire and brimstone (Imangined warranty complaints) and lose his tail doing warranty work at 40 cents on the dollar.
He simply choses not to lose his tail or deal with customers who have never spent a dime in his store.
I'm off my soapbox now.
I think this would be a bigger problem if you live in a small town. The customer drives 300 miles to the cut throat big city dealer to save 200.00. Then he/she is first in line demanding free warranty work from the local dealer.
I once heard a Buick dealer tell a customer..." If those guys were good enough to sell you the car, they ought to be good enough to do your warranty work"
If you were the smalll town dealer who would you give priority service to?
In a big metro area it probably doesn't matter as much.
Ha, warranty work and 40 cents on the dollar. Now you know how physicians feel when taking you in for a managed care contract!!!!!!
Cheers
That's another reason why small shops in small towns sometimes restrict warranty repairs to their customer base. The rest of the shop is doing maintenance work to pay for $200,000 worth of diagnostic equipment!
Armtdm - if your salesman thinks, or says, he can force service into doing something because he has "control", forget it. "Favors" for service have gotten many a service advisor fired - I can't count the number of salesmen I sent "back up front" where they belong. I'm not saleman-bashing - I was one, then moved into fleet, F&I, then service management.
He's also the guy bragging about the $10K gross - yeah right! On a Neon, no less!
If you want great service from the Service Dept, then make the effort to develop a rapport with the Service staff. Be nice, work with them, bring them Krispy Kremes, ask to meet the tech that will work on your vehicle, bring more Krispy Kremes.
I'm saying all this from a Sales perspective, believe it or not. I've never worked a Service job in my life. But I know how to get along and find ways to get people to help you out.
Zig Ziglar once said, "To get what you want, first give others what they want".
The biggest single thing you can do to get good service is to NOT YELL at the service advisor! I can't count the number of times I've had a new customer (I've never seen them or their car) come in, angry because XYZ dealer's service department didn't take care of them. They've had four check engine light activations, it's on again, and they're in front of me. They scream "you'd better fix my car and right now! Give me a loaner! If you don't fix it right now I'm calling customer assistance, then I'm calling a lawyer!!"
It's happened many times. I just met you two minutes ago and you're reday to call the manufacturer and complain, then call a lawyer? At that point, you have REALLY motivated me to help you. I don't need Krispy Kreme donuts, just a nice customer!
Sorry, but I yell and scream and write nasty letters and pull out the lemon law as well. Incompentence rules. I am down to one Ford dealer out of 5 in my area, others I have writen off due to incompetence. Only warranty or special work goes to them, independent mechanic gets everything else as he has been competent for the past 7 years.
My basic complaint against most dealers is that they sell more cars then they can service competently.
Wow!
And you allow them to do your warranty work and the really nasty or difficult jobs that your independent guy can't or won't do?
I'm no defender of Ford dealerships, but somehow, it sounds like you may be pretty hard to satisfy?
Or are they REALLY that bad?
In my job, I see poor service skills in every car line - ESPECIALLY the expensive ones - I think someone needs a nap and needs to quit throwing weight around - that is NOT how you get things done.
That said, I'm not sure I agree with the 99% number. I might go with 90% or so of service managers who have the training and raw technical knowledge to perform competently and fairly. But that number drops to about 60% who have the knowledge and the judgement to know when to apply the "corporate party line", and when to fight for the customer. It drops to maybe 20% who, along with having the knowledge and the judgement, also have the people skills to communicate them effectively to the customer. What's scary is that many have the latter two, but not the first.
I had the Service Manager of a major Ford dealership look right at me and say that the usage of 1 Qts. of oil every 950 miles is normal on a new car. That on an engine with Ford-recommended 7,500 mile oil change intervals. When pointed out that between recommended change intervals my engine would consumed 7 quarts of oil, he simply closed his mind and said "That's right." At that point, I went to a competitor to buy my next car, while Ford's objectivity returned.
As a former police officer, I can say that most police officers still believe in the principles that motivated them to become police officers. Some do not.
Either way, back to the service issue - you as a consumer can choose the place you want your car serviced - just remember: the franchised dealer IS NOT *required* to perform work on your car and if you act like a butthead, they CAN and WILL make you leave. That said, if everyone involved acts like an adult, instead of acting like a spoiled child, throwing tempter tantrums, service work will be performed without a hitch. One of the main reasons I left my position as a service manager was because I was sick of bringing home stress caused by someone completely freaking out on me because he or she wasn't getting "their way". I've been called every name in the book because I wouldn't stretch the rules for you - you asked me to stretch the rules after you called me names and made fools out of both of us - then you want a favor?
I'm proud to say I have never had a repair bill come in higher than the estimate. I can't say that I've solved every customer's problem.
When I say that I look at it as a package deal, I don't mean that I hope my buying at the dealership will lead to my getting better treatment at service time.
What I meant is that I looked for a dealership where I felt comfortable both with the people who wanted to sell me a car and the people who were going to service that car.
When I buy a car, I like to give the selling dealership first crack at performing maintenance on my car. If they don't treat me right, I take it to another dealership and I cross the first dealership off my list as a place to buy a new car.
How the sales department treats you may get them the first sale, but how the service department treats you can cost them the repeat sale.
. appnt made, car not even touched when I came to pick it up, no phone call either
. transmission fluid overfilled
. wrong part ordered
. body shop left paint drips
. service rep refused to check tranny fluid level when I claimed it was overfilled, "stated that it is not my job"
. parts dept swore that a rebuilt part was not availalbe by manufacturer, fact is, they did make one.
. here's the picture in my service manual , I say no, my car is different, he say sorry, this manual is right. I say come look at my car. He says, oh, manual is wrong!!!!
So, no more Fords/Mercurys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 years provides free loaners only for customers who purchased the car being serviced at the dealership.Works great for me.The dealer is 30 miles from where I live,but right on the way to work (another 55 miles).
Unfortunatly, the cars are not sold by the peoples repairing them,so when you arrive you dont know them they dont know you,and furthermore you come with a bunch of trouble !!! You are pissed,they are tired,what a cocktail to start a relationship.
I would like to have my car serviced at the dealership,but most of the price they charge are ridiculous,and most of the time they are not doing a better job.
I reponded calmly and without any cursing or yelling that I had bought the truck there, spent a ton more money on dealer service than most people do for a used car that was purchased out of warranty, and would probably shop there first for my next truck, so if there was anything at all they could do to help out an impoverished college student it would not be forgotten. A week later I get an unexpected call from the dealer telling me he got Ford to cover it as a warranty reprair though it was 10 thousand miles and 2 years out of warranty, and all I'm responsible for is a 50 dollar deductable.
I hear lots of horror stories about warranty work and dealer service, but I felt this was one instance where both Ford and the dealer went that extra mile to avoid losing a potentially life long customer. And I don't think the dealer would have gone to bat for me like they did if they hadn't checked their computers and seen all the money I'd spent there in the last 2 years.
For the dealer to say they got Ford to cover on warranty when 10,000 miles were over warranty just does not occur in the real world. Something else was at work on this one!
This happened on several Caravan transmissions, Neon transmissions and Neon headgaskets. (Items Chrysler should have done a much better job on anyway)
"AWA"...which is after warranty adjustment. the dealership factory service CSI score determins how much flexability we have...
We can, for example, spend up to $1000. of money on any ford product out of warranty. This is not an unlimited fund but customers who have faithfully used our service department and purchased the vehicle from us will get priority with AWA. If you purchased elsewhere and never used dealershhip service, you get nothing beyond the factory warranty.
rich
Although interested, I did not even look at an Escape because the Ford dealership within walking distance of my house has a terrible reputation for service and honesty.
Also, I recently got the inside word that a nearby major dealership of expensive imported vehicles now has a 5-week wait for a service appointment, and that is only if you bought your car from them. Otherwise, you are told you need to take your car elsewhere, danke.
Arrogant and usually incompentent dealer service depts.
Maybe it's just where I live or maybe it's my charming smile
John
Too many dealers (Haynes Jeep in Richmond) sell more cars then they can possibly serivce but people keep on buying from known crappy dealers for service.
Their service is so-so. It seems that simple reparis take two visits to complete correctly.
I recently had the fuel filler flapper valve replaced because you could not fill the tank. It took 30 minutes to get three gallons in, and that was no where near even 1/2 tank.
So I call for a service appointment and say I'm having the problem associated with campaign XYZ. They confirm the appointment. The day arrives and I take my car in, explaining the problem and the open campaign. The service writer says, the campaign letter you got, isn't like a recall, we don't just automatically fix it.
I'm thinking to my self, 'Hello, were you listening to the problem description? You've been told twice now, once when I made the appointment, and just 30 seconds ago that was actually experiencing the problem.'
However, I tell him calmly, I understand, but I AM having this problem.
I get called that afternoon the car is ready. I pick it up, drive to the gas station and proceed to fill the car. I'm happy that the nozzle doesn't shut off every five seconds, until....
I hear the sound of 93 octane spilling out of the top of my tank where the filler neck and tank meet.
I get on the cell phone to the dealer and of course they ran out of there and locked the doors, noone answers the phone.
I leave a message indicating I was pretty upset that the repair was not completed correctly, asked if anyone actually checks this work, and that I was going to leave my car to leak gasoline on their parking lot because I didn't want to mess up my driveway with their mistakes.
I drive back and park the car. Call the wife and ask her again to pick me up (Trip #3 for her and the kids!)
I return at 7AM with the keys to my car and ask for the service manager. I ask him if he got my message on the answering service the night before. He says he had not. I tell him, I've cooled off a bit, and explain that I'd like for either him or the tech to come with me when the repair is completed, so the two of us verify that the work has been performed correctly.
He agrees and I leave my car.
I call about 3pm and ask about my car. It is ready. The service manager paged and we take a nice drive down the block to the Amoco station. It fills nicely and the pump shuts off like it should. I thank him and explain that I'm in the service business too, (computers) and while I was a bit hot on the phone, I felt I have a reasonable expectation that work is completely in a timely an competent fashion.
Bob, (the service manager) agrees and says that he has just taken over this department and is working on improving service satifaction so the dealer can become Blue Oval Certified.
I tell him, that I tried to get a car like this from them, but sales didn't care to locate this car, nor did they seem interested in becoming an SVT dealer. (Strange because I see all sorts of SVT Contours, Lightinings and Cobras in St. Clair county!)
So I've made a new friend in the service department.
Also since I work in service I know that sometimes you gotta let the customer yell a bit. But then find out why he is yelling.
I felt in my case, a bit of anger on my part was justified.
But in no way would I condone name calling, racial slurs or questioning the virtues of anyones mother. I've found a more effective approach is to simply, yet forcefully question the way the work was done.
In my case, it was obvious that no one had checked if the job was done correctly. The tech just buttoned up the car and moved to the next job.
While warranty margins are slim, it still has to be cheaper to do it right the first time than do it over again.
Sorry so long, I've been in the service managers shoes this week with a customer of mine.
I did bring them some Krispy Kremes on Sunday morning. That seemed to disarm them a bit 8^)
TB