calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Your analogy would make more sense if 1) when you went to a restaurant they explicitly laid out in every bill what component was the cost of the food and what component was the labor to cook and serve it, and 2) ALL dealerships had the same policy of not accepting parts brought to them by owners.

Every time you get an invoice at a dealership, it will lay out what portion was parts and what portion was labor. You can very easily see then where your money was going and what the price of the parts charged was. Also, all restaurants have the policy of not allowing you to bring your own food (though many allow you to bring your own wine and just charge a corkage fee), however only some dealers have the policy of not accepting outside parts - many do allow this. There's a fundamental difference between restaurants and dealerships, in that at restaurants the quality and appeal of a restaurant is not only HOW they prepare the food (labor), but WHAT food they actually prepare (parts). Two different steak places might cook their food exactly the same, but if they've sourced the beef from different suppliers or parts of the world, they might taste entirely different and one might be better than the other. This is emphatically not the case with a dealership. A Toyota oil filter is a Toyota oil filter. An F-Sport sway bar is an F-Sport sway bar. An OEM alternator is an OEM alternator. Dealers don't differentiate on parts like restaurants do. The only way they differentiate is through quality of service.

And about dealers needing to make money? Their labor rates include profit. They roll up the fully loaded cost of an hour's labor, including allocations of overhead, coffee in the waiting room, electricity, salaries of technicians, and finally a markup for PROFIT. So anytime a dealer does a service for you, regardless of where you bought the parts from, they should make a profit (assuming they've accurately set labor rates). Selling parts to you is simply another way they make money. But it's important to remember it's not the only way. There are plenty of businesses that make money off both parts and service, but will only sell you one or the other if desired. Best Buy will sell you a computer and service it, and make money off both. But they're also happy to service a computer you bought elsewhere and make money off that.

So bringing your own parts isn't putting undue hardship on struggling businesses who therefore won't make a dime off you. They'll simply make less money than if they'd sold you the parts too. Who can blame people for bringing your own parts when they're sold at dealers for 100%+ markup? If we're going to talk about being "fair" to dealerships who just need to make money, how is that fair? I'd be much more willing to buy parts from a dealer if they were more reasonably priced.

Keep in mind that Sewell makes money off every single part they sell, and most of what they sell is sold at a 50-100%+ discount to dealerships. If Sewell makes a profit off selling a spark plug for $13 and they get them from the same supplier as dealerships, why does a dealership need to sell it for $25? The reason they do this is because 90% of their customers are not savvy enough (or they don't care enough) to shop elsewhere. So if they sell $25 spark plugs to 9 people and 1 person refuses to pay that and brings their own $13 parts, the dealership's made a LOT more than if they'd sold $13 plugs to all 10 people.

Clearly dealer markups on parts aren't just geared toward keeping them in business, they're geared toward extracting the maximum value possible from their customers. So if the smart ones get their parts elsewhere for less, where's the problem? Economically speaking, a dealer shouldn't refuse to service your car with your own parts unless you're taking the time slot of someone that would have paid for those parts from the dealer. No dealer is booked 24/7, so there's room for both.

So as I said above, it's fine for a dealership to refuse to use your parts, that policy is up to them. However, it's not because if they don't use their own parts they'll go under (they have profit built into the labor fee they'd charge you), and it's not because of liability (their liability would in that case only be on labor, not the parts, and this is easily disproven another way by simply looking at the fact that many dealerships DO allow it). The real reason is they'd make less money on you than if you'd bought the parts at their dealership. And economically speaking this doesn't make sense unless they could fill every available appointment space with someone buying parts from them, so you bringing your own parts would reduce their profit.

The simple solution to all this is just to find a dealer that will accept your parts. There are plenty out there.

Heckler

iTrader: (1)

I understand the dealership needs to make money. I don't have a problem with that and that is why I get some work done at the dealership. There is a fair amount where I feel good about paying it and the dealership makes a profit. It is my responsibility as a consumer to make sure that I am getting that fair price. I just purchased tires and had them put on the car. I made them price match to get it done and they wanted the work so they agreed. I guarantee they made money on the transaction but I didn't have to get raped to make it happen.

I don't buy parts over the counter at my dealership for that very reason. They price the parts well (very well) above MSRP. Most people don't know any better and they pay that price so the dealership continues to charge it. Hell, I even call them on it and they basically say "meh! that's our price". It really is price gouging and it would be great if they charged a fair price. Hell, I would even pay a little more then what I can get it for at Sewell just to keep the business local. They are not interested, so be it. They have every right to run the parts counter how they see fit but they won't get my dollars.

dackp143

iTrader: (3)

I AGREE! Don't be scared... don't be scared...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elRgCjSMA8E

ISRabbit

Calvin, well said. However, a few of your points is why I hate dealerships and even big shops. I agree they have to pay for a waiting room, coffee, shop, electricity etc... I don't agree with paying for that though. Dealerships are nice to make you feel comfy and cozy and put on a nice front. When some nice lady takes her car in there she wants to feel comfortable. For me, that doesn't make me feel comfortable. I'd rather them tell me go next door and get my own damn coffee. Dirty couch, crappy waiting room, and hardly a bathroom. Why? Because if they're going to charge me money to do something I'd like to see more money go to the mechanics and to shop tools.

Dealers aren't any better at doing maintenance then anywhere else. They just charge more because they have more overhead of a big shop and comfy waiting room. Take it to a normal shop, pay less, and get better work. The reason I quit the dealership is because they shady stuff they do their.

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

hate to tell you, but you'd be the minority with that

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Yours is a totally valid point and one that sums up the main reason why most people feel compelled to look for service outside the dealership. Just to be clear, nowhere in my post was I stating dealerships do better work or that I agree with paying for things dealerships factor into labor. I would agree with you that an oil change at a dealership is no different than one at an independent shop, it's just more expensive.

ISRabbit

^I hear ya man. Wasn't saying you said it was better or worse. Just stating my opinion on dealers.

topspeed55

Just DIY, problem solved.

RDIS250AWD

iTrader: (7)

Some people would just rather leave it to professionals. If you're gonna tell him to DIY then at least give him a DIY guide.

dackp143

iTrader: (3)

Great point! Searching via CL site sucks complete crap but via Google.com, it RULES!

Spark Plug Change, DIY

RDIS250AWD

iTrader: (7)

yep theres no point and it doesnt even help when everyone that comments is quoting the same thing that someone else already said.. And yes the search engine on CL is terrible, which leads to members creating duplicate threads.

J3ffrey

I have 110,000 miles on the Sparkplugs in my camaro and it still runs like the day it was new.. Do the IS sparkplugs really need to be changed?