Another Reason Not To Go To The Stealership
07-13-18, 06:14 AM
#16
Pole Position
Kenny, what's your experience with service techs. I know at some Ferrari dealerships the tech is paid by the job, not an hourly rate. So it is to the tech's benefit to rush and do 3 jobs in a day rather than to do everything properly and only do 2 jobs in a day. Is this fairly common with other makes, if you know.
Ive seen great flat rate techs regularly clock 120 hours a week, but those are few and far between. I think you'll find most of these guys average 50-60 hours a week. It's tiring work.
The following 2 users liked this post by Doublebase:
Nospinzone (07-15-18),
NotFasty (12-18-18)
07-13-18, 06:44 AM
#17
Lexus Champion
Were they going to charge 10.5K just for a fuel injector or is that for everything they found? Either way it is highway robbery. I think some dealerships have competitions with each other who can gouge their customers the most with some of the prices they come up with, I thought Lexus was better then this.
Whatever car I own I always keep it all in OEM condition doing scheduled/unscheduled maintenance. Never had anything major happened. When trade in time comes I can get maximum
value out of it.
After factory warranty runs out I take a specialized shop who has same equipment as a dealer. Here what I save is on labor rate getting same or better service than dealership. My only and
last Audi SQ5 I had a problem with door sensor issues for easy entry. I ran VAG VCDS decoded fault code pointing to a front passenger side sensor is bad. When I took it to local dealer
I told the tech what's wrong yet they rip the front driver side door panel out to check the door ECU. At the end replacing the sensor I pointed to them total labor was 4 hours at 149.00 CAD.
Good thing it happened one week B4 warranty ran out. No more Audi since in our house.
07-13-18, 07:04 AM
#18
I should've given more detail. They want $3,400 for the direct fuel injector if in worst case scenario they have to change all 8; $4,400 to change 3 front control arms; $1k for leaking fuel pump seals and $800 for 2 tires and an alignment. Plus taxes and miscellaneous supplies bringing the total to a hair under $10.5k.
OP did not mention about his car, how old, what model, etc. Result of neglecting regular maintenance? What kind of service costs over $10K? Estimate should give a list of things to do.
Whatever car I own I always keep it all in OEM condition doing scheduled/unscheduled maintenance. Never had anything major happened. When trade in time comes I can get maximum
value out of it.
After factory warranty runs out I take a specialized shop who has same equipment as a dealer. Here what I save is on labor rate getting same or better service than dealership. My only and
last Audi SQ5 I had a problem with door sensor issues for easy entry. I ran VAG VCDS decoded fault code pointing to a front passenger side sensor is bad. When I took it to local dealer
I told the tech what's wrong yet they rip the front driver side door panel out to check the door ECU. At the end replacing the sensor I pointed to them total labor was 4 hours at 149.00 CAD.
Good thing it happened one week B4 warranty ran out. No more Audi since in our house.
Whatever car I own I always keep it all in OEM condition doing scheduled/unscheduled maintenance. Never had anything major happened. When trade in time comes I can get maximum
value out of it.
After factory warranty runs out I take a specialized shop who has same equipment as a dealer. Here what I save is on labor rate getting same or better service than dealership. My only and
last Audi SQ5 I had a problem with door sensor issues for easy entry. I ran VAG VCDS decoded fault code pointing to a front passenger side sensor is bad. When I took it to local dealer
I told the tech what's wrong yet they rip the front driver side door panel out to check the door ECU. At the end replacing the sensor I pointed to them total labor was 4 hours at 149.00 CAD.
Good thing it happened one week B4 warranty ran out. No more Audi since in our house.
07-14-18, 03:36 PM
#19
Most techs at most dealerships work flat rate. They get paid by the job, so it's advantageous to go as fast as humanly possible. If the book says it's a 3.0 hour job to replace a set of axles, you can bet that tech is trying to do it in 1.5. Then he gets the next job and will try to beat that labor time too. At the end of the day he maybe clocks 12-16 hours if he's lucky. And these guys are fast, they do the same repairs over and over again. They know all the shortcuts, they have the parts and fluids right there. If they run into a problem they can turn to the guy next to them that ran into the same thing last week.
Ive seen great flat rate techs regularly clock 120 hours a week, but those are few and far between. I think you'll find most of these guys average 50-60 hours a week. It's tiring work.
Last edited by Kennyr44; 07-14-18 at 03:39 PM.
The following users liked this post:
Nospinzone (07-15-18)
07-15-18, 04:42 AM
#20
IMHO, buying a car from a dealer is one thing. Having them do repair work at your expense is a completely different ball game and one that I don't generally get involved with.
07-15-18, 06:30 AM
#21
When I bought mine short notice for a steal, I went to the dealership to pick up the new snows the prior owner had there. I called about five miles out and the guys service writer sait hey didn't have them the when I walked in the door ten minutes late said they were bald. I demanded to see them NOW, and like I was told they were new...
Second dealer to try to screw me out of snows. PENSKE successfully did it on my first LS but they were out of state. So yes even a Lexus dealer will rip you off given half a chance. The PENSKE dealership in Minn even listed them in their ad.
Second dealer to try to screw me out of snows. PENSKE successfully did it on my first LS but they were out of state. So yes even a Lexus dealer will rip you off given half a chance. The PENSKE dealership in Minn even listed them in their ad.
07-15-18, 03:35 PM
#22
Pole Position
I averaged 20 hrs a day for 20 years working 8 hr days. My high for one week was 160 hrs in 50. I averaged between 70 and 100k in the 80's and 90's. You could buy a real nice house for 140k in a big city at that time. You get pretty good and fast with repetition. Same cars, same repairs. There is an incentive to get it right though. If the car comes back and its your fault you fix it for free. Also it makes you look bad and a dealer can't afford bad press especially now with social media. Customer requests are a must because there are slow periods and if you have a good base of customers you keep working when other mechanics are sitting around. Also to make this kind of money you have to sell sell sell.
07-15-18, 06:01 PM
#23
Volvo’s were easy to work on and always broken. People loved them and had no problem spending big. I owned 2 Saab 99’s. My first one was a 1973 carb model I drove 300k. Cars got way more complicated, harder to work on and the dealers closed their wallets to their employees as you know.
07-16-18, 05:56 PM
#24
Dealerships are for under-warranty work only.... It takes some research and references, but an experienced independent that specializes in our cars is the best route.
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