Latest dealer rant!!

[Robert Caffyn]

OK, truck starts to run rough while on the Parkway. Same as 6-7 months ago, I figure one of the coil packs has gone out(Grannetelli Hot Street Coils). So I'm gonna have to pay if I want to get home. They have the truck for about 30 hours(got a new Taurus loaner). Guy calls in AM, to tell me 2 are bad and should replace them all with Ford units(not the same cylinder as last time) for around $900. I don't have a choice, so I say 'go ahead'. Go to pick up the truck Tuesday afternoon and am handed a bill for $1376.43. I freak. Whats up? Oh, the coils cost $119 a piece, $333.20 in labor, $1.23 misc. and $90 in tax. I'm like 'this is not what we discussed this morning'. 'Well, let me see if I can help a little' and he cuts off $193 making it $1183.43. I'm still not pleased but pay it anyway. Go home, still steaming, get on computer, look up Ford Parts. Whatta ya know? The coils are $89.76.

Go back today, stop in parts and ask 'whats the cost for..... $89.76. I ask him to write it down, date and initial. My first stop is the service manager. He has to go check parts to verify the cost. Comes back and tells me 'that's the OTC price, we charge differently in service'. I lose it, the old alcoholic comes out and I let loose on him. This is preposterous, they pay less than MSRP for parts, then double the price in service. This is why people have a bad taste in their mouths from the bulls__t they pull. You know, I'm not stupid and I had the sense to go look this up, only to find my 'friendly dealer' is pulling a BOHICA on me. Probably most people would pay, bitch a little, then just chalk it up to 'one of those things'. I yelled for the owner to come down(literally), the service manager tells me to calm down :argue:, the owner 'isn't necessary'. So I walk out to find him with the manager in tow(I'm on a mission). Up the stairs to his office and barge in and explain this BS situation. He thinks(I'm nuts) and tells the manager to rewrite the bill to reflect the MSRP on the parts, then tells him to take another $200 off for being a 'good customer' and finally lets me know that the next time I come in for a car, to see him for a deal(X plan) before I purchase. I'm happy now, bill is adjusted down to $924.51! So why do I still feel.....betrayed, pissed off, angry or just disappointed? Bob :banghead: :angry: :cry:

PS: the truck runs great

 

[JohnnyB]

So why do I still feel.....betrayed, pissed off, angry or just disappointed?

Because you got treated like shit, betrayed and screwed. Just think of the amount of people who just pay their bill and never think about it, and the people who realize what you did but don't do anything about it. How much are they making screwing their customers. Just because the owner put the price down to what it was supposed to be in the first place and took a little off for "good customer" crap, he still probably screws 95% of the people. That's not a good business man or good business practice, not in my eyes.



Sorry for your bad experience, I wouldn't go there any more. But to think about it .... probably most of the other places are just as bad.

 

[scott degroot]

$333 in labor...book time to replace the coils is just shy of an hour. How much did they charge you for diagnostics.

 

[rod denton]

you may feel that way cause know that ifyou got done this way and you know what about to happen to the next guy that goes in for sevice

 

[Robert Caffyn]

L1, $195 for diagnostics(included in the labor total). Ya know it wouldn't be so bad but I have to go North 25 mins to a dealer I can't stand or South 25 mins to this dealer. The next closest dealers are almost an hour South to Atlantic City or North to a really big dealership in Eatontown or West 45 mins to a dealer I know nothing about! This is why I have a local mechanic do most of the work on the truck. This was kind of an emergency. I've just never been dealt with this way by them before...Bob

 

[Supercharged SVT]

how sad - I did coils in under an hour with hand tools - WOW

 

[Richard L]

Bob C.

You have every right to be pissed off. The dealer was definitely trying to rip you off. They probably do the same thing to every customer and then give a little discount if they complain. They know many customers will not complain and they make a lot of money from them. If you do complain and they give a small discount, they know that many customers will be satisfied, and they still make a big profit.



They do this a lot when the car is broke and won't run and they know the customer is between a rock and a hard place. They often do this more frequently to women.



Most dealers will roll the diagnostic charges into the repair labor, and only charge separately for diagnostics if you don't have the repair work done in their shop. They often try to say that the diagnostics charge is waived or Free if you have the work done there....Free? Really :angry: Do they think we are really that dumb? :banghead:



My rule is that I never take any vehicle back to the dealership for service after the warranty has expired....That's when they get greedy. Ford will only pay the dealership so much for parts and labor when they do warranty work, and only if they follow the proper diagnostic procedures, etc. So, when big brother (Ford) is looking over their shoulder, they have to be a little bit honest, but once the warranty has expired, they gouge the customer to make up for all that warranty work they did for cheap.



...Rich

 

[Edward]

Its not brand specific to getting ripped off. Worked at Ford dealer in the 80's and 90's. They would sell cheaper cost motorcraft packaged parts for ford price. In the body shop we would get taurus bumpers in ford packaging that was rejected from factory. they were already painted body color. they would spray black bumper primer on them and ship them out not even sanding the defect out.

 

[CBass]

Late 1970's I worked for a major Class 8 (tractor/trailer) dealership. Once a month, we would get a visit from the manufacturers' warranty reps (each of the brands that the dealership sold had their own reps) who would inspect the parts that we had removed and stored in a secure room for this warranty verification process. By "inspect" I mean they'd compare parts with the warranty part inventory records that we also had to keep in order to verify that work/parts that were charged back to the manufacturer actually had been done/replaced as described on the individual work order.

After being checked off the list, it was my job to destroy the parts so that they could not be resold or reused. I can't tell you how many perfectly functioning parts were destroyed, all because the dealership gouged the manufacturer a LOT on warranty work. Bring your truck in because X isn't working? Still under warranty? No problem. X is replaced, but R and V are also replaced under warranty because *fake reason here* so that the dealership makes more money from the manufacturer.

So whether it's from the customer or the manufacturer, the dealership wants their pound of dough, one way or another.