Dealership Wrecked [Slightly??] my Trailhunter

Maybe because the majority of us know four things.........
1. The vehicle will not be worked on at your appointment time. Probably not even that day. Maybe not even that week.
2. The vehicle probably won't be repaired correctly the first time or the second.
3. It's impossible to get a call back about the status of your vehicle.
4. The chances of not incurring additional damage to the vehicle while at the dealership is minimal.
I'd be glad to have a dealership maintain my vehicle so I don't have to, if I can ever find one that EARNED that privilege. But when those four conditions exist, yes, you're correct, I can't be inconvenienced to that extent.

 

If you say so…..
Sounds like youre in the, im better than the tech crowd...

 

You have quite the imagination.

 

Some people are influenced by fear mongering quite easily.

 

I don't know why you would believe you have the power to know what everyone's experiences were or were not. Sounds kind of weird to me. But no, not my imagination unless the dealership people imagined it too when I complained about it. Just a few examples of many over the decades, 1, bouncing a rolling tool box off the side of my Mustang six times leaving dents and chipped paint. 2. rocking a Chevy truck sideways to hear the defective leaf springs by pushing on the thin bedside sheet metal rather than grasping the bed rails, leaving large dents and greasy paw prints on both bedsides. 3. Stripping out the eccentric bolts on replacement struts with a power tool because they were installed in the wrong hole. 4. Power screwing five of the six screws completely through a plastic cowl grill. 5. installing the distributor hold down clamp upside down (they were curved fork shaped clamps) thus leaving the distributor to flop around at will. I could go on and on.

 

Been an engine tech for the same ford dealership in San Diego for 32+ years, recently retired....
Theres plenty of vehicles that have been repaired for 4+ decades now without damage,
Ive repaired multi millions of vehicles in my career lifespan....
without repeat repairs, without damage, without making things worse & what ever else you can come up with.....
shit can happen, but to say youre not going to have a dealer repair a vehicle cuz of some un fortunate events once upon a time that are questionable, you should have your head examined...

 

My 2015 Access Cab somehow got the Door Sill smashed down while in the Dealer, they ended up working out a deal to get my 2017 as a way to make up for it. They never explained to me how the damage happened, but it looked like someone smacked it with a sledgehammer while they had the door open.

 

Something about this post got me to do some math so lets see how it goes.....
-(32+ years) We'll say 33 years x 365 (assuming no days off, ever) = 12,045 Days
-2,000,000 (lowest value for "millions of vehicles") /12,045 = 166.04

166 vehicles a day, that's getting shit done dude.

 

I think we could safely assume he was talking about the dollar value

 

Grossly over guessimated, You get my point dude,
I’m constantly juggling 20 to 30 vehicles a day on my screen / computer,
Day in & day out….
remember, I’ve also had two helpers at a time more times than not…
Was I charge of training & teaching apprentices in my specialty….
Managing them, myself, other techs requing help, constantly getting pulled away from management, shop foreman, service writers, asking for my thoughts on certain situations…
I’m not perfect, and in that 32 years, I’ve had two minor mishaps that had to visit the body shop for paint…

It’s not like everybody else around me is destroying cars every day either, some people are just over the top…

Oh, my uncle’s mailman’s, sister’s cousin, had his car wrecked at the dealership, so I’ll never use the service department ever, I’ll just fix it myself…

The debate / argument isn't about how many vehicles I did or did not pump out in the lifetime of my career....
Its about the nonsense mindset that I won't take my vehicle to the dealer "chest pounding"
cuz they always screw-up, EVERY TIME....
mindset....
What happens when it really breaks, needs extensive teardown for an egr cooler or timing chain guide related failure, leaking front cover or oil pan, turbo failure etc.....
​

 

Hopefully I made my point, but there will always be the few where I cant fix the tunnel vision.......

 

At the same time, you are assuming every other auto tech has your same work ethic. We all know that isn't 100% the case.

I've never had a major repair done at a dealership, so I have no dog in this hunt. I have, however, had both Toyota dealerships in my city return my Tacoma, Jeep, and 4Runner to me after simple service (oil change, tire rotation, etc.) in worse condition than when I left it. I will never return to either of them for any routine service. If I can't do it myself, it's going to a trusted mechanic.

 

Yes you've made your point that you're a super tech for 32 years at the same dealership. You inform us so daily on this forum. And I believe you because I have no basis to refute what you say. Just as you have no basis to refute the experiences of someone's own (not their "uncle’s mailman’s, sister’s cousin") factual not "questionable" experiences. Maybe at the one dealership you've been at customers stand in utter awe at the skills of the employees, but that may not be so at other dealerships. Take a breath. You seem to be reading text that's not there. No one ever said their vehicle got screwed up "EVERY TIME". As far as my posts, I simply stated, from my experiences, odds are good something will get screwed up. And sometimes not by techs. When you have a dealership type bureaucracy with cars going through so many hands, lot attendants, car wash guys, techs, advisors etc, there's much more room for error there too. As I've stated in another post, I also worked at a dealership, be it only for five years. So I've seen examples from the inside perspective too. So claiming anyone with a gripe has tunnel vision is a moot statement unless you've been there and you won't convince them that they were delusional.

 

Ok, ok, damage happened to you directly more times than not when you went to the dealership…
To the point where he stated he won’t return…
Hopefully, one day you won’t need them for a serious repair…
You will have to make a decision, let go of the past…
Or repair yourself…
Seems like nonsense to me, guess I’m just wired differently

 

Dealership put a small scrape on my door when I got the AC recharged. That means they scratched the super white what ever hit my door. It's a 2012 Tacoma and it wasn't worth complaining about. It wasn't there prior would be the point.

 

The worst part of dealer service is they want a review. The transaction is over once I pay the bill I owe you nothing and you owe me nothing. I expect any reputable business to stand behind their work. I don't like this business model and refuse to participate in it. It's down right annoying and worth not going to the dealer in the first place.

 

It’s not a review per say…
They’re not asking you to go to Yelp and leave them a good review…..
It’s a survey that affects many aspects of the dealership along with it’s a report card on the service writer’s performance that the service writer provided you,
it affects many aspects along with the service writers pay, bonuses, etc….
Along with the manufacture, knowing how the dealership is doing as a whole, where things can improve, etc.…
You’re perfect opportunity to blast them if you prefer but, you don’t agree with the business model…

 

Was the mailman’s sister hot?

 

Waste of my time and I get nothing in return. I could blast them with a they scratched my door, but what would I get in return probably not a damn thing. The dealership should know if they are doing a good job or not, if they don't know I don't think anybody should be doing business there. Like I said terrible business model, the self check at the grocery store asks for a rating. I just checked my own merchandise and still had to get a person to reset the thing because your system does not work as intended. How do you think I would rate that? Once the bill is paid the transaction is over. What did you think? I didn't think anything it was errand that needed to be taken care of, that's it I'm on to the next one or doing something else.

It's like fake interest in my opinion, no body gives a shit certainly not Toyota. Why would they?

Edit

There was also a point in time where the merchant didn't ask for any opinions after the transaction. I prefer that way much better.

 

As stated, they in fact, do give a shit, those surveys and report cards actually affect service writers bonuses, and what they actually take home / paycheck…
They get dinged on bad surveys, equates to less take home money….
Enough bad surveys, and their take-home commission percentages drop…
Factual information