Dealership tactic's

[09CTSV]

Went in for an oil change yesterday and the free vehicle inspection. They might as well call the inspection a sales inspection. I just swapped out my summer tires for the winter set up. They measured the tread depth and said I needed to replace the rear tires soon. I asked the service advisor what the tread depth was, 5/32". I told him i'd think about it. He walked over to get the paperwork and I pulled up tire rack on my iPhone. New tire tread depth was 9/32", tires are not even half worn. I also looked at the tires when I put them on and the wear bar is still a ways off. The tires might only have 8,000 miles on them, Pirelli snow and ice tires.
When the rep came back I asked him what the normal tread depth is, he didn't know. I showed him what a new tire was and he was a little sheepish.
I thought about it when I left and wondered how many people would panic and say replace the tires not knowing. I almost laughed out loud when I looked at the price they wanted for two rear tires, $1,192 with installation.
Tire rack has a set for about $1200 and Discount tire will match the price.

If the maintenance wasn't free for 4 years, I'd do it myself and save the laughter.

[78SA]

It's amazing how many people still fall for that.

[Stangkiller]

The Chrysler dealership just got my sister inlaw to pay $550 for new rear brakes on her minivan. The problem is, her minivan has 30k miles ain't nfw her van needed brakes.

[69camfrk]

Maybe it's because I've been doing business with the same dealership for 20 years (numerous name changes) but the Ford dealer here in Warner Robins has always treated me first rate. Hell, when I'm ready to buy, which won't be anytime soon, I'll make the call to my salesman (and friend) and the price will be right by the time I get to the dealership. Also, the shop has never once tried to rip me off, but depending on what maintenance needs to be performed, a lot of it happens here in the driveway!!!!:seasix:

[MikeB]

Had a similar issue with my '11 Escape (<18K miles).

Took it in because a rear shock was leaking, got it replaced under warranty.
I complained about a whooping sound from the rear-end as you drive at speeds over 40mph. CSR says tires/suspension check out OK, but tire noise is present, and they will sell me a new set of tires at competitive prices ( Thank you Mike Rowe). Service report has 4 different sets of tire specs attached, ranging from $900 to $2300.00.
:kick:

The noise problem turns out to be typical of 4 door vehicles, either passenger window down, while front seat windows are up.
BTW, there is no tire noise (Michilen OEMs)
What a feckin potential rip.

[MrPeabody]

Having worked as a service writer, let me tell you the other side of the coin. You do the inspection with the oil change, you tell them everything looks okay. Then anytime before the next oil change anything, and I mean anything goes wrong with the car and they sue you for not telling them when you did the last "inspection". I saw that happen more than once.:rofl:

[Millenium Vette]

Having worked as a service writer, let me tell you the other side of the coin. You do the inspection with the oil change, you tell them everything looks okay. Then anytime before the next oil change anything, and I mean anything goes wrong with the car and they sue you for not telling them when you did the last "inspection". I saw that happen more than once.:rofl:

You have my sympathies, that is a hard job to do day after day. Customers with broken shit are not always at their happiest.

:cert:

[mrvette]

Had a similar issue with my '11 Escape (<18K miles).

Took it in because a rear shock was leaking, got it replaced under warranty.
I complained about a whooping sound from the rear-end as you drive at speeds over 40mph. CSR says tires/suspension check out OK, but tire noise is present, and they will sell me a new set of tires at competitive prices ( Thank you Mike Rowe). Service report has 4 different sets of tire specs attached, ranging from $900 to $2300.00.
:kick:

The noise problem turns out to be typical of 4 door vehicles, either passenger window down, while front seat windows are up.
BTW, there is no tire noise (Michilen OEMs)
What a feckin potential rip.

WTF these tires MADE of GOLD??? hell I think I got ripped for two Nitto NT450 size 275/50/17 on rear of the vette, out the door for 350 bux....:issues:

[MrPeabody]

You have my sympathies, that is a hard job to do day after day. Customers with broken shit are not always at their happiest.

:cert:

Thanks. I just did it for a few months. I had a good friend who was the service manager and I just filled in until he could find somebody with more experience. I've mostly done sales at dealerships, and it was interesting to see how the service dept. functioned. I fundamentally agree with the OP. People who think the sales dept is crooked have no idea. Service was a criminal enterprise where I worked. The biggest offenses were charging for "diagnostic" work that was never done or charging people for something that was covered under warranty so we got paid by the customer and the factory.

But I also stand by my post that if you don't do a lot of things to cover your ass you will get sued. Best example I can think of there is a burned out tail light bulb. You just change the bulb and send them on their way, then there turns out to be a short in the wire and they come back tomorrow and the light is out again. Once you have touched their car, everything becomes your fault.
That's how it can cost $50 to change a tail light bulb, even at an honest dealer.

[mrvette]

Years ago, at the local vette club sponsoring dealership, we used to have shop nights on 3rd Tuesday of every month 6-9pm....they would clean out the service bays, and we bring in our vettes to do light work on them, and maybe wash/dry/detail in winter....then pizza upon closing....the sales/service/parts depts were open for us, even a service writer or two....

So it seemed they hired this hot chick as a new service writer, she really seemed to know her way around a car too, her clothing was a definate cut above what you would normally expect a 'secretary' to wear too....and her language spoke of high quality education, not high skool.....

so I got curious after she came out to look at some problem in a truck diffy, and so when she was talking to the shop mgr and the mechanic, she was talking cars really well, on their level if anything .....I followed her back to her glass corner cubical office, noted the name on the door, Alice Estes.....

I made the name in a nanosecond, I asked if she was the daughter of PETE Estes, President of GM back in the 60's.....she replied really quietly that she was his Grand Daughter.....and to keep that bit of information under my hat, say NOTHING to anyone at ALL......OK was my reply, then I noted her work load in the office, buried in papers, such was NOT the case in other offices.....


I smelled a rat, and sure enough.......a couple months later, the club showed up for shop night, and all new people at the dealership.....the entire command chain was new, the boss/owner cashiered ALL of them....

the boss owner had inherited the operation from his father, even though he knew what was what..almost, but not enough to figger out the cooked books.....Alice figgered it out.....:issues::rofl::seasix: she left the operation a while later....

Turns out her father, Pete Estes' son, was head of GM liaison with the Fed.gov, which is why she got into troubleshooting dealer problems.....

:lol::cert:

[Millenium Vette]

Thanks. I just did it for a few months. I had a good friend who was the service manager and I just filled in until he could find somebody with more experience. I've mostly done sales at dealerships, and it was interesting to see how the service dept. functioned. I fundamentally agree with the OP. People who think the sales dept is crooked have no idea. Service was a criminal enterprise where I worked. The biggest offenses were charging for "diagnostic" work that was never done or charging people for something that was covered under warranty so we got paid by the customer and the factory.

But I also stand by my post that if you don't do a lot of things to cover your ass you will get sued. Best example I can think of there is a burned out tail light bulb. You just change the bulb and send them on their way, then there turns out to be a short in the wire and they come back tomorrow and the light is out again. Once you have touched their car, everything becomes your fault.
That's how it can cost $50 to change a tail light bulb, even at an honest dealer.

Many are crooked, most are inept when it comes to diagnosing problems efficiently. I had a car in last week that they tried for 3 hours to find an electrical problem and got no where except to tell me it was "acting really weird". I got a little red faced and asked if we could go back and talk to the tech. Within 3 minutes I had it solved. One Mercedes tech and one service writer real quiet now. They put it back together fast and didn't even try to bill me for it.

:lol:

[09CTSV]

Thanks. I just did it for a few months. I had a good friend who was the service manager and I just filled in until he could find somebody with more experience. I've mostly done sales at dealerships, and it was interesting to see how the service dept. functioned. I fundamentally agree with the OP. People who think the sales dept is crooked have no idea. Service was a criminal enterprise where I worked. The biggest offenses were charging for "diagnostic" work that was never done or charging people for something that was covered under warranty so we got paid by the customer and the factory.

But I also stand by my post that if you don't do a lot of things to cover your ass you will get sued. Best example I can think of there is a burned out tail light bulb. You just change the bulb and send them on their way, then there turns out to be a short in the wire and they come back tomorrow and the light is out again. Once you have touched their car, everything becomes your fault.
That's how it can cost $50 to change a tail light bulb, even at an honest dealer.

I understand whole heartedly about fixing something simple and then owning it forever. I also know why dealerships bring up items discovered in inspections. My problem with this inspection was how it was presented, like something had to be done now or the tires were going to blow out and I'd wreck the vehicle. If my wife would have taken the vehicle in for service and I was on deployment, I probably would have a new set of rear tires I didn't need.
This almost happened when we live in VA Beach and I was on deployment. Luckily I was due home in a few days and she held off on getting the repairs. This is the days before email and cell phones or landlines while the ship was out.
Turns out the service station was trying to pay for some new equipment and broke our headlights on the truck trying to align them. I replaced the light and went to get another inspection. Wouldn't you know it, they broke the new light trying to align the headlights. They were using the studs which held the light assembly in place instead of the adjustment screws. They refused to purchase another new light so I called the state police who oversea the state inspection. Long story short, they had 15 minutes before the dealership closed to get my new light, install it align the lights or stay shut down until the next day when they could get a new light. The mechanic also lost his drivers license for 30 days, shop was fined $5000 and lost inspections for 30 days.
On top of it all, nothing wrong with the alignment on the lights, just trying to pay for a new fancy headlight alignment machine, $10 at a time.

[MrPeabody]

I understand whole heartedly about fixing something simple and then owning it forever. I also know why dealerships bring up items discovered in inspections. My problem with this inspection was how it was presented, like something had to be done now or the tires were going to blow out and I'd wreck the vehicle. If my wife would have taken the vehicle in for service and I was on deployment, I probably would have a new set of rear tires I didn't need.
This almost happened when we live in VA Beach and I was on deployment. Luckily I was due home in a few days and she held off on getting the repairs. This is the days before email and cell phones or landlines while the ship was out.
Turns out the service station was trying to pay for some new equipment and broke our headlights on the truck trying to align them. I replaced the light and went to get another inspection. Wouldn't you know it, they broke the new light trying to align the headlights. They were using the studs which held the light assembly in place instead of the adjustment screws. They refused to purchase another new light so I called the state police who oversea the state inspection. Long story short, they had 15 minutes before the dealership closed to get my new light, install it align the lights or stay shut down until the next day when they could get a new light. The mechanic also lost his drivers license for 30 days, shop was fined $5000 and lost inspections for 30 days.
On top of it all, nothing wrong with the alignment on the lights, just trying to pay for a new fancy headlight alignment machine, $10 at a time.

Trust me, I'm in total agreement with you when it comes to thing like you described. I got paid a bonus for upselling things in the waiting room, and maybe that's the problem. I didn't examine the car myself, I had to rely on what the mechanic said. And he got a bonus to, in the form of more labor hours booked if you bought his bullshit.

[BADRACR1]

I've worked in the parts dept and as a tech in three different dealerships. The last one was not above "fudging" a little on their reports. Problem customers mysteriously got their phone numbers and/or email deleted so the parent company couldn't send them surveys and have their customer service levels drop. We all covered for each other. If a wrong part was ordered by service or parts the customer could be told it was shipped wrong or defective.
The one I am at now is straight as an arrow. Everyone is held accountable for their own actions and mistakes. We prefer to earn repeat customers, not just take their money.
As far a tire replacement, most are on the bars at 2/32 or 3/32. At 5/32 you are not far from replacement. If you wore off 4/32 in 8k mile the next 2-3/32 could only be about another 3-5k miles. A couple of months or so for most of us. Depending on road conditions and your driving style that might be "soon", as he described. The price does seem a little high, though. We sell our tires at 10% above cost, $16 each for m&b.

[ApexOversteer]

Years ago, at the local vette club sponsoring dealership, we used to have shop nights on 3rd Tuesday of every month 6-9pm....they would clean out the service bays, and we bring in our vettes to do light work on them, and maybe wash/dry/detail in winter....then pizza upon closing....the sales/service/parts depts were open for us, even a service writer or two....

So it seemed they hired this hot chick as a new service writer, she really seemed to know her way around a car too, her clothing was a definate cut above what you would normally expect a 'secretary' to wear too....and her language spoke of high quality education, not high skool.....

so I got curious after she came out to look at some problem in a truck diffy, and so when she was talking to the shop mgr and the mechanic, she was talking cars really well, on their level if anything .....I followed her back to her glass corner cubical office, noted the name on the door, Alice Estes.....

I made the name in a nanosecond, I asked if she was the daughter of PETE Estes, President of GM back in the 60's.....she replied really quietly that she was his Grand Daughter.....and to keep that bit of information under my hat, say NOTHING to anyone at ALL......OK was my reply, then I noted her work load in the office, buried in papers, such was NOT the case in other offices.....


I smelled a rat, and sure enough.......a couple months later, the club showed up for shop night, and all new people at the dealership.....the entire command chain was new, the boss/owner cashiered ALL of them....

the boss owner had inherited the operation from his father, even though he knew what was what..almost, but not enough to figger out the cooked books.....Alice figgered it out.....:issues::rofl::seasix: she left the operation a while later....

Turns out her father, Pete Estes' son, was head of GM liaison with the Fed.gov, which is why she got into troubleshooting dealer problems.....

:lol::cert:

I understood that! ALL of it! AND it was a cool story!

Is this what having a stroke feels like?

[C5SilverBullet]

Texas requires replacement at 3/32, 5/32 still has plenty of life, especially considering they're just seasonal tires.

Dealerships NEVER have good prices on tires, and they're lucky to make 10% profit on the ones they do sell.

[09CTSV]

The tread bars are still down on the tires. I know my summer tires will be replaced next fall when I switch back out to my winter set. The following year will be the snows.
My father always taught me good tires and good brakes is what you need on a vehicle. He was a stickler for making sure we had good tires and brakes.

[lspencer534]

The tread bars are still down on the tires. I know my summer tires will be replaced next fall when I switch back out to my winter set. The following year will be the snows.
My father always taught me good tires and good brakes is what you need on a vehicle. He was a stickler for making sure we had good tires and brakes.

Speaking of good tires, I hope everyone here knows this: Do not put the more-worn tires on the back; put them on the front. In case of a flat or a blowout on the front, a car still steers the same: You turn the steering wheel to the left, the car goes to the left. A flat or blowout on the rear makes a car steer just backwards from normal.

[C5SilverBullet]

Speaking of good tires, I hope everyone here knows this: Do not put the more-worn tires on the back; put them on the front. In case of a flat or a blowout on the front, a car still steers the same: You turn the steering wheel to the left, the car goes to the left. A flat or blowout on the rear makes a car steer just backwards from normal.

You would be surprised how many people don't know this. We get people coming in here all the time asking us to rotate their worn out tires to the back, or put the new tires on the front.

We don't of course.