Why I personally don't care for dealerships

[SpyderMike]

Our gardener sent a rock through driver's side window shattering it to tiny pieces. He drove off not realizing it, I guess...that is another story. We contact him and he says he will cover the cost of repair. I have no skin in the game and take it to a dealership as I have too many projects.

They quote $171 for the window, that's fine. I say go ahead and order it. Then they call later that day and quote 4 hours at $210 an hour for the labor. ****. I feel bad for the gardener. We make an appointment and drop it off at 8am a day after they receive the part. We drop the car off and are then told it will take two days. What?

Okay, today we drive the 45 minutes in traffic to pick the car up a few hours after they called to tell us it is ready. We arrive and they say it still needs to be washed. Hmmm. After the wash, the service guy brings it up but with the window down. I joke that they didn't replace the window. Anyway, he gets out using the outside door handle. I didn't really connect the dots then. I drive it home and after another 45 minute drive in traffic I try to get out of the car and the interior handle is not connected. I have to lower the window and use the outer handle to open the door - just like the service guy washing the car did.

I call the service coordinator and tell him the story. He is sympathetic. He says to bring it back in. I ask him how long it will take. He says an hour. Okay, so I takes 4 hours to open the door up to replace the window but only one to open the door up to hook up the latch. This stinks. I tell him next week. He wants to schedule it so that the responsible tech is available to fix it.

Further inspection at home reveals a tear in the "leather" on that arm rest. Now, my wife and I spent a good hour carefully taking all the glass shards out of the window frame and interior prior to even starting the conversation with the dealership. I know the tear was not there. I would have noticed it.

Hopefully this will get resolved next week. I tell my wife - this is why I work on our cars...in my general experience, dealerships over charge and underperform. This is by far not the first time I have received a car back in worse shape then I left it.

Sorry, my rant mode is now switched off.

[HardDrive]

F dealerships. The only dealerships I have ever dealt with that were not vermin were Porsche. I have to take my Mercedes in for a warranty issue. Dreading it.

[Zeke]

I don't understand. Broken glass gets handled by glass replacement people. Normally they come to you. If you didn't want to turn this into your insurance because you were not at fault, that I understand.

But you made the choice to use a dealer at outrages labor fees at the expense of your gardener. Did you even consult with him other than his agreement to cover the cost? Did he anticipate $840 labor?

I don't feel sorry for you but I do for the gardener.

[Evans, Marv]

My wife had a Nissan Altima Coupe. The tire pressue monitors went out on it. I thought I'd take it to the dealership to see how much it would cost. They wanted $100 just to look at it. I told them that was outrageous. Their reply was that the dealership was the biggest in the county. Then I took it to an indy shop. They wanted $114 to replace them. Then I took it to Discount Tire, where i bought the tires. The replaced them for free. I share your dislike for dealerships. I avoid them at all costs.

[masraum]

My guess is you'd have been better off taking it to a "reputable" (as much as possible) body place vs the dealer.

Probably about 2002, I took my old 911 to one of the Porsche dealers in town to get the windshield replaced, because I called a dozen places and no one had a windshield. The dealer told me that they had a glass place do it. I guess I called the wrong place. The glass place was late getting it done, and scratched the paint on my car in the process (picked it up at night and didn't notice until a week later). There's a reason they call them stealerships. Unless you've got a warranty so you don't have to pay, I'd avoid them like the plague.

[p911dad]

I basically take the old 4Runner back to the Toyota dealer for an oil change and inspection once a year, the truck doesn't get too many miles each year anymore.
So- 2 years ago they said it needed a water pump and front calipers and rotors. I said, does it pass inspection? Yes, see you next year. So I took it to my local indy and he said water pump is fine (this is pretty big $ as you need to basically take the front of the car apart to get to it). 2 years later still ok, no leaks. It did need rotors and calipers, ok, done. Last year the dealer said the steering rack is shot, water pump needs replacing and the induction system needs cleaning whatever that means. So again I went to the indy and he said all is well and it needs nothing, I did have him do an alignment and tire rotation for something for his trouble.
So it seems like this dealer's service dept. is simply making needs up to pad the bill. It just reinforces my already lack of trust of the these birds.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

F dealerships. The only dealerships I have ever dealt with that were not vermin were Porsche. I have to take my Mercedes in for a warranty issue. Dreading it.

Porsche dealerships aren’t special. You were just lucky…

[masraum]

Originally Posted by p911dad

I basically take the old 4Runner back to the Toyota dealer for an oil change and inspection once a year, the truck doesn't get too many miles each year anymore.
So- 2 years ago they said it needed a water pump and front calipers and rotors. I said, does it pass inspection? Yes, see you next year. So I took it to my local indy and he said water pump is fine (this is pretty big $ as you need to basically take the front of the car apart to get to it). 2 years later still ok, no leaks. It did need rotors and calipers, ok, done. Last year the dealer said the steering rack is shot, water pump needs replacing and the induction system needs cleaning whatever that means. So again I went to the indy and he said all is well and it needs nothing, I did have him do an alignment and tire rotation for something for his trouble.
So it seems like this dealer's service dept. is simply making needs up to pad the bill. It just reinforces my already lack of trust of the these birds.

I've heard many times that dealerships don't make much on cars, and that most of their money is made from service. I don't know how true that is, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Porsche dealerships aren’t special. You were just lucky…

Yep, my guess is that there may be some good ones. I had good luck with one when my car was still under the CPO, but things changed when CPO expired.

[SpyderMike]

Originally Posted by Zeke

I don't understand. Broken glass gets handled by glass replacement people. Normally they come to you. If you didn't want to turn this into your insurance because you were not at fault, that I understand.

But you made the choice to use a dealer at outrages labor fees at the expense of your gardener. Did you even consult with him other than his agreement to cover the cost? Did he anticipate $840 labor?

I don't feel sorry for you but I do for the gardener.

I think you might be making some wrong assumptions here, or not seeing my rant purpose. I do think he $210 per hour rate is high for this brand (not Porsche). We needed the car fixed. Oh, and I am not sticking my gardener with the full amount...just what I would think is reasonable. I guess I was attempting to list the things I dislike about my dealership experiences...poor scheduling, their sales approach to the costs, poor performance experiences, resulting damage, and almost always a second visit. It was just a rant. This has, in general, been my dealership experience.

I, personally, wouldn't want a glass replacement company disassembling a car door they may have no experience with. Hence my desire to use a service company familiar with the brand.

BTW, the same gardener took out our French Door about 15 years ago. That's a different story ....

[JavaBrewer]

Unless under warranty a dealership is to be avoided at every opportunity. Bought a new car from dealership once in my 60 years here. Never, ever, again will I make that mistake. Lots of high quality independent shops exist where I live that build a relationship of trust and charge way less for better service and outcome. I won’t even let a dealership change my oil and filter, rotate my tires, or do an inspection. They earned the moniker stealership for a reason.

[porsche tech]

I’ve heard many stories of woe about independent shops too…don’t think the problem is limited to new car dealerships.

Originally Posted by masraum

I've heard many times that dealerships don't make much on cars, and that most of their money is made from service. I don't know how true that is, but it wouldn't surprise me.

My understanding has always been that the shop paid the overhead and the profit was in car sales.

[id10t]

Here in Fl windshield replacement is 100% covered by the required insurance, no deductible etc.

[SpyderMike]

This was the side window. My USAA insurance does cover most of front windshield.

I too am convinced that most of the money is in service. Even while at this dealership the service line was long and there was no one looking to buy...on both trips.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by id10t

Here in Fl windshield replacement is 100% covered by the required insurance, no deductible etc.

Not in Texas. I tried to see what I could accomplish along that vein once, and our ins co said "rather than replacing the windshield, we'll pay to have it fixed, no deductable."

So we got the windshields of both of our cars fixed. The total was something like $250-300 to get several spots and a crack or two fixed. Then <1yr later, there was an accident, and we got cancelled due to "3 claims in <1yr." Fargin wankers. If we'd known that, we'd have paid for the windshields.

I'd say that ins were all crooks and sheisters, but I suspect they're only like that because of all the crooks and sheisters that defraud them. It's a vicious circle.

[sc_rufctr]

I worked for a short time as a salesman in a major dealership. They're designed/setup to fleece you and that's about it. Selling cars is actually a side line. They make most of their money on servicing, repairs and add on's at the time of sale (window tint, paint protection). Once I realized this I left and never looked back.

- I wouldn't trust a major dealership to change the oil in my car.

[wilnj]

They’re the automotive equivalent of public schools. They exist because of a captive market.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by wilnj

They’re the automotive equivalent of public schools. They exist because of a captive market.

This... FWIW I will only buy a second hand car that I can service and repair myself.

Dealership? - Avoid at all costs.
Pro Mechanic or repair person? - Only when there's no other viable option. For instance, new tires and alignment.

[stevej37]

I can only speak for the Honda dealerships. My only new car purchases have been Honda's.

Never had a problem/disagreement with them. They were very fair in all pricing and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

[porsche tech]

Guess I’m wrong:

According to the most recent data from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), the new-vehicle department of a car dealership accounts for about 58% of a dealership's total sales but less than 26% of a dealership's total gross profit. In addition to car sales, that figure also reflects profits from finance and insurance (F&I) products sold on new cars. That means such things as gap insurance, alarm systems and extended warranties.
The used-vehicle department represents only about 31% of a dealerships total sales, but profit is close to that of the new-car department: nearly 25%. of a dealership's gross profit, according to NADA. In addition to car sales, the figure also reflects profits from F&I products sold on used cars.

So where does the majority of a dealership's profit come from? It's not from car sales, at least not directly. It's from the service and parts department, which accounts for the other 49.6% of the dealership's gross profits, according to NADA.