My bad experiences with dealerships lately

[Mike80911]

So the check engine light on my Cayenne comes on and I think why not just bring it to the dealer they must have a lot of experience with this so off to the dealer I go. They tell me the purge valve is bad so they change it and bill me $360 I pay and take the car home. Guess what next day light comes back on so back to the dealer it goes. They call and say they found a broken clip on the air intake and the entire intake needs to be replaced. But one good thing is they did fix it finally and at no extra charge.
Then the light comes on in my sons Audi so off to the Audi dealer it goes. They call and say the Cam Position Sensor is causing the light and it is fixed at a cost of $160. I pick up the car drive 6 miles home and guess what on comes the light again. It is going back Tuesday for another try.
Last but not least I bring my 2012 S class Mercedes to the dealer to swap over winter to summer tires and some minor warranty issues and when I go to pick it up they smashed the front right of the car. The best part is they did not even say anything thinking I would take the car off the lot and then they could say to late. But I happened to walk around that side of the car. I try to act like an adult and be understanding and I leave the car for them to fix. When I go to pick up the car it is filthy dirty and there is compound all over the car. I tell the service manager that they seem to have no respect for customers cars and I will not be coming back there again. He thinks I am overreacting.
Is there any dealership in this country that knows what they are doing and how to respect others property?
Sorry for the long post but just had to tell someone even if no one cares at least I got to talk about it.

[afterburn 549]

Welcome to the whore club, once they sell you a car they no longer care.

[Rick V]

The dealer I work at is the exception to the general rule, there are six of us in the shop and we all treat the customers cars like they belong to our wives. There is still honor and value at some dealers but we are more the exception to the rule.

[KNS]

Sorry for your problems but anybody who brings an out-of-warranty car to a dealership isn't thinking clearly. I've only bought one new car in my life and I refused to take it to the dealership even while it was under warranty, I did all the servicing (and still do) myself. Ten years and 167,000 miles later ('04 BMW 325i) it runs fantastic and I've never even seen a check engine light. I attribute that to dealership techs having never laid their hands on it.

I understand if some do not have the workspace or time/tools to do their own work. In that case find a good independent garage.

[1990C4S]

At some point do people not think 'this car is too complicated'?

[Mike80911]

The Porsche and Audi never go the dealer for anything. I do most all of the service myself or have a local shop do the big stuff. But with the check engine lights on and the lack of space and time I thought that would be the best bet unfortunately I was wrong.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

At some point do people not think 'this car is too complicated'?

Yes. That's when they take it to the dealer.

Sorry to the OP for these stealership issues. Sounds like it's time for you to find a good indy shop for non-warranty stuff.

[GWN7]

When you complain start at the top because **** runs down hill. Email Mercedes USA Support Home Page and tell them what happened at the stealership.

[Evans, Marv]

I've always done what I could on cars I've had, and seldom taken cars to dealerships. I have an independent shop I take my vehicles to when it involves something I can't do or don't want to do. On exception is a local Ford dealership. The turbo on my truck started leaking oil just before the 100K mark. They fixed it under warrantee and gave me good feedback. After that, I took my truck there for things I didn't want to do, and they always seemed to do very good work. Otherwise I avoid stealerships like the plague.

[Arizona_928]

Luck of the draw? At my local vw dealer all the parts guys know me by name, and my car more then anything. They give me a nice discount as well.

[wildthing]

I've only gone to the dealers for Toyotas while under warranty (seem to be okay) so can't say anything about these upmarket European marques.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by KNS

Sorry for your problems but anybody who brings an out-of-warranty car to a dealership isn't thinking clearly. I've only bought one new car in my life and I refused to take it to the dealership even while it was under warranty, I did all the servicing (and still do) myself. Ten years and 167,000 miles later ('04 BMW 325i) it runs fantastic and I've never even seen a check engine light. I attribute that to dealership techs having never laid their hands on it.

I understand if some do not have the workspace or time/tools to do their own work. In that case find a good independent garage.

This. Dealerships normally are not the elite and experienced mechanics - seems like most of those guys jump ship after a few years and open their own shop. The average dealership mechanic is straight out of tech school and only knows how to swap parts based on the computer diagnostics, and doesn't apply any real troubleshooting logic to repairs. If he replaces the wrong part, why should the customer pay?

Definitely find a good indie to take care of you. You'll probably save 50% and get far better treatment.

[TGTIW]

BMW is no better. I have a 2010 328i still under warranty. I take it in to have the weight sensor in the passenger seat replaced. To do the work they have to remove the seat and in the process they scratch my door sill and gouge the hell of the the plastic trim around the door. This of course isn't mentioned to me when I picked the car up, but I noticed it about a quarter mile after I left the dealership. Back I go and they are apologetic, we'll replace the plastic and fix the paint, blah, blah.. I take it back to have the work done, they couldn't do the paint at that time and some of the boxes of plastic trim pieces arrived empty..? Back again, replace the remaining plastic and do the paint. The quality of the paint work was astounding, and not in a good way. It looks like the found the nearest 14 year old, let him at it with a bottle of touch up, and then closed the door before it dried. The first time I open the door, the weatherstripping that the paint dried to pulled off even larger chunks of paint than I started with. Again my service adviser is apologetic and says the manager will call me to figure out how to make things right. That was two weeks ago, I don't expect a call..

[Gogar]

Wow you have a Cayenne, a S-Class Mercedes, an Audi for your kid, and a 930? Congrats!!

[calimedeiros]

That's why their called stealerships

[Brando]

Originally Posted by GWN7

When you complain start at the top because **** runs down hill. Email Mercedes USA Support Home Page and tell them what happened at the stealership.

This is good advice. Especially for Mercedes. They have made some big changes in their customer experience mandated from Mercedes down to the dealers.

[Bugsinrugs]

Most codes from a check engine light gives one a range of problems. Could be this or could be that.
Dealer mechanics seem to replace the most expensive part, clear the code and then send you on your way. Why they don't test drive the car to see if the check engine light returns is anyone's guess.

[jcommin]

I have had mixed experiences with dealerships. I really like the Porsche dealer I go to. I know everyone by name, I get discounts, loaners and the work is top shelf.

I also have a VW Passat that I have taken to the local VW dealer, an independent shop and I have done work myself. The biggest difference on the surface between the dealer and independent shop: the independent shop has a slightly lower labor cost and he gets lower part cost. The total difference isn't that much. I have a direct relationship with the independent shop owner - he shows me what is wrong with the car. The dealer, not so much.

If I don't get the service or workmanship I expect, I walk. find someone else.

Buying a new car is a difference experience - they are much all the same, it is just that some are nicer than others.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

This. Dealerships normally are not the elite and experienced mechanics - seems like most of those guys jump ship after a few years and open their own shop. The average dealership mechanic is straight out of tech school and only knows how to swap parts based on the computer diagnostics, and doesn't apply any real troubleshooting logic to repairs. If he replaces the wrong part, why should the customer pay?

Definitely find a good indie to take care of you. You'll probably save 50% and get far better treatment.

This is completely incorrect information, at least around here in the car capital of the world. The Porsche dealer where I worked in the 1980s has techs that have been there since before my time and they are gooood, plus the service manager has 30+ years running the place. How much experience do you want? Independent shops are extremely hit-or-miss, some that used to be good are not anymore because their one great tech is gone and they cannot replace him for anything, some just turn out incredibly mediocre work and hope for the best, etc.

Same thing in the Mercedes-Benz world. I personally know of some extremely talented and factory trained technicians working at the dealer, including guys who have the latest AMG certifications to work on the SLS, etc. and guys who are wizards at trouble-shooting the overly complicated new cars. My long time friend owns a really good indy MB shop and he's honest and competent as the day is long but he does not have the training and/or diagnostic equipment to do anything complicated on some of the newer cars.

Some of the independent Porsche shops in SoCal with the big reps charge more than the dealer, and that's really saying something. Others are shops that do one or two things really well but of course take any and all jobs in regardless if they have anyone who actually knows WTF he's doing on it.

YMMV in Kansas but that's what it's like here in the belly of the beast.

[Mike80911]

I do have a good indy shop that I go to. But with the Porsche he recommended taking it to the dealer as we reset the light and it came back on. After he looked up the code he found that there were multiple possibilities on the cause. So thinking that Porsche must have more experience with this we both figured it would be easier just to take it there.
When I was younger I worked in an indy shop that specialized in computer diagnostics of course that was a long time ago and computers were in their infancy so kind of easy to work with. If we treated customers this way and misdiagnosed trouble over and over again the owner would have fired you immediately.
Even on the Audi the code suggests that there are 4 different possibilities of the cause and 2 of them require removal of the entire front of the engine. My indy guy does not want to start messing with everything and I do not have the time nor space to do it.
Does anyone know a real good indy shop for Audi in the Queens or Nassau area of NY?