I realise the labour and parts cost more at the dealership service centers, are there any other cons to these places ! what about the pros !
mechnificent,
Nov 12, 1:29am
They know the vehicles, they get advised of any known faults that come to light, they have the special tools, they have the information they need to diagnose and fix their brand of car, they have a service manager that sees every car that goes through the shop. .
For regular servicing, I'd recommend a local mechanic that you can establish a relationship with, a relationship based on him being familiar with your vehicle needs and expectations, and that you can trust. A competent mechanic should be able to do all the regular servicing and straight forward repairs easily. If something comes up that needs diagnosing, go see the dealer, get them to diagnose it, then ask your regular mechanic if he can fix that problem.
bjmh,
Nov 12, 3:57am
i have been a local garage for the last 32years,i have a good working relationship with most of the dealers in my area,they quite often agree to me servicing their out of town vehicles,dealers put a huge investment into their product so i can understand some being reluctant to share information,the internet has changed how we source infomation.The final thing that sways most customers is good,honest service.
unbeatabull,
Nov 12, 4:43am
Best way I've always looked at it.
Go to a garage if you just want to keep your car running on the road, oil changes etc up to date.
Go to a dealer if you want your car to be kept to as close to new condition as possible.
master-trader,
Nov 12, 5:02am
Which I have found isn't always the way of the local garage
ozz1,
Nov 12, 5:07am
unfortuneatly . you have just answered your original question.sorry.
mopsy3,
Nov 12, 11:07pm
Any decent workshop has a quality scan tool these days. They usually charge half the cost for diagnosis too. they can diagnose your fault and fix it. Saves time. Same as they have access online to the same info that a dealer has.
mopsy3,
Nov 12, 11:09pm
Like when mine went to a Ford dealership for a sump leak under warranty and they didnt bother to tighten the cross member bolts!
mechnificent,
Nov 13, 3:53am
No Mopsy, there is a lot of data that a dealer can extract that a multi purpose reader will not get. The dealers also have access to technical bulletins and the experience that smaller workshops don't get because of the way the franchise thing works. it's one of the benefits for the dealer and the company to have/keep these things to themselves.
unbeatabull,
Nov 13, 4:15am
Thats just poor workmanship. If it is anything like our work, whoever it was would of been paying for it for the rest of the month, shouting smoko's, getting all the shit jobs etc - wouldn't be making the same mistake twice!
People need to realise occasionally mistakes do happen - the difference between a some workshops and a good workshop is that a good one will fix it, where as others will either deny liability, charge you for it or do their absolute best to get out of it.
mechnificent,
Nov 13, 4:45am
You got that right Unbeatabull. standard practice at some places is to turn a stuff up into an opportunity to charge the customer some more.
franc123,
Nov 13, 5:43am
That simply isn't the case.Diagnosis of electrical and electronic, and even mechanical issues on very late model cars isn't a case of hooking a generic code reader up, pulling codes out, replacing a part, clearing codes and kicking it out the door in 5 minutes, why the public think this is anyones guess.Many issues often do not throw codes, involve careful analysis of live data, in some cases sending samples of data to the manufacturer, checking of service bulletins, performing reworks of components and wiring, and even reprogramming of control modules, all of which can only be conducted by the manufacturer and their representatives and not Backstreet motors in Burbsville for half the price.They certainly do not have access to the same information, maybe as years go by and the common fixes become better known and end up on the general web, until then, no.Even then they may not be able to repair it.
unbeatabull,
Nov 13, 5:49am
^ As franc said.
alan1111,
Nov 13, 5:54am
lmao service manager checks every car. Lazy prick just sits in his office doing paperwork well every service manager i know does. Every non dealership has scanners these days plus what with the internet everything about any make or model info is there at your finger tips. But as above they get technical bulletins from the car manufacturer but againthat is easy to get if you know the right people.
carclan,
Nov 13, 6:02am
I have always taken my car to the dealer as think it is better for resale purpose. They have replaced rear brake hoses even when it was out of warranty, they seem to pick up on other things two due to the volume of the same vehicle being service.
unbeatabull,
Nov 13, 6:47am
Should come to our workshop then!
Our Foreman/Manager/Advisor is very hands on. He's always helping the boys out on the floor and if we are overbooked he will take on jobs himself too.
Those scanners can't check everything that a dealer can.The Snap On man keeps trying to sell us theyre top of the range many thousand dollar one . can it test this! No it cant. What about this! Oh no. Can it do this! Nope. Well its no good to us then.
The universal scanners that workshops have are really only good for extracting common codes (Without going into great detail, there is certain codes that internationally all vehicles have to show - these are the ones that scanners show - there are also Manufacturer only codes that are far more indepth and will only show on their Manufacturer's software) and testing basic stuff to point you in the right direction.
Not to mention all the special service tools places have. A workshop simply wouldn't be able to do certain balljoints, bushes, cambelts, even oil filters, that we do on our cars without our Dealer tools.
mechnificent,
Nov 13, 7:31am
Yup, what Franc said. well said too Franc. And Unbeatabull.
And Alan, that paperwork the service manager is doing. that is how he knows what got done, and what the cure was and what the commonest problems are with every car they work on.
franc123,
Nov 13, 8:38am
Thats another good reason to use the agent, not only if safety recalls are needed but if any other sort ofproblem shows up a few years down the track thats clearly a design, manufacturing or assembly fault and your factory warranty has expired and you can clearly prove you've got a good service history with them you may well get part or all of the repair costs paid for as a goodwill gesture.With the market being so competitive these days and having such a wide choice of makes and models to choose from it makes good sense to ensure that your customers are well looked after, simple as that.The use of correct lubricants and coolants and even filtration is also critical these days and you also can be secure in the knowledge that the right products have been used.
gunhand,
Nov 13, 8:55am
The use of correct lubricants and coolants and even filtration is also critical these days and you also can be secure in the knowledge that the right products have been used.
Edited by franc123 at 9:41 pm, Tue 13 Nov
Quote
franc123 (282 )9:38 pm, Tue 13 Nov
Yea, dunno bout that. Quite a few buy products from large yellow shops to put there "dealer brand" car. So don't always assume your dealer has put genuine parts in your car come service time.
unbeatabull,
Nov 13, 6:20pm
Whatever they do fit will be covered by their parts warranty though (in our case is 12 months for anything new, 3 months for anything S/H)
kdcentralni,
Nov 13, 6:29pm
I took my Falcon to billybob mechanics, and sore it 3 hours later hooked up to Courtesy Fords scanner machine - car had a surging issue on deacceleration, I was impressed by that.
mopsy3,
Nov 14, 3:03am
So luckily we put the car on a hoist to do a service the next day, otherwise the bolts would have fallen out completely. Bit more than "just a mistake" dont you think! Everyone else would have got smoko I would have been without a car. Would have been an interesting warranty claim though if the bolts did fall out. Admittedly the dealership manager was horrified when he saw the photos, obviously they did not have to remedy the 'mistake'. However, they did promptly repair the damage to the drivers door and replace the caps off the bottom of the wiper blades that mysteriously got removed while repairing a sump leak.
mopsy3,
Nov 14, 3:11am
Which is why a good working relationship with your local dealerships is also a must for a smaller workshop. and yes, they do share plenty to the people they want to.
mopsy3,
Nov 14, 3:16am
In over 30 years in business we have never had to send a vehicle to a dealership for anything we have not been able to diagnose or fix ourselves. Perhaps have rung dealerships for info (and always got it. Nissan are a bit funny though.) The only reason we have told customers to go to a dealer has been for call backs or warranty work. No scan tool can read every code in every car but most of the top of the range ones are constantly having their software updated.
mopsy3,
Nov 14, 3:17am
You are a dealerships dream.
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