Car Dealer Blues.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Griff

Do you have an auto-salvage operation nearby, cowhead? You could probably halve that price again.

I was talking to a guy yesterday who drove out to a mega-dealer in Big Flats to get a full size Chevy pickup. This guy works long hours and doesn't get much time off, so when he found himself free on New Years Eve he went shopping, except the local dealers were closed. So he drove the extra miles and probably got a better price. Now that he has his lemon, purchased out of town, the local dealers are refusing to service it...

I suspect if your brother called the local Chevy representative, that situation would improve.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by dar512

I suspect if your brother called the local Chevy representative, that situation would improve.

He's going that direction now. (not my brother though )

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

that doesn't mean we don't exist. by the way, most of our customers lie to us whenever they can because they assume we are lying to them.

we now video and audio record every transaction so we have proof of what was said. more for our protection than the customers.

I hope you are telling your customers this, otherwise I believe that a felony is involved.

[lumberjim]

oh, we only have the cameras in the ladies room, rich. Hey......ya wanna come by and watch some of the tape? we sell it on the internet.



of course we do. this place is very tightly run, and super super careful of compliance and privacy.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It appears we have the usual showroom gripes and grumbles, real or imagined, but no service department complaints.

[mrnoodle]

I had a 2000 Jetta for a couple of years. It was one of the best cars I've ever owned. I hated to sell it, but I ran out of job and could only keep one vehicle. The truck had to stay, but the Jetta was a superior automobile in every respect but towing capacity and payload.

It ran well enough that I never took it to the dealer for anything but regular maintenance (which was about $200 a pop, now that you mention it. but still, good car).

bruce's coworker, if he's as meticulous with his car records as he seems like he probably is, stands a good chance to get all his money back, I would think.

[bubbachuck]

I would like to touch on a few things about this matter. As an employee at Garnet Vw, you should at least see both sides. I drive by 4 Vw dealers to come here because they do things the right way. So take it for what it is- this customer has had his car here on 4 occasions. 8/03 at 39k for warranty work was the first time we ever saw this customer, 7/04 at 66k for a 109.00 bill, 2/16 at 81k which is when his major maintenance was done and his cat was bad along with the oxygen sensor and mass air probably for letting it go too long before getting it resolved and then 3/05 for the broken spring and the gratis alignment. You tell me how first of all, how can a broken spring cause the alignment and steering wheel to be off? Replacing a front spring does not cause the alignment or steering wheel to be adjusted. Go ask a technician that knows what the hell their talking about. Secondly, why is it the dealers fault for telling the customer what is wrong with the car? Fedral emissions warranty is 8/80! I don't make this shit up. It is what it is. It was the customers decision to have the repairs done and were valid. Thirdly, how does a coil spring break in half? I have met the customer and don't have a bad thing to say about him, but what pisses me off to no end is the relentless bitching done by a third party who knows little of one side and can trash someone or a company because you have too much time watching the paint dry in your bedroom in your parents basement. Give me a break. I can sleep at nite knowing that I do everything in my power to help every customer. If you or any customer has an issue with us or any company, go to the source first for a clear picture. Your enough to drive anybody in the service industry to give up, because in reality, people like you suck. I know dealers have bad reps, but as for my dealership, go a little further. Inquire about our customer satisfaction scores, read the countless letters in our waiting room of how we have helped customers when everyone else wouldn't, VW included. Excuse me for rambling, but this shit gets me to know end. I just think that 4 visits, from 39k to 81k is not enough to try and push responsability of neglect onto a dealer.

[lumberjim]

yay, bubba!

boo, bubba's grammar teacher!

i think it's hysterical that you found this site, and this thread. did someone clue you in, or was it just lucky?

or google?

[bubbachuck]

absolute google. I don't think I have ever been this fired up about something seen on a forum before. God forbid I commented on what this over zealous Larry King wannabe does for a living. I could talk shit all day too. Maybe he's the reason for all the Osprey crashes.

[wolf]

I think it says a lot that of the umpty-thousand customers at the dealership's service department, he knows this one, based on the problems.

(consider how similar that would be to somebody telling a nutty relative story, and me coming up immediately with which one of the 31K+ (many with multiple admissions) we've served over the years ...)

[lumberjim]

well, welcome, bubbachuck. you and i used to be neighbors. i worked at family jeep for 6 years. i always had good experiences with you guys, i even had my jetta repaired there once and it was smooth. bruce is a good guy, btw, fwiw.

[Undertoad]

About ten years ago, a VW dealer service dept slapped my exhaust system into place with hose clamps. I learned about it two years later when the areas around the clamps rusted out. I am not that immaculate with records but it was either Wynn or North Penn. Probably the former.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hello Bubbachuck, I see LJ has given you a formal welcome. I also see we’re playing shoot the messenger. You’ve made the classic mistake of reading the post and thinking it’s all about you. You in this case being Garnet Volkswagen. Well it’s not, it’s about an expensive run of compounded bad luck that this man had and everyone dreads. You(GV) are just one of the forces the Gods have rallied to make this gentleman’s head spin.

.....at 81k which is when his major maintenance was done and his cat was bad along with the oxygen sensor and mass air probably for letting it go too long before getting it resolved and....

If it’s running fine and there are no warning lights, how is the customer supposed to know VW’s emissions system is screwing up?

You tell me how first of all, how can a broken spring cause the alignment and steering wheel to be off? Replacing a front spring does not cause the alignment or steering wheel to be adjusted. Go ask a technician that knows what the hell their talking about.

How did the spring get broken? He says there was no indication of a problem before it went into your shop. Springs break 1% of the time from over compression and 99% of the time from overextension (rebound) unless it’s a defective spring. As I understand it, this car has front struts with the coil spring mounted coaxially. In that case the spring can’t be over compressed or overextended without damaging the strut. That rules out potholes since you say the strut was ok.

Did your mechanic...excuse me....technician, report back that the wheel alignment was not out and only the steering wheel was out of alignment?
Was the car Towed into the shop in the first place? If so, rollback or hook and if hook, front or rear? There’s a myriad of ways to screw up the alignment when towing or working on a car.
Tow truck operators have a habit of throwing the chain hooks on anything handy including steering and suspension pieces.
To change the catalytic converter did they have to jack the engine or the rear suspension? Just letting the lower arm swing uncontrolled when the strut is removed can bend the steering linkage.

So what’s the answer? I don’t know. You probably don’t either. If you aren’t sure what did then all the other possibilities become maybes.

Secondly, why is it the dealers fault for telling the customer what is wrong with the car?

Damifino, who said it was?

Fedral emissions warranty is 8/80! I don't make this shit up. It is what it is.

Right...federal law...I thought I mentioned that. Who said you made it up?

It was the customers decision to have the repairs done and were valid.

Yes, that’s why it was there. Most people don’t have a whole lot of choice because the lifestyles we lead make us so dependent on our cars.
I do however wonder why the exhaust system rattles and why the broken hangar wasn’t fixed the first time. It would seem basic to me that if you’re repairing the system, the things that it came with should be put right.

Thirdly, how does a coil spring break in half?

That’s a real good question but I think I covered that.

....but what pisses me off to no end is the relentless bitching done by a third party who knows little of one side and can trash someone or a company because you have too much time watching the paint dry in your bedroom in your parents basement.

Moi? Bitching? Now I see where the bubba part comes from. I related the story of this mans streak of bad luck, for members to discuss. Bringing things to the board that happen in the real world, either our world or the news, is what we do here. It would appear from the responses that car dealers are a hot button with a lot of people. Now why would that be?
btw
1 - My parents don’t have a basement.
2 – I haven’t lived in their house for 43 years.
3 – The paint in my bedroom has been dry for 15 years.
That shows how much you know. :p

Excuse me for rambling, but this shit gets me to know end.

Noooo, really? I’d have never known that.

I just think that 4 visits, from 39k to 81k is not enough to try and push responsability of neglect onto a dealer.

Where the hell did that come from? No one blamed you for the emissions equipment failure. All that was requested of you is to make the repairs properly, without rattles, hassles, return visits or having to get medieval on your ass. Oh, and try to return the car with less problems then it had going in.

[Clodfobble]

3 – The paint in my bedroom has been dry for 15 years.

Man, you really like that color, huh?

[BigV]

Where the hell did that come from? No one blamed you for the emissions equipment failure. All that was requested of you is to make the repairs properly, without rattles, hassles, return visits or having to get medieval on your ass. Oh, and try to return the car with less problems then it had going in.

You know, this seems self evident, but, sadly, it's not. I've had the whole range of reasons to bring the car back to the shop, ranging from one fix revealed another problem, to not having the crankcase drain plug reinstalled. Yes, and the little red light preceded the engine welding itself into junk by about 30 seconds. *sigh* The garage did replace the engine.