Car service, your input needed please

Venti · Post by **Venti** » May 15, 2003, 4:17 pm

Im curious to see if I can get the collevtive input from VV'ers on the topic of servicing you car. If you don't mind, please respond to the following:

1. When you service your car, do you use Dealership Service Departments, or do you service your car at an independent garage. Please explain *WHY* you make the choice you do in this area. (some people service at both, why then is this so as well)

2. If you service at a dealership, what is your biggest source of apprehension in doing so? price, time, quality, treatment

3. If you service at a independent garage, what is your biggest source of apprehension in doing so? price, time, quality, treatment.

4. What do you perceive as the biggest difference between servicing at a independent garage, Vs. a Delaership environment?

5. Rate your personal level of knowlege in understanding what is explained to you about your car on a scale of 1 -10.
** 1 being, I dont understand anything other than where to put the gas and 10 being a very in depth understanding of cars. **

Thanks in advance

Melrin_Specclaster · Post by **Melrin_Specclaster** » May 15, 2003, 5:23 pm

When able I like to let the dealership do it. Reason being, if you buy your car, and have it serviced always at the same place, who can THEY blame?

When I service elsewhere its because of convenience/trust.

I rate my knowledge about a 7ish.

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » May 15, 2003, 5:33 pm

Vehicle under warranty goes back to the dealer for all service. I don't want to hear any shit aboput warrantys being voided through use of the wrong parts, fluids etc.

Vehicle out of warranty, I do all the maintenance myself. The prices garages charge are a fricken crime.

Raistin · Post by **Raistin** » May 15, 2003, 6:15 pm

If its a used car, and under no warranty start learning. You will learn real fast on how to save money and do your own stuff. And in doing so, know how much them dealership fuckers rip you off.

Brand new car? Go with the dealership. Theres normally a clause that makes you use their own brand of parts.And if you dont, you void it.

I rate myself a great 10. I run a auto parts store now, and seen my
share of bs.

Neost · Post by **Neost** » May 15, 2003, 7:58 pm

standard oil changes I stop at most any quick lube type place. Major service at certain mileages goes to the dealer because of warranty reasons. I had a dealer try to fuck me over oil type once, but I kept after it up through the regional service manager and direct emails to Ford. I finally got things set right by being persistent.

The worst part about it was, the front transfer case on a four wheel drive Explorer had to be rebuilt. I asked the guy how in the hell he figured the type of oil I used could be related to the problem and he just turned and walked off. And since Ford pays them for parts and labor, I have no clue why he didn't want to honor the warranty. It wasn't like it was any loss to the dealership.

Anyway, I rate my car knowledge about a 6.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 15, 2003, 8:05 pm

Same if the car is under warranty put in in the dealer garage.

If it's not..then buy a chilton's book on your car and maybe read when stuff goes wrong to see if it's an easy job or not.

Dealer garages charge high rates...like seems 50% more then other garages.

Other garages often fix the wrong shit...

I always go to quickie lubes though, seems the oil costs as much as the service done for me...so I just pay the extra $2 to avoid 2 hours in the dirt covered in oil.

Sirensa · Post by **Sirensa** » May 15, 2003, 8:22 pm

I've never had a new car so independant service all the way!

Oil changes were always no charge cause the family owned a chain - rest of the stuff, there is a nice shop in my town that has always done a good job on all of my vehicles.

I generally make decisions such as these on word of mouth / references. I don't like to use any sort of "service" that someone I know hasn't tried and liked.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » May 15, 2003, 9:05 pm

Yes, definately ask your friends who does thier work....

But if you don't enjoy the service, don't give them a hard time about it...

I had a lot of places rip me off in the past, after several good visits....they just up and do something really fucked up. Like I went to goodyear in atlanta for maybe 5 things...most simple...then I had an o2 sensor fail...and they got me on that one, they replaced the wrong O2 sensor...it cost me an extra $200 or so. Apparenly my car has 3 O2 sensors compared to my last car which had one cheap one. I double checked with my uncle and he said that's probably wrong, but he looked it up and I have 3....but the computer diagnostic should have told them which was bad.

Your friends might have gotten some good visits in and you might get a bad one, same as any recommendation...

Oh yeah and for the record, most of my non-emergency work gets done in my uncles shop lately...but it's like 400 miles away...he just always askes to look at my car and then does maintenance stuff and anything he finds, usually I pay his cost on parts, sometimes he refuses any money at all. I try not to take advantage of him, but he always asks repeatedly if there "is anything wrong at all" "you sure" "can we go for a drive?" etc...until he cons it out of me that it squeaks when I turn in cold weather sometimes...that was the issue this x-mas. Then he snuck in plugs, oil, filters (gas air oil), some lubes, brakes..gas additives..what else I forget.

Kguku · Post by **Kguku** » May 16, 2003, 4:55 am

Owning the mother of all white elephants (1990 thunderbird supercoupe), I find maintainance on my car is a must to keep up, otherwise you're going to have something go. Also living in an apt now, I don't have the space to work on my car myself.

Oilchanges - usually goto a mcquick n lube whatever shop, but I also make sure I tell them the exact amount they need to refill with so they don't go gungho apeshit and overflow it with oil.

General repairs - Ford dealership that's down the street from me. After moving to Winnipeg last summer I needed to find a place that would do my bidding on replacing things with what I want. Speaking with the service manager there, they were willing to order parts that I requested, instead of their stock parts, and or their generic aftermarket parts. First dealership I've ever found that did that, and the work that I have needed done they have been great with.

Fluid changes / regular maintainance - Ford dealership.

Speciality stuff / non-powertrain stuff, such as tires, exhaust, body work, etc I goto speciality shops. Found an awesome exhaust shop called Benders, they do all custom work, extremely knowledgable group. Boyd Autobody for anything body related, they fix a lot of the 'small stuff' for free when they are doing the major work. Firestone for my tires because all flat repair / tire rotations etc are free.

When I first bought my car, I was worried about being ganked by garages, however I made a point of doing a lot of research on the different issues to expect, plus a lot of tinkering at my uncles place before I moved. So I'd rate myself a 10 on the knowledge of my car, plus having a full history even from the previous owner helped a lot.

EDIT - Just thought I'd add that if you really want to make sure you know about your car / what kind of repairs are being done for what, is to pick up a Haynes manual for your make/model/year. Very good investment. Also if you're die-hard is to pick up the shop manual for your car.

Deward · Post by **Deward** » May 16, 2003, 10:37 am

If you own a car built in the past 5 years then take it to a dealer. They will rip your ass off but in most cases the work is guaranteed and it will be done right. I like small mechanics but most of them don't have the proper training or equipment for today's cars.

If you own a old car then get a chiltons and do the work yourself. It is getting harder and harder to work on cars nowadays though with all the computer gizmos. Foreign cars are much easier to work on. American cars are way over engineered and if you touch something small then chances are you'll fuck up a computer chip somewhere.

I miss my old clunkers and not having any problems fixing them. My 78 T-bird was an ugly beast but I had no problems working on it.

I would rate myself an 8 out of 10 on cars. I know where all the parts are and how to change out most of them. I have never done a rebuild of an engine though. Chilton's is your friend.

Deward

masteen · Post by **masteen** » May 16, 2003, 10:48 am

I get everthing done by a Honda dealership. The service is first-rate, it's always done relatively timely, and the prices are that much higher. Knowing it's done right is worth the extra bucks, IMO.

Shaerra · Post by **Shaerra** » May 16, 2003, 11:09 am

Venti wrote:Im curious to see if I can get the collevtive input from VV'ers on the topic of servicing you car. If you don't mind, please respond to the following:

1. When you service your car, do you use Dealership Service Departments, or do you service your car at an independent garage. Please explain *WHY* you make the choice you do in this area. (some people service at both, why then is this so as well)
---Dealership. Always the dealership. They SHOULD know my type of car better than anyone else. They SHOULD have more resources, like manuals and parts available for my vehicle since they are in a since an extension of the manufacturer. Their mechanics should be certified to work on my specific model of vehicle.

2. If you service at a dealership, what is your biggest source of apprehension in doing so? price, time, quality, treatment
---Time. The dealership I use is in no rush.

3. If you service at a independent garage, what is your biggest source of apprehension in doing so? price, time, quality, treatment.

4. What do you perceive as the biggest difference between servicing at a independent garage, Vs. a Delaership environment?
Independent garages aren't as formal, and if they screw something up, they don't seem to care. My current vehicle was purchased from and serviced every time by the exact same dealership. I know the service manager and some of the mechanics now. I know the cashier. If they screw something up, the accept blame, and fix it. It's good to know who is working on your car. You could probably get to know mechanic_003 at an independent company, but it seems like the turnover is a lot higher at joe's_garage_097

5. Rate your personal level of knowlege in understanding what is explained to you about your car on a scale of 1 -10.
** 1 being, I dont understand anything other than where to put the gas and 10 being a very in depth understanding of cars. **
5

Thanks in advance

Phugg_Innay · Post by **Phugg_Innay** » May 16, 2003, 11:38 am

It all depends on what needs to be done here. For Oil changes and minor maintenance I do it myself. My vehicle is also 10 years old and only 1 real pc on it. Air filter/plugs/oil/U-Joints/brakes I can do all myself. when it comes to fixing broken axles and trannies I take to a couple diff places (depends on what broke and who I trust with which component).
If my vehicle were new on the other hand , I would take it to a dealer for almost everything , so as NOT to void any warranty. Although I would check with them for things like oil changes and such , most vendors will allow the quicky places to do the oil and not void anything. I would NOT modify any new vehicle anymore , until it was paid for. Just too damn many things to go wrong after the fact , and the dealer will ALWAYS blame whatever you did to it.
Best bet is to cover your ass at the dealer if its newer. If it is not newer well the fuckem , they overcharge for Everything. Hell even the quicky oilchange places charge ya $20 for a damn air filter. I say pay $40 for a K&N and NEVER have to change the damn thing.

Vehicle knowledge ..... Pre 1995 I would say an 8 .. post 95 (and mostly computered) I would go with a 5-6

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » May 17, 2003, 1:45 pm

1. Dealership - I bought a Saturn, I love it, I love their service department. If something other than an oil change needs to be done, they approach me with a breakdown of the costs, the problem, they EXPLAIN to me what that part does (and not in a condescending way) which I like, because I know very little about cars, level of urgency on the problem, etc. "Hey, this is leaking, but you probably won't need to replace it for another 10k miles, just keep an eye on it." They offer workshops to educate buyers on how to take care of their cars, I like that they WANT you to take care of your car - I trust them not to fuck me over.
2. Time
3. Quality
4. None really, unless you go to some hole-in-the-wall shop that might not back up their work. There are a lot of really trustworthy mechanics out there, it's just a matter of finding one.
5. 3

Axien_Dellusions · Post by **Axien_Dellusions** » May 17, 2003, 1:55 pm

My local Firestone for most of my repairs. I've been going to the same place since I got my Firebird only because they know me there and I know the mechanics. I usually have my step father look at my car before I take it in. If he can fix it I get him to fix it, if it's something major, like my ball clutch went out, then I have them fix it.

I haven't been to the Pontiac dealerships yet because they do charge an arm and a leg. Say for instance to get my Viper alarm that was factory installed and made by Pontiac fixed will be $600 bucks. I can't buy a new one until the old one is removed (Seriously gay shit) So I don't go to a dealership when I can avoid it.

Phugg_Innay · Post by **Phugg_Innay** » May 18, 2003, 10:24 am

well the last time I took my Jeep in , OMG it was sticker shock. The problem was a snapped right axle shaft (and find out later a broken locker carrier) the dealership wanted aprox $2900 to just "fix it" hell they even had all the wrong gears lined up and everything. IF I would have let them do what they wanted , they would have put different gears in the rear and in turn snapped my transfer case like a twig. That would suck !
So my "fix" was to upgrade axles and a new locker I got a complete NEW rear end (with proper gearing) from a retail vendor for $950 (this is an upgrade not a fix now) The labor for a Good mech I go to (with all my suspension work) was a mere $750 so we are looking at $1700 total to upgrade instead of fix and break again) just my 2cp again

VeeshanVault

Car service, your input needed please

Car service, your input needed please

Re: Car service, your input needed please