Is it me or is every dealer trying to maximize work/repairs/profits? Car in for a service, no faults, just a regular service. 2 hours later a 'phone call from the dealer."The brake discs are rimmed. There is a tyre nearing the safe tread limit. The cambelt is 'close' to needing to be replaced" All for a princely sum of course. So I asked if the discs are pitted. No was the answer. Them leave them alone for now,I said, also I am aware of the tyre, it is the last of a previous set and will be replaced very soon. How soon is the recommended replacement for the cambelt? 5k miles they said. Gasp! then don't you think I should replace it then? I said. If you put it like that I suppose so, they said. End of conversation. Does anyone have a set of discs that do not have a rim? How else do they wear down? Tyres and cambelts, ok let me have an early warning after the service, but not a call which might have scared the faint hearted. Incidentally, I priced up the parts required for the so called neccessary work. Guess what? Parts came to precisely 15% of the total price quoted for the 'work'. Talk about lambs to the slaughter.
Is it me or are they trading on people who don't know a cambelt from banjo? Concrete
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Don't see much to complain about -you've admitted the tyre was close as was the cambelt, and they gave you an advisory on the brakes - isn't that the function of a regular service, to inspect things and advise?
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Lets Imagine nothing extra was mentioned, and you were not aware of the tyre wear as are many drivers (the most they know about the car is how to read a fuel gauge - some it seems cant even do that!)
5 months and 6k miles later your cambelt decides to say goodbye, on a motorway.
you manage to get to the hard shoulder, with no power steering and a hard brake pedal.
in getting out off lane 3, you almost collide with many other vehicles, the most scary was the fully loaded car transporter.
you walk to the roadside phone, and make the call.
as you walk back to your car, it starts to rain, you remember the advise NOT to sit in you car, but to get as high as possible on the embankment. you swear.
as you get back to your car, a police patrol car pulls up.
he looks at your car old fashioned - he has now seen your (now) bald tyre.
after an extended, and expensive journey you sit down, log on to HJ's backroom.
2 posts stand out....one from GB saying how he was nearly involved in a major motorway pileup, due to some **** moving from lane 3 to the hard shoulder slowing quickly.
the other post is from MLC saying how he came across a bedraggled driver with a poorly maintained car today - and why cant people make sure their cars are serviced properly?
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Hello Smokie, of course I expect the dealer to advise about iminent problems or regular changes such as cambelt. My point is that a telephone call gives the immpression that the work they mention is 'urgent' and some faint hearted souls would just roll over and authorise the work. It may well need doing at some point but may also be carried out by an independent much cheaper, the option should be ours. If the manufacturer recommends a cambelt at 80K miles, why change it at 74K?Incidentally they wanted to book the cambelt change for another date anyway so I said that future date will be much nearer 80K. All these advisory points should be highlighted when the vehicle is collected, only urgent or really neccessary work should occasion a telephone call. I like Swiss Tony, what an imagination, I take his point that you would feel foolish if you had a failure after being warned, but if you extrapolate every situation in the manner he did you would never take your car on the road in case something failed. I am not down on dealers, my main dealer is very good generally but I just wish they would stop playing games and 'up selling' in favour of good informed advice about possible future problems. Concrete.
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they are running a business
i get phoned by telephone canvassers selling all sorts every day,they are running a business
concrete is a business whether its filling holes or filling in gangsters feet in buckets you have to upsell concrete sometimes
its called a free society
think on this
i get lots of people come to me wanting me to wave a magic wand and fix their problems for free
i often wonder what they would do if i dropped dead or went belly up
no offence i just get sick of seeing the motor trade put down, i know its a motoring forum but a bit of positive would be nice
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>>i get lots of people come to me wanting me to wave a magic wand and fix their problems for free
You do it all the time here bb and don't think it's not appreciated.
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Is it me or are they trading on people who don't know a cambelt from banjo?
I feel as you do, but, to be fair, I also know people who would think that the dealer was marvellous for picking these things up and saving them the inconvenience of another trip to the workshop a few mths later.
Edited by Bill Payer on 06/06/2009 at 00:25
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So why pay out for a service Bill - pretty much all they do at most services is "inspect" stuff. Anything more will usually cost you - well, it does around here anyway.
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So why pay out for a service Bill
...because it's a condition of the warranty.
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Sounds good advice from the dealer.
Cambelt - Had mine changed but it failed 2 years and 26k miles later. As per my experience, they can fail before "alloted" expiry time. Surely no point waiting another 5k miles - get it done now
Tyres - 1.6mm is the legal minimum. Don't wait for tyre to get there. There'a massive difference in braking performance between 3mm tread and 1.6mm - search YouTube for a Fifth Gear clip on this. Why wait? What is the difference between a £60 tyre now and one in 2 months - you're not losing any money.
As a side, I used to use a small garage where we used to live. Struggled to get them to do extra work e.g when one CV boot failed and spewed grease inside the nsf wheel, I asked them to do the osf one at the same time. "Oh no", was the reply, "it hasn't split yet"! Took some persuasion for them to do both!
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Extras were often added to my Ford Focus service.
After this happened a few times I used to tease the receptionist abut the midday phonecall which nearly doubled the price.
I used to let them do most of the extra work.
The car never let me down, so in effect I was paying the Ford garage about £350 annually for a year of reliable motoring.
Happy with that.
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