Car Dealers Are TOOOOO Much !

Knowing that my Saturn dealer's service department was all about money, I took my 2001 into the local dealership for a 30,000 (major) service.

I usually never take it to them for anything but warranty work but I also knew that if anything could be found for a potential warranty claim, they would find it.

When I dropped it off this morning, I casually mentioned that my power steering was making a funny sound when turned all the way to the left or right. I've been driving long enough to know the sound of a loose belt.

They called me back to tell me that my rack and pinion system needed to be replaced (under warranty, of course) and they had a rental car already there for me.

They also mentioned that my front disc brakes needed to be replaced at a cost of $240. I shined them on but will get it done elsewhere for less than $100.

They are so predictable.

Marty

So true... I now have a Land Rover and a Volvo and have had no incedents with either - BTW: picking up new Volvo tomorrow.

In the past I've found MORE than one dealer from Honda, Saturn, Ford (especially), and Cadillac have all found something to "fix" that was under warranty not to mention the other things that I "should get taken care of soon".

My biggest beef with car dealers is getting the GOOD deal, not the good-with-a-couple-grand-in-extra-cash-to-inflate-their-commission deal. I just went through it these past two weeks, looking at Saab, BMW, Volvo, Honda, and Jaguar, not to mention the ads on TV are just about complete bullshit. I got lucky though, I found a dealer that was honestly trying to make room for new cars coming in and allowing their sales people to discount pretty well.

off topic: Saaby, how come you drive a Volvo when you like Saab so much? -Just curious, I almost got a 9-3.

funny thing is, when you buy late model cars, they sell you how it needs very little maintanence, then you go in for service later, and they pad up this and that blah blah.

on a related note:

www.carbuyingtips.com

read it front and back. read it again. and then once more.download the spreadsheet. take a laptop or pocketpc.

nothing else like that. managed to get 2900 off sticker for my camry /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Beretta,
Fortunately the things you mention are not true for all dealerships, except maybe the service dept. stuff mentioned above, I really don't know.

Come pick out a Chevy, anything but a Vette and I will sell it to you for invoice + $0-$100 and then give you another $3,000 in rebate (as long as it last) on just about any one of them. This makes your cost $2,900-$3,000 less than invoice. The only other profit is "Holdback" Holdback is 3% of invoice. A car with a $20k invoice has $600 in holdback. GM sends that money to the dealer down the road. That will be out profit. I must make that to keep the lights on, pay the salesman, pay advertising and ins. plus all the other cost. If you want the 0% I can't use the rebate which goes to GMAC to offset the loss of revenue. Just about any GM dealer will make this deal. Some may balk at the higher cost trucks and SUV's but it will still be close.

Double post

Don't be toooo hard on the dealers sales staff. Realise that (How about you Diesel?) many salesmen are on comission ONLY and if they sell you a car at invoice they may only make $50-$100 on that deal. $100-$200 a week isn't a whole lot.


Beretta--well it's really a culmination of things. I'll make this brief and painless though, I like Saabs AND Volvos, Saaby is a much better name than Volvoy, my sister has a Volvo and I've got a nothing, I drive what I can, I drive a Chrysler Minivan and Oldsmobile sedan far more often than I drive the volvo.

On another unrelated note the Volvo has been in the shop since Friday having it's timing belt replaced (Preventative mind you). We were going to take it out of town Sat but the Mechanic went home sick Fri (Hey! It happens). I suppose the Mechanic came back in Mon but for reasons unknown for me didn't get to it, yesterday they called and said it'd be done today but we couldn't get down to pick it up--I'll let you know how the bill turns out and all that was done.

[ QUOTE ]
DieselDave said:
Anyone want's a new Chevy let me know and I will help you sort it out.


[/ QUOTE ]
Not a Chevy, but I've got my eye on a shiny silver/blue GM vehicle. I want it bad. REAL bad. But nobody will let me buy it or lease it after November of this year. Any way you could put in a good word for me? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

On a related note (since it was the Saturn dealership that started this thread) I have NEVER been treated better than I've been treated at my local Saturn service department. I've owned some expensive cars, and I've been to high-end service departments. So far, my experience with my Saturn dealership has been superior to all that has come before. I'm serious. These guys rush out to great me when I pull up, and know my name before I'm out of the car. Even if I were paying for the service )) I'd like these guys!

anyone here have a lexus? how's the dealer service? i know lexus is working to expand dealer network in some areas but won't sign up anyone who isn't willing to put up 110%, making supply/demand pretty skewed. heck lexus themselves admit they will cut volume if it means service can't be top notch. that said, the two local toyota dealers, where we bought 2 toys; one is real nice, the other is, lets say lacking. i wish they would get their game up.

I had a Lexus a few years ago. Fantastic service. They even came to my office with a brand new car as a loaner and drove my car back to the dealer for scheduled service. I was really impressed.

Darell

You're going to need detox when they take your GM EV away.

Maybe you could hide it and claim that Ralph Nader stole it while you were out running errands /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

The Lexus dealer around here is great... I won't buy one because I'd have an hour drive to get to the dealership. Although they have outstanding service, I doubt they'd pick my vehicle up for an oil change /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

-Jason

[ QUOTE ]
Darell said:
...snip...On a related note (since it was the Saturn dealership that started this thread) I have NEVER been treated better than I've been treated at my local Saturn service department. ...snip...

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree! My Saturn service Department treats me right, and around here anyway, are not much more expensive than the service stations, and they do the job RIGHT

My _ONLY_ complaint with my Saturn is a common one - the Alternator tends to fail - been through 3 of them

I do realize that not all dealers/salespeople are less-than-honest. I've had good experiences and bad experiences, the bad ones didn't get a sale. The best/worst are not due to the vehicle manufacturer, but the sales person I had dealt with. I've bought cars and helped some girlfriends buy cars in several states and many different dealers. For the most part, it's been good experiences. The whole car buying process can be painless, or it can be a pain in the ***.

D-Dave, If I were still in Tampa and in the market for a Chevy, I would come visit. I still have friends who live there. If anyone expresses an interest in Chevy, I will get in touch with you.

I guess the problem is that more often than not, you hear about the bad experiences from people rather than the good.

I'm with Darell and Charlie... never once a problem with any Saturn dealership. I'm especially grateful for that now as my daughter has a Saturn VUE down in Phoenix (200 miles away from Mommy and Daddy). This is her first vehicle that she has had to be completely responsible for. She makes the payments and everything. She had our old Saturn SL2 when she first moved down there but got plowed by one of Sheriff Joe's posse squads and it totaled the '92 Saturn. The dealership there in Tempe gave her an awesome deal on her VUE because she was a prior Saturn owner and because of her "story". One month after getting her new VUE, she was in another accident (this one her fault) and did $10,000 worth of damage to this brand new vehicle. The Saturn dealership fixed it right up for her without any trouble or "extras". They have taken very good care of my baby... that right there will bring me back to them time and time again.! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

My Saturn buying experience was good but once you go to the service department they are going to take advantage.

I've bought over 40 new cars in last 42 years and have never had to fend off the Service Manager like at this dealership. If that approach doesn't work, they send in the mechanic to close the deal. This is blatant.

A few months ago, they quoted $2400 in work to my daughter on a car she just bought for $3000. I got it all fixed on the outside for $300-$400.

Marty... I just hate to see you generalize like that. Sure, I've had the experience you speak of with some dealerships but not with all. It's sad that you've never had a positive experience. There are some good dealerships out there. I guess I've been lucky to find them. I hope you do too someday... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Darell said:
[ QUOTE ]
DieselDave said:
Anyone want's a new Chevy let me know and I will help you sort it out.


[/ QUOTE ]
Not a Chevy, but I've got my eye on a shiny silver/blue GM vehicle. I want it bad. REAL bad. But nobody will let me buy it or lease it after November of this year. Any way you could put in a good word for me? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Darell,
I actually looked into that issue for you a few months back and to summarize, your are SOL. No way, no how.

Sorry

I haven't had a newer than say three year old vehicle since I bought my AMC Sprit AMX back in about 1979.

My current ride is now 13 years old, my dads is 12, my sisters is 11, our Hot Rod El Camino is 23, and the Goldwing is also 11.

We have an independent shop that fixes our stuff (except the Elky-Me, and the Honda-it don't break!)

Back then AMC put a new clutch in my car and did some interior repair and I didn't pay a dime.

I seriously doubt I'll ever buy anything new again in my life. But if I do, it will have a Cummins... guess what that means!

That sounds like body work to me... but that's an entirely different issue...

Here's what I just picked up today:



Great salesperson, no pressure, no ***-kissing, gave me the best deal up front (clearing out '03's for '04's), and I have several recommendations for the service dept. from people I know and a couple people I just happened across.

3 of the 11 dealers I visited in the last 2 weeks were downright shady, another 5 or so were not straight with me up front, and the other 3 were great. I won't mention names, but a couple of the dealers were so passive-aggressive that you actually felt bad about not liking their deal/vehicle. This just goes to show that it's all a mixed bag. My bag is a little shadier than some because of my locale, but mixed nonetheless. Oddly enough though, some people NEED someone who will give them a little push so they will just make a decision. I just don't happen to be one of those people.

Volvo is home! It needed about $380 worth of repairs in the end. I am hearing the whole story second hand but aparently having my sister pissed off at me for a week was worth it as the timing belt was on it's last leg. Aparently they got it back together and the water pump was leaking so they had to redo it all to replace that (I'll have to look at the bill) so in the end it was about (Like I said, haven't seen bill) $120 Parts, $250 Labor. Actually that sounded high in my head but looks about right on paper...er...monitor.