Dealer incompetance... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hatterasguy · #1 11-23-2012, 07:34 PM

So our local GMC dealer is running a few specials and I figure, why not try them out? I mean they are a GMC dealer right?

So I drop my truck off at 9am for the oil+filter change special with a tire rotation, and alignment.

At 2pm they said the truck will be done in 5 minutes, so I head on back. End up waiting 45 but that's another story.

Anyway, first they say the steering rack is shot(I replaced it 45k miles ago, and while it does have a slight weep, it most certainly is not. The tie rod ends are Moog and were done at the same time) Than the service guy says my brakes are shot and rotors are dangerously thin, he backed off this when I gave him a funny look and said I put new rotors on at 65k miles, and last checked them at 96k and they looked pretty good to me. How bad could they have gotten in 10k miles?

Anyway so I pay for the oil change and tire rotation and leave.

When I get the truck home I start to notice a few things.

1. Greasy hand prints all over the hood and door which I just finished cleaning off.
2. Tires were not rotated, so I did them myself, and checked my brakes, they are fine. Pads have about 20% left, rotors have no lip and only regular rust on the fins. Pads also all seem to be wearing nice and even. They have time on them but are far from shot, I don't even know where he got the rotor thing from. Maybe its his standard line to customers who don't know any better?
3. They never even attempted an alignment, the adjustment nuts on the tie rod ends were still covered in grease/road dirt. Not a single wrench has touched them. They just saw the bottom of the rack was wet and said, oh bad rack won't alighn. Which is annoying because supposedly I was waiting all that time so they could fiddle with it on the rack, more like play with each other.
4. They overfilled the oil by 1.5 quarts and its the wrong grade.

Sadly I didn't charge this on my CC I paid cash, so I probably won't get anywhere but I'm going to go back their and make a stink tomorrow and try to get my money back.

The only thing I got out of it is an oil filter which is the correct one, so they got one single thing correct!

So tomorrow I'm going to drain their oil out, put the right oil in, than if they stripped my drain plug dump their ****ty oil out on their service advisers desk and leave.

Jim B. · #2 11-23-2012, 08:02 PM

Did you buy the truck from this place?

Bunch of idiots.

Hatterasguy · #3 11-23-2012, 08:08 PM

Thankfully no, but I might have bought a new truck from them when the new ones come out next year if they did a proper job.

kmaysob · #4 11-23-2012, 08:08 PM

not surprising. few years back i bought a used toyota tacoma. i had it close to two weeks when i decided to change it over to amsoil synthetic. i get under it to take the skid plate off, theres 3 of the 6 bolts holding it on, and all of them have been cross threaded in. i shook that one off. then i go to take the filter off and find the oil pressure warning wire dangling. they broke it with their oil filter wrench when getting it ready.

I called them monday, told them the situation. They told me, bring it in we will take care of it. I dropped it off to them monday morning and they called me about 3 hours later to tell me its fixed and I owe somewhere in the $200 range.

After arguing a bit and getting nowhere, I told them I would be down in about 15 minutes to clean my truck out and they can have it back. They called me back around 5 mins later and said no charge.

HuskyMan · #5 11-23-2012, 08:21 PM

Your experience is reminiscent of my last few tries with local indies. It is the #1 reason I am on this forum and do my own repairs.

I can screw up my own cars for half the money they charge.

Jim B. · #6 11-23-2012, 08:24 PM

Back before I got married in San Francisco and i lived there I had a Ford Crown Victoria and I took it to the Ford dealer in SF for an oil chamge, I think I lived 3 or 4 miles away, this was in the 1990s.

Picked it up at he end of the day, paid, and drove it home and parked it across the street from my condo.

Next morning when I came out, there was a HUGE lake of fresh oil around the front, and underneath and all around the car.

They had changed the oil but never even tightened the drain plug on the pan. (Actually the 5.0 has 2 of them.) Anyway all the oil was gone - it had all poured out onto the street.

So I put new oil and and went back to the dealer and raised hell.

And guess what? They gave me single ONE quart of new oil from the parts department..

You heard me.

ONE.

I am going to tell you the name of the place, because I don't care..

It was S and C Ford - they had been in business in San Francisco since the 1950s.

But they have been shut down for a couple of years at least now. Out of business, gone.

Idiots. Got what they deserved.

ONE.

Jim B. · #7 11-23-2012, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuskyMan

Your experience is reminiscent of my last few tries with local indies. It is the #1 reason I am on this forum and do my own repairs.

I can screw up my own cars for half the money they charge.

Why would you want to do THAT ?

t walgamuth · #8 11-23-2012, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

So our local GMC dealer is running a few specials and I figure, why not try them out? I mean they are a GMC dealer right?

So I drop my truck off at 9am for the oil+filter change special with a tire rotation, and alignment.

At 2pm they said the truck will be done in 5 minutes, so I head on back. End up waiting 45 but that's another story.

Anyway, first they say the steering rack is shot(I replaced it 45k miles ago, and while it does have a slight weep, it most certainly is not. The tie rod ends are Moog and were done at the same time) Than the service guy says my brakes are shot and rotors are dangerously thin, he backed off this when I gave him a funny look and said I put new rotors on at 65k miles, and last checked them at 96k and they looked pretty good to me. How bad could they have gotten in 10k miles?

Anyway so I pay for the oil change and tire rotation and leave.

When I get the truck home I start to notice a few things.

1. Greasy hand prints all over the hood and door which I just finished cleaning off.
2. Tires were not rotated, so I did them myself, and checked my brakes, they are fine. Pads have about 20% left, rotors have no lip and only regular rust on the fins. Pads also all seem to be wearing nice and even. They have time on them but are far from shot, I don't even know where he got the rotor thing from. Maybe its his standard line to customers who don't know any better?
3. They never even attempted an alignment, the adjustment nuts on the tie rod ends were still covered in grease/road dirt. Not a single wrench has touched them. They just saw the bottom of the rack was wet and said, oh bad rack won't alighn. Which is annoying because supposedly I was waiting all that time so they could fiddle with it on the rack, more like play with each other.
4. They overfilled the oil by 1.5 quarts and its the wrong grade.

Sadly I didn't charge this on my CC I paid cash, so I probably won't get anywhere but I'm going to go back their and make a stink tomorrow and try to get my money back.

The only thing I got out of it is an oil filter which is the correct one, so they got one single thing correct!

So tomorrow I'm going to drain their oil out, put the right oil in, than if they stripped my drain plug dump their ****ty oil out on their service advisers desk and leave.

How can you tell the grade of the oil?

barry12345 · #9 11-23-2012, 10:27 PM

There are still good competant shops and people out there in the auto service business. You just have to find them.

What irritates me a little is dealers that cannot even repair the products they sell properly without creating issues in the process.

iwrock · #10 11-23-2012, 11:19 PM

Eh, your just trippin' too much.

Take a step back, take a deep breathe, have a shot, and dance with more women.

Hatterasguy · #11 11-23-2012, 11:34 PM

Yeah your right, screw it I'm going sailing.

Jim B. · #12 11-24-2012, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwrock

Eh, your just trippin' too much.

Take a step back, take a deep breathe, have a shot, and dance with more women .

The horizontal mambo is recommended.

But, with only ONE partner at a time.

kthxbi

1991300SEL · #13 11-24-2012, 01:59 AM

This is what scares me about old age...creepin' up on me.

I have serviced ALL of my cars since the early 60s.

It won't be long B4 I'm no longer able to do so and am faced with what's being kicked around in this thread.

It's no mystery why the USA is ranked 7th....or is it now down to 8th....

Medmech · #14 11-24-2012, 07:07 AM

1. Always change your own oil
2. If you want to take advantage of a special stand there and watch them change the oil.

I slipped and took advantage of a special a few years ago only to find in the next oil change that they put the filter in the canister wrong and I speculate that I was very close to a clogged oil filter, plus they tightened the canister so tight that I had to order the heavy duty canister socket because I bend my cheapie.

It takes less than an hour from start to finish and if you shop the oil filter specials you can stock up on mobile one or whatever your flavor is.

t walgamuth · #15 11-24-2012, 09:01 AM

With a mercedes diesel I can change oil and filter in ten to fifteen minutes. I have even done it in decent clothes. You cannot get it done anywhere quicker than that. You do have to buy the oil and filter though.