dealer service: good Vs bad?

[sk8xr8]

Ive been a mechanic for many years, and i know about the bad rep we get due to the minority (or possibly the majority!) of dodgy work done by half assed workmanship, i consider myself a very fastidious tech, and thought itd be a good idea to start a thread about the excellent mechanics you guys have all dealt with, maybe if we can get the names of good mechanics out there for the guys looking for some one decent to take their pride and joy to, maybe with this we can all return some faith to the industry...


p.s. this thread is not for public slander please.

[mr smith]

Good call, my Ranger is due for a 10K service, are you at the local Werribee dealership?
I have used factory servicing 4 times, 2 bad ones at one dealership ( where I purchased the car from ) , moved to another with 1 good one and then a rubbish one. Sold the car telling myself I will never own another Ford, this was due to the poor Ford servicing and failure to fix the problems in the car, as well as the fact the problems should never have been there in the first place.
Well, time healed the wound and I am so far happy with the Ranger.
The only thing Ford can do from here is stuff up the experience.

[sk8xr8]

Originally Posted by mr smith

Good call, my Ranger is due for a 10K service, are you at the local Werribee dealership?
I have used factory servicing 4 times, 2 bad ones at one dealership ( where I purchased the car from ) , moved to another with 1 good one and then a rubbish one. Sold the car telling myself I will never own another Ford, this was due to the poor Ford servicing and failure to fix the problems in the car, as well as the fact the problems should never have been there in the first place.
Well, time healed the wound and I am so far happy with the Ranger.
The only thing Ford can do from here is stuff up the experience.

sure am mate, been there for about four years, did engineering before that, id say the worst thing about dealership service is that when ur car gets serviced at 10k and 30 k, its usually done by the young guys, the 20k is a big one for you, its a major svc, tappets, maf reset and so on, hope your enjoying your ride, theyre a tough car to drive...

[xr_great]

i'd do my own if knew how
some shops are dodgy
i once put mine in for what i was told would cost 300 and i pick up and they want 700. i dread going for services these days

I have had nothing but perfect service from Knox Ford. I drop my car off at 4pm and pick it up between 9-10pm. When my brakes were low, the guy told me the quote he was meant to give was over a grand, but told me of a good brake place to go. He also encouraged me to do them myself. He knows from my dealings that I've got a certain mechanical knowledge and he told me that it would definitely not do anything to the warranty.

They let me supply all of my own oil (which I buy at trade) and they still did a fair few repairs under the new car warranty, just before it expired. They did the warranty check for free and came up with a few different things, they even fixed a few things not covered by warranty for free.

I'm going to continue to take the XR8 there because it gives me a Ford stamp and doesn't cost me much extra. Things like brakes, coolant, etc, I can do a much better job of myself, but this dealer is great for servicing.

I've had lots of bad experiences at Holden and Toyota dealers, but it just depends on the dealership. Experiences with mechanics have generally been far worse than dealers, as mechanics have no minimum standard to maintain, just depends on the mechanic.

I also know a few Holden/Ford mechanics (or technicians) and you need to make sure you go to a good dealer, I've heard plenty of hilarious stories. Only hilarious because it's not my car.

Dealers for n00bs and mechanics for people who know a little more about cars and can't get raped. That's my take on it.

Originally Posted by sk8xr8

sure am mate, been there for about four years, did engineering before that, id say the worst thing about dealership service is that when ur car gets serviced at 10k and 30 k, its usually done by the young guys, the 20k is a big one for you, its a major svc, tappets, maf reset and so on, hope your enjoying your ride, theyre a tough car to drive...

I've heard some horrendous dealer stories from mechanics.

Things like
-oil changes with a rattle gun
-driving off hoists after draining, but before refilling
-spirited driving in customer cars
-apprentices who don't know how to drive manuals, driving manual customer cars

None of the actual mechanics I know have stories like this. Also why I prefer taking my car to the dealership for the night service, no apprentices at that time.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Can I mention a service Centre that isn't a dealer?

My car gets looked after by "Kar Pro Tyre and Auto" and is located between Roselands shopping centre and Roselands swimming pools, at the end of the coles car park.

They do great work and are very honest. I have moved 40km away and still use them for any mechanical work that needs to be done.

[Wretched]

I can't recommend David Nutter Ford in Berwick at all for servicing.
The last two times I have taken my car there have resulted in more problems.
The first time I took it there the stereo stopped working, i went to get it fixed and they didn't place the facia back correctly.
I took it during my service to get repaired but it was never done, listed as done though.
Battery was disconnected but was never told, only to find out the power windows jad stopped functioning correctly (focus windows need to be reset).
Other times I have found cloths, plastic and tools left in the car. The service dept are very rude with a "yeah the car is over there" not even looking in my direction.
In the old days these guys were good.

For now I am going to try coffee ford in Noble Park as other people have recommended them to me. Otherwise Knox Ford.

The dealers do ruin the experience of owning a car. If I had a little extra $$ I would have bought another make without a second thought.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by sk8xr8

sure am mate, been there for about four years, did engineering before that, id say the worst thing about dealership service is that when ur car gets serviced at 10k and 30 k, its usually done by the young guys, the 20k is a big one for you, its a major svc, tappets, maf reset and so on, hope your enjoying your ride, theyre a tough car to drive...

I know you say this thread is not for slander, but you must have never touched my car when it was visiting your dealership.

There are tons of mechs at every dealership. The question is how do I get someone like yourself to work on my car, not some useless c*** that cant tell a spanner from a screwdriver?

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by Shounak

I've heard some horrendous dealer stories from mechanics.

Things like
-oil changes with a rattle gun

Quite a few people I know with Commondores had this happen to them.

My old man had his Commondore serviced at the dealer... they let some dumb bastard at the car with a air tool and well let's just say the sump plug as a right bastard to get off and took us a while to file down so we could get a grip.

They also said they replaced the rad hoses... well they didn't and one exploded and caused the car to lose all of its coolant. Needless to say dad never went back to that dealer (I think they dealt mainly in stupidity).

I'm taking my new Mazda 3 to the dealer for its 1000 km service this week, so far its been a pleasant experience with them, hope it keeps up!

[[Tonko]]

I have my share of the good and bad, Having a car 10 years older than you does that... But remember sk8xr8, its not slander if its true ;)
The good:
Albi, My main man, he is old-school and does not does not sugar coat anything or talk to me like im some dumb kid (I'm 21 and still get it from some), does work for me for cash and i get priority. Put up with alot of my silly questions and always gives me the time of day for a random chat.

The Bad:
My local suspension and mechanical "specialists". Recommended by my old man, so i said "alright" and went to get my dizzy and coil pack done, as well as find the coolant leak (ELII Ghia)...
2 weeks later i got the call to pick it up, still leaking, filthy inside, and the timing was out 180 degrees.
Picked it up the second time, $500! and i supplied the parts! they even had "raise and lower car on hoist and visually inspect" as a fee!

The Ugly:
A neighbour who has a mechanic business, i asked about the steering shaft box on the XD, he said, "oh, im not sure, maybe you should get it replaced" then followed up, as i left with "that will be $20, consultancy fee" Pfft.
I talk to him at his place about replacing the steering box/shaft. And he goes "nah, i dont work on old cars, theyre a pain in the ***, and you will probably fork it up anyway, so whats the point?"

[sk8xr8]

Originally Posted by arm79

I know you say this thread is not for slander, but you must have never touched my car when it was visiting your dealership.

There are tons of mechs at every dealership. The question is how do I get someone like yourself to work on my car, not some useless c*** that cant tell a spanner from a screwdriver?

never good to hear bout poor service, i like knowing the extra effort and detail i put into each job is appreciated, most of the time it is, its unfortunate that u had a bad exp. with where i work, id hafta be honest, i dont do very many services, mainly big jobs.. if u ever need to bring it back, p.m me on here and ill keep an eye out for it when it comes in...

[irlewy86]

The Good
Toyota dealer- Jonkers who always came to the party after the camry they sold me had minor issues.
A Ford dealer- Bryan Byrt Ford, always do what is asked at a good price. Cant expect much more.

The Bad
Ford dealer Emerald. Workmanship was good, parts supply was an issue. ie. Wrong parts and grossly overpriced.


The Ugly
Northwest Toyota dealer, couldn't wrap their heads around why we didn't want to drive the Hilux's 600k's for a $2.50 plate that if wasn't installed might have caused the bonnet to crack. Explaning the maths of the problem to the service manager was impossible.

I'd say 7 in 10 visits to dealer service departments has been good. Never had to question workmanship in 99.9% of the time either. I must be lucky.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by sk8xr8

never good to hear bout poor service, i like knowing the extra effort and detail i put into each job is appreciated, most of the time it is, its unfortunate that u had a bad exp. with where i work, id hafta be honest, i dont do very many services, mainly big jobs.. if u ever need to bring it back, p.m me on here and ill keep an eye out for it when it comes in...

My car did spend many weeks at your dealership, usually comming out worse than when it went in.

And while you might be honest, there are many other guys there that werent. Specially the then service manager. When my car was damaged while in for warranty work, they refused to acknowledge they did it.

While I appreciate your offer of looking out for my car, I'd have to say I'd never take it back to that dealer. I do everything at home myself. Only on the rare occasion it would goto a dealer, it would end up at Sunford in Sunbury.