There are two sides to everything. Many of us tend to avoid dealership service due to the cost. And sometimes, I get the creeps when dealing with the service writer: what's his motivation?
But there are good aspects of service at, at least, some dealerships. I've had inept work done at dealerships. But my experiences with my old
2-stroke SAAB, at the dealership in Storrs, Connecticut, were consistently first-rate in all respects: a pleasure to do business with them every time. This was a long, long, long time ago.
"Why did you charge me $6 labor to replace my heater hose?" "Well, it runs between the engine and the underbody pan. We had to pull the engine to change it."
The good: Dealers usually have the latest equipment, special tools, service bulletins, proper parts and rained mechanics. Most do good work most of the time. If you follows the manual and let the dealer do every service recommended, chances are your car will be in good condition and reliable.
The bad: Prices are usually higher. Service writers make commission on sales. Dealers tend to over service and offer un-needed services.
Most of the bad has infiltrated every type of vehicle service facility. Ne arly all are set up so that all or nearly all of the employees work on some sort of commission-based pay (flat rate labor instead of hourly pay for me chanics, percentage of parts and labor for mechanics and advisers, net or g ross profit for managers, etc.) The entire system is set up to create pay plans for people under the expectation those people will look out for only themselves. Employers should not be surprised when the employees look out for themselves at the expense of the company and the customer.
Are there any goodies for the mechanics who are the dealership's employees? Any benefits due to union membership?
The mechanic who installed the transmission oil cooler for me had been employed at a dealership until a car fell on him. Are there any protections for you?
The dollar incentives remind me of when I talked with someone at my bank who was in a good mood: she was going to receive a bonus; the whole branch staff was getting bonuses because they'd reached a new high in fees.
I asked Big O to fix a flat tire, Michelin. I returned to find my car still sitting there. "We're not allowed to repair your tire. It's over five years old: it's expired."
Pay incentives will vary by employer. Some will have bonuses for any of pr oductivity, customer satisfaction, or even selling particular items. Some shops are union, but most are not. Most auto dealerships offer health insu rance, but the quality of the available plans varies. 401k plans with some low level of matching are typically available at mid-sized dealer groups a nd larger, but rarer at smaller dealer groups. If I were to get injured on the job, I have workers comp and then my health insurance (which is pretty decent, actually) to fall back on.
As for your tire, I surmise the policy is being pushed by the tire manufact urers association and a particular lawsuit where a customer's family was aw arded a huge sum because a tire failed a year after being plugged, causing a vehicle rollover and the customer's death. My employer's policy, is stri ctly that the tire must be repaired according to the tire manufacturer's as sociation guidlines with a plug/patch combination only in the area between the outermost tread areas. The reason for the repair area limitation is th at the patch area inside the tire must be prepared; if the repair is in the outer tread portion, the patch will extend onto the sidewall, which cannot be prepared properly.
Other things that the tire and rubber manufacturer's association has promot ed are: new tires on rear only, even on front drive cars, and replacement o f tires after five years. I'll admit that there is some logic behind the b etter tires on the rear; it's been shown that vehicles can corner faster on wet pavement if the best tires are on the rear axle, the one most prone to hydroplaning. My personal issue with this is that this assumes the custom er drives like a knucklehead and is not capable of making an informed decis ion as to which axle is preferable. Personally, I like to be able to actua lly get front wheel drive car to move in adverse weather, so I put my best tires on the front and am then cautious (imagine that!) about how I drive i n adverse conditions.
In our meeting with the representative of the tire and rubber association, I asked if they were recommending that tires on front drive cars not be rot ated, to which they replied that they were not recommending such a thing. So, it's apparently okay to rotate the better tires to the front; it's just not okay to install them there when new.
I don't know if there is a better way, but by date is arbitrary. Exposure to UV, driving conditions and general care all affect tire life. I have seen very old tires with a lot of tread fail.
When I was a teenager we ran some scary tires. These day I want to be confident a repaired tire was not plugged with rubber bands like we did back then.
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