Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer

So they mistook you for someone who didn't have an appointment but tried to squeeze-in pretenting he had made one, ......big deal, things like that happen everyday.

MN

Good for you. Absolutely no reason to support a product or business that in turn treats you like crap. I eg have not used any Texaco product in the last 27 years because of how one Texaco dealer treated me.

It is a big deal. Dealers want you to service your new car with them, but they don't really do much to incentivize. It's an oil change, not a timing belt. It's total BS that most dealer's don't have some kind of express lane service for oil changes. For the love of God, how long does an oil change take? I can do them in my driveway in minutes. So, am I to understand that, with their facilities an oil change requires the car to be left for the afternoon? WTF! It's about service, not your car's service, but customer service. It reflects how the dealership values you as a customer, and not some jerk they sell a car to and not care whether they ever see you again. Bottom line, IMHO, 1) you shouldn't need to make an appointment to get an oil change. 2) the guy you dealt with needs to be kicked in the nuts 3) the "service" shop should value your time and patronage a little more by being more accommodating, especially since he acknowledged they screwed up. My Subaru dealership (Nate Wade in SLC) has the express lane service for LOF, and what's more (this is actually kind of annoying) they call me after each and every service to ask about my experience. The service writers will usually let me stand around for five minutes or so before they acknowledge that I just drove a yellow freaking Baja into their garage, but beyond that it's pretty good. Anyhow, my point is, maybe you should find someone at the dealership who would appreciate your feedback, especially since it has motivated you to go elsewhere.

Or, to hell with them.

Okay, but then he basically called me a liar, and argued with me. You can go there if you want to, but I won't.

Thanks. I hadn't been thrilled with them as it was, and this was the last straw.

You would think that the service department would be bending over backwards to keep you, especially since this is where the dealership makes their money. They don't make much on the sale-most of the profit is from service.

I would contact the owner, but he's a jerk. I heard from a third dealer that Colonial is about to lose their Subaru franchise. This would explain the opening of Reedman-Toll only 4 miles away. We'll see...

Yeah, it is a big deal when you have a job and limited time and are treated like shit by the dealer. Yes it is.

MN scribbled:

No they don't, not in a well-organized and well-managed dealership who cares about keeping its customers.

Alan,

Take the time that you have spent in this forum to write the management at the Subaru dealership that gave you the problems. I did this very thing in California and the results were REMARKABLE. State the facts as you know them in a letter and send it to them. In my case the service dept got some "extra" $$ out of me by telling me that my car was due for a Transmission fluid change. I told the guy that I didn't think that was correct but allowed him to do it anyway, stating that he "should" know better than I. After I got home and looked at my service manual I realized that my Transmission wasn't due to be "serviced" until another 10K more miles. I wrote the facts down and told them of my dissapointment and sent it off. They responded with a free oil change and a check for the transmission service and a very nice appology.

HTH, DJay

I hate to interrupt the rant, but here goes: you should have confirmed your appointment. Perhaps the DEALER should have confirmed, but either way, someone should have confirmed. In the end, it's really not that big a deal.

It doesn't have to be a big deal. It boils down to personnel. If the service writer was worth his salt, he would have accepted responsibility and taken corrective measures, rather than alienate HIS customer. The big deal is the dealership not investing in resources to maintain the long term dealer-customer relationship. How much does losing one customer, and all who they influence, cost a dealer? Too Bad.

It is when you take a day off frrom work. And I have never had to confirm in

45,000 miles worth of services.

My oil changes at Manfredi Subaru in Staten Island have never taken less than 3 hours. Yep, 3 hours, with a 7:30 AM "appointment" each time. The only reason I kept going there is because they were included for 36K miles with my 2002 LL Bean Outback. They knew I was "waiting" because I only have one car, yet they never offered me any sort of transportation, even though I noticed on the recent survey that they are supposed to.

After the free oil changes expired, I immediately started taking the car to the local quick-lube place where oil changes take 30 minutes with NO appointment.

Recently, I was forced to take the car to the dealer again because that's the only way I can get the cabin air filter changed. This time, I had an 8:30 appointment and they LOST my paperwork by leaving it inside my car and didn't even call me for the initial consultation until 45 minutes later when I complained about not being called. After that I requested being bumped up to a priority case as I had already had 45 minutes of my time wasted. They apologized profusely and wrote VIP on my paperwork but it still took an additional hour. Total time spent for a 15 minute filter change - TWO hours.

The whole thing is totally unacceptable and I wrote as much on the recent survey I received.

Funny, back when I bought my first Subaru in January 1986 (86 GL Wagon), One of the things I came up with was Owner Satisfaction with Dealer Service. Consumers Reports at the time rated them one of the top in this aspect. I suppose the service was a victim of it's own success. Out Local dealer is pretty good about service, basic 6000km services are My oil changes at Manfredi Subaru in Staten Island have never taken

I have never heard of anyone taking a day off from work in order to get their oil changed.

Well, you have now.

"confirm" what? the customer phoned, the customer made an appointment, the customer showed up. that's how it's done - no little r.s.v.p. cards and no thank you notes.

in this case, someone at the dealership dropped the ball, and either never wrote it down, or wrote it down in the wrong place. it happens. but that's not the issue here. the real problem is the attitude of the customer service rep (another name for "service writer", who shouldn't be caught dead arguing with a customer over it.

this entire discussion wouldn't be taking place if he had just said: "sorry, we goofed." which means that he puts it behind him by accepting responsibility for it, followed by: "we can either do it now, but it'll take a little longer than usual, or we can reschedule for another day. which would you prefer?" because the customer probably has to rearrange his/her schedule around this, so it should be their call.

yes, it is a big deal. if you have a life...

....... tom klein

I thought I had it bad. Anyway, one of the nice features about Reedman is that they service Subarus in the same service department as Jaguar. Nine kinds of coffee...

i've had the opposite experience: the dealer was reasonably well-organized, and even somewhat helpful (certain items are best checked, and replaced, *before* the powertrain warranty expires). but as far as i can tell, twice in a row they failed to torque my lug nuts properly. (loose wheels or flying lug nuts, especially at highway speeds, are a BAD idea, and i've had both!)

for various reasons (like being 1,000 km from home), i couldn't take the matter up with the dealership, but i'm definitely *not* letting them touch my wheels again.

the funny thing is, about 2 months ago i got an annoyingly long survey from subaru, aimed precisely at dealer after-sales service. i was almost looking forward to telling them about my problem, but... no matter how hard i looked, amidst the 25 different ways of asking just how satisfied i was with everything about the dealer (with little boxes ranging from "slightly satisfied" to "overwhelmingly delighted"), there was nowhere that said "pissed off", or better yet, "scared silly". in the end, it was just another piece of marketing...

the upshot is that now that my legacy has reached 110,000 km, we've graduated from dealerships, and i'm off to a nice little indie mechanic, who knows which end of a torque wrench goes where.

....... tom klein

ps. it is a very good idea to retorque lug nuts on mags after about

1,000 km if the wheels have been off the car. some dealers will pr> Need to vent...