*****It certainly doesn't mean they are good to do business with. Many dealership shops have walls covered with certificates, BUT it is the attitude and the business policy that turns good training into a good service organization.
******When you find someone good, and honest, it will pay you to support him. Sometimes you will find a dealership shop like this. Most often, in my experience, the dealerships are pretty poor. Again, it is a matter of attitude and policy more than training, uniforms, etc.
A professional mechanic usually works clean, cares for his tools, etc. But a dunce can clean up a shop and still be a crappy mechanic.
I guess my definition of independents also encompasses shadetree mechanics. You mention having a good relationship with the same mechanic, I'm fortunate enough to have known a few very good shadetree mechanics in my time, and I have also gotten recommendations from friends of mine of shops in the area should I ever need more serious work done. Sometimes the shadetree mechanics are the first ones with the correct answer, you'd be surprised :)
All manufactures do the same thing in the examples you cited and they all screw up as well. The problem is many buyers expect the manufacture to fix their vehicle forever.
Honda is no better or worse than any other manufcture. I had to engage an attorney to get Honda to replace an engine ruined when an oil seal failed with less than 10K on the clock.
The difference is you are the guys in the dream world. I know what I'm taking about when it comes to quality work by competent techs, you guys have personal opinions. In the real universe my former business serviced and proved warranty coverage for thousands of vehicles, every month, for most every manufacture you can name Techs not first doing the basics and changing good parts, costs the manufacture and the dealer more money than if they do what they are trained to do. Anybody who thinks they make money changing parts is a fool ;)
"Mike Hunter" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ptd.net:
It may cost the dealer and manufacturer more money to start swapping out good parts. Because the manufacturer is paying for it, under warranty. But if an independent mechanic starts swapping parts, they can make a lot of money because the customer is paying for it. If they find a gullible enough customer who wouldn't demand a refund for unnecessary work.
Why the question mark? Did you ask them why they replaced the rotors? Do you know what the minimum spec for your particular rotors are? Did you ask them what your rotors measured? Did you ask to have the old rotors back, or at least have them show you with a brake micrometer what the rotor thicknesses were? It doesn't take much these days to condemn a set of rotors. On most GM vehicles, the minimum spec that is cast right into the rotor is not "really" the true minimum spec. There is another spec that is called the "after machining" spec and it is usually even tougher then the min spec that is cast into the rotor. And by the way, this "other" spec is really in the GM manual, I didn't just pull it out of my ass.
Depending on the mileage, both are legitimate repairs...and to the folks that believe that rear brakes are self adjusting (which they are) and work properly all the time (which they don't) guess again! But the point here is that the dealership cannot legally do the work unless you authorized it. Did you authorize the work? If not, why did you pay for the work? We cannot do work that the customer has no specifically authorized, if we do and they don't like it, we have to either put the car back to the way it was, or refund the money. Simple as that!
Possibly, but the control is in your hands. If you don't take control of your vehicle repairs, I don't see how the dealership can be blamed.
Ha ha! Good luck getting out of there for $89 dollars. We get people coming from those shops with quotes that are in the thousands of dollars. Why? Because not only are the rotors replaced, but the calipers are replaced, the wheel cylinders are replaced, the brake lines are replaced...the rear brake shoe spring kits are replaced...etc, etc, etc!
Checking around and getting to know the reputation of various shops is key IMO. For example, in our town there is a well known European independent shop with stable staff and very competent people. The owner charges top dollar, but gets the job done right and is well known.
I also know of a GMC-Pontiac-Buick dealer about 45 miles from here which also has an outstanding reputation built over decades. They also have a stable staff and competent people. If they ever sell out to one of the big dealer groups that will probably all change.
It takes lots of asking around to get to know where the good shops are. When you find one, use them for everything. I've lived in several places and have always been able to find out within the first year where some top rate shops are. Don't take one person's word for it, and check things out for yourself.
In my experience 10-20 % of the shops, dealer or independent, are worth doing business with. Another 30-50% of the shops are ok, but not great. The rest range from spotty to outright thieves. The same is true, by the way, for dentists, doctors, lawyers and so on!
You know, having your vehicle repaired is probably something that more people need to know more about. The fact is, your bill wasn't particularly outrageous for what was done.
From now on, make sure that you are more aware of what is going on when getting even something as routine as a brake job done. There are a lot of variables, a lot of work that "can" be done, a lot of it "doesn't need to" be done, and a certain amount of work that "should" be done.
And please remember that you have to "authorize" all the work that is to be done. I would never go into a shop saying, "please perform a brake job" on my vehicle. That's just asking for trouble. You go in and ask to have the brakes inspected and have them let you know what is to be done "before" any work is done. If they happen to come back at you with something like rotors, you can then ask them what the minimum spec is and what was the measurement that the tech measured while doing the inspection. Etc.....I think you get the point.
Then if "anything" is done that you didn't authorize, just take the bill into the service manager before you pay and go over it with him.
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