Spurred on by my miserable MPGs every time my car has gone in for scheduled maintenance, and its failure to even recover from that the last time, I decided to tape a note to my steering wheel re the amount of oil, tire pressure, etc. I got some snide comments from the mechanic, BUT my car is actually getting good mileage again--56+ MPGs. I may edit my note a bit before my next visit, but I will keep right on doing that....
Why didn't I think of that? Thanks, Jean. I'm going to do the same thing. Mine will simply say "If the oil is over the full mark and the tires aren't rotated and at 42F/40R , you aren't finished."
I was a service manager in an avionics shop for a few years. I was sometimes mildly annoyed when customers were finicky about things that made no sense to me, but I preferred accomodating their requests rather than leaving them dissatisfied.
Yes it would be annoying to be reminded about an overfill seeing that it could very well cause the engine to refuse to start. I know first hand it doesn't take much to screw things up.
My dealer overfilled mine doing the very first oil change. It was about
3/8" above the full line. Started fine when they drove it back into the shop to drain out the excess. Fellow was pissed that I made him do it. Along the way he asked, sarcastically, how much oil I want in the thing. I told him to drain it to the full mark.
The proper form? On my last rotation I asked for 42 psi front, 40 psi rear. The service manager wrote that on the service order. When I picked up my car, front and rear were in the mid 30's.
I can only imagine how alarming it must have been to be 65 years old and not taken seriously enough to follow thru on your request. But it happens and as I said before, the service manager is the one to speak with. Don't worry, you won't be a challenge to them. They see all kinds walk through the door.
Oh! I LIKE that! I am thinking of rewriting my note, so it won't be offensive--but I am really happy right now. I am getting my best mileage yet. I was so afraid that I would be getting even worse mileage than I've had since my last appt. That would have been the pits. (I was barely hitting 50 mpg, and before I took it in, I was getting around 55 mpg.)
That can be smart. Yes, I think I annoyed the machanic (and I would like not to do that). OTOH, don't you think that we, who are looking oh-so-carefully at the MPGs and ponddering the whys and wherefores might be interested in practices that don't cause them to plummet?
Which would be what? (I am being serious, not snide.) It would be nice if such preferences could be part of one's service record and print out as part of every service request. (You can see I have no understanding of how such things work.)
Ack! That's the problem, isn't it? And you'd think/hope that the fill mark on the oil would mean something. It looks really bad to point out what should be obvious--and yes, even offensive, but what can one do when this is ignored?
Back to the tires, I wondered whether they would be filled as per Toyota's instructions, no matter what I asked and was pleased to find that was not the case.
I had 30K done about a week ago. I have long given up on asking them to fill the tires to anything other than Toyota specs. After this last fill up, I'm giving up on asking them to do anything about tire pressure. I told them that the previous time they didn't fill the tires to spec. The service manager assured me that everything would be to Toyota's specifications (including the oil, which I had also mentioned). When I checked the tire pressure in my garage the next morning, the tires were all between 30 and 35, with no two at the same pressure.
I don't know why it took so long for me to remember, but a friend told me just recently she gets exceptional service by leaving a box of donuts when she drops off the car. A pretty slick way of being sure she is remembered as a person!
I don't know if you just show up or make arrangements for service. But in any case, it's the paper stating the service you asked for, and quite possibly a disclaimer stating customer requests tire pressure be such and such. Then you sign it and then the work gets done. Its the same thing if you were to ask for new brake pads without the rotors turned. They'll try to sway you if they feel the rotors should be turned (skimmed flat) so your pads last longer. If the rotors are almost at scrap point they'll tell you. Sometimes no matter what you want it's not going to happen. They don't want to jeopardize your life. Now as far as oil, suppose you asked for 10W-40 and it's supposed to be
5W-30. Don't be surprised to see a disclaimer on the worksheet stating "Customer requests 10W-40". Later on if there's damage and it can be traced back to the wrong oil you may indeed voided your warrantee. You won't be able to say "But you didn't warn me about this" because that's what disclaimers are all about. As far as leaving a note, they don't know what's going on in your head. They don't know if you will owe up to being the one who insisted if something goes wrong. Like I said to Bill, they see all kinds walk thru the door. In today's world many people won't accept responsibility when it's their fault and no paper trail. Leaving notes bypasses their right to advise you. If you leave a note AND get it in writing on the worksheet it's demeaning to the mechanic. Leave a note that says "Thank You". Nothing more.
From what I've observed, the service manager is hired for his soft voice and thick skin. His job is to stand between you and two other people: the guy who sold you the car and made lots of promises in the process, and the guy who is actually doing (or not doing) the work. Beyond that he's a paper pusher. When you are charged for something that hasn't been done, like rotating the tires for example, he's the fellow who chews the ass off some mechanic in your presence, then laughs about it with him over a beer after work. My advice? Set traps for them like putting a small mark on your front tires so you can easily tell if they were rotated.
First you point out that they don't know what's going on in our heads and then you challenge leaving them a note letting them know what is going on inside our heads. Make up your mind, ok? If I'm paying for the service, I'm the boss. Simple as that.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.