Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
Just imagine if every mechanic was like you, an honorable, honest guy.
DEALER **** STORY
- Thread starter TRIPEVANS
- Start date
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Sorry guys but I have to disagree here with many of the statements that Maximus has made. I too own a shop. And yes, we make a profit on parts and labor. Which is why we have been in business for 30+ years. If I gave labor away and made no profit on parts I would be OUT OF BUSINESS in 2 months or less. It cost us $1,450.00 per week to employ a tech, that's $36.25 per hour. Imagine for instance I had a "veteran's" car in as Maximus has stated that needed a timing belt service, normally a 4 to 5 hour job depending on the vehicle of course. That service just cost MY SHOP $145 to $181 to perform JUST IN TECH WAGES! That does not include the service writers salary, nor the normal business expenses (I.E. Insurance's, utilities, and mortgage). Doing good will for the community is a great thing. Offering a discount to non profits such as many of the church's whoms vehicles we work on is a nice gesture to the community, which has lead to our success as a family owned business. But earning a living for my family and my employees families must take precedents, and giving away services doesn't do that. It doesn't cost McDonald's 3.00 to make your BigMac, built into that price is labor and profit, as it should be. If you want it fixed for free, invest in the equipment and training necessary to do it yourself and there you have it. I agree that the dealer from the OP's post should NOT have charged for the other services, HOWEVER, the dealer making a profit on the work that was necessary and agreed upon in advance (you did ask for an estimate and a time frame didn't you?) was not a bad thing.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
They get you by the balls!!
Kenny D
Full Access Member
Maybe he is an independant one man shop??
nathanhanover
TYF Newbie
I have been ripped off by Chevy every time I took it in, So I bought all my tools over the years and did the work myself since 1997. What is odd to me is. If you can diagnose all that. Why didn't you just replace the BCM yourself? I mean really its a no brainer.
Tonyrodz
Resident Resident
Doesn't it need to be reprogrammed with a tech 2?
adventurenali92
Full Access Member
@TRIPEVANS , sorry that this thread got so off topic. Haha. @nathanhanover , he could replace the bcm, but it won't do him any good if he can't program it to his specific vehicle, which from what I understand, requires a tech II scanner. And those are pretty pricey from what I understand. So from his stand point it's cheaper to pay the dealership to program a new bcm for him rather than spend the excess to buy the correct programming tools.
@Ming15237 , I understand the business aspect. I agree that youre in business to make a profit to support your family. I'm in the same boat. I'm in business for myself to make some kind of profit, but ripping people off over something petty, is just not how I do business. Things like replacing other things that don't fix the problem when the OP told them what needed to be replaced and that that's what he wanted fixed and still got charged for other stuff, I think that's wrong. What frustrates me is that more often than not, dealerships aren't like you. They don't hire trained and certified technicians to work on customers cars, so they take shots in the dark, hoping they will get lucky and fix the problem. Most of the time they don't. From the experiences I've had with dealerships, and many through a close friend I had that worked for a Toyota dealership for a long time, that's the majority of what we saw. Im not saying that's true of dealerships everywhere. But I've seen it a lot, which makes me not trust dealerships. Like I said ealeeir, I'm lucky enough to be close friends with the owners of a custom jeep shop through my family friend that is one of their primary techs, and they will work on my truck and replace things when I need it, and will work with me on labor. So it works out. And my family friend that works there, has been a mechanic all his life and he knows cars inside and out, and has the certifications to prove it. And so do their other 2 techs. So I trust them to work on my truck and do it right the first time. sorry for the long post, rant over. Lol.
@Ming15237 , I understand the business aspect. I agree that youre in business to make a profit to support your family. I'm in the same boat. I'm in business for myself to make some kind of profit, but ripping people off over something petty, is just not how I do business. Things like replacing other things that don't fix the problem when the OP told them what needed to be replaced and that that's what he wanted fixed and still got charged for other stuff, I think that's wrong. What frustrates me is that more often than not, dealerships aren't like you. They don't hire trained and certified technicians to work on customers cars, so they take shots in the dark, hoping they will get lucky and fix the problem. Most of the time they don't. From the experiences I've had with dealerships, and many through a close friend I had that worked for a Toyota dealership for a long time, that's the majority of what we saw. Im not saying that's true of dealerships everywhere. But I've seen it a lot, which makes me not trust dealerships. Like I said ealeeir, I'm lucky enough to be close friends with the owners of a custom jeep shop through my family friend that is one of their primary techs, and they will work on my truck and replace things when I need it, and will work with me on labor. So it works out. And my family friend that works there, has been a mechanic all his life and he knows cars inside and out, and has the certifications to prove it. And so do their other 2 techs. So I trust them to work on my truck and do it right the first time. sorry for the long post, rant over. Lol.
BADRIDES
Full Access Member
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I'm a service writer at my local Chevy dealership and we charge $59.95 to road force balance 4 tires. They bent you over with no vaseline on the road force balance. That's why you were standing up when typing.
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