Sigh. The stealership strikes again

[Rocket Man]

When we bought our 2013 Yukon a few years ago, the salesman, trying to talk up the quality of their service department, was bragging about how their service department produced over 80% (IIRC) of the dealers total revenue. He said that if they didn't sell a single car, the revenue from the service department could more than cover all the expenses for the business, including payroll.

That sounds about right. Which is kind of scary if you think about it. I remember how surprised I was years ago when I discovered this fact.

 

[grouch]

I hate to break it to everyone but a business has to make money to remain in business and pay their overhead (rent, utilities, training, etc.), employees, taxes, etc. So they're not going to be selling you parts and labor at cost. According to GM Parts Direct: MSRP on the water pump is $411.67, AC belt is $68.76, main belt is $62.82, not sure on the coolant but probably at least $20. The labor is probably 2.5 hours at $175 an hour which is $437.50. Add tax to the parts and there's your $1000. Everyone at the dealership has to feed their family and the employees to NOT get paid $175 an hour. Either do it yourself with Rock Auto parts or pay the man. No one is getting ripped off, those prices actually seem reasonable based on MSRP parts pricing and not inflated Matrix pricing. Do you work to break even at your job? No. You work to make money. Did you know Wal-Mart marks up their products, too? GASP!

You nailed that one on the head. The sales people get all the attention and the sales bonuses, but they barely make their pay. The lights, taxes, maintenance on the building and so on is paid for by the service department. Even if they don't have cars to sell, like now with reduced inventory and during WW2 when car production was suspended, the service department keeps the doors open.

Harley-Davidson knew that in WW2 when all the production went to the military, parts and support was kept up for existing customers. That's why Indian has so much trouble after the war and Harley thrived.

I rarely go to the dealer for anything but warranty work. The dealer does do my oil changes on my CX-5 because it's about the same as a friends oil change place. If I ever trade it in, it will get me a premium on my trade in.

 

[thompsoj22]

I hate to break it to everyone but a business has to make money to remain in business and pay their overhead (rent, utilities, training, etc.), employees, taxes, etc. So they're not going to be selling you parts and labor at cost. According to GM Parts Direct: MSRP on the water pump is $411.67, AC belt is $68.76, main belt is $62.82, not sure on the coolant but probably at least $20. The labor is probably 2.5 hours at $175 an hour which is $437.50. Add tax to the parts and there's your $1000. Everyone at the dealership has to feed their family and the employees to NOT get paid $175 an hour. Either do it yourself with Rock Auto parts or pay the man. No one is getting ripped off, those prices actually seem reasonable based on MSRP parts pricing and not inflated Matrix pricing. Do you work to break even at your job? No. You work to make money. Did you know Wal-Mart marks up their products, too? GASP!

Ok i get the profit aspect but Who TF can ever feel that they are not being "shanked" by an estimate like that? i bought our denali from a land rover dealer right next to the GM dealer that had just performed $2600 worth of brake work and the original customer complaint was "alternator erratic charging". The prior owner was a doctor and the cost did not take food off his table but he drove next door and traded it for a new rover. $1000 water pump is insanity?

 

[91RS]

Every business makes a profit or they go out of business. You just don't have the ability to estimate how much you think that profit is as easily as you can with car repairs and decide if you think they "deserve it" or not. Comparing prices for a dealer repair with OEM parts to a DIY repair with aftermarket parts isn't comparable. Aftermarket replacement parts are almost always garbage quality which is why they're so much cheaper. I know many disagree with me there and you can skip this part and my point remains the same.

AC Delco parts aren't always the OEM part by the way and I don't care how Rock Auto has it listed. In some cases, AC Delco also offers a version which is equivalent to what you get at Auto Zone and this is mostly for the more common stuff like water pumps and suspension parts. Just because it has a lifetime warranty doesn't make it good either. I replaced the water pump on my mom's Tahoe over 10 years ago with an OEM pump I paid $350 for and it is still on the truck after all these years. My dad refused to pay that price for his Sierra and put an O'Reilly pump on it which he claimed was just as good because it had a lifetime warranty. Well, let's just say he got REALLY good at replacing that water pump. I'm pretty sure he replaced it 5 or 6 times before the engine gave up the ghost at 360k. He also replaced the radiator 3 times because he wouldn't pay for the GM one.

You can't complain the dealer is ripping you off because you can do it yourself for cheaper, that isn't comparable. Of course you can do it yourself for cheaper because you're not paying someone else to do it for you. You can complain a dealer is ripping you off if one dealer wants $900 and the next one over wants $1400 because that IS comparable. Time is money and when you take your car to someone else you have to pay for their time. You don't get to free up your time and also get their time for free. I bet I could save a ton of money buying everything I buy at Publix direct from the manufacturer or from a middle-man distributor like they do but that isn't how it works. Publix and Wal-Mart have overhead and employees to pay just like a dealership but you think you're getting screwed and one and not the other. No wonder no one wants to work blue collar jobs when they're treated like this.

 

[gooffeyguy]

Dealerships don't pay msrp for OEM parts, so they also make money on that

 

[91RS]

Yeah, and your point? Dealerships (or any shop or store for that matter) aren’t selling parts for cost. That would result in them losing money. Why do you think they would do that? You think the parts department operates for free?