Rant

I hear ya man. Good shops are few and far in between but they're out there. I try to do my own work whenever I can. Its like trying to find a good Ducati dealership only to find everyone else hikes an hour out of town just to get service at a more reputable place. Just moved cities and its the same with the sole Porsche dealership in town. People have told me about driving hours to the nearest city with a dealership or independent.

 

Question everything and check their work. My gf just had her rear bumper repainted after someone hit her. It is a completely different shade of silver from the rest of the car. Looks like it will be going back to them to be redone.

But...you own a VW and a 15 year old Jag. Those aren't the cars that would come to mind when I think of easy trouble free motoring.

 

True, although there are some terrific mechanics, restorers, et al, and when you find them it's a relationship worth its weight in chrome.

That said, I've had some very basic "dropping the ball" incidents with both the Ferrari and the Porsche. Especially debugging the Porsche after restoration -- quite a few dumb mistakes that needed to be sorted on my dime, in a very simple, basic car. I now have a handful of techs and other specialists who I trust and who take their work seriously,

 

Oh I completely agree with you. If you are paying someone to do something, it should be done right. My point was, with the cars you own, they are more likely to have maintenance issues come up, which makes it more likely for you to have headaches with those shops.

 

Most shops cahrge by the hour and work on the clock. Most people are not prepared to pay the cost in time thta ti really takes to do the job properly and meticously.

For the last 5 years i have probably paid double to a real pro what a so calld indy specialist used to charge foir work on my BBI. The bills in labor can bring tears to ones eyes, but the work is done realy properly and over time it probably has saved in $$$ not to mention agravation.

on newer cars dealers have no clue how to work on something that is a prior model, let alone 15 years old. Plus newer cars are not designed to really last much past warranty. From my experience you are best off just leasing a newer car.

One rule with indy specialists, pay no money till the job is done and you have inspected the car.

Lets face it there are few barriers to entry in the car biz, so you get a very few great people, and lot of mediocre ones.

 

My dad is just retiring from a career keeping aircraft flying. The only time he walks into a dealership is to order parts. People bring their cars to him to look over after having subpar work done at various garages. Been trying to convince him to restoring cars with me for years.

 

You are right to rant. The stupidity of the general public never ceases to amaze me. I ordered some parts from a dealer the other day. Gave him the name and address of where they were to be shipped (gave him this info twice I might add). I asked him to ship to a shop that was going to put the parts on my car. Today my spider senses told me to ask for a tracking number? Where did they ship them? To an entirely different address in the same town but on a different street and to my FIRST name not to the name of the shop I told them. These people continue to make money by accident. Sick of it!! We need a simple plague in this country just to weed them out. Just kidding of course but...............

 

I've been through this also from small things to big ones. The bolts on my O2 sensor rotted out on my truck so I went to replace them myself and found there was a cover over the sensor. So I couldn't really get at it crawling underneath the truck and I figured IT WAS THERE FOR A REASON so I shouldn't just break it off and throw it out so I was bringing the truck to the dealer for something else so I figured they must know a trick to remove it and asked them to fix the o2 sensor also. I get the truck and ask the service manager how the mechanic got the cover off and he said oh he just ripped it off to which I replied isn't it there to protect the sensor to which he just kind of shrugged!
My parents have a Lincoln that they started taking to a very well known Ford Lincoln dealer in R.I. I could go on and on with what they went through in service but I'll keep it to the last time they brought it there. They had an oil leak and were told that the heads had to be removed and rebuilt to cure the oil leak to the tune of something like 3 or 4k. I sent them to an independent I know and he retorqued the oil pan and the leak stopped.

 

And I feel like telling my Toyota dealer if you spent as much time taking care of your customers in service as you do sending me crap in the mail and e-mails trying to sell me stuff I don't want you would probably bring in more revenue.

 

I see it in the automotive industry too, but I think service in general in all industries has been on a steep decline for a while.

 

I feel the exact same as you, OP! Which is why I went off the deep end and started my own shop. I spent the last several years working on my own motorcycles and cars.

I developed a large network around Houston with the best technicians in their specialty. Paint & Body, engine, transmission, suspension, brakes, interiors, welding, fabricating, as well as all the subcategories that go with it.

We will go live in another week and you will be hearing all about us.

We are looking to set a new standard in the automotive industry. Which doesn't take much. Turns out simply honest business and quality work will make us stand out.

Go figure.

 

You need to find a new dealer!

I had a Mercedes C Class that I took to the dealer for an oil change. When I got it back I also received a 6 page novel on all the "recommended maintenance". The total for the work they wanted to do was $3K more than the car was even worth!

On the other hand, we took my gf's Corolla in for an oil change a couple weeks ago. They told us the water pump looked like it was leaking. We declined the service thinking they were full of it. And of course the very next day the water pump seized.

 

Ahh, a Boxer. At least it's good money spent. I would lease a car, but my commute is too far and I would go over the yearly miles in probably 6 months. I plan on seeing how many miles I can put on the XKR as it's a great car to be in to swallow up miles.[/QUOTE]

One problem with the xkr is its too old for a dealer to remember how to take care of, and not old enough to be classic enough for a dedicated indy network.

If you want to hear dealer horror stories I could write a whole chapter on my wifes MB, incompetance would be a kind work, they cant even balance tires.

Most delaerships are "buisnesses" run by people who have as much affinity and clue about cars as their customers.

On the other hand, my chevy dealer has beeen consistently great, and reasonable.

 

It isn't just the dealer/parts/shop industry. Incompetence rules in just about every industry and profession now. Finding anyone skilled in the mechanical, fabrication, woodworking, etc., arts is just about impossible. This will only get worse as the population no longer values these skills, and as those who have them age out.

 

the best example of incompetence is in front of our collective noses... the gov't we have elected pales compared to the auto industry... driven by voters that should not be as clueless as they lead us to believe in the industries they represent. Various talk shows have their version of the "man in the street interviews" as a comedy segment. Our future depends on it and we deserve better. Our collective bar needs to be raised, not sit on complacency. We need to hold those that provide us their services accountable.

 

The dealership is a game.....you are trying to keep money in your wallet. Let them diagnose all they want, verify and do the work yourself if deemed necessary.

My wife has a 2002 Jag XJ8 VDP. I have been its sole mechanic for the last 6 years. It had a leak on the 'octopus' hose between the engine and firewall (it is a single hose web with at least 7 connection points). They quoted me almost $2k to fix so I decided to buy the hose and do it myself. The parts guy laughed at me and said, "Every time I sell one of these, the car comes back on a flat bed." Sorry pal but $1,600 in labor....I gotta give it a shot. PITA job, but i got it done. The parts guy final words was my motivation.

If I do have to take one of our cars to the dealer, I make sure im at least partially informed on the diagnosis/costs before I walk into the octagon. A personal relationship with a good indy is also worth its weight in gold.