Honda dealer's service - not good anymore

[Daveho1]

im sure there are shit heads out there but i assure you that realisticly dealerships run on money and they know that stealing $50 dollers worth of oil isnt worth the 15k engine it could cost them down the track. besides if a dealership whats to rip you off they can do it in ways that you cant check quickly.. like some gearbox oils retail at $150perL when some autos hold 5-7L. in addition i dont assume the customers done something wrong, but its my experiance that those that have shout the loudest about warranty.
i ask again why not just book your cars in and have the required services, dont get me wrong its a bonus if everyone is happy and give you the cup of coffee you feel you deserve but guess what they are there to service and maintain your car, nothing more and nothing less

[chuboy]

cardealerships really arnt the worst evil in the world and if you dont want or cant afford to follow there rules dont buy a car there cause they dont want your drama, go and buy a second hand car and take it to ya local mechanic cause he sure dosent have anything to gain by over charging or under servicing right?

Sorry but I can't agree with you there, of all the people we as citizens of a developed country have to deal with in our lives car dealers must be up there with the worst evils. And I say that only partially in jest...

I haven't been to a dealer since I thought I wouldn't take a chance on non-OEM parts and bought wiper refills at $30 apiece from Honda. Within a few weeks they were just as crap as the ones I replaced. I have since thrown them in the bin and put aftermarkets in and they lasted over 10 times as long.

Let me tell you your local mechanic has nothing to gain and everything to lose by ripping off a customer. Unlike dealerships, which can blackmail you into giving repeat business by tricking you into thinking will lose your warranty if you don't shell out obscene amounts of money for a basic look-over by a green apprentice, local mechanics must obtain your repeat business by providing good value...

My car has never been touched by a Honda dealer except for the PS hose recall.

You are certainly brave to defend dealerships as in general it's well known they will scam you with every trick in the book to make a quick buck (and that includes not doing 'free' warranty repairs properly after they **** up in the first place).

i ask again why not just book your cars in and have the required services, dont get me wrong its a bonus if everyone is happy and give you the cup of coffee you feel you deserve but guess what they are there to service and maintain your car, nothing more and nothing less

In a nutshell, because a good independent will do the same thing or better at half the price...

[sensei_]

i love this sort of thing aswell cause more then once i have seen customers do this, where they mark plugs and oil filters etc
there are 2 examples i can think of right now both spark plug related;
1. a customer plulled the plugs out to mark them prior to his service to mark them to make sure they where being changed. he reinstalled 3 out of the 4 incorrectly and striped the threads-guess what-no warranty
2. a customer changed the plugs on his car and marked them prior the the fist recomended change of 45,000 problem was the wroung plugs where installed and where too long and hit the piston crowns-guess what-no warranty

well, if i was the customer, i would be marking everything i can too. ive been charged for a timing belt service, and this one from a particular perth honda dealer takes the cake.

i paid $1k+ for a car wash. by their admission, they did not service the car at all. thats right, not even an oil change. what brought this on? i questioned why the gearbox oil was not changed and yet i was charged for it, a formal complaint to honda australia, and the dealer calls me back with the news a few days later.

so based on my experience, yes dealerships are scum.

[tony1234]

Unfortunately dealer service depts. are like any other businesses.There some good ones,some average ones and some shit ones.You need to seek out the good ones,usually by word of mouth.

[Fredoops]

2 main things dealers ticked me off over the years,

1. My mother got charged by a particular honda dealer in Homebush for an a/c regas when the cars 1.5 years old, because I wast there to stop them the dealer decided to charge $180 for it (this was early 2000s)

2. "There is NO Auto transmission filter". Made me lol so hard cause I'm looking at it while on the phone.

[OMGRX7]

Had a bad experience with the Honda dealership I took my car in to get a 1000km check up and stamp.

Basically the car sat there from 9am to 330pm but seems that nothing was actually done on the car besides a crap car wash.

Suspension components all need to be tightened and the car returned to me with a damaged rear bar/quarter panel.

Also had a warranty claim on the same day for the aluminium door garnish. They were replaced but the job they did was so dodgy. I had to realign them myself as they were all out of place.

Disappointingly, when I was in the waiting room, I overheard the guy behind the desk charging ridiculous amounts to a clueless lady. I forget the things the guy requested to be done on her brand new car but I remember laughing in my head and thinking what a joke.

My friend had a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer VRX and he had his car go in for XXkm service where he supplied his own oil. Took the car home and checked the dipstick to find the oil still dark and dirty. Returned to the dealership and complained why the oil wasn't changed and the simple reply was "we forgot".

Dafuq?

[chuboy]

How the f*ck can you forget to change the oil in a car when it has been given to you specifically to be serviced as per the book?! Honestly I don't know how most of these car dealers can sleep at night knowing they go to work every day and scam honest people out of a decent chunk of their income.

Dealership servicing is a rort, that is the first lesson anybody should learn when they buy a car.

[Daveho1]

obviously you guys have had some rediculusly crazy experiances, but lemme just say this is the minority and to say that "honda dealers service is no good" is unfair i know some really hard working techs who always go the extra mile for there customers.
and no dealer services arnt a rort the fact is genuine parts cost more but the profit percentages are about the same. so the 7.50 you pay for a ryco z79a supercheap pay 3 for. the equivilent honda part may cost 40 but they pay 20 even if its the same filter, they are required to use genuine parts.

[Fredoops]

and no dealer services arnt a rort the fact is genuine parts cost more

Techsnically yes, but in reality there's a lot more going on behind the scenes.

but the profit percentages are about the same. so the 7.50 you pay for a ryco z79a supercheap pay 3 for.

Not exactly.

To the average wrench monkey or guy at the parts counter that may be the case.

To the dealershop accountant it isn't. The dealers gets a performance bonus based on... Well dealership performance, it's a form of pricig control.

So to the naked eye it may seem that dealer have expansive parts with average profit but in reality the dealers are making more, just like selling cars, is the dealer margin really 12-15% on a new car? No, but real profit per vehicle isn't technically on the books againest the vehicle since they are one off, irregular payments

the equivilent honda part may cost 40 but they pay 20 even if its the same filter, they are required to use genuine parts.

I'd be interested to know by "required to use geuine parts" does that mean ALL parts?

I'm particularly interested in say... Engine oil?

[chuboy]

even if its the same filter, they are required to use genuine parts.

So it is a rort then. Same part, but you have to pay double/triple/even more because it's a 'genuine part' and Honda MANDATES genuine parts. Sounds like enforcing a monopoly to me.

Honestly why are you defending dealers? Are you a dealer? I appreciate you may have mates who work in dealerships and are good guys but seriously, if they have always been honest with their customers then they are they minority, not the other way around.

[OMGRX7]

obviously you guys have had some rediculusly crazy experiances, but lemme just say this is the minority and to say that "honda dealers service is no good" is unfair i know some really hard working techs who always go the extra mile for there customers.
and no dealer services arnt a rort the fact is genuine parts cost more but the profit percentages are about the same. so the 7.50 you pay for a ryco z79a supercheap pay 3 for. the equivilent honda part may cost 40 but they pay 20 even if its the same filter, they are required to use genuine parts.

I have owned a couple of new cars from different makes and all the dealership servicing has been overly priced.

When I had my WRX, I got it serviced at F&E Automotive in Smithfield, he charged me $170 which includes genuine Subaru oil filter and Royal Purple Oil.

The oil alone is 90 and the filter 25; that leaves labour to be only $55. All the bolts and suspension components will be tightened whilst the car is up on the hoist. All wheels taken off and everything checked thoroughly then wheels torqued back on.

This is not your average Joe mechanic. He helps owners prep time attack cars and has owned two pretty built GTRs.

[Daveho1]

Techsnically yes, but in reality there's a lot more going on behind the scenes.


Not exactly.

To the average wrench monkey or guy at the parts counter that may be the case.

To the dealershop accountant it isn't. The dealers gets a performance bonus based on... Well dealership performance, it's a form of pricig control.

So to the naked eye it may seem that dealer have expansive parts with average profit but in reality the dealers are making more, just like selling cars, is the dealer margin really 12-15% on a new car? No, but real profit per vehicle isn't technically on the books againest the vehicle since they are one off, irregular payments



I'd be interested to know by "required to use geuine parts" does that mean ALL parts?

I'm particularly interested in say... Engine oil?

the dealers do indeed get bonus based on performance but thats not limited to salesmen its the save for the service advisors, parts interpreters and the delivery boy but thats just how the pay system works, i would say really the only people with any real control over there bonus would be the techs where they are paid based on time booked that being said however "time booked" is the warranty time which is usually insufficiant to complete anything other then an oil change- for example in a recent recall its expected that techs will test, smash, clean and replace a sunroof in 50min.
as for the use of genuine parts yes in all warranty jobs everything from light globs through to engine oil need to be genuine, however some companys work with an after markert to offer a "genuine aproved aftermarket" to help reduce day to day service costs, for the day to day oil chane car manufacturers will enter into contracts with oil manufacturers to have there oil be the one used on that particular series of car or range of cars. so although it wouldent be the genuine branded oil it would be approved for use. hence castrol make edge proffesional for example.

and no chuboy im not a dealer but i work parts for one and i did have the same opinion as most of you untill i worked at one, no one forces you to buy a new car and no one is keeping the service prices a secret its all there upon request car manufaturers mandate the use of genuine or approved parts so they can be sure the car is been maintained properly and in return they stand by there cars in the event somthin fuks out-pritty reasonable-

as for the subaru that job would take 15-20 min max and at 55 dollers labour that rate 220-175 per hour is a higher labour rate than a dealer-plus they still profit from the filter, in addition if someone preps cars for time attack or moon landings is irrelevent and has no bearing on there ability to maintain a car to factory specs
in canberra we have a workshop that is simmilar just cause the owner rallys every one with an s14 thinks that hes the only one that understands to to change the oil on there car- no disrespect to the owner of that business, it confuses me when people are willing to pay a higher price cause the job is done at a shop owned by a racing car man versus manufacturer trained techs.