This is somewhat off-topic but I guess I needed to vent. I have been putting off bringing my car in for servicing, mostly because of the inconvenience of arranging for lifts back home and to work. Also, the car has basically been fine but I knew I would need to bring it in before August for 2 reasons--(1) I had to have the J004 emissions recall work done since my Kalifornia registration was coming due and they wanted this and (2) my warranty would also be running out in August.

So, in addition to the J004 work I compiled a list of a few other annoying items for the dealer to check, such as the minor ticking on start-up in the morning, a minor leak of something orange colored, and a quirky memory function for the seats that worked less and less. I brought the car in mid-day Wednesday figuring that it should be done by end of day Thursday. Well, it was not so I hope to pick it up today (Friday). I suspect the car had been sitting around without being worked on.

My previous experience with this dealer was the same thing (car took longer to fix than anticipated) but then I also recall that this has been my experience with most dealerships I have dealt with (BMW, Nissan, Chevy) in that if you give them more than one thing to do, they end up keeping the car more than one day.

I guess this is just the nature of these operations--I have had much better luck once I switch to independent mechanics.

Doug

 

I feel your pain. However I work in an industry where we service our customer's equipment at their site (big, industrial stuff) We go through periods where things are slow, then we go through periods where we're very busy. We can't staff as if we are continually busy, because we would just be throwing money out the window. Sometimes our customers expect us to be like the fire department, with people just waiting around to come put out their fires at a moment's notice. We juggle schedules to to get to the most critical problems first, but sometimes the entire day is filled with critical problems. I usually give service companies the benefit of the doubt. I doubt they are intentionally trying to fix your car slowly. To them, this is what they do on a day-to-day basis. To you, this is an inconvenience and you're getting angry that things are going as planned.

On the other hand, I've learned through personal experience that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Customers who call me time after time bugging me about what's taking so long usually get moved to the front of the line, simply because I don't want to have to deal with them. If it's really bugging you, just be a squeaky wheel.

 

I too think it is just a busy time, and with the 'list' you compiled, they are probably assigning it according to blocks of time they forsee the techs to have to dedicate to your car. That may very well be what is delaying the evaluation.

When I took mine in for the warranty pre-expiration inspection, my service guy said he would give it a good thorough checkup, and found a few items of concern that were squared away under Select.

I can't remember how long I was without a car (maybe 2-3 days), but IIRC, they gave me a loaner and it didn't matter...but, sadly, I think those days of loaner vehicles are coming to an end, unless its to new purchases, within the factory warranty period.

Be patient, and perhaps a call to check once in awhile as a curiousity. I know its inconvenient...believe me, I know...but they will appreciate your understanding and give you better results if you are. (thinking positively of course...i'm an optimist)

 

One of the advantages of being in a small town: when I got my custom exhaust done, they offered me a loaner for the few hours it was going to take. For a voluntary service, I certainly didn't expect that.

 

One other thing, Douglas. If you really want to put the pressure on, just ask to speak to the dealership's general manager. Nobody wants an unhappy customer to go over their head to the boss. And the boss is usually going to want to appease the customer, even if he's on the side of the service manager. The GM knows that if this guy will gripe to him, he'll have no problem taking the gripe even higher. I used to be the service manager here in my company, and I would get so pissed off when the GM would come to me and tell me to rearrange schedules because a customer was complaining. But I had to do what the GM said to do. It didn't make a difference if I had other customers who's systems were completely down. I had to take care of the customer who griped the loudest first.

By the way, I'm not suggesting that you do that. I'm just saying that if you REALLY, REALLY want to get your car back sooner, that's the way to do it. Of course, there are no guarantees that it will be fixed correctly.

 

I can't recall the last time anyone called me Douglas. Doug works fine for me.

Doug

 

I really suspect it is mostly down-time and the types of tasks are not really interesting for a tech (checking function of memory button or listening for a tick sound). Consequently, I suspect the car is sitting around waiting for the unlucky tech that gets to do this tedious work.

Also, I had thought that SE warranty automatically provided a loaner but the policy was changed so that it is up to the particular dealer's discretion. This dealer provides loaners only if you bought the car from them originally.

Doug

 

One thing I've known to happen to vehicles being serviced under warranty is secret fixes. I've seen it with my family vehicles. Brought the good ole Dodge Caravan in for routine service, they kept it for two days while they serviced all the secret recall and service bulletins. Of course they provided a loaner, but that happens all the time. I'm sure that unless you're really on top of it, you will find that when you ask for the maintenance records at the dealership, a list of things serviced you had no idea about.

 

Don't forget that some dealers have specialisits for certain kinds of work. If the car comes in with a list of items to take care of it might have to go to a couple different techs....who have different work loads. And, when the appointment was booked they can't always tell how long the actual repair will take. "Check fluid leak" might mean a 10 minute fix or an engine-out operation, or anything in between. If the guy who hauls engines in and out has a couple cars already waiting, well.....you get the idea.

Any issues that happen at certain times....like an "only first thing in the morning" noise...automatically add at least two days to the job....as they'll certainly need to wait till the next morning to hear the noise before knowing how to proceed and then hold it over an extra day after repairs to make sure it's fixed. Here again....the fix might be tightening a bolt or overhauling an engine.

If you're in a busy downtown metro area a problem that occurs "only at 70 mph" is gonna take extra time, as there will be limited opportunity for them to drive the car at 70 mph.

It is true that cars sometimes get the sunshine treatment...especially if the needed work isn't particularly enjoyable or lucrative. Not saying it's right, of course....but, yeah, it happens.

Cheers
DD

 

Just got the call from the dealer that the car is ready. The findings of the miscellaneous stuff I was asking about were somewhat interesting. For example, they concluded that the ticking I hear in the morning is "normal" and are the fuel injectors. Until these get warmed up they tick a bit (I guess I should have thought of that). The fluid leak I had is a total mystery as they claim it looks bone dry under the engine except for a few drops of oil around the oil filter. They completely tested the cooling system under pressure and no leaks. I suggested it could be power steering system but, again, they said no evidence of leaks there. I guess the root cause could be that the previous owner hardly used the car so some seals might have shrunk up. The minor leak showed up after I first bought the car and started using it more. Since then it has been dry so I guess no problem there. As to the quirky memory function for my seats, I assumed they would just replace whatever module controlled this but, instead, they said they rebooted the system and checked the function several times without problems.

I guess I am good to go but will probably look into getting some type of mechanical breakdown warranty just to be safe. I will be picking the car up in a while and it should be interesting to see if it drives differently after the J004 emissions adjustment.

Doug

 

it wont be different, not that youll notice.