Another dealer rip off story

[flying68]

The plug is just a temporary repair until the tire can be replaced. Reputable tire shops do not use plugs at all. The correct way to fix a flat is to dismount the tire, remove the nail, patch the tire from the inside, remount and balance. Discount tire does that for free.

Most good shops now actually do a plug/patch combination repair. It is a single unit item installed from the inside. It is the best of both, it strengthens the repair by filling and sealing the puncture itself while having the larger surface area of a patch on the inside to prevent leaks.

 

[shane_th_ee]

In my High School days, my friends father, took the family car in for wiper blades. They charged him $30 to install(in 1986)
.

I've learned to ask the cost for any and everything that needs doing, even if I suspect it's going to be a rip-off. My Honda dealer charges $14 to replace all the wiper blades. I mean the auto-parts store would have to pay me to make it worth my time to take another trip to another store..

 

[mike5555]

A real service advisor would have said if you have us fix it it will be over a hundred dollars, I suggest you take it over to a regular tire dealer and they will fix it far cheaper.

 

[Sgt Darkness]

Guess this is one of the differences between generations. We ol'timers have tire plugging tools and plugs......

Got a plug kit for each vehicle I own. If it’s a no leak nail or screw and you fix and only lose <2 psi....

 

[rjdelp7]

I watched a Ford service guy, fixing a flat, from the waiting room. The F-150 had its steel spare on. He re-installed the alloy wheel. He then spent the next ten minutes, struggling to put the spare back under the truck. Two other guys were called over and they all worked on it. Maybe $100+ dollars, included dealing with the spare.

 

[Gregg Eshelman]

I have a less than competent dealership tale, but it's for a Mopar.

Had a Sebring convertible, bought used with only one key. Took it to a dealer to have a new key made and programmed. Their youngest mechanic brought out their gizmo to program the computer for the new key.

I mentioned to him about how the convertible was based on the sedan instead of the coupe. Then I went and sat on a bench to watch.

He putzed around for a while, unable to find the second connector the book said should be there. So he went and got the next older mechanic. Same story, can't find the connector. So he went and got the oldest guy in the shop who came out and told the other two "You have to use the sedan settings for the convertible." and opened the manual for the gizmo to that section which showed there's just one connector for key programming on the sedan and convertible.

Ford is guilty of similar WTH-ness with the Ranger line. Why did they choose to have so many electrical differences between the Ranger pickup, the Sport Trac, and the Explorer/Mountaineer? It would have been far less cost and complication to have them all use exactly the same electronics and wiring harnesses, with a plug in bit in the middle for the different vehicle lengths. One front harness, one rear harness, simple wire bundle in the middle.

I wouldn't be surprised to find there are major (or minor) yet pointless variances in things that do exactly the same job in the F-150 and Expedition. Differences that make it impossible to swap such items between the pickup and SUV fo no $#%^# reason other than to have different parts.

 

[Shutterbug57]

The last flat I had was at the border with Canada at Niagra Falls. I had to change to the spare just before the border. There was a tire shop next to the hotel we stayed at in Canada. They charged CDN$20 to dismount, plug/patch, balance and reinstall the tire and stow the spare. Seemed completely reasonable and took under a half hour. That tire ran fine until it wore the tread down to the bars and need replacement with the rest of that set. OP, you got hosed.

 

[Frank S]

The games they play and wonder why most of the work they get is warranty. Also whenever you have tires rotated and am not present, ALWAYS MARK A TIRE WITH CHALK etc. to ensure they do it. I have caught this 3 times in the last 5 years.

 

[1970Maverick]

Even though I have a 3rd gen I would like to comment on a dealership experience.
Shortly after i had major surgery, my Expy was due for oil change and tire rotate. Usually I would do these myself but I took it to the dealer because it was still under warranty and I wanted the rearview mirrror check because it would not auto darken. They told me everything was done and I went out to get the Expy. FYI, I have my wheels numbered so I can track my tire rotations and had the positions written on a diagram before they took it in. So, when I checked the numbers on the wheels, they had moved 3 of the wheels around and left 1 in the same place. When I pointed that out to the svc advisor, he took the Expy back in and 20 min later told me they rotated all. When i looked this time all the wheels were back in the same positions when I first drove in. When i pointed it out again, he had me go into the shop and point out the numbers to the tech. Then I stood and watched while he did the correct rotation. my appt was 8:30am and I left at 2:30pm , 6 hrs for an oil change and rotate, this must be a world record. The dealer is Greenway Ford E. colonial Dr Orlando, FL. Needless to say I will be looking for a different dealer for any warranty items and do my own oil and rotations now that i'm healed.

 

[TobyU]

Even though I have a 3rd gen I would like to comment on a dealership experience.
Shortly after i had major surgery, my Expy was due for oil change and tire rotate. Usually I would do these myself but I took it to the dealer because it was still under warranty and I wanted the rearview mirrror check because it would not auto darken. They told me everything was done and I went out to get the Expy. FYI, I have my wheels numbered so I can track my tire rotations and had the positions written on a diagram before they took it in. So, when I checked the numbers on the wheels, they had moved 3 of the wheels around and left 1 in the same place. When I pointed that out to the svc advisor, he took the Expy back in and 20 min later told me they rotated all. When i looked this time all the wheels were back in the same positions when I first drove in. When i pointed it out again, he had me go into the shop and point out the numbers to the tech. Then I stood and watched while he did the correct rotation. my appt was 8:30am and I left at 2:30pm , 6 hrs for an oil change and rotate, this must be a world record. The dealer is Greenway Ford E. colonial Dr Orlando, FL. Needless to say I will be looking for a different dealer for any warranty items and do my own oil and rotations now that i'm healed.

I would have been in jail for throwing one of the tires or the spare through the store's front window.
Impossible to go back or even let them touch your car after you have to call them out on something like that TWICE. They are going to be pissed and damage your car.
Sad that their ineptitude is the only reason for the situation.
NOT like they don't get paid adequately or even WELL for it.

 

[rjdelp7]

Even though I have a 3rd gen I would like to comment on a dealership experience.
Shortly after i had major surgery, my Expy was due for oil change and tire rotate. Usually I would do these myself but I took it to the dealer because it was still under warranty and I wanted the rearview mirrror check because it would not auto darken. They told me everything was done and I went out to get the Expy. FYI, I have my wheels numbered so I can track my tire rotations and had the positions written on a diagram before they took it in. So, when I checked the numbers on the wheels, they had moved 3 of the wheels around and left 1 in the same place. When I pointed that out to the svc advisor, he took the Expy back in and 20 min later told me they rotated all. When i looked this time all the wheels were back in the same positions when I first drove in. When i pointed it out again, he had me go into the shop and point out the numbers to the tech. Then I stood and watched while he did the correct rotation. my appt was 8:30am and I left at 2:30pm , 6 hrs for an oil change and rotate, this must be a world record. The dealer is Greenway Ford E. colonial Dr Orlando, FL. Needless to say I will be looking for a different dealer for any warranty items and do my own oil and rotations now that i'm healed.

Almost all Mechanics are lazy. I brought my lease Lincoln in for its 'free/complimentary' oil change and rotation. I was told the oil change wasn't due(@4800mi). I said do it anyway. The service advisor said Lincoln wouldn't pay for it until 7,500mi. and its a lease, 'don't worry about it'. I explained, that I may buy the vehicle after the lease expired and want the dam oil changed. I didn't want to make a second trip in January, for it. He finally agreed and car was pulled into shop 20minutes later. I walked around, to actually see it being worked on. It was sitting there with no one working on it. To this day, I am not sure if it was done or if tires were rotated. One week later, I changed the oil myself. I had an alignment check(under warranty). I reported the problem the 1st week. I was told drive it for 500mi(pulling to right). It took 3 tries to fix that. The last time, I was given a loaner and there 'top mechanic' found a bent suspension part...pathetic.

 

[Jay Dubs]

I brought my vehicle in for an oil change today at a new ford dealer. They offered two options on oil both synthetic blend Motrocraft but the person there said that the more expensive on also came with fuel injector cleaner and something else and was good for 10k while the regular oil change was good for 5k. I asked him about those differences as the car calculates when an oil change is needed he said the new engines can calculate viscosity so it will show up there with time. This sounds like a complete load of crap to me. They also charge $20 for a tire rotation. Anyone else experience this?

 

[TobyU]

Some cars to have a fairly sophisticated oil monitoring life sensor and cars can be very susceptible with variable valve timing with viscosity getting out of spec.

 

[rjdelp7]

Some cars to have a fairly sophisticated oil monitoring life sensor and cars can be very susceptible with variable valve timing with viscosity getting out of spec.

Not exactly. Its time/engine revs/miles and cold starts. Viscosity shouldn't ever go 'out of spec', if you follow service the schedule. VVT needs proper oil pressure, a full crankcase and and good filter. That is why VVT cars have larger oil pans, to make sure there is enough oil in the system, for it to work. Most of the so-called, bad phasers, were caused by poor maintenance and driving low on oil. Using the wrong weight viscosity(too heavy/thick), is bad in a VVT engine.

 

[StealthyBulldog]

How about this, my brother took his truck in to get the oil changed while he was at work. He's been busy so asked how much for them to run a power cord into the passenger foot well for an interior heater ( gets cold up in northern Manitoba!) . They said $75 (Cdn), he said sure, get it done, well this is what they did!!





Needless to say he was NOT happy!! They said they would fix it, but he wonders if he even wants them to if they were willing to let this leave the building!

 

[TobyU]

Not exactly. Its time/engine revs/miles and cold starts. Viscosity shouldn't ever go 'out of spec', if you follow service the schedule. VVT needs proper oil pressure, a full crankcase and and good filter. That is why VVT cars have larger oil pans, to make sure there is enough oil in the system, for it to work. Most of the so-called, bad phasers, were caused by poor maintenance and driving low on oil. Using the wrong weight viscosity(too heavy/thick), is bad in a VVT engine.

Most are just on a mileage timer and hooked on the computer like you mentioned but there are some that actually use Optical sensors to look through the oil to see particles and how dirty it actually is.
The higher-end cars that have these have proven to be extremely accurate with their percentage of oil life left when independent shops sent out oil for lab analysis.
You're also correct that if someone pays attention to the sensor or follows what their owners manual says they more than likely won't have any out of spec viscosity problems.
Some people go through both like a lot of old cars I know. They start out with a 5w 30 and it quickly shears down to a 20 but then they don't ever change the oil and it's in there so long it starts to gum up and it probably ends up being thick and gooey like a 40-50 before it's all said and done. I did a timing chain in the parking lot of a large Mall one time for some friends back when I was in my late teens or early twenties. It was on a 260 V8 in an Oldsmobile. When I took the oil plug out, the substance in there blurped out like barely warm Road tar.
It still ran for a good number of years after that.

 

[rcompart]

Almost all Mechanics are lazy. I brought my lease Lincoln in for its 'free/complimentary' oil change and rotation. I was told the oil change wasn't due(@4800mi). I said do it anyway. The service advisor said Lincoln wouldn't pay for it until 7,500mi. and its a lease, 'don't worry about it'. I explained, that I may buy the vehicle after the lease expired and want the dam oil changed. I didn't want to make a second trip in January, for it. He finally agreed and car was pulled into shop 20minutes later. I walked around, to actually see it being worked on. It was sitting there with no one working on it. To this day, I am not sure if it was done or if tires were rotated. One week later, I changed the oil myself. I had an alignment check(under warranty). I reported the problem the 1st week. I was told drive it for 500mi(pulling to right). It took 3 tries to fix that. The last time, I was given a loaner and there 'top mechanic' found a bent suspension part...pathetic.

Not all mechanics are lazy; there are still some of us that go above and beyond and do our best to take care of customers. But if you do suspect they are not performing the work they say they are, you can keep your local workshop in check by taking a paint pen and making small marks on the tires inside the tread on different channels and take pictures of the four corners. For good measure, do the same with the oil filter, drain plugs and the tie rods nuts if you’re there for an alignment. It’s a quick and easy way to spot check while you’re still there at the dealer and if they didn’t do the work they claimed, skip the service advisor and ask for the service manager directly to show them the work that wasn’t performed. They may not like dealing with demanding customers but they hate lying and cheating and good dealerships rarely tolerate employees that do either.

 

[Tocapet]

I used to have a Dodge conversion van. I replaced all of the ball joints and tierod ends myself, then took it for a front-end alignment. The alignment guy told me I needed brake pads. I told him that's interesting. I just replaced them last month. Uuuuhhhh.... Nice try.

 

[Tocapet]

I never leave my truck anywhere without asking for a quote up front, with a call if they’re going to exceed the quote.

 

[Tocapet]

Some shops will take everything apart, then tell you you need calipers, pistons, pads, rotors, bearings and fluid flush. They run up a bill more than the car is worth. They won't put it back together without the new parts. They cite liability saying your car is dangerous to drive. You're forced to accept the repairs. Then you can't get it back without paying. So they file a mechanic's lien and take title to your car. THEN they put the original parts back in and sell your car. They have a good lawyer waiting in case you try to sue them.