Went to a local stealership to switch out a VE steering wheel. Needless to say, a 30 minute job but they charge you a full hour. of course I expected that. Then I asked about the $9.74 misc charge just out of curiosity. They told me that the charge was use of shop materials. I asked what shop materials (again, just out of curiosity) and they said Rags and the Plastic that they put over your seat.

 

nice, as if they extra 30 min they charged you wasnt enough....

the greed of a car dealer never fails to amaze me.

 

That is the reason I worked in the service department part time when I moved here...

There is a mutual respect and trust between me and the them.
I bought a glass top for my C5 and stopped at the body shop to see what they'd charge me to adjust it. (I tried and failed miserably)

They said that it would take an hour. I picked it up and they only charged me for a half-hour...and no shop materials fees.

Giving up every other Saturday for $8 an hour was a good investment.

 

which prompts the question,,, unless warranty work, why even go near the stealership in the 1st place??


$95.00 / hr shop rate here in Ontario

 

Yes, I would agree. Not long ago I had a similar predicament and I tried the local shop that I usually take my vette to. But for some reason, then had trouble with it and were concerned about breaking the wheel. So I didnt really have too much of a choice the 2cnd time around.

 

It can't include toilet paper charges, cause most of them seem to be full of excrement

 

WOW. If they did 60 cars per day, that would be over $25000 per year. You could pay cash for a Z06 in 3 years.

 

All three of my Vettes (two c3's years ago) an 04 Vert now have NEVER
been to the dealer and I hope it never does. My Warranty (with WD)
states I can take it anywhere I want but have not had to use it yet so if the time ever comes I hope thats true. I have always said that the Corvette should be sold and serviced by a Cadillac dealer instead of a Truck and god knows what Chevy dealer.

 

I'm really lucky to have a good long-term relationship with a local dealer -- Village Chevrolet in Wayzata, MN. (I am not an employee.)

Last February, I bought a new '06 Equinox from them. I decided to have them install the 3M clear film on the front. The quoted price was $299.99, and I agreed to that.

When I picked up the car, the bill was for just $166.00. They said the hood area of the Equinox is smaller than most cars, so the job took less time and material, resulting in the lesser amount.

Gotta love that!

 

Nothing personal but...
Another bad rap on the dealers. Take your vette to Bubba's down the street. He'll use the same rate book but won't have the expertise or equipment to do the job. Now THAT's stealing. Take it to a good reputable independent shop and they'll charge the same as the dealer. How do you make your living?

 

The only one responsible for the bad rap on dealers are dealers themselves.

 

Dealer tactics create the bad rap. They have noone to blame but themselves. I'll only go if I absolutely have to and thats rare.

I have a good tuner/mechanic in my area that I consider a good honest shop. Interestingly his rates are $16hr less than the stealerships. I take it to him for major work like a clutch install, TQ tube and other drive train work, code issues, etc. Other times it just depends on time.

In addition, he takes care of the car and doesnt nickle and dime me to death and that includes not charging owners for rags If I need a part he doenst charge me the ripff retail and even welcomes the part If I buy it elsewhere. But he usually asks if he can try to match the price (like he did with my fuel pump) so it doesnt pay to buy it elsewhere.

Most importantly, A good honest shop doesnt charge time in/Time out. Rather, He charges time spent on the car (like a previous poster in this thread pointed out). There is a big diff between the two. A far as making a living we all need to. But there is a big diff in making a living and making a killing

There are good dealers out ther. A few are on this forum Like Ken Fitchner. But he's an exception, not the rule.

 

Hmmm seems to me the dealer must know you. Or was it that I made another phone call? I have heard about Mark pricing. All my dealer stuff is cheaper than the least expensive mail order shops. GM parts from the boys at my local Chevy dealer, aftermarket from the boys at Horse Power.

 

I'm glad the Tech didn't have to wipe!

 

Not surprised they charged you some misc fees, but nearly $10 seems a little much.

 

My fav dealer BS story ever involved a Toyota dealer. Our Sequoia rear power window goes out so we bring it in and its like a 200 dollar motor and 3 hours labor so it was a hefty bill. Sure enough my son tests the old motor they give back and its fine so I say what the hay and go in there and the mechanic is a total jag off and a half saying well it must not take a load etc. We tried loading it up and it had trq so my kid figured he was takin it apart to put the old motor in. Took 30 minutes for a 3 hour book job and the old motor was back in and everything was fine. So I went in chewed out the manager got my 200 back for the motor and got 2 hours of later back. I may not have been in the right to get my money for labor back but what a scam. We talked to a few other ppl and apparently the motor shifts and binds so all u have to do is straighten it and tighten the bolts down but typical dealership puts a new one in for you

 

Heaven forbid a dealership makes some money. They've got rent to pay, salaries to pay, inventory to buy (they're paying to have all those cars on the lot), insurance to pay, advertising, etc... So if you don't want to support a local business, take your money elsewhere. And when the Chevy store closes up, don't come here and whine about how there's no place to buy your C7.

Oh, and enjoy your Yaris.

 

I took the C5 in for some warranty work that required removing the center console. In the process, they scratched my brand new C6 shift **** on the new C6 shifter. When I pointed this out, they said they would replace it but had to order a new ****. When it came in, they called, I brought the car back and in the process of replacing the ****, they tore the shift boot. They said they would send the boot out for repair at a local upholstery shop but would not order me a new one. I asked them if I ordered a leather boot from their parts department, how much would it be. I was quoted $120.00 with no discount because it was a "special order item." They did finally agree to install it for free. I ended up ordering a boot from Vette Essentials and made an appointment to have it installed. When I brought the car in to have the boot installed, they tried to get me to sign a work order charging me $125.00 to install the boot. When I reminded them that this was the fourth trip in for the original warranty work (the warranty work was done twice since they performed the wrong warranty service the first time) and they had said they would install the boot free of charge, they relunctantly installed the new boot, which took less than 15 minutes, which amounted to charging the equivalent of $500.00 an hour to fix their own damage. I did call GM Customer Service, who said that there was nothing they could do. Needless to say, I won't be patronizing this particular dealership any longer, and as far as GM is concerned, I will not purchase any other vehicles from them, which is a shame since within the immediate family, we buy on the average two new cars everly three years or so. I love the Vette and plan to keep it for a long time, but my relationship with GM will be only limited to this. I own my own business and understand the concept of making a profit. This situation as well as those mentioned previously however speak more to greed , poor workmanship, and poor customer relations. GM has no one to blame but themselves for their present predicament.

 

Gotta love the dealers.

 

Cant believe someone would defend a dealership, the business is based on lying and they wonder why we dont believe them !!!!!!!