So after 42k miles on Ford product a few small issues need attention. Somehow the dealers I've asked all insist I leave the rig long enough for a kidney transplant despite the wonders of computer codes. Plus they advise to expect several hundred $ bill for their best guess not on fixing, just advising what it might be.

It took over a month to get my Explorer in for an appt for some warranty work.
At the time, dealers were crazy backed up with work. The 2 dealers closest to me couldn't even make an appt for checking a transmission issue, their heavy line guys were so backed up with work. Their best guess was 2-4 months out.

I think it is because the job(s) before you might take longer/shorter than expected, so they get you in when they're ready and don't screw up the work flow.

I don't have a problem with it as the shop is close to work, so I drop it off in the morning, walk to work, and pick it up in the afternoon. Doesn't matter to me what time they get to it.

Now the couple hundred bucks to just diagnose? Yeah, that's an issue.

My "while you wait, no appointment needed" oil change at my dealership takes 2 hours!

Seems to be the business model. Standardize everything, which means every vehicle gets checked in and then goes in the queue. Even when I give a detailed written description of what needs to be looked at or repaired at the time I book the appointment, the intake person is seeing it for the first time when I arrive.

More than once I've been told they need to keep the car overnight or even longer because they don't have the part in stock. That's why I tell them when booking the appointment exactly what is wrong. e.g. the sun visor broke off, but after waiting an hour in their lounge I had to make another appointment more than a week out because they didn't have the part!

Yeah their game now is to charge just for telling you what the repair will cost.

A guy here took his Jeep to a big Jeep dealership asking how much they'd charge to replace the broken rear motor mount.

The service manager said "we'll have to look it it first" to which he said "you don't need to, just tell me how much you want to change it.

After insisting that they need to look at it he said "well ok go ahead".

A young kid came for his key and pulled the Jeep around to the service door. 25 minutes later he brought it back around.

The service manager came to him with a computer print out saying the rear mount was broken and to replace it will cost $1,340.

He said "forget it I'll have it done somewhere else." But what really pissed him off was next the service manager handed him a bill for $190 for the estimate.

He said "not only are you not getting $190 from me but I'm going to spread the word what a shyster operation this place is!"

Stop going to dealers after your warranty is up and only use them for warranty work. Find a local independent place if you can because the dealer is going to find 10 different things wrong with your vehicle that they will want to fix for a small fortune.

It's not just dealers, unless you have some relationship most repair shops charge now days for them to find the problem.

I don't blame them, you take up shop time and materials, hold up a bay, the mechanic takes his/her time to find the problem, and then the customer says "ok I'll just do it myself", shop loses money not only on finding the problem, but from doing a real paying job in that time.

In Ridewv's case the customer knew what he wanted and when they wouldn't give him an estimate he should have just left, and they should have told him the fee for looking up front. A good service writer could have estimated the repair costs without looking though, that would have been the right way.

The practice runs off people who really had no intention of paying for the repair and just use shops to find the problem so they can shadetree it themselves.

Most shops will credit the fee back against the repair if you have them do the work, if they don't do that, go elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Most shops will credit the fee back against the repair if you have them do the work, if they don't do that, go elsewhere.

This. Find a local independent shop with good reviews who have a diagnostic policy like this.

It's a good compromise that allows them to protect themselves from the shadetreers who just want to waste their time for a free diagnosis, without penalizing the real customers by tacking on an extra diagnosis fee.

Even if it's a small item repair it's going to be a wait at our shop.
At the moment we have run out of room to park the trucks to be worked on and they are scattered all over the place now.

We let people bring parts in and will install them without diagnosing it.
Last week a guy comes in on the hook, buys an alternator and asks for it to be put on, took a day to get to it and the guy got a hotel room.
Comes to get his rig the next day and it's dead and not charging.
Got approval to look at it, which would be the next day again.
It wound up being the wrong battery jumpers that had the nuts worn through causing a poor connection that had gone on for so long that carbon built up under the cables from arcing and the heat melted the ground connection of the battery minder module and two of the four batteries were bad.
So now on top of the $500 alternator he didn't need he's got another $3K in parts.
Doesn't want the no clutch pedal looked at either even though you have to start it in gear.

Dealers are busy with recall work

https://datahub.transportation...ufacturer/38mw-dp8u/

quote:

Somehow the dealers I've asked all insist I leave the rig long enough for a kidney transplant despite the wonders of computer codes.

Your problems, whatever they are, may be obvious and found in a few minutes, but it could very well take hours. Or some other problem, or potential problem, is found and might as well be fixed while you're there. As for "computer codes," not only did they get read with a $5000 or more scan tool, but they are only a starting point.

quote:

Any time you take your car into a shop to solve a problem, the shop informs you upfront that there will be a car diagnostic charge, and it’s usually either a half-hour or a full hour of time. That’s often frustrating for customers because they think of a diagnostic as simply reading the car’s trouble codes, and most auto parts stores do that for free. However, reading a trouble code isn’t a diagnostic. It’s just a starting point. A true diagnosis requires additional testing, and the customer has to pay for it. Here are several reasons why auto repair shops charge a diagnostic fee.

Full article

The 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty is expired and with 42,000 miles the OP needs to look at the issues to see if they are power-train (5/60,000), safety restraint (5/60,000), or corrosion (5/unlimited). If they aren't warranty items, then I'd move on to independent auto shop due to the dealerships lack of appreciation for customer time and unspecified diagnostic fee.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
My "while you wait, no appointment needed" oil change at my dealership takes 2 hours!

The local goat rodeo that Nissan calls a dealership lost my business over management having low expectations for employees and lack of appreciation for customer's time. 3/4 of service visits were poor experiences. For example, they thought it was acceptable to have first appointment of the day (yes, appointment not drop-in) and an oil change still taking 2 hours. My time Mon-Fri is valuable and the two "free" oil changes that came with the truck just weren't worth the time. The lackluster service advisor also mistakenly thought it was acceptable to call me to ask me to change my review to 5 star for their 2 hour oil change because the rating affect his raises/bonuses Let's just say he didn't receive the response he was expecting.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Stop going to dealers after your warranty is up and only use them for warranty work. Find a local independent place if you can because the dealer is going to find 10 different things wrong with your vehicle that they will want to fix for a small fortune.

I can't remember the last time I was at an independent shop that I felt I could trust.