Or is this something new? My mom was at the dealership over the weekend having her oil changed when she was informed by one of the staff that "her tires were due to be balanced." Because the tires were at 13,000 miles, they were due for a balancing. I have never heard of this before and my mom thought it was fishy so she passed. Is this something new or is the dealership just trying to upsell?
Dealership Chicanery?
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"Legally, I can't let you drive out of here like that... just happen to have the proper balance weights for your model on the shelf. Three week national backorder on those, but I'll cut you a deal and let you have 'em for $400 plus installation."
Sounds like a typical stealership 'upsell' tactic to me. Sure, balancing your tires isn't a bad thing but I seriously doubt there's a rebalance schedule in the owner's manual - perhaps ask to see the documentation that it's 'time'. Your Mom did great!
Sounds like a typical stealership 'upsell' tactic to me. Sure, balancing your tires isn't a bad thing but I seriously doubt there's a rebalance schedule in the owner's manual - perhaps ask to see the documentation that it's 'time'. Your Mom did great!
It's either an '09 or '10 Saturn Aura. She bought it when all the Saturn dealerships were being shutdown and got a great deal on it. Excellent point, scurvy. I'll have her check the manual for any type of balancing schedule. The car only has 13,000 miles on it.
Are her tires wearing improperly?
Do they possibly mean rotation? That would at least be a little more believable.
Maybe they mean air replacement. You wouldn't want to ride around with old air in your tires would you?.,,
"Ma'am, I'm going to level with you - the owner of the dealership read an article that says that upselling could account for 30% of the revenue generated by the Service department if we're aggressive in pushing these services. I respect you, though, and I really don't want to sell you something you don't need. Frankly, the time it takes one of my techs to go through the motions of 're-balancing' an already balanced wheel could be much better spent on clearing out the backlog of real repair work that is the reason why we couldn't get you in here four days ago like you asked for when you set up your service appointment. Still, the owner is watching our revenue stream, and I can't afford to lose this job. So why don't you just make this easier on both of us and hand over your wallet right now?"
I have a new Ford Fusion that the dealer "gives" all new cars an unlimited power train warrenty. The catch is that one has to have all services recomended in the manual performed at the dealer and keep the paperwork, including wheel balance done at least by when the oil monitor goes off. The maximun for that is 10,000 miles.
Originally Posted By: callbay
I have a new Ford Fusion that the dealer "gives" all new cars an unlimited power train warrenty. The catch is that one has to have all services recomended in the manual performed at the dealer and keep the paperwork, including wheel balance done at least by when the oil monitor goes off. The maximun for that is 10,000 miles.
My wife has a limited lifetime powertrain warranty on the Liberty she bought in 2009. I'm sure Chrysler will find a way to weasel out of it if we ever needed to use it. The salesperson actually told us "you don't need to keep receipt of oil changes. Techs can tell if you have changed the oil or not"
I have a new Ford Fusion that the dealer "gives" all new cars an unlimited power train warrenty. The catch is that one has to have all services recomended in the manual performed at the dealer and keep the paperwork, including wheel balance done at least by when the oil monitor goes off. The maximun for that is 10,000 miles.
My wife has a limited lifetime powertrain warranty on the Liberty she bought in 2009. I'm sure Chrysler will find a way to weasel out of it if we ever needed to use it. The salesperson actually told us "you don't need to keep receipt of oil changes. Techs can tell if you have changed the oil or not"
Originally Posted By: musicmanbass
Do they possibly mean rotation? That would at least be a little more believable.
I forgot to mention she had a tire rotation done along with an oil change. They definitively said balance.
Do they possibly mean rotation? That would at least be a little more believable.
I forgot to mention she had a tire rotation done along with an oil change. They definitively said balance.
I got a postcard in the mail from the nearby Hyundai dealership. They were promising me nearly $13,000 on my Mazda
$13,000?!!?? Guess who's getting a new turbo Sonata or Genesis coupe.
Then I read the fine print.
I was shocked that I met all the criteria for that trade in value until I got to one of the last lines:
All scheduled services must have been performed by an authorized Hyundai dealer
Really?
Who the [heck] brings their Mazda to a Hyundai dealer?
"My Miller Cycle V6 engine Millenia was messing up so I took it to Hyundai...they did so well I started taking my rotary RX-8 to them..."
Yeah. Not likely.
$13,000?!!?? Guess who's getting a new turbo Sonata or Genesis coupe.
Then I read the fine print.
I was shocked that I met all the criteria for that trade in value until I got to one of the last lines:
All scheduled services must have been performed by an authorized Hyundai dealer
Really?
Who the [heck] brings their Mazda to a Hyundai dealer?
"My Miller Cycle V6 engine Millenia was messing up so I took it to Hyundai...they did so well I started taking my rotary RX-8 to them..."
Yeah. Not likely.
Originally Posted By: outoforder
My wife has a limited lifetime powertrain warranty on the Liberty she bought in 2009. I'm sure Chrysler will find a way to weasel out of it if we ever needed to use it. The salesperson actually told us "you don't need to keep receipt of oil changes. Techs can tell if you have changed the oil or not"
I have a neighbor who just had a new CVT put in his ('07?) Dodge Caliber without any kind of fight from Chrysler. I was really surprised. I have the lifetime warranty on my Jeep and I'm keeping records of absolutely everything, with the assumption that a claim will be a hassle.
I'm curious as to what the 5 year inspection will actually entail and if it will just come up with a laundry list of mandatory-but-not-covered repairs needed to keep the warranty intact.
My wife has a limited lifetime powertrain warranty on the Liberty she bought in 2009. I'm sure Chrysler will find a way to weasel out of it if we ever needed to use it. The salesperson actually told us "you don't need to keep receipt of oil changes. Techs can tell if you have changed the oil or not"
I have a neighbor who just had a new CVT put in his ('07?) Dodge Caliber without any kind of fight from Chrysler. I was really surprised. I have the lifetime warranty on my Jeep and I'm keeping records of absolutely everything, with the assumption that a claim will be a hassle.
I'm curious as to what the 5 year inspection will actually entail and if it will just come up with a laundry list of mandatory-but-not-covered repairs needed to keep the warranty intact.
I bet the dodge 5 year warranty inspection gave the suits five years to think up excuses in case the lifetime warranty was bleeding them dry. Or five years to find other jobs while the getting was still good.
I understand the OE factories are pretty good at tire balancing for that new car ride. Better than a dealer that might have a bad tech or machine.
I think the real thing is they want the wheels off so THEN they can start talking about how you need shocks and brakes.
I understand the OE factories are pretty good at tire balancing for that new car ride. Better than a dealer that might have a bad tech or machine.
I think the real thing is they want the wheels off so THEN they can start talking about how you need shocks and brakes.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I think the real thing is they want the wheels off so THEN they can start talking about how you need shocks and brakes.
I'm pretty sure the OP said the tires were rotated, so they were already off...
But yeah, it was an up-sell. Personally I don't think a 13,000 mile balance check is that unreasonable.
I think the real thing is they want the wheels off so THEN they can start talking about how you need shocks and brakes.
I'm pretty sure the OP said the tires were rotated, so they were already off...
But yeah, it was an up-sell. Personally I don't think a 13,000 mile balance check is that unreasonable.
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