Another dealership service dept. up-sell debacle

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I have a relative who is naive about car stuff who's kid took their 2008 Ford Escape in for what was originally about $400 worth of service procedures on quote, and walked out paying $967.68 for extra non-essential [censored] that the service advisor up-sold them. About a grand worth of service on a car with a trade-in value of around $3500.... on a good day. Nice. Their kid's beater car but they let their kid take it in for the service appt. Bad idea. Not sure how some of these dealership service advisors sleep at night.
 
Happened to my son and his Honda SUV. Took said vehicle in for a specific service and went to pick up the vehicle and there was an addition $300 charge. They "found a sensor" that should be replaced. My son who runs a small construction company told them that when he bids on a job, he doesn't replace other things not on the quote and therefore will not pay the additional amount. They took the $300 off the bill. Ed
 
Originally Posted By: Eddie
Happened to my son and his Honda SUV. Took said vehicle in for a specific service and went to pick up the vehicle and there was an addition $300 charge. They "found a sensor" that should be replaced. My son who runs a small construction company told them that when he bids on a job, he doesn't replace other things not on the quote and therefore will not pay the additional amount. They took the $300 off the bill. Ed


Good for him! That's like bringing in a car for an oil change and getting billed for an oil change and a tune up, when the tune up wasn't even discussed. If they called your son quoted him a price for the extra work and he agreed on it that's another story.
 
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
I have a relative who is naive about car stuff who's kid took their 2008 Ford Escape in for what was originally about $400 worth of service procedures on quote, and walked out paying $967.68 for extra non-essential [censored] that the service advisor up-sold them. About a grand worth of service on a car with a trade-in value of around $3500.... on a good day. Nice. Their kid's beater car but they let their kid take it in for the service appt. Bad idea. Not sure how some of these dealership service advisors sleep at night.




Feel free to ignore the following :

Details ????? What did they go in for ? What were they upsold on ?? What was the reason given for the extra services ??? Im sure not everything was needed, but the argument of the car only being $3500 is a moot one for such particular customer. A car is worth what it really is worth to the customer, ie. is it their only means of transport ? Is it their college student kid's car ? Is it something they depend on night and day ?

$3500 is a very black/white way of looking at the situation and this world is full of grey. They can go to a dealership, buy a car of $4500 and most probably buy another set of problems with it. At least by spending $1000, they ensure the longevity of a known enemy vs an unknown one ?

You have made several posts about bad experiences with the dealership in the past, Im sure that has helped none towards your affinity towards them. But coming from an industry where "upselling" is a fact of everyday business, where there is pressure from corporate everyday to increase flushes/alignments/brakes $ amounts, I can recall several vehicles which have been pulled into our shop for nominal repairs where tickets ended up being thousands of dollars because such an extent of repairs were needed. Not a single cent was an "upsell" but a recommendation based on diag of customer mentioned issues and general inspection of the vehicle.

For eg, if Mr. Smith brings his daughter's 2003 Impala to our shop for a $30 LOF svc, and we notice during our inspection that the serpentine belt is cracked, vehicle has 103k miles on it. You think im not going to recommend a belt replacement ?? Why ?? So he can come yell at me when the belt breaks on her in a couple of months on her way to school? All because that would be considered an upsell from an oil change ?? I'd rather hear a "NO" from a customer, than not offer to fix any issues with their vehicle. Not everyone is as knowledgeable about cars and their functions as your avg BITOGer. Some people genuinely need help and guidance in maintaining their vehicle. I believe this generalized hate towards Service Advisors is unwarranted for. Some if not most are decent honest people just trying to make some money helping customers maintain their vehicles. Im sure most/some of you will agree/disagree with my views here, just felt like someone had to say something "for" the service advisors, lol.
 
I would have to ask her if they plan on keeping the car beyond the end of college. I'm the go to person for complaints about car stuff throughout most of my extended family. I'm trying to think of past posts you say I posted about negative dealership service experiences I've had . Maybe when my late wife was still with us, her VW Beetle TDI, which required a lot of dealer attention (high maintenance cars). I've had good dealings with the Subaru dealership on my Forester, they even got SOA to cover the ignition coil failure 500 miles outside of warranty mileage limit. My Ducati motorcycle I got last year new, the dealer for it (out of town) has been very good on a few things it needed done with the electronics. When I had my Corvette, it had an extended warranty transferred from the previous owner and always had good dealings with the chevrolet dealer on the few issues that came up under that coverage.
 
I can say I'm lucky with the Ford dealer I use. If there's an issue found they call for approval. Heck, middle of last summer when the battery on the Taurus was "iffy" and I told them to just do it, I think the SA was shocked. It was $100 or so and I didn't want to be stranded or forget.

Then when the wife's Escape was in for inspection and it need a new flex pipe (it was badly rusted) they called with 2 options: 1) New Ford part tomorrow for $500, or 2) given the age and miles (10/120k) they could send it to the muffler shop up the street for $150 and have them weld in a generic...

I've got no complaints with them on the upsell. Then again I do know how to say "NO".
 
Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
To dealership or not to dealership, now that is the question?


If a dealer falls in the woods does it make a sound?
 
It's a common occurrence.

My son encountered a similar situation when he took his car to the BMW dealer for a routine oil change.

The service writer came to him to report that the brake fluid was contaminated, the windshield washer fluid tank was leaking, and a couple of other items.

Total bill would have been over $800.

He declined the additional work but the service writer pressed by making the brake fluid change sound like a genuine safety concern.

My son learned a good lesson and we're going to do the next oil change in the driveway.

I did have an opportunity to vent to the service manager about up-selling. I could tell pretty quickly that it was the standard store policy.
 
Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
To dealership or not to dealership, now that is the question?


I do use a dealer, but for things I am not capable of handling myself.. oil/transmission fluid changes, I do myself. I think if you make it clear to the dealer that you are only having what is done that you sign off on. My dealer ensures to get a signature on any work that needs to be done before doing it. Luckily I know an advisor (used to work with me). Make intentions clear to the advisor, and dont agree to any additional work, but DO have them quote you for the work they recommend. Once you get home you can look over their suggestions and have it looked at by another INDY or get 2nd opinions on the recommended to work to see what is necesssary vs what isnt.
 
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Unfortunately many folks cannot work on their car or truck do to location. ex: Queens N.Y., if you live there, most likely you park on the street, there are no yards, only miles of high rise old apartment buildings. If you can change your oil on the street, I want to see it done there, would be interesting. I know, many of you probably do that with one of those pumps and tubes, but can you get to the oil filter??
 
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
To dealership or not to dealership, now that is the question?


If a dealer falls in the woods does it make a sound?


lol.gif
 
My Ducati requires that the desmodromic valvetrain be inspected and adjusted (shim) as needed every 15,000 miles, as well as new timing belt same interval. It's a big service that hits every 15,000 for the life of the bike. I know up front that it's going to run me no less than a grand and probably a few hundred more for all the things done-- all fluids flushed, new chain and sprockets, but I have a great relationship with the selling dealer and knew when buying a Duc that they're not a cheap date, so I'm good with it.
 
The service at my local Harley dealer is 400 bucks. That's every 5K miles. I just can't see how they come up with that amount (they detail the bike, though). I do it myself for about $60.
 
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