Dealership Service Fees - This Is a New One to Me

[rstcso]

Shop fees have been a part of any type of service for many years, but I've never seen "Service History Admin" before today.

I called my service advisor, who's also the assistant service manager. He said this is a fee "corporate" adds for clerks, aka admins, to scan and upload documents to "corporate" (this dealership is owned by Penske). Said it helps cover costs of the clerks as well as "digital storage fees". Wow!

Overhead is expensive, but it seems like you could hide it a little better. Then again, I highly doubt many even question what it's for, let alone dispute it, which I wouldn't do. I want them around in case service is needed years from now. This dealership is only a few minutes from my house.

What are other fees you've seen that are questionable at best? Or make you scratch your head and say "Hmmm"?

 

[TheOilWizard]

I'd suspect that fee was added by the dealership and not corporate like was claimed. It's a way to add a small markup to a job and over the course of a week, month, year, really adds up.

 

[Jetronic]

never mind that, I've never seen a negative amount on a fee

 

[rstcso]

never mind that, I've never seen a negative amount on a fee

I declined their changing the oil because I'm doing it myself. Advisor said just make sure I keep all receipts.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

The nickel and dime'ing is getting a little much with every single industry. Just roll the overhead into the labor rate and be done with it as they are the cost of doing business.

If you are going to get this specific....also break down the labor rate charge:

0.1hours - taking a leak
0.7hours - fixing the bosses mistakes
0.4hours - talking about the game last night
0.9hours - I don't know where I was
4.1hours - doing the actual work
0.6hours - spoon feeding the service manager
0.3hours - counting the number of paper towels I used and how many scoops of speedy-dry I used to clean up the mess I made so we can charge an "Environmental Fee". BTW....I used half a can of PB Blaster and lost three washers.

 

[zzyzzx]

It's as if the dealer hired someone who used to work in Vegas.

 

[GSCJR]

The nickel and dime'ing is getting a little much with every single industry. Just roll the overhead into the labor rate and be done with it as they are the cost of doing business.

The problem with doing that is, you're going to get reactions like, "It's that much?" You can't win, people will always find a way to complain, either way.

 

[andrew_j]

While annoying the customer it helps likely pay for and budget the related department that collects some revenue as opposed to being a cost center.

The money could have been padded into repair however breakdown would not be easy to trace.

 

[Zee09]

I had the unfortunate dealership experience a few months ago...
I have never seen so many people walking in circles for hours with nothing to do or possibly never having anything to do...
5 guys to roll out a Red Ryder kids wagon to the dumpster .

No wonder overhead is off the charts. 75% of these folks could have been fired and service would improve and the free snack bar would be well stocked. I shook my head in disbelief.

 

[Arc]

It's still less than the hospital $75 fee for sitting in the waiting room. I asked them why my wife could sit next to me for free yet I had to pay. Seems it would be illegal to charge some people a maintenance fee and not others. I never did pay it and now they no longer charge it, probably just hide it elsewhere in the bill.

 

[Glenda W.]

Unbelievable

 

[trd1zz]

The best are the "misc fees". Like they aren't even trying.

 

[Arc]

The nickel and dime'ing is getting a little much with every single industry. Just roll the overhead into the labor rate and be done with it as they are the cost of doing business.

If you are going to get this specific....also break down the labor rate charge:

0.1hours - taking a leak
0.7hours - fixing the bosses mistakes
0.4hours - talking about the game last night
0.9hours - I don't know where I was
4.1hours - doing the actual work
0.6hours - spoon feeding the service manager
0.3hours - counting the number of paper towels I used and how many scoops of speedy-dry I used to clean up the mess I made so we can charge an "Environmental Fee". BTW....I used half a can of PB Blaster and lost three washers.

I knew a guy who worked on big equipment and trucks years ago and they had to clock out whenever they walked away from the work at hand. The customer only paid for the time spent on whatever they brought in. That kind of honesty is long gone today.

 

[Dave Hess]

The nickel and dime'ing is getting a little much with every single industry. Just roll the overhead into the labor rate and be done with it as they are the cost of doing business.

If you are going to get this specific....also break down the labor rate charge:

0.1hours - taking a leak
0.7hours - fixing the bosses mistakes
0.4hours - talking about the game last night
0.9hours - I don't know where I was
4.1hours - doing the actual work
0.6hours - spoon feeding the service manager
0.3hours - counting the number of paper towels I used and how many scoops of speedy-dry I used to clean up the mess I made so we can charge an "Environmental Fee". BTW....I used half a can of PB Blaster and lost three washers.

Hopefully this guy is not AutoMechanic….

 

[michaelluscher]

Hopefully this guy is not AutoMechanic….

Don't do @AutoMechanic like that

 

[wavinwayne]

Truth telling fee:--------------------------N/A

 

[TheOilWizard]

The problem with doing that is, you're going to get reactions like, "It's that much?" You can't win, people will always find a way to complain, either way.

For me, and I suspect most others, it's not so much about the money as it is finding fees AFTER the work/service is completed. It's the lack of transparency that is frustrating. It allow businesses to advertise price Y and actually charge you price Z.

 

[GON]

Earlier today I read an article by a Las Vegas publication.

The article discussed that Las Vegas is in trouble not because of MACRO economic reasons of consumers, but consumers have turned away from Las Vegas from being nickel and dimed in every possible way.

Vehicles are a necessity for many, and with franchise consolidation over the past two decades, consumers may not have many options. I don't think a "digital bookkeeping fee" would be happening if every dealership was a stand-alone/ independent franchise.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

I bought a new Honda automobile in February of 2025. The service department proactively scheduled a service appointment for August. I service my vehicle myself but I let the appointment stand in case any issues came up in the first six months. Five months in and the vehicle is rock solid. No issues. I emailed the service department and canceled the appointment. I explained that the car was fine. The car only had 1200 miles on it and the oil life monitor was showing 70% oil life remaining. No need for service at this time. I received a voice mail from the service advisor explaining that "Honda really wants us to see these cars every six months in order to keep them in good working order". Hogwash! What could they possibly need to do? Stand around a look at it while I waste a couple of hours in the lounge area? I can imagine waiting around and then having someone come and ask me "Now why was it you brought your car in?" Anyway, I'll service it myself when the time comes. I'm not participating in the cash grab monkey business.

 

[rstcso]

The money could have been padded into repair however breakdown would not be easy to trace.

I used to own an electronics repair shop, e.g. TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment, etc. Customers did not like paying for labor, but were willing to pay for parts. I could show the labor for $5 less, but charge $7.85 for a resistor costing me $.02 in bulk. It wasn't like I was taking advantage of customers, but trying to make a repair more palatable. I always tried to be fair to my customers, but needed to be fair to the business, also.

The dealership already have their fee as close to $10 as reasonably possible. Had they tried moving the $.97 fee into miscellaneous, it would then be over the $10 threshold and would be scrutinized more closely by customers.

I can appreciate their fees being "forgettable". I learned early on in my business to make charges forgettable. If you charge someone $50 for something once, and two years later charged $60 for a similar repair/item, they would remember the $50. But charge $56.75 and raise it to $66.75 a couple years later, they never questioned it. Often, they wouldn't even remember the amount right after you told them.