I recently called my local Infiniti and asked how long it would take to do a simple tire balance (already had them rotated). The service manager explained that balancing 4 tires is a 1.5 to 2 hour job and was $29.99. Now, am I the only one who thinks that's absolutely ridiculous?

This raised the question; with all the independent shops (Kwik Kar, NTB, Firestone) does anyone ever actually wait to get things like this done? The local NTB charged me 20 bucks, and had me in an out in a half hour. Why would I go to the Infiniti dealer??

 

Is this your first car? They don't call them "stealerships" for nothing, but they somehow stay in business (with the help of the government).

The only thing a dealer can do for me is warranty work...and I let them know it.

 

Not my first car at all. I had a 350Z and Corvette Z06 before the G. I just don't understand how they can get away with telling someone that it will take 2 hours to take off your tires, balance them, and put them back on.

I work in an auto repair shop (we do tire rotations, but not balancing), and it literally takes 5 minutes to put a car on a lift, and take the tires off. The balancing takes at most 5 minutes per tire.

I guess I expected more from a "luxury" auto maker.

 

so you rotated them and want to re-balance them?

why re-balance?

 

Did you expect to go to the front of the line in front of every other "luxury" car owner who is in for service? At my dealership I have never gone in without an appointment and there were techs just hanging around waiting for me to drop in so they could service my car; they bays are always full and they are always busy. What takes time isn't the actual work, but the waiting to get the work done. I know you said you called, but did you set an appointment for a later time or were you going to just drop in?

If you want a loaner, you'll probably need to make an appointment at least a week or 2 in advance. Then drop of your car and leave it all day if necessary.

I've never been able to get serviced immediately at commercial shops either (NTB, Tire Max, Discount), they're always busy and it takes at least an hour at best, sometimes 2 or 3. Best of luck.

 

Yep you need to schedule an appointment. That's an Average wait at any walk-in tire shop alone and its an estimate. The actual time it would take if you timed them is under 30 minutes.

My Dealer is actually great(SouthMotors). They lower the Gs and MOD them no issues. Just cost more. But its piece of mine for me on a new car.

I just schedule at 7:30 AM when they open so my Car is one of the first up.

 

So Cal & Miami dealers > all others.

When I brought my car in for the muffler TSB, they said if there was any damage to the muffler as a result of me lowering my car they would charge me just for getting the car up on the lift. That may not sound all that bad, but they quoted me shop rates, etc, in very threatening terms.

Then when I had the RPM surge TSB, without even driving the car, they blamed it on my aftermarket rotors. RPMs surging because of rotors? Really?

I may be singing a different tune later, but I will be glad when my warranty expires, I would rather pay to have things fixed than deal with (and be threatened by) my crappy dealer just because of my light mods.

 

I think a lot of it depends on the individual dealerships too. YES, definitely always make an appointment...but in terms of good/bad stuff like ^^^ and being threatened kind of stuff...I got my Infiniti @ Infiniti of Denver and took it there for all kinds of stuff (as well as just to show my mods to the salesperson who sold it to me and the service head who has seen it a few times) and they have always been super super helpful and professional.

 

Yeah it depends on Dealership since I've read a few post regarding terrible service at a few.


My dealer from day one was trying to drop me on the H&R springs lol!
Although one of the local G owners I meet with at our G meet said his service guy at SouthMotors was against MODS. If you go SouthMotors ask for Julio for service!

They love my modded G!

 

I'm mod friendly... the service parking lot looks like a car show here sometimes. We have no curbs so we're slammed friendly.

I have people hang out in my office but you see most of the people in service use the WiFi, eat our complimentary breakfast and coffee, or just come play with the new cars in service.

Once we expand, we'll have a lounge area with a pool table and stuff.

 

My dealership wants to install my mods. They won't even recommend someone else. The service manager had a 2008 G35x and they then installed Stillen intakes and the Stillen exhaust. They have absolutely no issues with mods. Only advice he said is to make sure you buy "bolt-on" mods. This way the service guys could replace with the OEM and see if the mod was the problem. You should never get a void engine warrantee if you change the rotors on the car. I think there is a thread with the actual law regarding warrantee work. I would report them to Infiniti USA and file a complaint.

 

Now that's what I'm talking about!

 

You should sue them, tell them by saying that the rotors are causing the surge, you dont dare to apply the brakes anymore, its causing nightmares, insomnia, etc.... lol

 

I should schedule to bring my car in for a simple tire balance? Every shop in town that I've ever dealt with aside from dealerships is based on first come first serve. They do not accept appointments, and as such, there are never cars waiting around to be serviced. I work at an auto repair shop with 2 mechanics and a crew of 6 to change oil and do state inspections. An oil change in my shop takes 15 to 20 mins depending on the time of day. Tire rotation is 15 minutes. We typically roll through 60-90 cars with 4 oil bays, 2 state inspection bays, and 4 mechanical bays. I have never once told a customer to wait two hours to get their car in for a simple tire rotation or oil change. Major mechanical work makes total sense. I would have no problem leaving my car, but the mechanics work in the mechanical bay, the oil guys change the oil, thus the customer moves in and out quickly.

The shop I went to today also had free coffee, Wi-fi, and breakfast for their customers. Still didn't wait two hours. No appointment. The guy quoted me 25 mins, I walked out in 20. No brainer.

I rotated my tires when I had my car up on the lift at my shop, but as mentioned before, we don't have a balancing machine. So I just moved left to right and that was it.

I wasn't starting a formal rant, just think it's a little ridiculous.

 

Perhaps because your dealership us a full service shop doing major work, minor work, tires, oil, TSBs, etc. they tend to take longer? If you locate an Infiniti dealership with a 20 or 30 minute wait without an appointment, let me know which one because it will be the first I've heard of with the exception of quick oil change service.