It sounds stupid. I fully agree that dealerships try to rip you off, but calling it the stealership all the time is about as mature as spelling microsoft as micro$oft. No offence meant to anyone who likes to use such terms, I'm sure you're all cool intelligent people. I just find it slightly idiotic.

 

I just find it slightly idiotic you created a thread just for this.

 

 

 

Agree w/ the OP for the most part. Sure some dealers are always on the up-sell regardless if service is truly needed or have crazy inflated prices, but they provide a valuable service, have huge overhead, and have to make money to stay in business.
It's a term I'd rather not hear, although I'm not saying that's it's not warranted in some cases.

 

OP works at a dealership

 

Haha I don't work at a dealership and making this topic probably was a bit idiotic. I just don't think the term stealership is all that clever...

 

You probably do not frequent forums too often. Some (if not majority) of the dealerships of ALL MAKES will try to ram you in the butt at service. I remember reading a thread on this forum where this guy brought his car for service and told his high beam was out and needed X amount to replace the bulb. It turned out to be the fuse and cost Y amount to the simple DIY fix. I haven't really seen one honest service rep that will be 100% clear and would BS unnecessary/unrelated stuff.

Just wonder... OP have you ever been to dealership for service other than warranty work or simple regular maintenance such as oil change?

 

I have actually had a few bad dealership experiences back when I owned the civic. My block cracked and started leaking coolant with only 93,000km on the car. Took it to honda and got a new engine under warranty but when I picked the car up I noticed immediately my remote starter/security was no longer functioning. I went back inside the dealer and told the person I was talking to before. He then said "How do we even know if it was working when you first came in?" Basically calling me a liar right to my face and implying I was trying to trick them into fixing something they didn't actually break. Needless to say I was insulted, but the guy had a point. I had no proof; so I ended up just leaving. Five minutes later on the drive home in 30 degree heat (celsius) I notice my a/c no longer works. I then considered driving my civic through the front doors of the dealership, but instead managed to calm down enough to park outside. I found the guy who called me a liar and long story short they fixed my a/c and remote starter.

To answer your question, no I've never taken my car to the dealership for mechanical work that wasn't under warranty, but I can see where people are coming from when it comes to the dealer being dishonest.

It just so happens I'm taking the G to the nissan dealership on tuesday to get all the fluids and scheduled maintenance crap checked on it and I'm fairly certain it needs new brakes so we'll see if they try to swindle me I guess.

 

Why the Nissan dealership and not an Infiniti dealership?

 

Because for some reason in my city of only 100,000 people there exists every other dealership except Infiniti. The closest one is 2 hours away. Eventually I will have to take it there to get a couple TSB items taken care of, because Nissan won't do warranty work on Infiniti's.

 

Ive used the term stealership a lot. Yet Ive had good dealer experiences too.

My experience says it really comes down to the service staff. The dealer we bought my wifes car at had an excellent service staff for the few years after we bought it. Free oil changes for life, we'd go there on a Saturday morning and be in and out. No "oh you need to do X, Y and Z or else the car will fall apart"

Eventually they "turned over" the whole staff (not sure why). Sure enough, the next free oil change was greeted with "you better do X, Y and Z because the car will fall apart AND we'll no longer warranty it". They were less than thrilled when I pointed out the warranty ended the month after anyway, and that I wasnt happy with the fact they were trying to scare me into spending $2K on "preventative maintenance".

Turns out some of the staff ended up at an Acura dealer more local to us, and sure enough I went there and was greeted with the way things USED to be.

Really just comes down to the service staff and probably how the dealer manages them (forcing them to upsell or focusing on customer service)

As far as costs, overhead, etc....no offense to anyone but thats the cost of doing business. Its amazing that if you buy a car, they will tell you you need to pay this fee, that fee, all stuff to make sure they make their money, "can afford to keep the lights on", etc. Then you go get it serviced and you are paying "so they can afford to keep the lights on", again? How much is labor at a dealer now, $150/hr? I would be interested to see how much their hourly rate changes vs other business prices going up every year.

 

^^^This^^^.

There are good and bad people and organizations in every field of commerce. I know that we have people that work at dealerships on this forum and some that I know personally who are helpful and honest. they tend to be the exception rather than the rule. The reason that auto dealerships have the reputation for being a bunch of crooks is because as an industry, they have worked very hard to earn it and keep it. From high pressure sales tactics, to deceptive and downright dishonest and illegal sales practices (hiding the keys or "losing" your trade in to keep you form walking away, bait and switch with interest rates, adding on meaningless fees and charging for dealer installed options that are dubious, advertising a super low price for a car that is never on the lot) to overly aggressive service departments who prey on the uninformed that trust them ("Your rear brakes only have 4 mm of friction material - the car is unsafe to drive!", "If you don't pay us for service X, your warranty might not cover a repair if it fails later", replacing parts that are perfectly good) dealerships have a well earned reputation of having no scruples and doing anything, honest or not, to squeeze every dollar out of their customers.

They're certainly not the only industry to do this, but they are one of the worst. The pejorative term stealership is both a clever play on words and often very appropriate. The fact that Tesla is facing so much opposition for simply wanting to sell their cars directly to the consumer and cut out the "middle man" shows what a stranglehold they have on the consumer and how much influence they have in congress. The automotive retail lobby is very powerful and very corrupt. Teamsters lite.

 

At many places, if you bring your car in for service, the people who write you up for service get a commission if they sell you more parts and services (many times not needed and useless services). There are dealerships (not all) that do not care about the customer in the least bit, they are a business and they are out to make money any means possible.

I have had horrible experiences at dealerships with 2 of my previous Acura vehicles and even currently at my local Infiniti dealer. I never opt for their complementary washes anymore as they once put in heavy and deep swirl marks in the paint of my SUV and barely even rinsed the rest of the vehicle from half of the doors down. (I eventually got them to detail the vehicle for free to fix their mistake) But i NEVER ever go to the dealer unless the issue is a factory recall. They are rude and uncooperative and will lie and tell you that a service takes "15 minutes" and you are sitting there for an hour and half watching the "master mechanic" eating lunch and having a smoke break outside. I do my own oil changes and for any other maintenance I go to my mechanic who is a close family friend. There has never been a single time where I have had a pleasant experience at the dealer! I have personally seen these immature mechanics beating on my former TL and my current G as well as every other customers cars; cold starts to redline rpm, sitting at a stop light right in front of the dealer with the gas pedal floored and the brake on trying to wear the motor mounts out (acura dealer) etc. I can go on and on with how I have had horrible experiences at these places. And at the end they sit there smiling as you sign off and pay for your service. These experiences have been strictly in the philadelphia area. Sussman Acura (after new management last 5 years) and Sloane Honda are by far the worst dealerships i have ever been too! I advise everyone here who owns a Honda/Acura to stay away! Sorry for the rant but I had to get a few things out haha

 

I think the term fits some dealerships perfectly.

I can't tell you how many times the Acura dealership or Jeep dealership has insisted my mom buy a part or service she didn't need at all. Luckily, she's smart and doesn't act like an idiot saying yes to everything without asking questions or calling me.

My mom has a 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude Edition, and she brought it in for service at the 35K miles mark (she drives 500 miles a week for work). The dealer told her the water pump and power steering pump went bad and that she would have to pay for it, despite it being well within the warranty period. Why would they even try to charge her? Knowing it was still under warranty?

Idk...they aren't all bad, but I hope Elon Musk gets new legislation passed and we can bypass them altogether

Nick C.