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So you would be happier if they charged you $100 to test your battery and it came back ok? They were probably just cutting you a break for the option not to charge you because most shops would charge you labor either way. They have to pay their technicians for doing work. Labor rates are crazy high just about everywhere now because cars are so full of new electronics which means dealerships have millions of dollars worth of specialty tools and equipment that corner shops that just do simple maintenance do not.
I'm sure we all have dealership stories. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be a gearhead working for a dealer group that does not take part in shady business practices.
Not expecting free labor and glad to pay for good service. Which I’ve found at an independent shop.
Was mislead that if I bought the battery at the dealership, there would be no cost to replace under warranty. I perceive the $100 fee to replace a bad battery as a way to further squeeze for a part that didn’t perform as expected. Of course, my fault for not reading through the fine print, which was only available if I logged into some website at the time of purchase. Maybe that was a sign to not move forward, lesson learned.
I’m pretty familiar where dealership margins are coming from and generally not a fan of how most of it is achieved. You’re more familiar if you’re on the biz ops side, and glad to hear the org is on the up and up.
Last edited by STownSaint; 10-14-2023 at 07:49 PM.
The real issue behind any of these predatory practices is directly linked to how they are incentivized and compensated. Once you have an understanding of that, it’s pretty easy to build relationships with service folks and sales people at the dealer.
For sure, folks are operating according to the rules/practices they’re given (most of us are). But I’ve found easier to build relationships at indy shops. Dealers by me are huge bureaucracies and personnel turnover is super high.
Slight change of plans for me due to an incredible 1yr. employee lease program. I picked up a loaded Nissan Ariya to replace my wife's Sentra lease. Not a car that was even on my radar, but 442 lb-ft. of torque, every feature available, and a lease payment that should be illegal made it a no brainer. This will be a good test for me to see if I can live with some haptic controls (looking at you VW GTI). Before this special became available I was thinking the new WRX drives how I want, the GTI 380 has the features I want, and if you combine those two and upgrade the performance and fit/finish, you get the Civic Type R. Hopefully, my Honda store gets a Type R next year so I can see if that is a contender for me.
One car i don't remember being mentioned here which is intriguing to me is the gr corolla. Awd, 300 hp, and some good tuning potential along with Toyota reliability seem to be a good combination. I know 2 people with subarus one is an 05 legacy gt and its had the motor pulled twice and still having issues, granted its got around 180k miles but its been kept up well and just an exhaust and cobb access port. Another is a guy at work with a 2011 wrx with around 140k miles. No big engine issues just quite a few small things here and there. Both have a 5mt. Personally I'd avoid subarus just because of their experiences, i know some last really long and my friend told me the na engines last way longer that the turbo ones but me liking something fun I'd want the extra power.
Slight change of plans for me due to an incredible 1yr. employee lease program. I picked up a loaded Nissan Ariya to replace my wife's Sentra lease. Not a car that was even on my radar, but 442 lb-ft. of torque, every feature available, and a lease payment that should be illegal made it a no brainer. This will be a good test for me to see if I can live with some haptic controls (looking at you VW GTI). Before this special became available I was thinking the new WRX drives how I want, the GTI 380 has the features I want, and if you combine those two and upgrade the performance and fit/finish, you get the Civic Type R. Hopefully, my Honda store gets a Type R next year so I can see if that is a contender for me.
Nissan really can't sell these huh? I see them stock piling up on dealer lots around here.
One car i don't remember being mentioned here which is intriguing to me is the gr corolla. Awd, 300 hp, and some good tuning potential along with Toyota reliability seem to be a good combination. I know 2 people with subarus one is an 05 legacy gt and its had the motor pulled twice and still having issues, granted its got around 180k miles but its been kept up well and just an exhaust and cobb access port. Another is a guy at work with a 2011 wrx with around 140k miles. No big engine issues just quite a few small things here and there. Both have a 5mt. Personally I'd avoid subarus just because of their experiences, i know some last really long and my friend told me the na engines last way longer that the turbo ones but me liking something fun I'd want the extra power.
The GR Corolla was actually at the top of my list for a while because I come from a long line of Subarus and this seemed like the best replacement for my STI Type RA. I'm sure I commented on it, but it was earlier in the year so my comments are probably buried. It ticked all the right boxes for me on paper, but the end result was that I came away disappointed. It looked great from the outside, but its econocar roots really showed through on the inside. The interior styling was a bit disjointed with low quality materials and the infotainment screen looked like it was tacked on in the last minute. The JBL stereo was very tinny and the tweeters seemed very far away. A number of reviews said the exhaust sounded good and unique due to it being 3 cylinders. I had hopes of the Audi 5 cylinder rally engines. It had a low pitched rumble at idle, but then it just got really quiet. Maybe at the top of the rev range it would sound better and I felt like I really had to rev it high to get it going. Ultimately, it came down to a ride that was too stiff for my back at the time. All that being said, if one becomes available at my Toyota store, I might try it again just to see if I can handle the ride quality now that my back is a little better.
The only thing that is close (AWD & 6spd. manual) that comes to mind is the new WRX which should be very similar, but is actually the exact opposite in a lot of ways. The WRX is less expensive, but surprisingly, also a better daily driver. The pedal placement is better, the shifter has a slightly better feel to it (still too tall), and the low end torque makes it much easier to drive around town. It is easily the best driving WRX that Subaru has ever made. I was honestly surprised by the drive. The Subaru also has nearly 7" more rear seat legroom than the GR Corolla if that is important to you like it is to me. The interior design is a touch more cohesive than the GR Corolla and a step up from previous WRX's, but it is a small step and still shows its more basic upbringing. Unfortunately, it is even uglier on the outside. The styling is slowly growing on me, but it is a lot more fun to drive than to look at. The GR Corolla should be a lot more fun to drive on track or at the limit than the WRX and it should have much higher limits, especially the brakes on track. I wouldn't let Subarus scare you as far as reliability. I have owned 4 of them and drove them a total of almost 15 years with zero issues. Three of the Four I tracked regularly too. A LOT of Subaru issues stemmed from 3rd or 4th owner cars being cheap enough to afford as a first car. Kids get the speed bug, put in a manual boost controller, turn it up too far, and pop the motor. Just look at the ones you are comparing to- an 18 year old car with 180,000 miles and a 12 year old car with 140,000 miles. Any performance turbocharged car with that age and mileage would be lucky to be alive, even in stock form.
Nissan really can't sell these huh? I see them stock piling up on dealer lots around here.
We are sold out again so I guess markets vary. The bolder gray was not my first choice, but it was the only color we had. The Ariya really had awful timing. It debuted 1 1/2 to 2 years late due to the chip crisis and by that time the market flipped so there were no good lease specials. Combine that with the $7,500 federal rebate rules changing so it didn't qualify and it definitely became harder to sell.
I had kinda got the impression from a review i had seen that the gr corolla was more of a track car than a comfortable car. You are correct about high school kids blowing up the subarus, i think most of us started out not realizing more power can break things. Another one you may want to look at if its not too compact for you is the audi tts. 60 more hp than the tt and cheaper that the tt rs. No manual offered but I've heard the audi automatic transmissions are pretty good to drive.
I had kinda got the impression from a review i had seen that the gr corolla was more of a track car than a comfortable car. You are correct about high school kids blowing up the subarus, i think most of us started out not realizing more power can break things. Another one you may want to look at if its not too compact for you is the audi tts. 60 more hp than the tt and cheaper that the tt rs. No manual offered but I've heard the audi automatic transmissions are pretty good to drive.
The TT, TTS, and TT RS are all fun cars, but I need a useable back seat for our (now) 5 yr. old daughter. If I went that route I would consider an S3 or RS3. The DSG's do shift fast, but I would prefer a manual. All good cars though.
Slight change of plans for me due to an incredible 1yr. employee lease program. I picked up a loaded Nissan Ariya to replace my wife's Sentra lease. Not a car that was even on my radar, but 442 lb-ft. of torque, every feature available, and a lease payment that should be illegal made it a no brainer. This will be a good test for me to see if I can live with some haptic controls (looking at you VW GTI). Before this special became available I was thinking the new WRX drives how I want, the GTI 380 has the features I want, and if you combine those two and upgrade the performance and fit/finish, you get the Civic Type R. Hopefully, my Honda store gets a Type R next year so I can see if that is a contender for me.
Congrats! Not what I expected, but then again, not sure what I expected Definitely seems like a step up from the Sentra.
After living with the A6 and it's dual touch screens for a couple weeks, I think properly executed, it's not a deal breaker, which is what I was hoping for. The Audi at least splits the controls, so HVAC is constantly 'on' the bottom screen, and the top is infotainment/carplay. Note sure there is really going to be an escaping this in the future.
I personally like the fastback look of the a7, s7, rs7. Someone around me has a nardo gray rs7, sounds good, not sure if its oem exhaust or aftermarket. Its not screaming loud like my charger but you can definitely hear the v8.
Congrats! Not what I expected, but then again, not sure what I expected Definitely seems like a step up from the Sentra.
After living with the A6 and it's dual touch screens for a couple weeks, I think properly executed, it's not a deal breaker, which is what I was hoping for. The Audi at least splits the controls, so HVAC is constantly 'on' the bottom screen, and the top is infotainment/carplay. Note sure there is really going to be an escaping this in the future.
Thanks. Definitely not what I was expecting either, but this is a big step up from the Leaf and Sentra and shockingly it costs less to lease. At least your A6 has some buttons compared to the GTI. Next to the GTI, the Ariya has a volume **** and the haptic controls and screens actually work. Every time I sit in a GTI and play with the buttons, something does not work. One time it was CarPlay, another time the XM stopped working, and last week the power moonroof would not operate until I shut the car off and turned it back on twice. I think I could get used to the slider haptic controls in the GTI eventually, but all the electronics seem to work pretty sporadically for me. I'll keep trying them out as the GTI's arrive for the next year until I can actually drive a Type R and maybe a GR Corolla again.
This is primarily the wife's car, and probably the family car too, right? It replaces a Sentra lease, which is only slightly less disposable than a Versa, although the current model is sharp looking. And apparently you got a smoking good lease deal for this EV, so thumbs up on that. Sounds like you made a good financial decision on something that is a huge upgrade.
Point is, I don't see this as impacting the OP's long drawn out search for the perfect next car. The Ariya is very nice and all that , but it occupies a different lane of the discussion.
This is primarily the wife's car, and probably the family car too, right? It replaces a Sentra lease, which is only slightly less disposable than a Versa, although the current model is sharp looking. And apparently you got a smoking good lease deal for this EV, so thumbs up on that. Sounds like you made a good financial decision on something that is a huge upgrade.
Point is, I don't see this as impacting the OP's long drawn out search for the perfect next car. The Ariya is very nice and all that , but it occupies a different lane of the discussion.
The Ariya is my new daily driver, but definitely not the perfect performance replacement. Even though it has nearly twice the torque of the Leaf and a 0-60 time about 3 full seconds quicker, it lacks soul just like most electric cars. My wife drove it 100 miles to Milwaukee this morning to catch a train to Chicago for work today and tomorrow. We are testing it to see if it is the perfect commuter car for these 1-2 times/mo. work trips for her. I'd still like to drive a Type R to see if it would work for me. Seems like a good fit for me if it is ok as a daily driver. I struggle with the choice of this car if I can get a decent color or getting a GTI or maybe even a WRX or Si if I decide to go the tuning route. That's seems to be the million dollar question for me- does it make sense to spend more and get a better car in stock form or spend less and tune a car to make it better and more unique?
10-14-2023, 07:40 PM
Definitely seems like a step up from the Sentra.
, but it occupies a different lane of the discussion.
