Car dealers.....Grrrrrrrr

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Is there some sort of idiot message on women's head when they walk into a car dealership?

Earlier this week, I had to take my car in for a recall notice. While there, since my last oil change was in Nov. (even though I've only gone about 3000 miles), I had them do an oil change.

The mechanic came in and told me I was lucky I had come in, I had less than 10% left on my brake pads and my rotors were severely oxidized. Huh? In Nov. I had my 30K PM done on the car before TD and I took off for NY (so about 2000 of those 3000 miles are highway miles). The brakes should have been examined and the mechanic where I took it didn't flag my brake pads as being needed to be replaced. He tried hard to sell me on a brake job, but I passed on it.

So today, I took my car to my trusted mechanic and he showed me that I have over 30% left on the pads and while the rotors are slightly oxidized, it's not a problem. I should easily get another 15-20K miles.

I did not just fall off the turnip truck!

[DebMD (banned)]

What make and model is your car and how many miles?

Did you put more miles on it since the last time you took it into the shop?
...more than the 3,000 miles than you thought?

.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

2007 Forester. My car sat for the better part of Dec., Feb. and March. In Jan., I didn't go out much because I couldn't walk.

Did you put more miles on it since the last time you took it into the shop?
...more than the 3,000 miles than you thought?

It's got 35K on it now, it had 32K when I brought it in for the PM. No, I didn't put more on it than I thought because there was this nifty little sticker put on the windshield to remind me of an oil change at 35,000 miles, 3000 miles after the one I had done in November.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I had the same thing happen when I went into the dealership after receiving a recall notice. I think when they see a woman coming in they see a good target for trying to sell goods/services that aren't necessary hoping you'll buy their story of other work also needing to be done.

[kent]

May 6, 2011 17:11:21 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I had the same thing happen when I went into the dealership after receiving a recall notice. I think when they see a woman coming in they see a good target for trying to sell goods/services that aren't necessary hoping you'll buy their story of other work also needing to be done.

Believe it or not ladies, they will try the same with male customers if they think they can pull it off. For instance if you show up in a suit, they might think you know nothing about cars. Show up dragging a tool box, whole different story. ;D

[chiver78]

yep, I've had that happen too. the one dealer that really pissed me off was the one that only talked to my then-BF as we were checking out cars in the showroom. then-BF said a few times, more pointedly each time - she's buying the car, not me. you might want to be talking to her.

[Cookies Galore]

I only took my car to the dealer once (for a recall). I told them to only perform the recall fix, but I was still expecting something when I came to pick up my car. All I got was a have a nice night. My check engine light was (is still) on, they should have been seeing dollar signs! I should be insulted.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

At least they didn't want to replace your headlamp fluid, piston return springs, and muffler bearings.

[chiver78]

May 6, 2011 17:29:17 GMT -5 Mad Dawg Wiccan said:

At least they didn't want to replace your headlamp fluid, piston return springs, and muffler bearings.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Those NEVER go out before 50K. ;D

[Opti]

Mich I don't think its just dealers that do this. I need to get my tail light fixed and hoped a independent garage might be able to fix it cheaper. Turns out not so much.

I went to this local garage recommended by someone I volunteered with. On a Wednesday I made the appointment for first thing Friday morning and on Thursday afternoon I had an interview with a dealership that recommended I come in and watch how things work for an hour or two at 9AM.

So I went there bright and early at 7:20AM not dressed for the dealership expecting to be out of there by 8AM, 8:15 the latest
and possibly with an appointment to get the work done. But no,
they insisted on going over my car to see if it needed other work even though I said I didn't want to know and I had to be elsewhere.
So at 8:35AM or shortly after I finally got my car back and didn't have a quote for the job. This was a Friday morning. I didn't get a call until late Monday afternoon on pricing which was only a couple bucks less than the dealer. I told them I'd think about given the cost savings was so little. A week later I think the manager left a voicemail complaining I hadn't called back. WTE? They've sent me
several pieces of mail since then including coupons. I don't know what they are thinking!

[sesfw]

Last time I took my PU into the dealer for service they wanted to change all kinds of fliuds in the vehicle at less than 50K miles. And charge about $1,100 to do it. I'm in the last half of my 60s so I was an easy target. I smiled and said no thanks. The manager tried the scare tactic and told me the truck could freeze up at any time, and I told him I don't spend that kind of funds without a family conference. I've never gone back.

I now have a local garage service the truck and not a word about any fluids being changed. This same dealer calls about every 3 months to remind me about servicing. I finally called back and told them to take me off the call back list.

When I was a teen I helped my dad work on cars. I was raised with oil under my nails and driving a standard transmission car. The only reason I have an auto tranny now is because my clutch knee is going bad.

[busymom]

You ladies will LOOOOVE what happened to me. The last car I bought was from a dealership, after I shopped around for months. I always dealt with the same saleman, I did the deal directly with him. The only involvement DH had was coming in to cosign the paperwork. When I got the title, guess who's name was on it instead of mine--DH's! He contacted the office, and calmly told them since I had done all the work, and made the deal, don't you think the paperwork should've been in my wife's name. They apologized to HIM profusely, and changed the paperwork.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I do have a good mechanic that I trust. The only reason why I went to the dealer in the first place was because of the stupid recall notice. They also charged me damn near $50 for the oil change.

Chip (they guy I took it to today) took my wheel off and showed me the brake pad and how much wear I have on it. He was kinda ticked off that the dealer tried to pad the service.

[Opti]

Ouch. I would have been very very angry.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Mich, I would send a complaint to the dealer's corporate office and to your State Bureau of Automotive Repairs. They did a sting operation on an independent garage here that was so bad that part of their punishment was they had to put a big sign in their window warning customers they had been fraudulent.

[TD2K]

I was about to say the same thing as Mad Dawg did. Write up a letter to Subaru of America and the dealership basically saying you don't appreciate this type of 'service' and the dealership has lost a customer for life.

ETA:
www.hoovers.com/company/Subaru_of_America_Inc/rryhcxi-1-1njea1.html

A copy to your state and corporate affairs isn't a bad idea either.

[Deleted]

Is there some sort of idiot message on women's head when they walk into a car dealership?

It happens to both men & women. I'm lucky in that they always think that I know something about cars (I don't). The best that I can remember was a dealer in CA trying to charge me $480 for a bunch of problems (I went in because my warning light came on). I passed. The warning light came on again a couple of months later & a GOOD dealer told me that it was telling me that the battery wasn't holding a charge the way it should.

[ZaireinHD]

May 6, 2011 17:17:38 GMT -5 kent said:

Believe it or not ladies, they will try the same with male customers if they think they can pull it off. For instance if you show up in a suit, they might think you know nothing about cars. Show up dragging a tool box, whole different story. ;D

yea I agree Kent!
also it's really NOT a rip off. it's preventative maintenance.
rip off would be something like you just got a new part.... say breaks were installed at your mechanic. But then you go to dealership for oil change and they tell you your breaks were put on wrong and you have to use factory parts. Then you've got a problem.

[TD2K]

also it's really NOT a rip off. it's preventative maintenance.

It is a rip-off if work is done earlier than required. There's a big difference between 10% of your brake pads left and 30%. If a shop can convince people to do their brakes at 30%, that overall means a lot more business.

It's the same as the stickers lube oil (and dealers) put on your windshield for a 3,000 mile oil change even though few cars still recommend a 3,000 mile interval even for severe service. But, it does generate more business for them.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

also it's really NOT a rip off. it's preventative maintenance.

How do you figure it's not a rip off?

Look at it this way, my car is 4 years old and it took me 4 years to go through 2/3 of my brake pads. I have *at least* another 18 months of use before I need a brake job.

Do you throw away things that are 2/3 gone? Do you toss a roll of toilet paper that has 1/3 the paper left on the roll? Do you throw out a bottle of laundry detergent that has 1/3 remaining? How is this any different? (other than a hell of a lot more expensive).

In addition, the dealer would have replaced the rotors, which according to my mechanic showed minimal oxidation vs the severe that they said. So not only were they trying to do a brake job on pads that were not dead yet, they were trying to pad the bill by doing replacing other parts that were not necessary.

I call that a rip off and am going to let corporate Subaru know. I also suspect I'm going to get a survey in the mail (I forgot that they told me this when I made the appointment). Believe me, there WILL be something said.

[rovo]

mich1, It seems to me you are using your brakes too much. Thirty some thousand miles and only 30% remaining is about twice the usage of the brakes as I consider normal. ;D

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

It's an automatic, I live <3 miles from where I work and most of my miles are local.

In fact, half of those 3 miles is driving on a college campus where your foot needs to be continually on the brake to avoid hitting roaming college students. My blood pressure probably rises 20 points the minute I drive onto campus.

[wvugurl26]

Last time I got my oil changed at a Monro they told me my front brake pads had 1/8" left and they'd need changed at my next oil change. I bought the car brand new in late October 08 and its close to 73k miles. Most of the miles have been highway miles though. At three different points I had close to 100 mile roundtrip commutes that were mostly highway.

I bought OEM pads online and am headed over to my brother's to get them changed before I go to Knoxville next week. If I stay where I'm at I doubt the next set lasts as long. I use my brakes a lot up here.

The mileage makes me rather sick, this is the first year I'm on track to do less than 30k miles in a year.

[TD2K]

I have 130k on my car (manual) and I had the front brakes done at about 80k if I remember correctly, might have been a bit later. The rear brakes (also disc) are original and I have about 30% left. The shop I get the work done suggested I would need to get these done in the near future and I pointed out that since 70% has gone 130k miles, I likely have another year or so left on them.

[wvugurl26]

My turn to say grrrrr. When my brother got the car jacked up and took the front tires off and got the brake pads off they weren't close to needing replaced. Compared to the new pads they are just a bit over 50% gone.

So the old pads went back on after he saw that. I guess I have the pads when I do really need them. My spark plugs have been changed and they were a beyotch to get to. Should have been done at 30k or 36k something ridiculously low like that. It was at 73k something today. Oil was also changed.

I should know better than to trust any auto place up here but before the brake deal they hadn't pushed things I didn't need.

[wvugurl26]

Hey when they told me I needed brakes at my next oil change I appreciated it even if I knew I'd have my brother do them. Now that they were pulled off and not even close to needing replaced I may be slightly p!ssed off at them. Had they been anything beyond 50% gone I wouldn't be so annoyed.

[rovo]

I'm always skeptical of what the mechanic tell me unless it makes sense to me. A while ago I took my Honda in for a major service and they gave me the info in a way I could understand it. They told me my tires were 20% worn and the same for the brakes. At the time the car had a little over 20K miles on it. I usually get 70K to 80K on the OEM tires and 100K on the front brake pads but my last several cars have been manual trans and I use the tranny instead of the brakes.

[wvugurl26]

My OEM tires came off around 32k or so. I really don't know how bad they were. I had passed state inspection with no problems and no mention of needing tires a few weeks before. Dad was supposedly taking my car to get the oil changed and instead he took it and had tires put on. He said they weren't good enough for winter. I've done 2 winters and 40k on those ones he had put on. My brother and his friend looked at them today and said to get new ones before my next state inspection in November. I honestly thought I should have got more miles out of the OEM tires. Always a possibility dad has higher standards for tires on my car than his.

I'll put a battery in it too before winter. It'll be 3 years old then and at 85k or so. I'd rather replace it early and not be stranded especially around here.

[rovo]

A higher standard for your car? Probably so as Fathers tend to look out for their daughters. I'll put new tires on DW's SUV long before I'd put them on mine. I just don't want to take a chance on DW having a problem while on the road.