Careless Main Dealer Service....can we trust them ? (1 Viewer)

[Larrynwin]

Had my Kia Rio tow car serviced at large main dealership in Norwich this week, still in warranty so a preference.
When collected it had been washed valeted etc. All looked fine , when home I checked under bonnet, oil spilled on rocker cover , careless
When driving , excessive under bonnet roar on acceleration, not right I says.
Checked and the careless amateur mechanic hadn't located air filter top lugs before clipping down so air filter being by passed.
I telephoned service manager and complained, very apologetic , bring it back in and we will check it over . No thanks I'll check it myself , we are supposed to trust you guys, is the oil filter or something else loose ??
I will fill in unsatisfaction card , just not good enough especially for £157

Do you check you mohome/car following service ?

 

[Kool Kroozer]

No ! Cant say i have found a good one yet, nearly every time i take van/car/MH in for work always seems to come back with something missing or broke... so to me theyre either useless T**** or Clumsy C**** and not worth the money they charge !

 

[irnbru]

I must admit the answer is No. I wouldn't really know where to start. We put our faith in the mechanics to do a good job.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Larrynwin]

I must admit the answer is No. I wouldn't really know where to start. We put our faith in the mechanics to do a good job.

No ! Cant say i have found a good one yet, nearly every time i take van/car/MH in for work always seems to come back with something missing or broke... so to me theyre either useless T**** or Clumsy C**** and not worth the money they charge !

This was so basic , a plastic clip in air filter cover, any child could do it good job it wasn't really technical

 

[Robert Clark]

Our mistakenly allowed our Carthago dealer to do the engine service - they forgot to reset the service counter, so we're now driving round with a service warning message and oil warning light flashing continuously

 

[Cliffdale]

I picked up my brand new car from a main dealer. Half way home and the car stank of fumes. Phoned them up but they said it was the newness burning off!

By the time I got home, i had the windows down due to the smell.

phone call later the car was collected via RAC, the problem, someone had not fitted the oil filler cap!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Gromett]

As a fulltimer I am rarely in the same place each year so have a selection of mechanics I now trust.

Some mechanics I trust for some types of work, others I trust for other types of work. I have not yet found a mechanic that does everything how I would like.
I would rather drive 100 Miles to one I trust for the type of work I need doing than risk getting a local unknown quantity on the job.

If you are near Retford, Then Gerts tyres are excellent and cheap which don't normally go together. I use them for brakes, exhausts, servicing, welding and suspension stuff. Not so Hot on the electrics and for engine work are unknown quantities. I will travel hundreds of miles when I need work doing to get these guys to work on my van.

 

[Dawn B]

Our local garage bods know not to upset me

 

[Larrynwin]

Our local garage bods know not to upset me

Who is it Dawn ?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Doctor Dave]

They are not a main dealer, but I have every confidence in a local firm called Car and Commercial, they are located in Devizes in the centre of Wiltshire and look after our car and our van.
EDIT they do MOTs as well, for both of our vehicles.

Dave

 

[Dawn B]

Who is it Dawn ?

Cathedral Garage Weybread. They love me really !

 

[Ambilkate]

Bill does all his own services now he just does not trust the garages x

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Larrynwin]

Cathedral Garage Weybread. They love me really !

We're in south Norfolk but not near them.

 

[Larrynwin]

Bill does all his own services now he just does not trust the garages x

I always maintained and repaired our old cars but these modern ones are beyond me with all the electronic gizmification .

 

[Kool Kroozer]

IMO if your able bodied to do the work yourself then you should, its better than giving it to the unknown... Warranty work is i suppose a bit different, you have to let them do it to keep your cover... Another grest con in my opinion

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ber090]

I have just had our Burstner aviano serviced boh engine and hab by the Burstner dealers we bought it from. 484 pounds. On checking I have added 1 litre of engine oil and 1/2litre of anti freeze. Also the alarm fault reported has not been repaired. After3days I have no response to my email complaint. I have also now discovered they no longer have Fiat service status.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Personally I wouldn't use main dealers for anything other than warranty work unless you trust them implicitly and only you would know that.

Find yourself a good local independent preferably from recommendation. Providing the indi uses everything parts wise as recommended by a main dealer any warranty items are covered.

I do most of my own servicing except the oil change as it saves me getting rid of the old oil.

If any one wants the number of an independent in the Bourton on Water area pm me ill let you have his number. He is very consciences and will give options on what he will fit parts wise.

 

[tonka]

Fiat so called main agent motorhome dealer in Somerset.. Paid a fortune for full service and cam belt change.
2 weeks later the fuel filter leaking, the Greman ADAC man just shook his head when i told him an English garage had just done it.

Had a service once with National tyres, they left the cap off the oil filler.. Found it rolling around in the engine bay..

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Silver-Fox]

Here is a short tale from another forum from a mechanic asked to service an Audi.

So a young lady takes her car to an independent garage the owner being a sole trader and over the age of 50, so very much old school

The car had full stamps in the service book and was 4 years old hence not going to the main dealer.

The indi mechanic drops the oil and its like black treacle then takes the oil filter off.
Has a look at the date on the oil filter and its dated some 4 years ago.
next takes the air filter out and that doesn't look like its ever been changed.
Moves on to the pollen filter and thats the same issue as its dated some 4 years previous.

He did say even allowing for old stock to be used up there is no way the service items would be 4 years old.

He wasn't a bit impressed and said it just gives everyone a bad name and image.

He told the customer what he had found but didn't know if it was ever followed up.

As we know not all garages are born equal and have you're best interests at heart and on the flip side there are some very good ones that will go the extra mile for you.

Makes you think though.

An old school way of checking you have you're oil filter changed is to mark it in some way that can't be removed and just look when you get the vehicle back.

You pays you're money etc

 

[WynandJean]

Reminds me of the time a few years back when I returned from having my car serviced at the local main Renault dealer. Looking at the bill I was somewhat puzzled so rang them up. I asked if they could explain the item 'filtre huîle' towards the end of the itemised list. "Oh yes sir, it's french for oil filter" (I knew what it meant, of course). So how is it different from the English "Oil Filter" which is also on the list? Sounding a little less condescending he said, "Oh, that was a mistake - must have been a computer error". There was another similar "error" which I cannot now remember the details of. I then went to the final item, a rear screen wiper replacement and asked if they had any problems in fitting it. "No", he said, "why?"
"Well maybe you could run through the procedure for me?" I suggested. He explained it was a relatively simple procedure and how they had gone about it. "That sound simple enough, "I said, "but how would you go about replacing the blade on a rear screen which does not have a rear wiper? - "Oh, that must have been a mistake" He then said, "Not to worry, we'll refund the difference for the overcharged items as a matter of GOODWILL!" Not even an apology.

Wyn

 

[Silver-Fox]

@WynandJean

Think I would have mentioned court and fraud and see what kind of goodwill he would have been talking then

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

when i did breakdown recovery in a different life i got called to a small Nissan with the oil light on and severe noise from the engine.

opened the bonnet to check level and the oil filter was rattling about down the front of the engine.
that too had just returned from a main dealer service.
it wasnt even the correct filter and the fixing threads didnt match.

that would have been a very expensive mistake for the dealer to correct.....replacement short engine without doubt.

 

[TerryL]

Had to use a Fiat main dealer earlier in the year to fix an awkward and intermittent fault. Excellent service and fault fixed, together with a free safety check which threw up a problem I got sorted later.
Normally I wouldn't use a main dealer - even he admitted they weren't cheap. The cars go in to my local garage who are excellent; the van goes to Dave Newell. Never felt the need to check anything after a service.

 

[tofo]

This was so basic , a plastic clip in air filter cover, any child could do it good job it wasn't really technical

factor in checking facebook, drinking tea, dinner break ,and laughing and joking ,and your service ,
getting in the way
im thinking thats part of the reason
or any one of the above.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Larrynwin]

factor in checking facebook, drinking tea, dinner break ,and laughing and joking ,and your service ,
getting in the way
im thinking thats part of the reason
or any one of the above.

Wasn't even Friday pm

 

[crabman]

have local small garage they have been O.K, with charges and parts etc, first time I needed work doing I went to a main dealer charged me a fortune and never changed the oil filter

 

[Chocy boy]

AEG Motorhomes in Stourbridge, West Midlands. Excellent service from them. Lowdhams Nottingham could not sort out my warranty problems but AEG could.Only 20 miles from home, compared to 140 miles to Notts.

So you know who will do any work for me.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Enword]

If you cant do it your self, find a really busy small independent garage, if their crap they wont be busy main dealers

 

[tonyidle]

On an entirely different subject but still within the realm of 'professionals' ................ When we bought our current dwelling (a bungalow) it had had all the relevant gas & electrical checks done with paperwork to prove it. Move on a couple of years and I was in the loft to re-position the wiring to a light fitting. The wire was wrapped around the gas feed pipe which was laid over the joists & held by a couple of clips (which were all that was needed). The pipe run was around 20 feet with a 'T' at the far end to split the feed between two rooms. I lifted the whole lot a couple of inches to release the trapped wiring ....................... and the pipe fell out of the centre of the 'T'. I blocked it with my thumb then called to wife to turn the gas off at the meter - which she did. Upon examining the pipe and (capillary) 'T' it was rather obvious it had never seen solder and was sealed by flux and friction. No idea how many safety checks had been done but at the time it must have been like that for twenty+ years. Obviously an early version of push-fit plumbing.

 

[JJ]

I found a superb garage in Sennybridge with good, old fashioned attitudes to the work they took on and with extremely reasonable charges.

Sadly the owner retired, sold up and now spends his time lounging around in the Portuguese sun.

The place is no longer a garage.

JJ

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}