Oil changed = damaged fender

[JeepinJason33]

I had a similar situation at my dealership with my SRT. Fortunately, I always make them walk around the vehicle with me when I drop it off. Initially they said they did not do it and would not take responsibility. The guy I walked it with was off that day, but when he came back he admitted walking it with me and told them it was not there when I dropped it off. Then their story changed to they are not responsible for damages when it is in the lot... I had to go to the sale manager to get it fixed. This was all while I had a deposit down for a Trackhawk, so I am sure that helped a bit.

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[GrayHawk20]

Yep, there's typically only one way to do the job right and countless ways to do it wrong. Had more wrong than right w/ most all repairs/service that I didn't DIY. And yeah, I've made mistakes too, but I can catch them on the spot, not have to trace all the steps (or missteps) that someone made to get to the finished (or likely unfinished) job

Cory @GrayHawk20 sure hope you get this handled to your satisfaction, sucks to have someone muck things up like that!

Thanks, Ill be going Monday to get this corrected. I will update on here the results.

 

[Fatboy97]

how do you damage a fender during an oil change

Take it to your dealer for the oil change.

 

[summer4x]

Sorry to hear/see this! No one should go through this kind of stuff! If the dealer can not hire people with common sense, they should not work on peoples Jeeps period!

They have driven wages down to the point where there are no quality service people anymore. What qualifies as a "tech" these days is embarrassing. This country was done in by greed.

 

[Luxy60]

They have driven wages down to the point where there are no quality service people anymore. What qualifies as a "tech" these days is embarrassing. This country was done in by greed.

You'd never know it by the shop rate these dealerships are charging. Service is typically the biggest money maker for a dealership, and used car sales.

 

[2nd 392]

I have always gotten oil changes at the dealership during the warranty period out of the fear that If the engine grenades they can’t say “ oil hasn’t been changed according to warranty requirements) how do you “prove “ you changed it yourself?

 

[jjvincent]

They have driven wages down to the point where there are no quality service people anymore. What qualifies as a "tech" these days is embarrassing. This country was done in by greed.

I agree. A mechanic can make lots of money but it comes at an expense. For example, they need to supply all their own tools (which is expensive). Top it off, then they get paid flat rate. So that means, if a mechanic gets a job that pays 6 hours of labor and they can get it done in 4, they get paid for 6. This is nothing new as it's been around this way since at least the early 60's. Thus, dealers (plus many repair shops) want their mechanics to get the job done as fast as possible.

What else happens is that the service manager knows which mechanics are the good ones are. Thus, they get the more technical jobs. The not so good ones get things like tire rotations and oil changes. So, the good tech is penalized because he will get the job done right even though it will take the full time that the manufacturer lists to pay for it. The bad one cranks out a 30 minute oil change in 10 minutes and makes 20 minutes of money. He can repeat this all day long and thus make more than the good mechanic. Thus the good mechanic leaves and goes elsewhere.

Where I work, it's interesting. I only get paid an hourly rate. This is because I'm part time and can take off whenever I want. This is because I do engineering in racing and that pays way better (that's a seasonable job). I only do the regular service just because they are friends and I like to see local independent shops survive. Right now, getting a good mechanic is really hard. In the end, I'm overkill for where I work but I rarely have a comeback and it usually takes me longer to do a job, as compared to the other guys. Thus I get the more difficult ones.

For example, I just did a boatload of work on an old Dodge truck that is a farm truck. It was parked for 5 years in a field (thus it was a mess). Now it's back up and running and the owner is happy. Plus I took my time and didn't break 20 other things just to rush the job. Same thing for a 1989 Jeep I did. In the end, I even fixed his FOD (those are vacuum operated) because that thing wasn't working for years (thus it was only 2wd). Owner is over the top as he can now use it in the winter. It's the little things. Right now it's fall, does anyone take out all of the leaves on the cowl and throw them away, so you have a clean cowl? I do. Why? Because that's what I do. Does anyone notice? So far only 1 out of 100 do.

 

[viper88]

I have taken my Jeep only once to the dealership for the steering TSB. They take photos before any work with an iPad. I also had them note NO defects noted in the notes before it went in.

Suggest everyone do the same.

Now a days a lot of dealers take pictures prior to working on it when you drop off the vehicle. I make it a habit of videoing around the vehicle at the dealer. I also check the exterior and oil level after they change the oil.Before iPads and cellphone cameras I did what you do. I asked them to note there was no damage. Been doing that for years with other cars and brands.

Years ago I took in a Vette for it's first oil change at 1K miles. I opened the hood right after the car porter pulled up to check the oil level. There was oil everywhere under the hood. The tech forgot to put the oil cap back on. I went right to the owner of the dealership and showed him. He went nuts on the guy who did the service. The owner gave me his personal Vette as a loaner for the day while he had someone clean and detail the car.

 

[Rock Hopper]

This is completely unacceptable and is why so many people avoid dealerships like the plague.

Nothing worse than getting your vehicle back damaged and in worse shape than you dropped it off.

If more of us held the dealerships (service) accountable this kind of thing wouldn't happen.

On a side note the Indian motorcycle dealership that I have used (warranty work) takes a video walk around when I have dropped off the bike. It seems to be a great practice and keeps everyone honest.

 

[viper88]

You'd never know it by the shop rate these dealerships are charging. Service is typically the biggest money maker for a dealership, and used car sales.

Average dealer shop rate is $165-$180 a hour in the Chicago area. That's for everything from Kia to Lexus. Porsche is around $200-$220.

 

[mwilk012]

Average dealer shop rate is $165-$180 a hour in the Chicago area. That's for everything from Kia to Lexus. Porsche is around $200-$220.

You say that like Kia doesn’t have nice cars.

 

[viper88]

You say that like Kia doesn’t have nice cars.

You don't like Kia? I used Kia as an example because I was just at a Kia dealership with a friend for a recall. The Stinger is pretty nice.

 

[mwilk012]

You don't like Kia? I used Kia as an example because I was just at a Kia dealership with a friend for a recall. The Stinger is pretty nice.

i was defending them. Their quality had gone way up in the last generation. The Optima is a very nice commuter car.

 

[viper88]

i was defending them. Their quality had gone way up in the last generation. The Optima is a very nice commuter car.

I was not criticizing Kia. The Telluride is pretty nice also.

 

[rickinAZ]

I have always gotten oil changes at the dealership during the warranty period out of the fear that If the engine grenades they can’t say “ oil hasn’t been changed according to warranty requirements) how do you “prove “ you changed it yourself?

Mike, yours is a very common concern. I buy my oil and filters on Amazon. They have a record of every purchase that I've ever (since 1998) made. For example, I've purchased three EcoDiesel oil filters over the past year. If challenged, my comeback would be "why else, besides DIY oil changes, would I buy those filters".

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