What should I expect from my dealer

[Al13]

My dealer is okay but not like my X5 dealership or my wife’s Q5 dealership. There you get fresh coffee, water and always a loaner. They will wash your vehicle after service if you give them permission. My new Moab actually cost more than my wife’s new Q5 yet the difference in the level of service is incomparable. Forgot to add that there is no appointments for Jeep, just get there early first come first serve. BMW and Audi you set an appointment, pull in the service bay and they read your vehicle know who you are. I am not complaining just stating facts.

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[TXJeepScientist]

My dealer is okay but not like my X5 dealership or my wife’s Q5 dealership. There you get fresh coffee, water and always a loaner. They will wash your vehicle after service if you give them permission. My new Moab actually cost more than my wife’s new Q5 yet the difference in the level of service is incomparable. Forgot to add that there is no appointments for Jeep, just get there early first come first serve. BMW and Audi you set an appointment, pull in the service bay and they read your vehicle know who you are. I am not complaining just stating facts.

Did you have to pay $600.00 for an Audi "Expert" to tell the mechanic which was the oil plug?

 

[Al13]

Contrary to what you may be insinuating, their mechanics are first class and know what they are doing. I can say the same for our BMW dealership. I know most of them and have had work done on my vehicles. My Jeep dealership has a great general manager. They do a lot of custom work to their Jeeps including snorkels, lifts, etc. I hope I don’t have to test their skills.

 

[nerubi]

When had my Audi A6 they always gave me an A6 loaner.

Only had the JL in once for half a day. They gave me a ride home and picked me up which is fine for me because I also have my JK. They have a large waiting room with snacks, water, coffee and hot chocolate and if you take it in on Saturdays they have donuts. I like donuts much more than the fish eggs they served at the Audi dealer. The service advisors know my name because I met them when ordering my Wrangler plus 2 of them have Wranglers. They are always helpful with my questions, said on the JL they put in 5 quarts and then check the level, they know which JLs were under recall and why.
The service manager at the dealer in Iowa I bought my JK from had a monthly new owner meeting where he served pizza and cookies, handed out freebies and had a couple of service techs to answer questions. All new owners were invited.

 

[Carlton]

I've never recieved a loaner from a jeep dealership. One offered to call Enterprise for me. Only 1/3 dealerships ran my jeep through the carwash after working on it. They sure as hell aren't going to clean the interior.

When in college I worked at an Acura/Lexus dealership. Every car that came in was washed and vacuumed. Loaners were offered. Jeep doesn't provide that.

 

[Majestic]

Contrary to what you may be insinuating, their mechanics are first class and know what they are doing. I can say the same for our BMW dealership. I know most of them and have had work done on my vehicles. My Jeep dealership has a great general manager. They do a lot of custom work to their Jeeps including snorkels, lifts, etc. I hope I don’t have to test their skills.

I usually trash German brands, but their dealership salesmen and mechanics are top notch. They have a much lower turnover than Jeep dealerships (I never get the same service advisor twice at Jeep), they have a lot more education and know their entire product lineup inside and out, and their dealerships are much nicer. I do know they pass that cost onto their customers though.
That being said, I've heard horror stories from Volkswagen dealerships, so apparently it's a "premium" thing.

 

[Majestic]

I've never recieved a loaner from a jeep dealership. One offered to call Enterprise for me. Only 1/3 dealerships ran my jeep through the carwash after working on it. They sure as hell aren't going to clean the interior.

When in college I worked at an Acura/Lexus dealership. Every car that came in was washed and vacuumed. Loaners were offered. Jeep doesn't provide that.

Audi and Lexus are premium brands and that's part of what you pay for. That being said, I think the line's nowadays are getting blurred. Luxury cars used to come with more features not offered on non luxury brands. Now pretty much every car can get the same features. In some cases the flagship vehicles are the non premium brands like the Nissan GTR or the Chevy Corvette.

 

[RichD]

I have owned a few different vehicles in different brands (or brand envelopes) but my experience dealing with dealerships is pretty limited as I normally buy used and do what I can myself or find a shop that I try to build a modding/ maintenance relationship with.

When I take my car in for service, do most of you get a loaner from the dealer? If so, how close does it come to the features of the car you are bringing in for service or is it a total crap shoot?

Additionally, is it standard policy to clean a car before it is returned or not really?

I know based on my experience so far I would be searching for another service center if this was anything but warranty claims. At least I can still change my own oil, but that is about all I have been doing so far.

Dealers don’t seem to realize how important good honest service can be! It should not be this difficult. The differences I’m reading here, from fantastic to horrible, is amazing. It doesn’t appear to be product related.

I was a die-hard Ford man since 1979. Then I ran into suspension problems with my ’16 Mustang. Horrible treatment from the dealership. Lies, excuses, finger pointing (“all mustangs have this problem”). Didn’t seem to matter to them how many previous cars I had purchased there. I’ve since been soured not only on the dealership, but Ford products in general. I traded the Mustang for my JL. Loving it so far! I’m encourage by a good recent experience from the local Jeep dealer. Oil, rotation, done with no appointment, free car wash, nice waiting area – with windows into the shop.

 

[nerubi]

Step into the shoes of the dealership. Many customers don't read the owner's manual and bring their vehicle in for something already covered in the manual. Customers with unreasonable expectations of how fast, how cheap, what is wrong. If they have 30 to 40 service customers a day should they have brand new cars equivalent to each car that is serviced to give to the customers? Should they have Wolfgang Puk in the waiting room preparing snacks for them? Should they give higher pay to their technicians to lower turnover but then have to charge more for their services?
For all of the complaints I hear about dealers I wonder why the complainers don't open their own dealership and see if they can stay in business. Yes there are some bad dealers but they probably won't stay in business long. You can have it fast, or cheap or good but only two of them.

 

[Spartan99]

Step into the shoes of the dealership. Many customers don't read the owner's manual and bring their vehicle in for something already covered in the manual. Customers with unreasonable expectations of how fast, how cheap, what is wrong. If they have 30 to 40 service customers a day should they have brand new cars equivalent to each car that is serviced to give to the customers? Should they have Wolfgang Puk in the waiting room preparing snacks for them? Should they give higher pay to their technicians to lower turnover but then have to charge more for their services?
For all of the complaints I hear about dealers I wonder why the complainers don't open their own dealership and see if they can stay in business. Yes there are some bad dealers but they probably won't stay in business long. You can have it fast, or cheap or good but only two of them.

That’s a very fair point.

 

[Markham]

My local dealership looks like something out of the 70’s. It’s awful.

 

[EZMFE]

What should I expect from my dealer?

My dealer hires their service team at the lowest rates possible so you kinda get what "they" pay for. I received a loaner when I had a lift put on immediately after purchase but was met with resistance after that.

You know this is a really good question though: What should you expect from your dealer?

I want my dealer to be connected to a mall. So when I have to wait an hour for my vehicle to have the oil changed I can go do something other than sit in what resembles a waiting room stuffed in the middle the floor of the service center.

I want a food court so I can get something to eat and a jungle gym for the kids to go play. Where is the bowling ally and pool tables for my entertainment needs

(warning: rant ahead)

We spend thousands of dollars at these places and what we get in return is to deal with some of the most venomous people in all of the land that at an instant will charge you full price for a vehicle, steal the trade, and pad the interest rate all at the same time.

How about some honesty? That is what I want from my dealer. I want the ability to walk in and buy a vehicle without having to be lied to and manipulated to buy extra garbage that is not necessary or required. I want the trade to be an honest value and the interest rate of the loan offered to be the lowest of at least three estimates. Like you would if you were getting bids for a car repair.

I want to know that the best deal was put together for me based on the price, trade, and loan is concerned. None of that automagically happens today as people are taken advantage of and placed in vehicles they are immediately upside down in. With high interest rate loans and the trade in value so low that it could essentially be considered professional stealing in any other sense. It is morally wrong for these people to do this but it their job and they are pretty good at it.

Luckily, I have bought many cars in my day and can walk away somewhat unscathed but to the inexperienced person they will take you for every dollar they can because that is their job. It is what they are trained to be. They practice on a daily basis how and why you should pay more for the vehicle, get paid less for your trade, and finance at a higher rate.

If you didn't know it already you should expect to be taken advantage of at your dealership. In no way do these people have your best interests in mind whether in the sales dept or the service dept. This is not necessarily the mfg issue, it is the name of the auto industry game and up to the dealers to provide honest service. Almost all blatantly choose to not provide honest service just to sell cars due to how competitive the industry is. They would say different and tend to bend the definition of honest service. If not telling you the best rate you could get on the loan or the lowest price on the new vehicle or highest price on the trade, is not telling you the truth, I am not sure what is. One of those if not all of those are lies when it's the dealer talking.

It's a messed up industry and needs to changed but this is where we are at. I really think their should be some auto consumer buyer protection for under educated car buyers. Really good question though.

 

[wordslayer]

(warning: rant ahead)

We spend thousands of dollars at these places and what we get in return is to deal with some of the most venomous people in all of the land that at an instant will charge you full price for a vehicle, steal the trade, and pad the interest rate all at the same time.

How about some honesty? That is what I want from my dealer. I want the ability to walk in and buy a vehicle without having to be lied to and manipulated to buy extra garbage that is not necessary or required. I want the trade to be an honest value and the interest rate of the loan offered to be the lowest of at least three estimates. Like you would if you were getting bids for a car repair.

I want to know that the best deal was put together for me based on the price, trade, and loan is concerned. None of that automagically happens today as people are taken advantage of and placed in vehicles they are immediately upside down in. With high interest rate loans and the trade in value so low that it could essentially be considered professional stealing in any other sense. It is morally wrong for these people to do this but it their job and they are pretty good at it.

Luckily, I have bought many cars in my day and can walk away somewhat unscathed but to the inexperienced person they will take you for every dollar they can because that is their job. It is what they are trained to be. They practice on a daily basis how and why you should pay more for the vehicle, get paid less for your trade, and finance at a higher rate.

If you didn't know it already you should expect to be taken advantage of at your dealership. In no way do these people have your best interests in mind whether in the sales dept or the service dept. This is not necessarily the mfg issue, it is the name of the auto industry game and up to the dealers to provide honest service. Almost all blatantly choose to not provide honest service just to sell cars due to how competitive the industry is. They would say different and tend to bend the definition of honest service. If not telling you the best rate you could get on the loan or the lowest price on the new vehicle or highest price on the trade, is not telling you the truth, I am not sure what is. One of those if not all of those are lies when it's the dealer talking.

It's a messed up industry and needs to changed but this is where we are at. I really think their should be some auto consumer buyer protection for under educated car buyers. Really good question though.

I really cannot disagree with you more. I understand the spirit of what you are saying, but you are trying to make the buyer the victim. No one is forcing anyone to make these deals. No one is holding a gun up to a customer and forcing them to trade the car they are upside down on in. No one is forcing them to take high interest loans. No one is being taken advantage of in any manner.

These are all the choices of the consumer. Of course the dealership doesn't overtly have the customer's best interest in mind. They have their own best interest in mind, but if they want to stay in the market for any length of time, they will arrange deals where both parties can win.

I'm just so tired of society blaming everyone but themselves for everything that gets done to them. Many people think emotionally and then try to blame the businesses when they make stupid choices.

 

[gofastguy]

On the sales end, I always test dealerships. I’ll go in after work all grubby and dirty to see how I’m treated. A few times I’ve stood in the showroom for 15-20 minutes and had no one say a word to me, so I would leave and mark them off my list . Others would rush me like I was a celebrity. That’s also annoying, but better than being invisible.

I do this too. It is really eye opening to show up in your winter beater and work clothes and see how they treat you. Poor fools have no clue you could afford anything on the lot. Jokes on them!!

 

[EZMFE]

I really cannot disagree with you more. I understand the spirit of what you are saying, but you are trying to make the buyer the victim. No one is forcing anyone to make these deals. No one is holding a gun up to a customer and forcing them to trade the car they are upside down on in. No one is forcing them to take high interest loans. No one is being taken advantage of in any manner.

These are all the choices of the consumer. Of course the dealership doesn't overtly have the customer's best interest in mind. They have their own best interest in mind, but if they want to stay in the market for any length of time, they will arrange deals where both parties can win.

I'm just so tired of society blaming everyone but themselves for everything that gets done to them. Many people think emotionally and then try to blame the businesses when they make stupid choices.

The buyer is the victim when they are being taken advantage of by car salesman and finance managers that only see dollar signs.

There's really no way I can take your comment serious when you say "No one is being taken advantage of in any manner". You either work in the auto industry or are so naive about how the business works that you cannot see it.

These people are not your friends in any way and treating them that way or putting your guard down is going to do nothing but cost you money. They will try to pry it out of you in any way that can and have multiple ways to do when dealing with all aspect of your auto purchase.

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