BigSteve

I wouldn't say that its a crooked system. Just like any other sales based position there are absolutely people that will try to sell the customer everything under the sun everytime they come in. This is how they make money, its comission. How many times has someone gone to the doctor and taken a test and found out that the doctor is pretty sure that he knows what the issue is, but wants to do more tests just to be sure. Same thing. At the same time a customer can be they're own biggest enemy by not being informed. You just walk in a say that there is something wrong with my car, fix it. You are going to get hit with a laundry list of things that should be fixed. Especially depending on the mileage of the car. The techs job is to let you know everything that should be done to the vehicle. It is then the service advisors job to sell the work to you. Some will hard sell you and make it seem like everything is life or death. Some will tell you what you need and prioritize it for you. But things like maintainance, do yourself a favor as a consumer and become familiar with your vehicles service intervals. Most of the time this can be found in the owners manual. If they diagnose your car and find something wrong, tell them to show you the defective part and why it is defective. Then if you pay to have it replaced, tell them you want the old part. If they say your spark plug is bad, make them pull it out and show you. Most importantly, if you don't feel comfortable with the diagnosis shop around and get a second opinion. Another good thing to do as a customer is to build a relationship with your service advisor and your tech. I cannot stress this enough, if you go to the same person everytime and you feel comfortable with what they are telling you, good things happen. If that advisor and tech know that everytime that vehicle comes in that it is going to them chances are that they will do right by you because they are assured to see that vehicle the next time you need something. AS A CONSUMER BE INFORMED. If you walk in with a poor attitude and no knowledge then you very well could be taken advantage of. Not saying its right, just the world we live in.

Brianpd79

Maybe not crooked but definitely very flawed.
You are correct. Customers should have a good relationship with there tech and a little knowledge goes a long way. Yes the tech is there to advise of any maintenance issues that need to be addressed but is also there to find the water leak. The flat rate systems has made it so the tech that will actually take the time to track down the problem doesn't make any money while the guy that does the preventative maintenance can make a killing. So see there is no incentive for flat rate techs to take a job that doesn't pay. If u can turn 5 hours in 1 hour then why would you opt to take a job that you can turn 5 hours in five hours.

BigSteve

I agree with what you are saying, but the OP made it sound like the service advisor told him that there is not enough time to find the water leak. If the tech was the one that turned the vehicle away then I wouldn't even bother going back to that dealership. There is no reason that the tech should be telling the advisor what is and isn't going in the shop.

Brianpd79

Agreed. The tech should not have a say in it.

snytribe

Thanks for some of the info. Though it does not seem to make good business practice to me. I was told by the service advisor that they could not look for a leak on a Saturday. When I informed him that when I made the appointment I also asked to have the leak checked, he told to make another appoint for that. I questioned why I would do that when that was part of this appointment. I have been trying to build a relationship with this service department. Took it in to them for the recall, they reprogrammed the navigation system, they did the recall on the soft top, and I have been going to them for most of the oil changes. When they treat people the way I was treated who would go back. Not me.

Sommer13

I had the clutch go out on my 08 a couple months back and normally would have taken it to a local shop, but it was in the middle of a road trip and I was 90 miles away from where I lived. So I was forced to get it towed to a dealership and leave it there for ten to replace it. They charged me $2,500 because they replaced it and then 4 days later somehow found a completely unrelated problem with my axle seal in my rear left axle, that they went ahead and fixed without asking me, and charged me more for it... I'm never going to another dealership again unless it's to buy another jeep...

baeteamjk

Wow, makes me think twice about my dealership now. I thought I was one of the lucky ones to find a dealership where they dont give me the whole BS on extra work every time I come in. Only once have they said that I needed to do something else on top of the routine maintenance that I came in to do.

They wanted to change the fluid and seal in my rear differential but only due to the # of miles I currently had. Thanks for this thread though. Very helpful.

BigSteve

you do know this is illegal, right? they cannot do any work and charge you for it unless you have okayed it. kind of a moot point now but just so you know later.

backwoodjk

I went to the dealer one week ago to have my skid plate recall done as well. As soon as they finished I got a call from the dealer and they told me the same stuff... Dirty diff oil, low brake pads, trans service, even told me I needed an alignment. I told them no. My jeep just had an alignment, checked my brakes, pads had better than 50% left.... They were full of it. Not going back.

Sommer13

Yeh, figured that out when I went to pick it up, but I was just so pissed an had enough on my schedule that I really couldn't bother with doing anything about it except paying them and never coming back. They said they tried a bunch of times to call an get my approval but couldn't reach me, BS, my phones never off and from my side...