Dealing with dealers...

[Stig / Major Tom]

In for an oil & filter change yesterday while getting the famous Japan-knees grenading airbag recall done. $42 including "multi point inspection".
OK.

Aaaah, no, 1/2 hour later here she comes with that bleedin' clip-board...…

She looks seriously at her clip board - "Mr. Steeg, he felt some pulsing in the brakes. And your cabin filter is dirty."

I thanked her politely and explained that I am presently living on borrowed time and will have to forgo any further servicing.

She handed me the 3 pages of forms which I had declined to approve.
Today, while cleaning out the back pocket of my Levis I found the pages. My oil change visit was going to be $155.62 if i'd signed. To look at the brakes and add a cabin air filter ($52 for the filter!).


Brakes aren't pulsing - and I popped an $11 Fram airfilter in there in 6 mins labor time - had a cookie and a cup of coffee and still hadn't reached 1/2hour of labor time.

Don't you hate it when they come at you with that blasted clip board!

Mr Steeg

[stuo]

We need a "raped by the dealer" thread but it would probably use all the space on the hard drive.

I once brought a Subaru Outback to a dealer for a recalled head gasket leak and I casually asked how much to tighten a rattle in the door. The recalled fix was free, of course, but it cost me $52 for the "estimate", which was $250. I took it to a paint/body shop, he popped the door panel, tightened a bolt, charged me $20 for the 15 minute job.

[CROSSBOLT]

You started this thread jus KNOWING that I was lurking in the shadows...seriously? I went to a dealer just ONCE with a question: why does the exhaust pipe on my then new Subaru Forester droop with a kink in it? Why do these other Foresters have the same droop with a kink? Why would the die makers stamp a hump in the floor pan for a straight pipe if the pipe was gonna droop like that? Got no answers from the dealer and was completely ignored by Subaru USA. Sound familiar? This was well before the Takata debacle. Never liked the idea of airbags in the first place....