Dealer servicing. Do you trust anyone else with your car?

[Dayvo]

My wife and daughter use Ace mobile mechanics and are happy with them as the hyundai capped service / warranty has expired . I use the mechanic who is a couple of doors down from where i work. He is s one man operation and does good work and prices are resonable .

 

[VFSV6FORME]

I know a guy (non Commodore owner) who is that anal he takes his own oil to the dealer, makes sure they use it, then when it comes time for the test drive he goes with them.

A bit over the top if you ask me

I now a few of them and nothing wrong with this except for the anal bit

 

[Forg]

Same. So what do you do about warranty and servicing. I can service the car myself with no issues but warranty will be a issue. Anyone use mobile service that come to your home? At least that way the car is not going anywhere!

You're screwed if you want to claim on warranty & don't want to go to the dealer which will break your car while fixing the warranty thing.
But of course any MTA member mechanic can service the car & it keeps warranty!

 

[Reaper]

Chill out guys. If your car is *that* immaculate then have the service manager do a walk around with you to verify such at hand over and then do the same at pickup. Aside from that - meh whatever. Just don't prang it

 

[LastV8?]

You're screwed if you want to claim on warranty & don't want to go to the dealer which will break your car while fixing the warranty thing.
But of course any MTA member mechanic can service the car & it keeps warranty!

Except that it's easier for the dealer vs alternate servicer to leave you in limbo (at least for a while) over who's fault it may be when something fails.

 

[Happydaze]

My last visit to the Local dealership they put 14k's on the car and 18.0L/H, 14.4L/H when I dropped it off. I took pictures of Speedo K's and L/H when I dropped it off. I brought it to their attention when picking up the car, they had to take it somewhere to get some trim fixed I complained about.

My mates Statesman was left at an auto elec with 11.2L/H, had 25L/H when he got it back.

 

[zero_tolerance]

I had a bad experience with my VE a few years ago.
I had a coolant flush done as part of the service. A couple of days later I was sitting in a car park idling when the bottom hose suddenly blew off. Roadside assist came out, re-attached the hose and refilled with water as a temporary measure.
Went back to the dealer the next day who replaced the hose and clamp under warranty. This particular dealer (Barloworld) has a large window separating the workshop and waiting room so you can actually see your car being worked on.
I stood there and watched them replace the hose and then simply fill it back up with plain water. Mechanic drives car out and then comes in telling the service advisor that its done. I furiously stormed over to the counter and demanded to know why the car was filled with water and not coolant. Service advisor tries to deny it but I tell him I watched it with my own eyes. Knowing they didn't have a leg to stand on, they took the car back in, flushed it and filled it with the correct coolant. From that point on I lost all trust in them and never went back.

I used to get nervous dropping my Calais off for a service, but with the Redline I'm going to be such a complete wreck that I will probably be pacing up and down the waiting room like a madman. As someone who is obsessive about their cars, not being able to see what is going on is such a stressful experience for me. I wish they could put chairs in the workshop and allow you to sit right in front of your car while it's being worked on.

 

[greenacc]

I buy second hand cars just in or out of warranty for this reason. This way I can do whatever servicing I want with whatever fluids and parts I choose or take it to any mechanic. Works well and costs me stuff all to keep it in great shape. Also have a good mechanic who I now trust quite a lot but I still check their work when I get it home

 

[Aussie XB12SS]

I'm anal with my vehicles and the dealer knows it. Asked them to stop test driving it down dirt roads and leaving it with the windows down and then this happened.
Dropped my VF off for some to work to be done last December and as I start work early I dropped it off the night before then when I picked it up the next afternoon it had done 178km's.
Thought I'd watch the dash cam.
It had been taken home by an employee to another town the night I dropped it off then when test driven the day of the work was driven down the roughest road they could find and taken to Bunnings to have lunch with his wife.
Rang them up and said obviously your mechanics are too stupid to realise there is a dash cam in my car?
They were two employees and one customer short after that.

 

[SuckSqueezeBangBlow]

What compensation did you get offered?