Buying a Service Plan from a Dealership

Jenni_D

Devil's Advocate ... who would sue the Freds for libel? (He's They've not mentioned any specific dealer, franchise or marque)

motorguy

Jenni_D said:

Devil's Advocate ... who would sue the Freds for libel? (He's They've not mentioned any specific dealer, franchise or marque)

Yes, he's they both like to use broad brush sweeping but unsubstantiated generalisations but always tread the line of not backing it up with any real evidence / actual names.

fred990

Indeed, I speak very highly of my local garage and have no reason to do otherwise! 
I have no hesitation in recommending them to others who don't diy their car snags.
Some here obviously have a strange view of libel? 

motorguy

The fred246 account is taking a bit of heat they cant talk their way out of and surprise, surprise the fred990 acount posts.  

ontheroad1970

Jenni_D said:

Devil's Advocate ... who would sue the Freds for libel? (He's They've not mentioned any specific dealer, franchise or marque)

while that's true, he has made similar remarks about the Ombudsman and the trading association which are single bodies.  

I'm sure he has set up an alert for anything with "servicing" in the title.  He destroys threads with his disruptive nature, yet I have had a warning because I reported him.  He's now distorting another thread.  

fred246

Years ago trading standards used to conduct surveys. They would give cars a problem and send them for servicing. Their general conclusions were 1)car servicing was generally poor 2)Cars were regularly returned to customers with dangerous faults 3)Main dealers were no better than independents 4)there was no standards for 'full service' or 'minor service'. Each garage did their own thing. Trading Standards seem to have stopped doing these surveys. The 'regulars' on here will tell you everything is now perfect but why things would have improved isn't clear.

fred246

The pollen filter on my car is intriguing though. It should be changed annually. Very clearly stated. When I went to buy one I was told no-one changed them. I insisted and bought one. It was a pig of a job. People taking them to garages for a service  would just get a stamp. Never heard anyone told that pollen filter not done. Were they charged? Probably. Just been doing some research on it. Appears that the issue is that it's easy for left hand drive cars but it's almost impossible to do on a right hand drive car. One person asked the main dealer to change it and was told that they couldn't do it as it was too difficult. Other dealers wanted high labour charges because it took so long. Much longer than a service would take. It's funny though reading online what different garages would do with my pollen filter "change if necessary", "Inspect it", "check it". You really would be a lunatic to take it out and not put a new one in. Really makes anyone who has done that job kill themselves laughing.

motorguy

fred246 said:

Years ago trading standards used to conduct surveys. They would give cars a problem and send them for servicing. Their general conclusions were 1)car servicing was generally poor 2)Cars were regularly returned to customers with dangerous faults 3)Main dealers were no better than independents 4)there was no standards for 'full service' or 'minor service'. Each garage did their own thing. Trading Standards seem to have stopped doing these surveys. The 'regulars' on here will tell you everything is now perfect but why things would have improved isn't clear.

Its very clear and you've already been told - you're quoting stuff from 40 years ago whereas now franchised dealers are held to account much more by the manufacturers with quality checks, customer satisaction surveys, videos of the work being done, audits, and computerisation generally.  

Auditor "show me how many services you did last month and show me the respective amount of oil and filters being charged to the service department and the stock movement to cover that".

"Show me how many pollen filters you replaced and the ages and miles of cars you replaced them on".

Not hard with computer systems

Franchises are not the easy come easy go thing they once were.  They are hard earned and its hard work to keep them and it requires a massive investment by the dealership.  With so much consolidation they know that many manufactures are looking for ANY excuse to be able to terminate a franchise.

Why would any modern franchised dealership risk a multi million pound a year franchise to scrimp on a few oil filters?

And this nonsense you spout about mechanics not being qualified and "anybody can do it" - they go through 3-4 years on the job and offsite training and they then would admit themselves they spend the rest of their careers "learning".  They are supported by the manufacturers databases, diagnostic equipment and databases to do this.

By the way, loving how you posted this today on another thread where you're criticising others for pulling wild assumptions together and presenting them as "facts".  Pot, kettle, black?

fred246 said:

.....If you know your stuff (like the fact checkers) it is easy to see where they have gone wrong. I think most people can see through it but some people love the idea of everything being a conspiracy theory. 

fred246

So who employs all these auditors who travel round the garages counting filters? Manufacturers desperate to get rid of their dealers. Very entertaining anyway. Mechanics don't need any qualifications to work on a car. They are not registered.

motorguy

fred246 said:

So who employs all these auditors who travel round the garages counting filters? Manufacturers desperate to get rid of their dealers. Very entertaining anyway. Mechanics don't need any qualifications to work on a car. They are not registered.

Ah, another view from 40 years ago.  Someone has to drive around the country and physically be there.

Could easily be done remotely and likely automated too.

They're not desperate to get rid of dealers, however they do want to have fewer, larger franchises so they'll be looking for the best of those to work with.

They dont need degrees or HNDs however they do need formal training.  Surprised you cant grasp that.

Not hard.