Dealer servicing vehicle do you trust them VW

Johnmcl7

Grey_Critic said:

I have no idea what various people do for a living and their comments about dealers - plus the suggestions they are con merchants and don’t do the job they are paid for. Everybody is entitled to their point of view - BUT - whilst I will accept that there are a few technicians who cut corners and do not do the job I believe most of them do a good job. 

I've used a few dealers over the years and never had a good experience with a dealer working on my cars and would certainly trust with it either.  And my experiences are not rare, if anything I've managed to get off lightly from dealers firing parts cannons due to incorrect diagnosing problems costing large amounts of money for unnecessary repairs.  

My previous car was under warranty and reporting a boost pressure code which I knew wasn't the actual problem because the symptoms didn't match.  I took it to the dealer explaining that the code was wrong and I wanted them to actually check the engine properly....they cleared the code, told me it was sorted and charged me a 'diagnostic fee'.  Because the fault kept putting the car into limp home mode, I took the car to my own garage who did actual diagnostics, found the problem which was nothing to do with the turbo and fixed it.

My current car was having some brake problems under warranty which the dealer couldn't work out and then developed another fault where there was a noticeable rumbling noise from the fan system.  The car was still under warranty but the dealer couldn't look at it before the warranty expired despite that being a month later and were quite blunt they wouldn't honour any warranty even though it was their fault.  I thought I'll argue that later, they had a look at the car and charged me a 'diagnostic fee' to tell me they could hear the noise, had no idea what it was and offered two options costing well into four figures.  I again decided to take it to my own garage and if it did need the expensive repair the dealer had diagnosed, I'd argue that one with the dealer.  My own garage cleared some leaves that were in part of the air handling system and sorted the brakes both in less than an hour.

It does make you wonder how a dealer specialising in a few brands of car can be so hopeless especially compared to a general garage that is fixing about anything but as you drive past the shiny showroom and cars plastered with cheap lease deals on the side you realise they're not wanting to fix your car.  I had a friend that was furious because he put a car in for repair at a dealer and when he returned to pick it up they had a salesperson ready to show him a new car because they couldn't fix his one...he took it elsewhere and had it fixed for far less than the dealer quoted.  While I can think of many friends who have had problems with dealers, come to think of it I can't think of any who have good repair experiences.  Not blaming it on the people but it's how many dealers operate so I certainly don't agree it's the case of a few bad apples like you claim.

I follow a few mechanics on Youtube and there's numerous cases where they're fixing a car that's either had the parts cannon fired by a dealer and not fixed the issue (usually well into four figures) or the customer has had some outrageous quote for work due to a bad diagnosis by a dealer.  I have no problem with the concept of a diagnostic fee but I object to paying money to people who clearly don't know what they're doing and completely misdiagnosed the problem.

Ibrahim5

I use the Hilka brake pad thickness gauge so I know exactly how much wear is left on my brake pads. The problem is that because I am not in the motor trade I can't buy an advisory free MOT from my mate, so I do end up getting advisories on my MOT.

molerat

Baldytyke88 said:

35har1old said:

My point was a year ago 6mm now 9mm they where not changed a year ago so miraculously they gained 3mm

I don't believe they would have measured them, just a visual guess. They will be 10/12mm when new

They should use a brake pad gauge, the video of them servicing my car shows them using it.

Of course if you have big open alloys a piece of cake but steel rims may make them guess looking through the little gap.

Grey_Critic

Ibrahim5 said:

I use the Hilka brake pad thickness gauge so I know exactly how much wear is left on my brake pads. The problem is that because I am not in the motor trade I can't buy an advisory free MOT from my mate, so I do end up getting advisories on my MOT.

Brake pad wear should be expressed as a percentage not miles. The person carrying out the inspection does not know how you drive.

Regarding not being in the trade you are implying that technicians are in effect fiddling the MOT inspection. The advisory is there to protect you nothing more and you obviously do not know what you are talking about of you think otherwise.

ididgetwhereiamtoday

Grey_Critic said:

Ibrahim5 said:

I use the Hilka brake pad thickness gauge so I know exactly how much wear is left on my brake pads. The problem is that because I am not in the motor trade I can't buy an advisory free MOT from my mate, so I do end up getting advisories on my MOT.

Brake pad wear should be expressed as a percentage not miles. The person carrying out the inspection does not know how you drive.

Regarding not being in the trade you are implying that technicians are in effect fiddling the MOT inspection. The advisory is there to protect you nothing more and you obviously do not know what you are talking about of you think otherwise.

So you’re saying that garages that do MOTs and/or servicing don’t ever try to upsell by exaggerating?

Grey_Critic

Of course they try to upsell - but that is the case with any business selling a service or product. 

I recall back in the 1980s Texaco brought out an engine oil that they claimed only needed changing every 20,000 miles - This at a time when the manufacturers specified oil/filter change at 5/6000 miles. No matter how good the oil the vehicle manufacturers warranty term governed the frequency.

Elsewhere there is discussion on Breakdown cover and the AA and RAC offer a range of cover and people often buy cover that they will never ever need - It is marketing.

I said brake pad wear should be expressed as a percentage - I know that some garages will tell you your brake linings will not last until your next service - but that really depends on how much you drive and how you drive. Brake pads with less than 50% are a regular item - he does not know if you had new pads 6 months ago or 6 years

I once had a customer who had a new clutch every two months - The technician if he is doing his job properly will list ADVISORIES where he observes wear that may need attention before the next service. Think of it as a Best Before Date

As a point of interest DVSA will actually question if MOTs are being carried out correctly if there are no advisories.