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I've never seen them price match on anything except tires.
Long ago I saw a price match offer on batteries. When I went there, they said only matching AC Delco batteries pricing. So, it was just a price match with other dealerships.
It all depends. Many dealerships are crooks; same with many chain shops. And the sad reality is a lot of dealers don't use factory spec'd lubricants. For oil changes, they usually dump in bulk 5w30; doesn't matter if your oil cap says 0w20. I've been to Honda dealers that still push power ATF flushes (an explicit no-no by Honda) and use generic ATF (another no-no). The service advisors at dealerships & chain shops are glorified salesmen that usually don't know jack squat about cars. This is why I prefer my indy mechanic. I get to talk to him face-to-face when he works on my car.
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Originally Posted by Hemlock140
Potentially yes, because dealers generally only hire experienced ASE certified mechanics
Not true. The dealership doesn't put ASE techs on lower end jobs, like lube and tires. The oil change guy was likely flipping burgers last week and with some "factory certified" training, is now schlepping oil.
I only trust the dealer under the hood of my current car. I take it to a good indy shop for brakes, tires, and anything else not engine related like a/c.
The rule of the thumb is to go to the dealer as long as the car is under factory warranty. Yes, you have to put up with $200 oil changes but do you want to risk getting declined warranty if something goes wrong.
Old wives' tale. There is a federal law preventing manufacturers from declining warranty coverage for having routine maintenance performed elsewhere.
The rule of the thumb is to go to the dealer as long as the car is under factory warranty. Yes, you have to put up with $200 oil changes but do you want to risk getting declined warranty if something goes wrong.
Sorry, Totally WRONG. Your "rule of thumb" is not necessary to protect an owner's warranty with any car manufacturer.
The magnuson act which we members of ASE fought for many decades ago removed these requirements for dealer servicing to protect a warranty. At the time, the dealers admitted that they didn't have the resources to properly maintain the vehicle fleet covered under warranty in a timely manner; ie, they didn't have enough shop capacity to even perform routine servicing for the cars. And they acknowledged that the manufacturer compliant lubricants and filters were readily available in the aftermarket.
As long as the car is maintained in accordance with the factory scheduled maintenance, especially engine oil/filter changes … with the factory recommended compliant product, such as the engine oil wt and quality, and documented by the owner … the factory warranty remains in force. Documentation can either be from shop receipts/invoices, or from the owner doing the work themselves and keeping a logbook of the oil changes, products used, etc.
As far as warranty denials go, it's not uncommon for dealerships to find numerous justifications to deny warranty claims on vehicles which have been serviced by them since new, too. Many tales here of such dealership treatment on C-D threads.
Potentially yes, because dealers generally only hire experienced ASE certified mechanics. Unfortunately that doesn't mean they are perfect by any means, and dealers like to "upsell" on service. I will not go to the chain repair places because I have seen their signs "HOW HIRING - Experience not required, will train." The best is an independent shop that has been around a long time. Mine for example, is owned by a former drag racer, and I have been going to them since 1995.
Perhaps true with some dealerships, but in my experience … NOT SO.
Dealerships, like many other service organizations, are hard pressed to find competent, reliable, knowledgeable help in the service bays.
The industry, overall, has had a hard time in recent decades compensating auto techs to go into and remain in the business. The personal costs of education and tools are staggering compared to many other blue trades that utilize the same skills. For example, many HVAC techs use the same skills but have paid training, tools provided, and far better work schedules and benefits than most auto techs.
In my experience, dealerships are happy to recruit new techs with a minimum of vo-tech education hours and little to no practical experience in the field. The manufacturers provide tech service training schools and the dealerships provide incentives for their techs to attend these schools.
This has lead to an interesting situation at many dealerships, who refuse to work on their older model cars, some as recent as only 7 years old. While there may be concerns about manufacturer support as a rationale for this, the fact is that in a lot of dealership shops today, the newer line techs have no experience or training on the older models.
I ran into that situation as long ago as the 1990's. Two local M-B dealers used car managers were happy to send to my indie shop some of their trade-in cars which they wanted to sell off their lot some highline cars of the 1970's … typically 280SL's, 450SL's, and 300SEL's … along with a few 280SEC's. These were expensive and prestigious models of the line when new, many still in very presentable condition with low miles. But the reality was that their in-house service department techs didn't have working familiarity with these cars, especially the Bosch mechanical fuel injection models. Try taking any of these models to a 'benz dealer today for service; they will not work on it. Fortunately, there's a lot of indie shops that do.
Is it true that dealership service departments are better compared to something like valvoline/Midas or is this just a myth that I’ve Been believing for years?
Generally speaking, it is possible that a dealership may have a better service department than a quick-lube franchise shop using low tech labor for stuff like oil changes.
But that's not always the case. For the most part, the dealerships have embraced the "quick lane" oil change concept and use their low time/lowest paid/lowest skilled "techs" in this area of the service department. You are just as likely to deal with stripped or loose fasteners from such labor in the dealership as you are from a franchise quick lube outfit.
Or is it just that Subarus have bad dealer service departments?
Depends upon the dealership.
My local subie dealer for years had an excellent service department with skilled/knowledgeable subie techs. But when the dealership changed owners, the new owners pay plan and internal politics drove away their competent techs and parts department employees. The new dealership service department just isn't very good.
IMO, they are great advertising for why most subie owners in the area take their cars 50 miles away to another town with an excellent dealership service department.
My parents cars- Toyotas, BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus. No issues when they take it in for service. Oil is changed, right fluids used, bolts are tight. I bring my 2017 subaru, still under warranty, into a Subaru dealer and I get it back with loose lug nuts, jacked up alignment, loose oil plug(or overly tight), interior trim that isn’t even put back together right. I try to do my own oil changes but it’s kinda hard when they over tighten the drain bolt every time and the head gets stripped. And I’m pretty sure my current fill isn’t the recommended 0W20 because I’ve been seeing extremely low MPGs. I’ve been to 2 different subaru dealers in 2 different parts of the country. Both over tightened my oil bolt, one left it loose when I told them to fix it.
The servicing errors that you mention with your 2017 are basic skillsets to proper automotive repair. Apparently, the dealer you're going to has a culture of not attracting and retaining competent techs. Best for you to find a better shop … be it an indie or another dealership to fulfill your car servicing needs.
I would also point out that much of the electronics diagnostics in auto repair today has been pioneered by the indie aftermarket shops that were confronted with cars that the dealerships could not repair or keep in service. Long before the dealerships/manufacturers had advanced their diagnostic/repair trees for dealership techs beyond a simple pass/fail test to replace various electronics (such as computers), the aftermarket techs were using their skills/oscilloscopes/electronics testing to document and diagnose what and where the actual system failures were originating.
For example, companies such as CCI Uptime reverse engineered the Bosch and VDO electronics for several years and came up with the electronic failure points of the OE computers. At a dealership, the tech merely replaced a defective computer module with another which was as equally flawed as the original. In due course, the replacement would fail and the tech would again replace it as long as the car was under warranty. The aftermarket shops had more sophisticated tactics to determine the causes of the failures … many times, a computer module was an expensive fuse for other failing components. The indie tech could zero in on the failure, cure that, and replace the computer module with an upgraded ISO 2001 compliant computer with higher rated components which would resist the failures of the new component that the dealership would install. As well, the aftermarket upgraded item was 1/2 the cost of the dealership OE item.
And so it goes … many aftermarket repair techniques and diagnostic tactics have been developed by the indie shops that are challenged to fix the cars that the dealers cannot or cannot do for a reasonable cost. ATRA, the indie automatic transmission group … has developed with it members many diagnostic and aftermarket fixes for years which crafted superior transmissions to what were originally built by the manufacturers.
In some areas, the car manufacturers have come a long way from the computer linked problems of years ago. In some areas, they're not all that much improved. The industry sees a fair number of cars in the hands of consumers which don't stay on the road very long, even today. Reliability and durability issues still present, and dealership costs to keep those cars on the road can be excessive … to the point that the cars are traded in at pretty low miles compared to their potential if without the problems.
Potentially yes, because dealers generally only hire experienced ASE certified mechanics. Unfortunately that doesn't mean they are perfect by any means, and dealers like to "upsell" on service. I will not go to the chain repair places because I have seen their signs "HOW HIRING - Experience not required, will train." The best is an independent shop that has been around a long time. Mine for example, is owned by a former drag racer, and I have been going to them since 1995.
Hmmm so the 20 year old changing my cars oil is an ASE certified mechanic? Interesting
Old wives' tale. There is a federal law preventing manufacturers from declining warranty coverage for having routine maintenance performed elsewhere.
But you better have the receipts to show you had routine maintenance somewhere else and the dealer will ask if claiming warranty related issues.
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