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I spent a fortune at a dealership getting my car worked on yesterday.
I came home and was discussing, with a neighbor, the work I had done on the car. He proceeds to tell me that the service guys and service managers work on a commission at these dealerships. And, most likely, I didn't need all the things that I had done.
Arent they only suppose to tell you what is wrong with your car and and give you quotes on what is *needed* to fix the car?
If they truly work on commission, are they pushing things on me (and others) to make more money?????
I can't answer on the commission part, but what I can say is getting work done at the dealership is well known to be the more expensive route. Buyer beware, always get a second opinion.
There are a lot of mechanics that will tell you things that "need" to be fixed if they look worn out or if you're at a certain mileage on the car. If one of the repairs was a safety concern and they didn't tell you about it, they could potentially be liable should it cause a problem.
It's not that they work on commission, it's that they get paid by the job. Every job they do, they get paid a certain "book" amount for that job, so if they can tack on more for each job, they will. They have a book that tells them the process, the amount of time it will take to do that job, along with a dollar amount. If they can finish a 6 hour job in 3 hours, they still get paid for the 6 hours, and vice versa.
For example, if you need a transmission rebuild, that might be a 12 hour job, so when they pull your transmission off to rebuild it, they might tell you that you need your flywheel changed also. That might be a 6 hour job normally, but since they already have your transmission pulled off, its only goint to take them an extra hour, rather than the 6 hours to change your flywheel, but they still get paid for the 6 hours, and they can still charge you for the entire job.
It pays to have a little knowledge about this stuff before you take it in for repairs.
We have a Ford F150 and the "Check Engine Light" came on ... took it in to the dealership and ended up with a bill over $400.00 ... "Check Engine Light" is still on!!
One other thing ... are you a female? For some unknown reason if you are a female and enter a male domain ... auto dealership shop ... garage ... you have this sign on your back "Here I Am Screw Me!"
For those of you who always feel like you're getting screwed with auto repair I have a suggestion.
Take your car to a mechanic with a free or low cost diagnosis. When they call to tell you what's wrong, tell them to hold off on the work and that you need to make sure you can pay. Immediately go get your car.
Take it to your trusted mechanic, and TELL them what is wrong and ask how much to fix. When you know what's wrong you get a better deal. IMO.
Carolina woman, check your gas cap. My check engine light came on and that was the first thing to rule out. The rubber seal/gasket wears out and the light will come on. One time it was the source of the light coming on, the next time I wasn't as lucky and there was a crack in my gas tank which was a manufacturer defect.
I spent a fortune at a dealership getting my car worked on yesterday.
I came home and was discussing, with a neighbor, the work I had done on the car. He proceeds to tell me that the service guys and service managers work on a commission at these dealerships.
Service Managers do work on commission.
Some are honest, some aren't. All depends on the individual, and on the dealership.
How to know if you got taken: if the Service Advisor suggested that you get your fuel injection flushed, that you replace the oxygen in your tires with nitrogen - then yeah, chances are that he/she took advantage of the customer.
You should first be working with a mechanic or dealership you trust. Shop around if you have to - there's rarely only 1 dealership in your surrounding area and most likely many mechanics. That said, there's 2 types of work you can get done on a car... The stuff that's obviously "broken" and scheduled "maintenance". The former are things that allow the car to work and pass inspection. The latter is an important part of your investment and shouldn't be neglected. You may not necessarily "need" it at that moment, but you have to factor in whether it's going to help the car last and/or perform better (i.e. gas mileage). Doing work that you may look back on thinking it could possibly unnecessary at the moment may just be the thing that gets you 100k, 150k, 200k miles on your vehicle.
I prefer working with a dealership even though I'm paying a premium. They have my service records to pull for history - this helps enormously with recalls/preventive and definitely when/if I decide to trade it in. They keep my warranty (and extended warranty if necessary) info for me - often things I need done are covered and I just pay a deductible.
Carolina woman, check your gas cap. My check engine light came on and that was the first thing to rule out. The rubber seal/gasket wears out and the light will come on. One time it was the source of the light coming on, the next time I wasn't as lucky and there was a crack in my gas tank which was a manufacturer defect.
Thanks for this info ... I will check the gas cap and see. It only has 38k miles on it. and she get's her trip to the Jiffy Lube faithfully every 3000 miles ... so I just ignore the "Check Engine" light.
I was in commission sales for many years, and take it as a personal affront when people make blanket statements like "all people on commission try to sell you things you don't need". It challenges the ethics of millions of people simply by the choice of their profession, and is grossly ignorant. I've heard people say it when in reality the issue is that they can't manage their own business transactions. I'm not suggesting the OP falls into this category. I'm not saying that everyone on commission is 100% ethical and honest. But they're no more dishonest than any other group.
This is no different than any other business situation where services are being offered. It is always up to the consumer to research what they're doing. It's unfortunate that we can't assume we're being told the absolute simple truth, but that's the real world. If you don't understand what you're being told, say no until you do. If you don't trust the person you're dealing with, find someone you do trust.
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