Best and worst dealership service by brand. (luxury car, vehicle, MPG)

[NSX]

From owning a few different makes and models, I found the dealership experience for mechanical service can be vastly different, some treat customers with respect while others are pretty disgraceful.

Here's an example. I've had pretty bad experiences with Chevrolet dealerships. I've been to a couple in my area, it may be different in other parts of the country, but I think it is still very telling. When I take my Corvette in for service, most of the time they are rushed, rude and borderline unprofessional with customers. When I had a clear billing mistake (hundreds of dollars from a double-bill typo) the service advisor at first refused to fix it. He tried to fool me into thinking that the bill was supposed to be the way it was, which didn't really work for me since I have above-elementary math skills, maybe unlike him. I then asked to speak with a manager, who promptly apologized for his behavior and fixed the bill. After dealing with this, I started reading reviews on the local Chevy dealerships and most only have one or two stars out of five, with over 100 customer ratings, so I guess I shouldn't find this surprising. You would think that 1) Owning GM's halo car and 2) Receiving a taxpayer bailout that they would show a little respect, but no.

When I go to the Lotus dealer, however, it is a night and day difference. The service techs are extremely professional and courteous. After each appointment, you get to sit down with them and they will explain all of the work and charges, and let you ask questions as well. It's air conditioned inside and they even provide customers with water and snacks. The funny thing is that the service for the Elise costs about the same as the Z06.

From the five makes I have owned, I would rate put the customer service into these categories:

Great:
Lotus

Good:
Acura
Ford

Poor:
Dodge

Very Poor:
Chevrolet


I'd be interested to learn more about the customer service based on brand, and hear everyone's experiences.

[NJGOAT]

The problem with this kind of "ranking" is that it is very dependent on the dealership, how they pay their employees and the standards they try to achieve.

In my personal experience my local Audi dealer has always been fantastic. Great service folks who actually remember your name. Car is always well taken care of and all repairs are explained. They are also not shy about recommending services without insisting that they be done. To date it's the only dealer I've ever gone to that said, we noticed x and while we can fix it now, it's not a big deal to wait on it and we'll check at the next service. The waiting room is great with big comfy chairs, huge flat screen and good coffee.

My local BMW options are horrendous. The service advisors are masters of upsell and double talk and you always need to be on your toes when you go in there.

I have found that Chevy dealers in general have pretty bad service departments. There is one local place I found that is very family oriented and they are almost as good as the Audi dealer, but don't have such a nice waiting room.

I do need to give props to my one local Pontiac place. They always took great care of my GTO whenever it had to go in and the service manager was a drag racer, so the shop was mod friendly.

The one thing most people need to remember is that service writers/advisors are not always trained mechanics. Generally they are a layman with decent sales/customer service experience and a basic mechanical understanding. In many places they also receive comission on the repair services they sell. Service centers with that setup tend to be the worst places to go.

[Vinsanity]

The only service departments I have experience with are Ford, Honda, and Cadillac. Word is that the Caddy dealers don't treat you as well as other luxury car dealers, but my local one has been pretty awesome. Ford and Honda have been courteous and accommodating as well.

I've had much more experience with the sales side of a dealership, and by far the worst is Mitsubishi. Every Mitsubishi dealership I've been to has felt suspicious and shady, and employs uncomfortable trickery in trying to get you to stay when you want to walk out. Best sales experience was Carmax. No pressure, very straightforward.

An interesting mention is that I've had opposite experiences at two different Chrysler dealerships. The first one was very pleasant, friendly, and pressure-free. The next one had a friendly salesman who was all buddy-buddy, but unfortunately, I then had the displeasure of having to talk to the finance guy, who was a real a$$hole, who started to berate me when I turned down their trade-in offer.

So in short, my experience tells me that it comes down more to the franchise than the brand they sell.

[Gimme3steps]

It's not the brand of automobile so much as the quality and ability of the people who work at any given dealership.

[DewDropInn]

One of the reasons I swore I would never again buy a Ford was the horrendous "service" I encountered in their dealership repair shops. (More than one.) I was paying hundreds of dollars to have them be outright rude to me. And do a lousy job on my car.

I bought a Toyota. Vastly different experience for the better. (Though it may be because of the socio/economic area I'm now in. Can't afford to tick off all the old retired got-bucks they have in their customer base.) Popcorn, donuts, coffee, bigflat-screen TV, comfy chairs. Lots of "Pleases" and "Thank you's". On one visit I asked them to check my battery and they came back 30 mins later to tell me it was still under warranty and they'd already put in a new one at no cost. That would never have happened (without a fight) at the Ford dealerships.

Of course when my vehicle was recalled they were falling all over themselves to make me happy. Lol. I thought 5 follow-up calls to ask me if I was happy with the service was a bit excessive.

(That dealership also had the best salesman I have ever worked with. He was so good we went and bought a second car from him.)

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by DewDropInn

One of the reasons I swore I would never again buy a Ford was the horrendous "service" I encountered in their dealership repair shops. (More than one.) I was paying hundreds of dollars to have them be outright rude to me. And do a lousy job on my car.

I bought a Toyota. Vastly different experience for the better. (Though it may be because of the socio/economic area I'm now in. Can't afford to tick off all the old retired got-bucks they have in their customer base.) Popcorn, donuts, coffee, bigflat-screen TV, comfy chairs. Lots of "Pleases" and "Thank you's". On one visit I asked them to check my battery and they came back 30 mins later to tell me it was still under warranty and they'd already put in a new one at no cost. That would never have happened (without a fight) at the Ford dealerships.

Of course when my vehicle was recalled they were falling all over themselves to make me happy. Lol. I thought 5 follow-up calls to ask me if I was happy with the service was a bit excessive.

(That dealership also had the best salesman I have ever worked with. He was so good we went and bought a second car from him.)

Brings up a very good point. The import brands for the most part do a very good job in controlling their dealers through standards, guidelines and quality checks. The domestics for the most part have taken a very hands off approach leaving it up to the individual franchisee in how they would conduct business. This trend has started to change and the domestics have started placing a stronger emphasis on taking the dealers to task over standards.

Since most peoples opinion of their car is influenced as much by the sales transaction and service as it is by the car itself, this facet can't be overlooked. A good dealer can make an OK car good and a bad dealer can make a good car seem OK.

[ShelbyGirl1]

I agree, I think it is the dealership and not so much the Make. Although, coincedently, the Chevy dealership we bought our Z06 from had to be the absolute worse. This was the same dealership, who did me a "favor" and filled out the customer survey for me and wanted me to sign it....giving themselves "excellents" I might add! From the day I took possession of the vehicle, I refused to step back into that particular dealership and let them and all the higher ups know about it. Only reason we even went to them is they had the EXACT car I wanted. In saying that....the dealership I ended up bringing the ZO6 to...couldn't have been nicer or more professional.
Have had good expeirences with both BMW and Audi....Porsche seemed a tad stuck up...again...I believe it is the particular dealership and not so much the Make of the vehicle.

[SpeedyAZ]

I'd agree, it's the dealership more-so than the brand of vehicle you're buying.

The Ford dealership I bought my F-150 from wasn't too great in customer service. I didn't care for all the BS they tried to pull with me, it was irritating but they had the exact color combo of F-150 I wanted and the price was a tad better than another dealer I checked out. The salesman I had wasn't to knowledgeable about trucks after he said I could expect 20+ mpg on the highway...load of bull and I called his bluff on it.

They did give me a fair price on my trade-in though so I let everything slide and got out of there ASAP.

[us66]

I had good luck with Chevrolet dealers when my C1500 was still under warranty. I never even had to make an appointment for service, just took it in right when they opened. Did that at three dealerships, never had a problem. The Saturn dealer got mad at me when I did that. (There is a Chevy dealer within walking distance of my work, I didn't want to take a day off to take the Saturn in for service so I did it on MLK Day.) I didn't know you were supposed to make an appointment for warranty work.

[texdav]

I have to say that american dealers were far behind in their service department but have started to catchup.