Stealerships

K

kissingmybbgoodbye

Expert Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
4,048
Reaction score
375
Location
Somewhere surfing the web
Just got a call from Mercedes where my car is in for service. He started to mention a whole lot of things which need to be done on the car, He finished of with an airco filter which needs replacing. So I said really? His answer was yes.

Then I told him well seems like I caught you guys out. The airco was just serviced a week ago including an air filter which was replaced. Then he suddenly backtracked and said it was his mistake, a quote for another car was by accident attached to mine.

Really, how can I trust that the other work is really needed?
 
moklet said:
Just got a call from Mercedes where my car is in for service. He started to mention a whole lot of things which need to be done on the car, He finished of with an airco filter which needs replacing. So I said really? his answer was yes.

Then I told him well seems like I caught you guys out. The airco was just serviced a week ago including an air filter which was replaced. Then he suddenly backtracked and said it was his mistake, a quote for another car was by accident attached to mine.

Really, how can I trust that the other work is really needed?
Click to expand...

why are you suprised, ANY car dealer today is a snake that will lie and cheat to make their quota.
doesnt matter if its a cheap brand, or an expensive brand they will say anything to get their commisions.

and a Mercedes is particularly bad, parts Deliberately made so you HAVE to change them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV9rJwEOCus

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPJ64sTa7KI
 
haha, reminds me of something that happened to my SO this week!

She went to BMW to get a spare key coded. I asked her, please ask the service dep while you are there what the size is of the nut of the oil filter (I dont have a big enough socket - need to go buy one so I can DIY the oil service).

Kid you not, they would not tell her. They kept on saying its a very specialized tool, and only they have that tool. Irritated me so much, I removed the engine cover when she got home and measured it, and now I know a 35mm socket is needed.
 
this ^^^

classic rule breach there, know its sexist, but never send a chick to a dealership
all the sharks will smell blood, and feeding time begins for them.
 
moklet said:
Just got a call from Mercedes where my car is in for service. He started to mention a whole lot of things which need to be done on the car, He finished of with an airco filter which needs replacing. So I said really? His answer was yes.

Then I told him well seems like I caught you guys out. The airco was just serviced a week ago including an air filter which was replaced. Then he suddenly backtracked and said it was his mistake, a quote for another car was by accident attached to mine.

Really, how can I trust that the other work is really needed?
Click to expand...

Yeah fck that guy. If you had paid for that quote 'for that other car' and realized the mistake afterwards, no chance of them giving your money back. Fcken stealerships....TSEK. The automobile business in this country is a fcking filthy affair.
 
Car went to VW (Greenstone) for a service, I got told that my front shock mounts, front brake discs + pads and rear shoes needed to be replaced. Quoted me R10 000.
Told them not to go ahead.
Got a family friend (who's a mechanic) to have a look, told me they were talking utter garbage- only needed to replace front discs and pads - cost me R2400.

Doubt I'll ever take my car back to VW!
 
marlin178 said:
Car went to VW (Greenstone) for a service, I got told that my front shock mounts, front brake discs + pads and rear shoes needed to be replaced. Quoted me R10 000.
Told them not to go ahead.
Got a family friend (who's a mechanic) to have a look, told me they were talking utter garbage- only needed to replace front discs and pads - cost me R2400.

Doubt I'll ever take my car back to VW!
Click to expand...

Ha, I've had the opposite - tell them specifically to look at the front wheels, all is good. Few months later I'm replacing shocks and discs (and the shock is utterly farked)
 
I feel this is one of the reasons why older cars are sought after, especially ones you can work on yourself.

For example, to redo my 20xe motor myself would cost well under 10k in parts. A complete second hand M50b25 motor (with limited warranty) would cost under 10k and will take less than a day to install. Toyota motors you can laugh at how cheap they are ( I've seen 3.0 turbo supra motors for R25k with ltd warranty) and old VWs are not even worth mentioning here.
 
Last year after a breakfast run with friends my turbo blew (I was not kind to that turbo).
It went into Arnold Chatz (Craighall) and the turbo got replaced. After I collected the car it felt different. It would not boost correctly after 4000RPM. I took the car back (I live in PTA so its a serious drive) and they said the problem was caused by my slipping clutch and to replace the clutch would cost 12k.
Facts to note here: yes my clutch was slipping, but any person with half a brain can tell you that the dump valve opening and closing like it was having an epileptic fit is not caused by the clutch.
I got the clutch replaced at Turbo Nutters in Silverton (R9500 including 5 hours of labour @R500 per hour) but I still had the same issue.
The year was busy and I finally got the chance to take the car to Turbo Nutters in Aug and they told me the following story:

1. Brake pads front and back need to be changed (R2k per set)
2. Front brake discs need to be replaced
3. Brake vacuum pump was leaking oil and needed to be replaced (BS because Turbo Nutters redid the gasket on it for around R450 vs the cost of a new pump R2850). The oil that they saw was old oul that never got cleaned off.
4. The boost pipes for the turbo need to be replaced as well as the electro valve.

I drove straight to Turbo Nutters and he checked the silicon pipes, pulled back their sleeves and showed me that the pipes were fine. He did note that there was a boost pipe missing and he was amazed how they missed it. Asked one of his mechanics to get him a cut off. He fitted it and sent me on my way.
I drove around Silverton loving my car... pulled into the nearest bottle store and bought the man a 10 year old bottle of Richeleu (his drink of choice).
I made the decision that day that only Gerhard at Turbo Nutters will touch my car's mechanical parts. When it comes to brakes I buy the pads myself for R650 (per set) and get them fitted for R400 at Tyre Mart Menlyn.
 
moklet said:
Just got a call from Mercedes where my car is in for service. He started to mention a whole lot of things which need to be done on the car, He finished of with an airco filter which needs replacing. So I said really? His answer was yes.

Then I told him well seems like I caught you guys out. The airco was just serviced a week ago including an air filter which was replaced. Then he suddenly backtracked and said it was his mistake, a quote for another car was by accident attached to mine.

Really, how can I trust that the other work is really needed?
Click to expand...

When I serviced my car at the dealer back when it still had a warranty, whenever they had a list of things that were wrong beyond the service I wrote it down. I then proceeded to my independent service place and asked them to check this and that. Some things were legit, other things not. I let independent place do the work required, and generally for cheaper than the stealerships price.
 
About a month ago I took my e90 to BMW for an oil service, which came out to R1290, which I didnt find bad at all for a 6 cylinder engine. On the way to the dealership that morning, I got a check brake light bulb warning. The dealership quoted me R1500 to fix the warning, saying that they needed to diagnose the issue (R400 ) and that it was 2 bulbs blown. I politely declined, and stopped at the petrol station on the way home, and bought said 2 bulbs for R25 - Only one was blown, so they wanted to charge me 120x what it actually cost??
 
moklet said:
Just got a call from Mercedes where my car is in for service. He started to mention a whole lot of things which need to be done on the car, He finished of with an airco filter which needs replacing. So I said really? His answer was yes.

Then I told him well seems like I caught you guys out. The airco was just serviced a week ago including an air filter which was replaced. Then he suddenly backtracked and said it was his mistake, a quote for another car was by accident attached to mine.

Really, how can I trust that the other work is really needed?
Click to expand...

The problem is that they use a maintenance schedule which says what needs to be done when.

They don't even look at the stuff that comes out, just replace because that's what the book says.

And they simply assume nobody else has worked on the car.
 
ShaneE said:
About a month ago I took my e90 to BMW for an oil service, which came out to R1290, which I didnt find bad at all for a 6 cylinder engine. On the way to the dealership that morning, I got a check brake light bulb warning. The dealership quoted me R1500 to fix the warning, saying that they needed to diagnose the issue (R400 ) and that it was 2 bulbs blown. I politely declined, and stopped at the petrol station on the way home, and bought said 2 bulbs for R25 - Only one was blown, so they wanted to charge me 120x what it actually cost??
Click to expand...

For an oil service, what does it matter if it's a 6 cylinder engine?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X