Stealerships

[JXPEEJ]

I am curious about the term "stealership",post your experiences-either you or someone you know- cars or bikes
I need as much input from everyone as possible
thanks

[Ray H]

I think the term specifically refers to the outragious price of OEM parts at dealerships (at least to me).
Ive personlly had pretty decent luck with dealerships. Ive got a good relationship with the service dept. manager at my Jeep dealer so that helps with a little with prices and Im confident that when I get service done, its honest. It also helps that years ago I worked for a dealer as a warranty manager so I kinda know the language.
I have had a couple small issues with dealers in the past but theyve always ended up going my way.
The latest was while buying a new car (Kia). While filling out the contract, the sales manager over charged me on the destination charge by $50. I didnt even catch it, my wife did. At first he told us that he was right and we were wrong, until we showed him the window sticker that said otherwise, Then he claimed he had simply made a mistake. It wasnt a mistake. You know the sales manager knows exactly what the destination charge should be, its the same on all their cars. It wasnt a big deal but he almost blew the deal for $50, how stupid is that. They ended up taking $110 more off the price to keep us from walking out.

[j99xj]

When my rear axle was making noise (worn bearings) they wanted to sell me a completely new rear end. Housing, gears, the works....

They wanted about $3000 parts and labor to do it. Since my Jeep with its mileage is only worth $4500 or so I decided to go with a more economical approach and take it to a local mechanic.

$900 bucks got my axle completely rebuild (new u joint too), and also installed a new front wheel bearing because that was inspected as well by this new good mechanic.

That $2100 dollar discrepancy is why we call them stealerships.

They "steal" by replacing things that don't need to be replaced.

Of course, the best way they steal is to lie to their customers that their Jeep is too old to fix because they "can't find parts" or that "it wouldn't be worth it", and that they ought to buy a nice new shiny one in the showroom...

Then the slick salesmen con people into trading their beloved Jeep in for a new one.....for much less than its actually worth I might add.

This is true for just about all dealers, not just Jeep dealers.

[5-90]

Depends on the dealer you're "dealing" with.

Car salesmen tend to be crooks (from what I've had to deal with up here, anyhow,) and they don't like the way I negotiate. I give them a number, and say "meet it or beat it." The couple times I've had to do that (I usually buy used from private parties. Cash helps, there...) I don't budge. It's a realistic number, I just don't like getting screwed to make someone else's money (that's why I don't screw people, either.)

Parts is another story. I've been dealing with the same dealer long enough to get down to jobber (cost+10%,) same as I get at the local parts house I've been dealing with for the last ten-plus years. Some of those guys work on commission - but a lot don't seem to. It doesn't hurt that I tend to throw a lot of business toward parts houses and dealer parts departments once they prove themselves to me - and make sure they know I'm doing it (usually, by writing a parts guy's name on the back of one of my cards. I rotate through the department, and they have to hold my card up to read it - which allows the guys to read the front of the card.)

Oh - and after I finish answering, this is going to have to be moved to Non-Tech. No tech here, just experiences with dealers...

[8Mud]

I've tried every Dealership within 40 miles, at least once. Driven 400 miles to get some warranty work done once, shipped the old XJ by train to a dealership once.
My mechanic now is a Peugeot mechanic, he doesn't BS (if he doesn't know, he says I don't know), never overcharges, his automotive basics knowledge is exceptional. If he has an XJ specific question, he never hesitates to call. All around good guy, who is trustworthy and reliable. Something I've never been able to find at a dealership in my 50 some years of looking.
One thing that really pixxes me off, is when the dealer charges you for a job that should be a recall and then in all likelihood bills Jeep for the same job. Or gets your Jeep in the shop for a recall and then bills you for a bunch of work that you never asked for.
Some of my all time favorites was being billed for grease and finding all the Zirks dry and then on a hunch finding out the front Karden had been dry for years, through numerous so called grease jobs. On my YJ they rounded the drain plug on the tranny and left it, then they tried to charge me for the oil, that they never put in the tranny. The list goes on and on. Or the time I brought my own synthetic (in the early years of synthetic oils) and afterwards found green oil on the dipstick and nobody had a clue where my oil went and the seatbelt they were supposed to fix on a recall still didn't retract.
I wasn't born with a dealership prejudice, it is something I acquired over the years from many distasteful experiences.

[Darky]

I took mine in for the E22 recall. After getting the cat replaced the check engine light immediately came on. I brought it back and they claimed that it wasn't their fault, but they could fix it...for $384. It was just the throttle position sensor. Me and a buddy did it in 10 minutes and the part only cost me $34.90 through the NAPA down here. I know the parts department at the Volvo dealer here so they let me use their discount when I need parts. The dealer quoted me $120 for the part, leaving what was likely 2 hrs of labor to make up the difference. I could've changed the part myself with nothing but my fingers to undo the screws.