Why not the dealer

[jey]

I have not taken the Cadillac to a Cadillac dealer - but that's because it hasn't needed anything in the few months that I've had it.

I did take it to a Chevy dealer for the state inspection, and I will not be taking it back there. The service manager had to come get me to ask how to release the parking brake Obviously they don't see a lot of older Cadillacs, so there is no benefit to taking it to that place. Plus they failed the car - wanted to replace the power steering pump for $350 since it was leaking. I just put some Lucas stop leak in there and got it passed somewhere else.

In general, though, I avoid taking my cars to the dealer (or most shops for that matter) because there seems to be this general attitude that service technicians hate working on old cars. I don't blame them, as I wrench on cars myself. Rusty, seized bolts, unexpected stuff breaks (harder to estimate jobs), things are harder to diagnose, they are less familiar than the new cars that always come in and out of the bays, etc. Fortunately, I like to wrench on cars, and I have plenty of them to go around when one is out of service, so I try to do everything myself - I'll put up with the joy/misery

[Sandy]

I will follow up on my last posting herein.
They did all the work I requested, kept the car spotless, no damage nor scratches, was ready when promised. I thought the bill was fair. It was a very loooong wait, as the car was not brought into the shop for an hour & 20 minutes after the write-up. Then the work took an hour +.

My Lincoln dealer has fabulous service. Voted #1 in the tri-state area, and has been a "President's Award" winner for 10 consecutive years ! (Highest award Ford gives). If my servicing is going to take more than 45 minutes, I get a Town Car loaner. If there are no loaners, I get driven home & picked up. 20 minutes each way. Once when all loaners were out, and the driver that takes people home was out, the owner gave me his Town Car to take home. Their prices are lower than at the above Caddy dealer, but NOT alot lower, a little lower.
I'd give the Caddy dealer a B+ and the Lincoln dealer an A.
My wife's Jeep Cherokee Limited goes to a local Chrysler-Jeep dealer. They are also fabulous! No loaner and No rides home, but very excellent quality work, HUGE parts dept. everything is "in-stock" ALWAYS and all work is professional and car has never been "injured" or made dirty. They get an "A" also. However the girl at the service desk is very snoty! I try & avoid her.

[robertuit]

My experience with dealer shops is to be overdiagnosed and overcharged for what was done. I have a very good and fair auto mechanic in my neighborhood that I have do any repairs. I have never had a drivetrain problem with any of my four (cosecutive) Caddys. The negotiation of purchasing the car generally leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I really don't care to do any furthur business with them.

[Southern-Hospitality]

GM dealers are usually terrible.

Nissan on the other hand are a pleasure to work with.

[Cliff8928]

Originally Posted by robertuit

My experience with dealer shops is to be overdiagnosed and overcharged for what was done.

You mean like the $275 the local Cadillac dealer wanted to charge me for an alignment... I took it to the Chevy dealer across the street for half the price. I figure if they can align a 'vette, they can surely align the STS-V.

[TSS]

Originally Posted by southern-hospitality

nissan on the other hand are a pleasure to work with.

lmao.

[Southern-Hospitality]

Ha ha, I just wanted to test drive a Nismo, not buy one lol

[Caddyshack100]

Interesting Discussion, the local caddy dealer near me, wants 130 per hour for Caddies and 110 for Chevy, his ratio of apprentices to Journeymen mechanics are 6 to 1, most of the time, you are getting an apprentice to work on your car, the mechanic is supposed to check the work but I will bet that alot gets missed as the mech has to make his hours as well, while this problem is not just related to my dealer, parts for the cars are never never in stock, everything except filters has to be ordered in. I ordered a pair of wipers for my seville and they did not have them. Nor did any GM dealer within a 100kilometer radius, they all get them from a central warehouse, the upshot of this is when you go in for service, its a good bet you will not have your car back by five, due to insurance regs no loaners are available, but they will drive you home for a 15 dollar fee, free pickup of course to bring you back. Mechanics today are very very good at what they do, they have to be, smart intelligent and good trouble shooters, they would not eat if they werent.

[CTSV_Rob]

Originally Posted by urbanski

massive markup on parts and labor
incredible ability to scratch, ding, gouge, dent, aubse, and break multiple parts of the car (especially parts nowhere near that one needing fixed)
poor workmanship/laziness/incomplete fixes
no customer engagement/concern/caring
lying/deceit/warranty hassles/runarounds

want more?

^^^some are the mechanic's fault. most are leadership's fault. Lindsay clearly has a leader who has hired staff of all types who have integrity and character.

Saved me from having to type all of that.

A good portion of the damage to my car occured at the dealer and they denied all of it. The technicians don't seem to care and I think urb is onto something, it comes from poor management.

I have found that if I work on my car myself I don't need to worry about the tech putting the drain plug back in.

Bottom line is I am not close to Lindsay.

[z06bigbird]

Lots of garages try to upsell. When dealers upsell, one can end up with a tremendous bill.

In San Antonio, I trust Cavender because I see how he (they) treat their employees. They have some long term employees that they keep in the payroll partially because of employee's long term loyalty, etc. Attitude from top down is: Keep customers happy.

On the other hand, I fear even driving near Ken Batchelor Cadillac. Many stories from private customers, commercial customers, vendors, ex-employees. My personal thoughts.

[LS1Mike]

I do most of my own stuff and my dealers here, well just plain suck. Don't send the Pregnant service writer out to read the codes, When I just did it with a better scanner and have her tell me the car is fine. I had to get angry to have a tech come out and say "Oh yeah she is wrong you are right. You can't drive the car like that. Sorry"
Plus they treat you like you don't know shit about cars.
They never take the time to find out the level of knowledge of the person they are talking to. I know they are busy, but it dosen't take much time to find out what someone ACTUALLY knows about their car.
My experience at the independent shops has been better and I find they will take the time to listen to you.