(c) copyright, View from Silicon Valley, 2008. All rights reserved.
You may recall our extended joust with car dealers a couple years ago. ("'Investing'
in cars", April 14, 2006, http://www.viewfromsiliconvalley.com/id212.html) We rolled through several brands and
finally ended up replacing a nine-year old car with the low-end Lexus. I'm sure you're all waiting with baited
breath to hear we are still delighted with it.
About this same
time, my seven-year old Mercedes sedan seemed to be reaching the stage where it needed a major service every few
months. Even a minor service on this car tended to run $500, so choosing to replace it rather than "fix" was simpler
than you might think. The Lexus dealer said he had been sitting on a 2003 version of my 1999 model for a couple
months. Over the course of a couple days, we settled on a price nearly $6,000 below where other dealers were selling
a virtually-identical car and blue-book price (based on my research) for my 1999 car. (Admittedly, it was
month-end/quarter-end and I was paying cash.)
Even though I was unhappy with the 1999 model, I decided to take
a chance on the 2003 version. It was big enough, fast enough, got the same 420 -450 miles per tank of gas and still had about 10
months of manufacturer's warranty.
All good things
some to an end and this week I finally had to take the 2003 model in for service. Sadly, I followed the path of least
resistance and contacted the dealer.
Based on this
outrageous experience, here is a letter that needs to go to their service manager:
* * * * *
Dear Service
Manager:
I scheduled an
appointment to have my 2003 model car serviced at your facility against my better judgment. Your service adviser's inability
to give me an estimate before I brought in the car heavily reinforced my perception of yours being the scammiest service operation
in the area. Your service adviser trying to steer me to a courtesy ride rather than the "free" loaner car your advertising
promises was just another nuisance compared to the drama yet to come.
When I brought
in the car, your guy heroically read off the service "codes" and brought me into his office to look them up. (BTW,
kudos to Mercedes for inventing another hurdle in front of buyers trying to understand how to care for their
car. No sense giving your customers tools to make them comfortable with the performance of your product.)
Sitting in his
office, he rapidly explained several codes were meaningless or redundant. (Again, I nice touch to make the sucker --err,
customer-- think he might be getting a deal.) Even though several codes didn't indicate a charge, the basic "service"
was still $350.
Your guy pushed me to sign up for a transmission flush based on,
"even though the manufacturer says you don't need this until 90,000 miles, we recommend it at 45,000."
"Oh really? There's not an actual problem? You just
'recommend' this service 450,000 miles early?"
"Yes," he replied in his best effort to seem earnest.
"Are you kidding me? No thanks!"
OK, standard service gig, if the cost exceeds this amount, you
have to get additional permission.
About an hour
later, your guy called to inform me the car needed brakes. As an aside, this is the same guy who told
me February, 2007 that I needed brakes. When I pushed back at that time on why or how, he "clarified"
that I didn't actually need brakes but would need them before my next service. He was "offering" them to me as a "convenience"
and "to save you time." (Yeah, right.)
Needless to say, a
year went by and here I am safe and sound without those brakes you tried to sell me in 2007.
Back in the moment this week:
"Uh-huh, how
much for brakes?," I asked.
"$595 for pad
and rotors." your guy replied.
I quickly thought
to myself, "Wow, that's not so bad!"
"Then $795 for
the rear pad and rotors," he added after a short pause.
"Are you kidding
me? $1,400 just to do the brakes? On top of the $350?"
"Yes, we can
finish it today," he replied.
"OK, stop. Don't do anything on this car until I call you
back."
A couple calls and call-backs found one independent garage quoting
$1,050 and another quoting $623, both using original equipment (i.e., the only differences between the three were the labor
charges!). One of the independents asked how long the "brake service" light I had been on?
At that moment I suddenly remembered my 1999 model had a separate
"brake service" message and so this 2003 model probably did also. And it had yet to turn on!!
I called the
dealer back about 10:00am and told your guy to stop! "Button it up because I coming back to get my car--
right now." Before hanging up, I couldn't resist asking why, if I really needed brakes, was the "brake service" light still not turned on?
He admitted,
"your brake pads are below the manufacturer's recommended replacement level."
"OK, but why isn't the service light on? Doesn't this
mean the brakes are still actually fine?"
"Well, yes. Technically, you don't need the brakes yet.
But the light will come on in the next month or two. Then you'll have the inconvenience of coming back in to get new
brakes."
Apparently, you
have a lot of customers who will drop $1400 on a service before it's actually needed???
Your guy quickly
informed me the rest of the so-called "service" was already done.
"What?
Are you kidding me?? How is it even possible to run up $350 in service charges in less than 90 minutes?"
I immediately
drove back to your dealership and was shocked to discover that according to your so-called "maintenance guidelines" it really
is possible to run up a $350 charge in less than 90 minutes!! Another layer on this very deep and well-planned scam.
Perhaps it was
a coincidence but by the time your guy finally showed up in the service lobby, he said he "found" a coupon reducing
the $350 charge to "only" $240. (But how could there be pre-set coupons if the cost of the service was
really un-knowable before I brought in the car???) Despite including a $2.50 charge for a few cents
worth of windshield washer solution, I decided to finally exercise some of this precious "convenience" by paying and getting
the he** out of there.
I left secure
in the knowledge that for $240, I would never have to deal with your operation ever again.
I later studied the receipt/estimate. In case
I had any doubts about the scam I had just avoided, this document showed your guy planned, apparently before actually seeing
the car or its precious service codes, to recommend:
"Transmission
service, $345" --this is the one I already declined at 8:00am.
"4 wheel alignment
with castor bolts, $370." --There is nothing(!) wrong with my castor bolts nor the alignment. Why would I want
this service when there is nothing wrong!?!?
Obviously, your
service advisers are not trained to provide customers with the service their cars actually require. Instead, their goal
is to maximize your revenue, regardless of what service the suckers' --err, customers'-- car needs.
In case it's
not already clear, it will be a "cold day" before I ever voluntarily set foot anywhere near your operations.
Sincerely,
View from Silicon
Valley
* * * * * *
We're betting some of you will already know, but feel free to
contact us if you would like to confirm the name of this dealer?
* * * * * *
Conclusion:
What's the difference
between necessary maintenance and the bill this dealer tried to run up?
Let's see, a
simple oil change can be done on this car for ~$40.00, maybe $60.00 if you believe the hype about synthetic motor oil.
Using the
dealer could have topped out at $350 + $1400 + $345 +$370 = $2,465.00!?!?
That's a ~$2,400 "difference"
if you use this dealer! For an oil change??? Then in 10,000 miles, you'll be subjected to the same up-selling
and not-quite-lies all over again.
If you read this
far, please refer as many car dealers as possible to this article. Maybe one of them would like to make us a deal
on one of their cars? We have a 2003 Mercedes E320 ready to be traded. Month-end/quarter-end arrives in
a couple weeks...
