Going to service soon MY 2014 50,000klm, will you go to local shop trust the google review or back to same manufacturer dealer to do the service, car no longer under warranty.
Which type you think more professional less mistake?
Car Service Soon Back to Dealer or Trust Local Shop
Winston D on 05/04/2024 - 19:09
Last edited 07/04/2024 - 14:25 by 1 other user
Last edited 07/04/2024 - 14:25 by 1 other user
Comments
Generally you only take your car to a dealer for warranty purposes as the service costs are typically sky high
Unless its still under capped servicing
However as the car is now over 10 years old the warranty has run out and probably capped service costs as well.
So take it to your local mechanic or "pay the price"
Dealers would be very keen for you to use them. It might hurt their feelings if you went elsewhere.
Real men do their own servicing once the warranty is up.
Real men admit they cant do it all !
Real men wait till the car stops working before they change the oil
Real men take it round to Uncle Ian’s on Satd’y mornin, with a carton of piss and a box of darts and let Uncle Ian “have a gander…” at it.
Real men has lots of used oil and oil filters stock piled in their garage.
Real men drive to the desert, dig a hole and dump the oil in there and call it, “what comes out from earth must return to earth”
Of course.
And actually a full University degree on oil&filter changing is fundamental.
Because ABSOLUTELY ALL MECHANICS have done it … some with a postgraduate too …
Fundamental.
I didn't say it had to be a degree. It should also be illegal for anyone to operate as a mechanic that has not completed a course on it. As per the AQF, a degree is Level 7, that is not necessary. I think a Level 3 certification should be satisfactory.
Real man can afford to pay for a service while enjoying greater things in life
Greater things in life like? … doing the lawn? … having a second job? … helping with washing up? … cooking …?
Nah!
Nothing beats having (hot) motor oil in your fingers & hands, running down your arms … that's real life for a real man!!And then, that incredible sense of real achievement … car runs well because of and thanks to me.
Gosh I am good :-]
Hmm if I was a betting man, which I am, I would say…
MY 2014 50,000klm
10 year old car with 50k km.
Just take it to whoever is cheapest, local, and well reviewed/recommended.
Which type you think more professional less mistake
Who knows, you gave basically zero details. Is this a run of the mill Toyota or a fancy BWM?
Either way, its 10 years old. So if you trust the local shop, use them.
Local shop. Phvck the stealership.
you should service YOUR 2014 for more professional. dont think about warranty, its less
Will we ever see a response from OP to one of their posts?
Habitual post and ghost.
Should be some kind of auto forum posting ban imo
No, they've never made a comment on anything. Just pointless posts.
Fair go - there are a lot of people out there that rely on OZB to practice their English.
Think of OZB Forums as livejournal for some people. They don't want an actual answer, just some place to ask the dumb questions.
When I used to take my Civic into the dealership for warranty service they would always give me a whole list of stuff that needed changing. The last time I went, they said I needed to change these air filters and my windscreen wipers etc. I had just changed my windscreen wipers the week before so I was pretty pissed and just said no to everything. 5 years on I haven't had to change anything in a basic service from locals
They are both going to do the same thing -get the apprentice to drop the oil and change the oil filter.
Then old mate with a bit more know how will have a quick squiz for any obvious faults.The only difference will be price.
YMMV
Out of warranty go to local guy. Log book services through dealers are a rip They have a set list of things they will do regardless of whether its needed. In some cases will claim they ahve replaced just to find they never did it anyway. Had been getting my Mazda 3 serviced through Mazda dealer during its warranty. Air filters was one of the things that had been claimed to have been replaced close to the end of that warranty. Started taking it to my local guy and he told me it had never been swapped out Even showed it to me full of crap. The 100 k service through mazda was gonna be 1k, local guy $350. I wouldnt trust a dealer beyond warranty. I only take new cars there to guarantee my warranty so there is no push back from them if anything goes wrong. Once up, i go elsewhere. Can save hundreds each service.
Last stealership service charged me for an oil change but claimed to use 1litre tins of the "special" oil. As there was not an exact amount of oil used I asked for the part used tin in case I needed an subsequent "top ups" . For some reason they could not find the alleged part used tin……
At one dealership I worked at, I was raked over the coals by the service manager because I refused to overcharge for the oil.
We were told to put 7 litres of oil on the invoice for every vehicle. Some of the vehicles only took up to 4 litres (none of the, took anywhere near 7), and this stuff was already expensive AF.
I remember being written up over it and asked to sign the write up and I told them to stick it up their arse that what they were doing was illegal.
Just another of the many reasons I now no longer work for “stealerships”.
Would love to hear some other reasons.
@fantombloo: Another good one was for finding ways to do warranty work, but charge the customer AND the manufacturer with the repair costs.
Manufacturers have a very strict cost set for doing "service bulletin/action" type work (known warranty issues, but not quite "recall" level repairs). We were told that we had to make something up that was wrong with the vehicle that required the warranty part to be removed.
Another was "good will" warranty repairs, where something was just out of warranty (ie: engine blows up with full service history but only 30,000km on it after 5 years…) and we would seek factory assistance to chip in for the repair. A lot of the time, the factory would say "Sure, go ahead and replace that, we will send you an engine…" We were then told to tell the customer that the factory would only pay for the parts and customer would need to pay labour. 75% of the time, customers would just agree… so we got paid for the work form both the factory AND the customer.
Getting used cars in and draining the fuel out of them, then using the fuel in service loan vehicles and then charging customers $3/litre (when retail fuel prices were about $1/litre) if they returned a car without fuel. Even if they returned a car that was full, we had to add 5~10 litres to the invoice because "we could get some more in" even if we couldnt.
Told to sell women anything and everything we could throw at the car that would stick. Make it sound super urgent. We would often take the brake pads and rotors off perfectly serviceable vehicles, put on new shit that it didnt need, then the guys in the workshop would take the pads and rotors for their own cars.
The service manager at one place used to get guys in the workshop to do "cashies" for people he knew and just pocket 100% of the cash for himself and make us add this time onto one or more of the customer jobs.
Charging for shit we never did. Upselling shit that was $2 for $200. Deny EVERY warranty claim straight up and try to get the customer to pay first, then act all put out if we had to submit a warranty claim, then never submit the claim because we already new it was covered.
Robbing parts off one customer's car to put on another, just to get it going, and then charge the owner we swapped the used parts to, as iff those parts were new.
Ratting the warranty parts bin for replacement parts for another car and told to charge that customer the cost of a "new" part.
Service manager getting someone to strip used cars of all the accessories and then selling these accessories back to the new owner, giving them to his mates, or selling it through forums and keeping the profits.
If you think you have been ripped off by a dealership, there is a 100% chance that you have. If you think you have never been ripped off by a dealership… you're wrong.
I tried to do an AMA years ago about be a mechanic and these are the sorts of things I thought I was going to be asked, all it turned out to be was a bunch off people asking me to diagnose their cars for them…
You know of any honest ones?
No. The whole industry is riddled with cancer. It is passed down from manager to manager and when their salary is tied to profit, they will do anything to make that money.
When I go for a service now, I will say "Just the service, nothing more. If it requires anything, do NOT call me, let me know at pick up time, you do NOT have any authority to do anything outside any item listed in the service schedule and any outstanding safety bulletins and recalls…" and I still get fed lines of bullshit at pick up time…
@King Tightarse: Every single dealer I have ever worked for. Every. Single. One. I have worked for Australian brands, Japanese brands and "Euro/prestige" brands, and they have all been the same.
My car is a subaru forester XT , as i saw utube some people mention the diff oil need to change on 50,000klm , the diff oil plug and CVT oil plug very easy to refill the wrong side because one on the left side of transfer case and one on the other side. You will not get in trouble when they do the wrong oil refil on the next day, some case say all engine light will show up after few months later.
A good local mechanic will do a better job for less. Dealerships generally overcharge for sub-standard work.
now you give details
I'm sure there is at least one local mechanic in your neighbourhood.
Either or, you’re still going to get ripped.
Go find a local mechanic and build a lifetime of trust and peace of mind. I don't trust stealerships as they tend to only tick the boxes and never gave any feedback on potential safety concerns. They are only focused on charging excessive amounts compared to the same work done by my independent local, even when I ask that genuine parts are to be used. My local looks over the car and gives great feedback such as tyres, wipers, lights and brake information at every service. A good Mechanic business relies on repeat business patronage through value, workmanship, communication and sincere safety awareness, things I sadly never got from a Dealership..
10yo car? Local mechanic…
Ring and get a quote from both of them and go with the lowest.
Local mechanic with a reputation worth keeping every time.
Exactly this. Your local mechanic's business lives or dies based on repeat business, google reviews and word of mouth. They need their customers to be happy, or they won't have customers.
That doesn't mean they won't have the occasional low review, but if you read it and they sound unreasonable/ like an idiot, you can ignore it.
Dealerships have a built in customer base of people maintaining warranty and with no car knowledge who don't understand there's an alternative. They're also under pressure from bosses to overservice and overquote.
There are some bad local mechanics that churn through new customers ripping everyone off and trying to bury the bad reviews under a load of bot reviews. There are also some that tend to spend the money on expensive real estate and comforts, which as the customer you pay extra for.
Good call on reviews. I always read the low ones to see what they are actually complaining about. Often its just whiny people who would complaint about anything and not genuine problems.
Geez, OP. Would it hurt for you to acknowledge some of the comments made here to assist you?
Basic etiquette…
Here is the "is the local mechanic any good" guide:
Add points for these:
Do they have a dog in the shop? +7pt
Have they sponsored, driven or own a racing car? +5pt
At least one nice/interesting older car in their care? +1pt
Is the loaner car over 10yrs old? +3pt
Is the garage in an industrial estate or fringe area? +2pt
Is their dirt and oil under their nails? +1
Is the waiting room non-existent or bare minimum? +1
Variety of ages/makes of cars in shop? +1pt
Do they make some attempt to show and explain issues rather than just tell you about it and the cost? +4ptDeduct points for these:
Dealership? -10pt
Do they not seem to have any other business? -3pt
Very tyre-focused but not a tyre shop? -2pt
Expensive real estate (main road or central area)? -2pt
Very young apprentice who won't make eye contact? -1pt
Very young mechanics and lots of hoon-y cars in lot? -4pt
Has a receptionist (excl related to mechanics)? -2pt
Music in waiting room other than radio station? -1pt
Do they seem mad if you don't immediately agree to the work they want? -4ptPeople will disagree with some or all of this. Everyone is different. I welcome contributions.
I reckon the waiting room factor is the great teller.
The shinier and posher the waiting room, the more likely they are to commit wallet rape on you.
Great mechanics with a heart of gold probably dont even have awaiting room. If they do its just a filthy old couch.Somewhat inappropriate calendar, extra points if a decade or more out of date.
They need to be out of date because the easily offended types had most of the branded calendars cancelled.
I give points to mechanics that lay thick covers on your paintwork to protect the paint and plastic throws on driver seat and also steering wrap. Cost very little($2 max) to them but it's a nice touch and shows that they care.
I don't care if my car gets washed or carpet sucked, I can do it at the carwash. I brought my car to be serviced not detailed.
Find a decent mechanic for all car servicing.
Dealer servicing is controlled by Restrictive Trading and you cannot be forced to go to them.
As long as your mechanic is qualified for the work.
Go to the local mechanic dealership are the worse…. You dont know what they ve done.
At least local you can see while you wait.
No point doing at the dealership if theres more warranty. Let alone even warranty still available they still waste your time to fix the problems. And going back .
Currently experiencing
Local shop, dealer are typically full of Jnr Machinics on training. Local experienced shop all day long
I've just changed from a dealership to a local mechanic. Car is 12 years old. Manufacturer recommends a service every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first. Receptionist at the local mechanic tells me after I tell her this, "Oh, "old mate" likes to service cars every 10,000km". Of course he does, as he'll earn more! The big tip is I'll be dropping it off as per the MANUFACTURER's recommendation.
15,000kms is too long between oil changes in my book. If you intend to keep the care long term, I would change it at 10, 000 kms max
Dealers have 18 year old apprentices servicing your car
Mechanics are owner operators with many many years of experience.
Both are registered professionals and will get the job done.
Whoever you're comfortable with. Smaller operators aren't cheap these days, and sometimes, you wonder why you should go to them if you're trying to save some coins.
Stopped using dealer service years ago. They are typically located on busy roads not close to home and a PITA to use as a result.
Local mechanic is a few mins walk from my house, does logbook servicing at a decent price and I can walk home grabbing a coffee on the way after dropping the car off.
It depends. If you have a modern car thats around 5 years old. You may want to take it to the dealership for the odd basic service as newer cars generally need software updates or TSBs/recalls that could get actioned at the same time.
If you own a more niche car. It also might take about 5-10 years for third party mechanics and general knowledge to be shared around the forums/youtube.
I own a high milage 2017 Renault Megane GT which I now take to an independent. You would be surprised how difficult sourcing simple consumables like rear rotors or suitable DSG fluid can be outside of the dealer network.
Who in the world knows?
Maybe add a poll to formalise our guesses.