Re: Mechanics and dealers

[picot@cpcug.org (Chris Picot)]

There is a Washington (D.C.) Consumers Chechbook magazine which is kind of
like a consumers report, but it reports on *services* instead of products.
In general, dealers got the worst ratings for customer satisfaction.  If you
looked at the charts it would seem that the less the mechanics charge, the
better they are.  I cannot imagine why a dealer, who's mechanics supposedly
have the greatest access to factory training, manuals, bulletins, and work
on the same make of car day after day, would not have a good rating.  This
may be due, in part, to the fact that, if people pay the highest labor rates
in their area, and dealers are usually much higher than anyone else, they
expect the best work.  If the work is not done properly the first time they
are not only dissatisfied, they are outraged.  (That is, if you paid for a
Rolls Royce and they deliverd a Yugo, you would be annoyed to say the
least.)  If you are going to a mechanic who you know is charging the lowest
rates, and you have to come back again, you may not be as upset.  Dealers
have a certain arrogance.  They know that a lot of people know nothing about
cars and assume that only a dealer can reair ir properly.  They have a built
in customer base that will pay what ever they charge.  Independents usually
have to earn their customer base. 
 
Anybody in the D.C area should get the mag.  It rates all kind of services.

Chris


At 05:30 PM 9/19/96 -0600, scirocco-l@privateI.com wrote:
>>In 
>>any case, it is something quite easy to diagnose and fix. You don't have 
>>to be an idiot like me, who, 3 years ago, took it to the dealer and paid 
>>about $100 for a new valve and "repair time"... (it probably took them 10 
>>minutes to put the new unit in...)
>>
>>Ilias
>
>Bad luck with the dealer, dude!  Are there any GOOD dealers out there?  I
>have only heard of very rare instances when someone will praise a dealer.
>
>On the flip side, I've gotten incredibly lucky with my mechanic.  He was a
>VW shop guy for 9 or 10 years before setting out on his own, and he has yet
>to rip me off.  I showed up one morning expecting to buy a new wiper motor (
>I have no mechanical skills what so ever ) and he said don't bother,
>tightened up my wiper arms and I was on my way.  Anything at all I ask him,
>if its small he just fixes it, if its big he tells me in advance how much
>it'll be and that's all it costs.  All my friends say his prices are great,
>and they are shocked at how little I pay for things!
>
>Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.  For the honest mechanic...
>
>Brandon Sommerville
>
>Hukt on fonix wurkd for mee!
>
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