Wrapper

"SAMMM" <zammy@pghmail.com> wrote in message
news:tYWdnX1EdP2zM7PYnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@pghconnect.com...[color=blue]
> your explanation is accurate, but the very thought of going back or going
> to ANY dealer gives me cold shivers.
> in my experiennce, i have never found a dealer interested in anything
> but removing the dollars from the customer..
> the disgusting charge for putting a car on the 'computer'
> is robbery.
> this corresponds to macing.
> ten bucks for a diagnosis is reasonable. their prices are not.
> the prices for repair and the parts are high enough to easily pay for
> the 'computer'.
> at this moment i have a dodge van with that code. i'll happily change
> the O2 sensors one at a time and if no joy, i'll change the cat.
> but no going to the dealer. the sensor cost is less that the computer
> test.
> my best to all, sammmm
>[/color]

Yes, there are dealer service departments that are incompetent and/or
dishonest, but 97% of the ones I called on were honest and very competent.
If you are in the San Francisco Bay area, New England, or Chicago's
northwest suburbs, I can give you the names of reputable dealerships. While
all of them usually charge a half or whole hour diagnostic fee, they all
waive the fee if you have repairs performed at the dealership. IMO, that is
a reasonable business practice.

A dealership's service department has much higher overhead than a
comparably-sized independent shop.

For example:

A dealer must purchase factory service manuals for every model year for
every model, while independents can get away with aftermarket manuals and do
easy work, and if it is beyond what they have knowledge of, they say "take
it to the dealer."

A dealer must purchase every special service tool for every model year for
every model, while independents can say "we don't have that tool, take it to
the dealer."

A dealer must send his technicians to technical training every year so that
they are current on new technology, while independents do not have to.

A dealer uses genuine Toyota parts which are backed by Toyota, while
independents can use the cheapest parts they can find, and when the parts
are bad, they blame the failure on something else so they don't have to eat
the labor or parts.

Routine maintenance is much more profitable than diagnosing and repairing
problems. Stuff like transmission and differential service, brake work,
exhaust work, struts and shocks, spark plugs, etc. is profitable work
because the technician can do it quickly and usually does not run into
problems. If you check with the independent shops and chains, most
advertise this kind of work because it is profitable. What you don't see
ads for are specials on diagnosing an intermittent electrical or drivability
problem, because the profit margins for this work is so slim, and the
independents don't even bother with this work.

This extra overhead is what makes dealerships more expensive than
independents. Of course, I don't want to have to pay for that overhead any
more than the next guy, so I do most work on our 3 vehicles myself ;-)
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)