Postby zymol75 » Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:05 pm
As a dealership technician for 11 yrs and Master Certified and a team leader of 5 techs I take offense to certain previous comments. There are idiots in every field of employment. I've had 3 guys that I did not recommend for further advancement in my shop due to their, umm, inadequacies. I, myself left a couple drain plugs loose in the first 2 yrs I ever worked on cars. I replaced those engines for free per my Svc Director. The dealer ate the parts cost. I have had horrible svc at restaurants, online with computer IT "professionals" and on and on. I will never go to a Pepboys to save my life. I can't convince my Father-in law not to. The cheapest id the best he says. well I've replaced an engine in every car he has ever owned due to negligence and he says he was unaware of the need for this or that. whatever. I bypassed the radiator cooler in both my Pathfinder and my wife's QX4 with external coolers from SETRAB. I have 10row SETRAB oil coolers on them both as well. I have also had to replace both radiators in them too. as well as alternators, dash blowers, a/c compressors, brakes, idle air controllers, rubber intake boots, etc. It's called repairs and maintenance. Parts fail new and old. Cars are cars not space shuttles. Even the space shuttle has lackluster technicians on it's staff. Remember the leaky oring in the challenger that was missed? how about the loose tiles on the underbelly of the other one? Be glad you don't burn or explode and die when your vehicle fails. All I'm saying is to swear off a dealer just because it is a dealer is stupid. The local mgr at Applebees here is an a$$ but I frikin LOVE their boneless wings so I enjoy Applebees rather often.
However I do agree that Dealers charge way too much but "Bob's Garage" doesn't give loaners, have a courtesy van, or have a plasma tv lounge or gourmet coffee and strudel... you get what you pay for. The Toyota dealer here even has a massage parlor, free-to-customers deli, and a kidde lounge with more toys than Toysrus and an Xbox complete with games. and they charge 8.88 for an oil change. Good Lord!!
To be more on Topic... Any vehicle that has a hitch... I recommend they add an aftermarket trans oil cooler and an engine oil cooler as standard fare to the pkg. Or pick that from the options list and don't be cheap when you buy the car if you plan on hauling anything.