In my own experiences and what I’ve read on here (other communities) it seems like there’s a common misconception that a certified dealership is a vehicles cure all. I hope that makes sense.
Why is that ?
Like any other garage, a dealership is staffed by people. They may have factory training, tools, systems and help lines to call, but they still have employees that range from brilliant to can’t diagnose their way out of a wet paper bag.
They can’t attract decent techs, the working conditions are usually toxic, and a lot of them don’t pay enough to keep the decent guys, this isn’t all, there will be some that aren’t owned by large groups (who invariably are the profits only vultures), that will retain talented staff by looking after them.
I think a great example is I’ve been going to a Chevrolet dealership for months and my Silverado would stutter when I accelerated/came to a stop. It got so bad that it eventually didn’t turn on. That issue happened 2 days AFTER the dealership did a “40 point inspection” and told me she was fine.
$4k later with a mechanic shop, she was most definitely not fine lol Needless to say, won’t be going to a dealership for anything moving forward
I’ve had a dealer recommend me work (wipers, belt, thermostat and coolant change) less than 3 months since they changed it. You’d think they’d have a quick look at their records before writing up a work list
That’s a sign that they have to invent work to stay busy, a decent tech team stays busy because they do good work and the jobs keep coming in without needing to do this, everyone wants value for money, that means good work at a reasonable price = return custom.
Absolutely, they’ve also recommended other work before. the only reason why I went there is I had an extended warranty when I bought it from them that requires them to service it, but that is due to end before the next service.
You need a small workshop that employs decent talented guys without the eye watering costs and lies, I work in such a place in the UK, we get some very big, hard jobs and we suck them up gladly, our actual labour rate is a third of the price of the dealers, we never advertise, never have done, we have a one month lead time permanently, unless it’s a regular customer in an emergency situation. Some of our work comes from other repair shops who are scared of the big technical jobs and lack the tech talent.
Put me on your customer list, I’m moving to the UK just for this!