I had that happen to me a few years ago at a Subaru dealer. My wife and I just had our son and wanted to get a bigger car for her. She really wanted the new Outback so we went to the Subaru dealer and test drove it and the salesman just didn't think we were serious. Went down the road to the Volvo dealer and picked up an XC70 instead.
6
Stories of VW Dealers
- Thread starter Coogie
- Start date
I had that happen to me a few years ago at a Subaru dealer. My wife and I just had our son and wanted to get a bigger car for her. She really wanted the new Outback so we went to the Subaru dealer and test drove it and the salesman just didn't think we were serious. Went down the road to the Volvo dealer and picked up an XC70 instead.
sterkrazzy
Autocross Champion
I feel like that's just a subaru dealer thing. I went to test drive one. All they did was make a copy of my license, handed me the keys, and off I went on the test drive all by myself. I think they just stand around until someone comes straight out and tells them they're ready to give them their asking price, and then they finally get off their seat.
nvturbo
Go Kart Champion
In my situation, I took my pre-schooler daughter with me that day. I guess the salesguy "assumed" I was just there to waste his time. Seriously, if I'm with my kid, why would I bother take her to look at cars out of boredom? Chuck E. Cheese would have been a better choice.
gdub09
Ready to race!
Agreed! I remember I went to test drive like an 04 WRX years ago and it was slightly modded. Drove it, could hear a misfire, took it to my buddy's shop and ran codes. It had multiple codes for misfires and other things. Took it back to Subaru and told them we'll pay 8K to take it and they just laughed. They're like "we're asking 16k, there's no wiggle room, especially not at half." We left and I've never gone back to that dealer. Sure enough some dumbass kid bought it for 16k the next week.
Trytun
Go Kart Champion
I went in for a simple oil change at Puente Hills VW and was basically told that if I leave my car with them since it’s modded, I’ll have issues - they don’t touch anything modded and they report anything that is. Turned around and walked right back out the door. I needed a new intake hose because another shop melted mine with a shop lamp and refused to own up to it and went back to Puente Hills VW. They wanted to charge me $220 for just the hose, that really basic sandwich plastic hose - $220. I ended up just buying the full Unitronic intake. I hate that place and I shudder when I drove past it everyday on my way to work.
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Desertnate
Passed Driver's Ed
I've had a pretty good experience with two local dealerships.
Dealer #1 is where I leased and then bought out the lease on my car, so technically it was two sales. Both times the entire process of the sale was done in under an hour. I had the same salesman both times and he was easy to work with via e-mail to prep everything and ensure everything was ready. Their fees were a little high on the buyout, but I still got a good deal overall.
Dealer #1: Has a really busy service department. That is their only fault, and it leads to the service adviser area being hectic and you can stand in line during peak times. They offer service loaners, so that is a huge plus.
Dealer #2: I know one of the service writers, so I get free advice occasionally. Their service is pretty quick, but they don't offer a loaner. Their parts department is pretty good as well. I actually bought my battery there because it was cheaper than any of my local parts stores. They don't offer service loaners, but they are close and pretty speedy with the work due to being less busy than dealership #1.
My car has been really reliable, so once I got over the water pump service campaign and my free service ran out, I've either done it all myself or had my family mechanic do the routine work.
Dealer #1 is where I leased and then bought out the lease on my car, so technically it was two sales. Both times the entire process of the sale was done in under an hour. I had the same salesman both times and he was easy to work with via e-mail to prep everything and ensure everything was ready. Their fees were a little high on the buyout, but I still got a good deal overall.
Dealer #1: Has a really busy service department. That is their only fault, and it leads to the service adviser area being hectic and you can stand in line during peak times. They offer service loaners, so that is a huge plus.
Dealer #2: I know one of the service writers, so I get free advice occasionally. Their service is pretty quick, but they don't offer a loaner. Their parts department is pretty good as well. I actually bought my battery there because it was cheaper than any of my local parts stores. They don't offer service loaners, but they are close and pretty speedy with the work due to being less busy than dealership #1.
My car has been really reliable, so once I got over the water pump service campaign and my free service ran out, I've either done it all myself or had my family mechanic do the routine work.
Coogie
Ready to race!
I think once you get outside your warranty, dealers go all out on charging exorbitant amounts of money for the smallest things or unnecessary repairs. It’s appalling what dealers have gotten away with. Those that have a trustworthy mechanic, maybe at a non-dealer shop, are lucky.
Bringing your kids to shop for cars is actually great. I'm doing this with my wife now. She goes on the test drive and my cars run around like maniacs touching everything. And because I have a 4y.o and a toddler I'm not forced to actually talk to any of them/
sterkrazzy
Autocross Champion
I've used the same mechanic for the last 7 or 8 years and as long as he has a shop open he'll probably be the only person to work on my car. I trust him completely as he's never given me a reason not to and he's got fair pricing. Even when something on my car fails that would be covered under warranty I take it to him. The shop itself I've been going to for over 10 years, but he bought it 7-8 years ago and he's been way better than the previous owners.
I bought a cts intake, from cts, but he sells them too. A little over a year later I noticed the filter on the intake was just trash, holes all over the filter. I called CTS asking if there was anything they could do, nope, out of warranty. Then I called my mechanic to ask what size filter would be best. He found me a k&n filter for $35 and then gave it to me for free. It's little shit like that that makes a big difference.
cbenjes
Go Kart Newbie
Dealership service departments come in a variety of flavors. They are great for warranty work. I have found that if you know what you are talking about, you can get decent treatment and fend off the "while we are at it, you need X" recommendations. Upselling is a moneymaker for any business. Too much upselling could cause a business to get a bad reputation.
However, if you do not know much about cars, you are at their mercy and you stand a good chance to pay high prices for services like oil changes, brake jobs, blinker fluid changes, muffler bearings and other things they "find" wrong with your vehicle that need to be fixed NOW.
It's always great to have a local independent shop that specializes in repairs on your vehicle. I am fortunate to have 3 great mechanics around me. Not all people have that luxury. A good, honest mechanic is worth his weight in gold.
However, if you do not know much about cars, you are at their mercy and you stand a good chance to pay high prices for services like oil changes, brake jobs, blinker fluid changes, muffler bearings and other things they "find" wrong with your vehicle that need to be fixed NOW.
It's always great to have a local independent shop that specializes in repairs on your vehicle. I am fortunate to have 3 great mechanics around me. Not all people have that luxury. A good, honest mechanic is worth his weight in gold.
Coogie
Ready to race!
I just found out my parents recently went to a GMC dealer and paid 1200 for three coils to be replaced on their Acadia. They figured it would be the last work they needed done on this car. Sure enough they needed to get something looked at soon after, but went to a local shop we have gone to for years. They said the coil was only 25 bucks a pop and they got ripped off.
I wish there was a way for them to get their money back.
Phur
Autocross Champion
[emoji47]
Seriously... fuck the stealerships! If some of you have a decent one by you, I am thrilled for you, but I have never been anything but fucked.
I pretty much don’t trust anyone to do anything anymore though. Nobody cares. I don’t get it. I wish that I could just learn to do absolutely everything that I need done in life myself.
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Seriously... fuck the stealerships! If some of you have a decent one by you, I am thrilled for you, but I have never been anything but fucked.
I pretty much don’t trust anyone to do anything anymore though. Nobody cares. I don’t get it. I wish that I could just learn to do absolutely everything that I need done in life myself.
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Wascally Wabbit1
Drag Racing Champion
At least you're not bitter.
I have had mixed results with dealers. VW in Anchorage, AK was terrible. Took my car in because I smacked a curb in the snow.. Took 6 weeks and almost 5K to fix. The SA went on vacation for 2 weeks and my car sat untouched while he was gone. Later the same dealer did an oil change and my turbo blew on the way home. Took it to a local shop and they said likely the dealer put in the wrong weight oil and on an already worn shaft that was the death blow. The problem in Alaska is outside the dealer there are very few import shops and at the good ones (there are 2) there is a long wait to get your car in the shop.
In California I haven't had any issues other than price but I just get fluids done there as it is usually the same price there as anywhere for oil changes and what not. Out of curiousity I asked my local dealer what it would cost to do plugs at 60k and they quoted me $425. I had a good laugh at that and asked for an oil change and they said I needed a 60K. I told them to change the oil and brake fluid as that was the only thing that wasn't "inspect". That's were they get you is on service. I'm generally not going to waste my time doing fluid changes when I'm only going to save 40 bucks or so but everything else I try and do myself. So far thanks to the forums I haven't found anything I couldn't do myself.
VAG-COM has saved me a ton of cash. The only reason I even do fluids at the dealership is there is one right by my house and they have a really nice lounge and a really good looking receptionist.