well ive worked for dealerships for about 5 years now so i know ways of saving money....

here are a few tips if you ever need to bring the car in:

1. Most "fuel injection services" involve basically using a can of chemicals in your fuel system to get rid of gunk
you can do the same thing with about 10 minutes of your time using a can of b12 or seafoam....and it will only cost you about 5 bux instead of about the 80+ most places charge

2. Look for overlaps in work this is where you will get raped the most so keep that in mind. For example, lets say you need brakes and while they are doing the work they find you have a busted axle and want to charge you 1.5 hours to do the work. Well the mitchell book does say 1.5 hours but that includes removing the tire, brakes etc...which they just charged you for on the brake job

3. ALWAYS ask to see the mitchell manual and go by that. If your at a dealer ask to see the warranty flat rate manual. You would be surprised on how many people have paid for a engine that the warranty flat rate manual says would pay 7 hours to do....and the customer gets charged 10

4. Before any work is done, ask what there labor rate is if they say 80 a hour hold them to that. some places "round up" for example they say 80 a hour job takes 5 hours you should pay no more than 400 for labor some places will charge you 421.30 cuz they can...

5. "Shop supplies and hazardous waste" EVERY place you go to will charge you this....ask them to take it off they do it to try to get back money on supplies like shop rags and uniforms BUT they write them off anyways so it looks like pure profit usually askin them to take it off can save you up to like 20 bux

6. Be nice and courtous and dont be over bearing to them...then when you get the bill ask for a 10% discount they will hook you up most of the time...i do all the time but if your a ass ill give you a 5% just cuz i dont like you. now if you got them to do the work at the warranty price dont bother askin for the 10% cuz they are already bending over for you...

7. dont be afraid to ask for the parts that were replaced back there yours anyways and for piece of mind youll know they were replaced but let them know you want them before you go in most parts go in the trash...

8. if your military always ALWAYS ask for a 10% discount vets this means you too same if your a AAA member most of the time they will give it to you

9. if your gettin a deal on work done....dont ask for a car wash unless they offer it to you its a slap in the face to them its a dealership not a rain tunnel take the money you saved and get a good car wash

10. while dealerships can be shady...they have certified techs that can get the work done fast if you take it to billy bobs auto shop and ask for a fuel filter replacement and hes never done one he will try to rape you in charges since it took him longer now at a dealership they do those all the time so its quick

11. if you go in for a warranty repair and decide you need a timing belt replacement. tell them you will give them a all "excellent" survey if they give you 20% off surveys are extremely important to them put it this way if we are nice to customers and do a good job and get a high grade on our surveys............i get a bonus and i dont even talk to customers half the time i sit in the back away from the world....

12. Maintenence services are a joke here is how you get a maintanence service for half off. look over the service and see what exactly is replaced and one by one have them replace the parts.....then ask them to do a free inspection about 200 of the service is "inspections" which if they are a good shop they will do a free basic inspection for you in order to try to upsell somethin if they upsell enough, alot of places will give them bonuses

13. Goodwill, Every dealership has it and can use it. If your out of warranty and need somethin done and its reasonable tell the service department youll give them a good survey if they can goodwill somethin for you most of the time i can get it at least to the point where the customer pays half and warranty pays the other.



hope this helps yas if i remember more ill add to it later....

Always ask questions of the members here too. They can either help you fix your problems without going to a shop or can give you an idea of what you should be paying for that repair. No matter what it is, someone's already had it done.
Nice post David fing02.gif

Great tips.. ill try some.

Nice tips... i did the Goodwill thing a couple weeks ago and got HMA to split the cost of a repair with me. The people at HMA warranty services seem to be really nice too.... i was constantly getting calls updating me on the status of my claim. smile.gif

What's the b12 or seafoam your talking about?? I need my fuel system cleaned but would rather do it myself to save that much money

Nice tips, i can't read them all because of time shortage but i will try to read them fully when i will be free.

Never really used them, as 99% of work is done by me anyways.



Best thing you can do is demand old parts back - Rotors, clutches, timing belts (things that do not have core charges) - This way you can see what was replaced, and why.



I find that mechanics are OK, but don't get too comfortable with them - They will take you for a ride if you let them :)

An easy cheap way to clean injectors is to add a quart of ATX fluid to 10 gallons of gas. The fluid will not evaporate off the tips of the injectors and over a tank full will clean them right up nicely.

I was going to start a celebratory thread but I'll put it here because this thread got bumped. I was going to get a new timing belt and gear oil for the transaxle today but I went and checked the maintenance log book on the car first. Timing belt has another year to go and the gear oil was just changed and I'd forgotten! $100 saved by not doing unnecessary maintenance wOOOOO! :happyanim: