So, this morning I take my car in to have the fluids changed (I bought it used, private sale lots o' kms, and needed to start fresh), and when I come back to pick it up the guy behind the counter tells me that it's basically going to cost me THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of dollars to fix what's wrong with it and is basically telling me that it isn't even road worthy.

As I'm listening to this jackoff rhyme off the dozens upon dozens of things that are wrong with my car, I'm pretty much thinking of pulling a Thelma & Louise (i.e. getting in the car and driving off a cliff with it), dread washing over me, and thinking that at the tender age of 29 I still wasn't ready to delve into the world of car ownership. THE BLOODY FREAKIN' REPAIRS WERE GONNA COST ME MORE THAN WHAT I PAID FOR IT!!!

Luckily I had to take my husband to pick up his car at his local garage and they did a complete re-check of my car based on the looooong list of things the dealership found (for no charge, might I add) and A) couldn't find some of the stuff they had cited, and B) gave me way better prices on the things I do have to get fixed. And let me into the garage to walk me through it, explaining parts and gave me some good troubleshooting pointers (things to watch out for, etc.)

PLUS, while the local garage had it up on the hoist, they noticed that the dealership failed to re-tighten the screw on my transmission and had actually leaked transmission fluid (yeah, the stuff that they had just put in my car) on the way over. Can we say lax?

I cannot understand why ANYONE takes their cars to dealerships to get them fixed! All I have to say is that it'll be a cold day in hell before I ever set foot in the Newmarket Hyundai service department!

Now excuse me, I'm off to write an irate letter......

 

umm wow.. talk about bad service

 

Top 10 reasons not to take your car to a dealership

 

I'm pretty sure I covered all 10 reasons in 1 visit......

 

lol, I love the dealership I got mine from. #1 cochran.. It's huge and the people are so nice.

 

10 reasons to invest in some tools and do everything yourself. smile.gif

 

Wow, that's horrible. I've never had a problem with my dealership.. it is also really big and the people are very friendly.. I've had it there a couple times now and they know me by name =P. Sorry about your luck.

 

it depends on the dealership. the Dealership in College Park Hyundai off of rt.1 (everyone should know this one, Rt.1 goes from Maine to Key West) and that place is depressing, with the exception of a few helpful people. They installed my sister's sunroof backwards and scratched the paint on it. They also forgot to put the inderior panel back in so now it's bare metal. not to mention, it's totally broken again.

charged me $90 just to check the code on my ECU and tell my my door actuators aren't working. it would be free anywhere else. for $90 i could have gotten new door actuators.

lady came in there to get some new windshield wiper blades. she didn't know how to install them so she had one of the guys come out and do that for her. the total was like $60... i even stepped in and try to explain that if you go to autozone/advance you can get them for $4/ pair and put them in yourself.

hyundai dealership is to rip people of. why is it there? because it works and they get money. manassas, VA dealership is awesome. if i get a new car there within the next 10 years it will definitely be from there. people are nice and help you and understand everything.

We've had a Saturn before, and for being 8 years old, they were still pleasantly nice and sent us personal thank you letters, not just letters that they change names to. They would even do complimentary checkups for free.

 

damn, i LOVE the hyundai dealership i get all my parts from and stuff. they are sooo nice and helpful.. duno about getting work done.. but the price on the parts are great, and they suggest other things to do at same times i change parts and stuff..

sounds like you got a bad dealership over there, sucks to hear about that.

 

Sounds like you got hit with the "She's a lady and doesn't know a thing about cars" routine. Thankfully you got your car to a good mechanic who will see to it that you are treated right and with respect. I am not defending your stealership, but they do not make that much money from selling the cars, they make most of their cash from the repairs and maintance they do on the cars they sell.

Personally, I hated my dealership, (Sport Hyundai Dodge in Pleasantville NJ) and I would recommend anybody NOT going there unless you just want to buy parts to put on the car yourself.

Honestly, I used to think that Sport Hyundai Dodge was pretty bad until I bought my Bimmer. The local BMW dealership is also a Honda Acura dealer. They have all sorts of Honda and Acura paraphenalia all throughout the dealship. Hondas and Acuras in the showroom, and even their maintance area is geared towards the cars from Japan.. but go in there looking for a BMW part and you are treated like a second class citizen. I do not get it, the cheapest BMW is like twice the price of the most expensive honda, you think the dealership has it all backwards?

Anyway, good luck with your new mechanic, I think he already passed the test by letting you in the service bay and explaining what needed to be done and showing you. Not many people would do that to anybody.