Subaru "technicians" at the dealership

I have nothing against their service people, it's just that their techs who work in the back who are just a bunch of monkeys who don't care about doing the job right.

 

I went to the dealership to have my annual inspection and oil change done.

 

The "tech" takes my car and drives it around the building. I had nothing else to do so I walked around to see the used cars they had and I found out by looking at the tracks in the snow that he did a little powerslide with my car when he turned the corner behind the dealership. I forgive them for that, I find it hard to resist too when turning around a snowy corner with nothing around. It just doesn't really makes professional.

 

The car is done and I get the paperwork. It says on the paper "Set all tires at 32 PSI". I appreciate that they took the time to adjust my tire pressure but the specs for my car are 35 in the front and 33 in the rear and I've already adjusted it recently. It's not like it's hard to find, it's written right on the inside of the driver's door frame. A subaru tech should know that. And I already know by experience that 32 PSI in the front will make the car handle like the tires were made of marshmallows which is neither fun or safe.

 

So I bring it to the attention of the guy at the counter who was young and apparently not very experienced. He tried a couple of BS excuses like "It's snowing and slippery outside so we adjust pressure accordingly" or "we adjust the pressure lower because of the cold" but I could see that he knew that he was wrong and shy about it and they had the car back in the bay for a quick pressure adjustment anyway so I didn't bothered arguing. I didn't wanted to be an asshole either.

 

The car came back, I paid and just by precaution before I took off I checked my tire pressure. They've put it at 33 psi for all wheels. I wasn't happy that a SUBARU "tech" can't get the tire pressure right on the first time, but the fact that he couldn't even get it right the second time even if it was clearly told to him really pissed me off. I took out my cigarette-lighter-plug-powered compressor out of the trunk and adjusted the pressure myself right there in front of the parts/service door. At this point, I decided to also check the oil level because I didn't trusted their techs anymore. At least they got the oil level right, sort of.

 

These are not big or serious mistakes, but they're clear sings that their techs don't give a damn about doing a good job. And I don't trust them anymore because of that. It was the last time I go to that dealership for service.

Its not fair to condemn all dealers for one dealer's fuckup.

Post up dealer's name so others can avoid them

At least they didn't tell you they needed to "burp" the intercooler as part of the 30k service, or that the short throw shifter was the reason for the shifter bezel gap!

What a joke. I am going in for my 30k service this week. My dealer is OK so I tihnk things should go well.

 

Very disheartening to see stuff like that go on.

At least they didn't put a screw in your fuel tank to stop a heat shield rattle

I'm not blaming all the dealerships, I'm blaming this dealership in particular (Fredericton Fox Vlovo Subaru FYI). I drive down to Québec once in a while and I've had some minor warranty work (rattles) + oil changes done a couple of times at Lévis Subaru and their service is excellent and they really care about doing the job right.

 

But I can't believe that the Fredericton dealership hired such a slob. That so-called "tech" who don't even bother doing his job right. He knows that the standard tire pressure is displayed right on the side of the driver's door but he didn't even bothered looking. He just puts 32 psi everywhere on everything because he's just too goddamn lazy to take 5 seconds to see what pressure the tires should be at. And after you tell him that this isn't right and that the standard is 35 front and 33 rear, he just pretends to fix the problem even if it was an extremely easy to solve problem. This is the equivalent of telling me "f*ck off, I'll do whatever I want". Such people doesn't deserve a job.

 

Tire pressure isn't a very serious issue, but that gives you a clear idea of that guy's work ethics and I REALLY wouldn't like someone like him to do a more important job on my car.

i don't have these issues since I know the techs who work on my car. In fact, this morning we were at the dealer, in the back, having lunch with the techs after I ordered the new car. Yes, not all of them are professional, which is why only a select few work on my car. When my car goes in for service, I know it will be driven hard on the test drive. Does it bother me? no, because that is how I find out if there's something wrong with it. That's how I found out about the slipping VB and gears, as well as many other hose leaks and rattles. under normal driving, these things were hardly noticeable (or I guess I wasn't paying much attention). Good thing they romp on it and know what they are looking for... or I'd also have $5500 in an IPT built tranny right now.

 

some dealer service depts suck ass. I am glad mine doesn't.

Yeah its honestly hit or miss, but most of the time, its the service manager's fault. Most techs know what they're doing, some are idiots and slobs, but its hardly ever their fault.

 

Thankfully I have an awesome dealer in jax

Every single time I brought my old Legacy into the dealership for an oil change they always screwed up the pressure...always!! They must have some whacked theory on setting the pressure different then what its rated for.

I take my new Legacy to a private shop where I know all the Techs are top notch and don't cut corners. Dealership Service can be like rolling the dice.

Not all Mechanics get a flat hourly wage....the faster they finish jobs the more money they get.

Um... unless the shop is unheated, the pressure should be set higher than what the sticker states so that they are correct when the tires and their air drop back down to ambient air temperature.

The theory I was referring to was laziness...

I would keep my old tires at the Legacy recommended 32/30,

I go in for oil change and car always returned at 32/32.

Truth of the matter is I don't think the average car owner does regular pressure checks so lazy Techs could care less about a few PSI difference.

At least they didn't put coolant into the wrong reservoir...twice. And then tell you that the engine is designed to overheat.

last time I went in they put all tires @ 35....

At least they didn't put coolant into the wrong reservoir...twice. And then tell you that the engine is designed to overheat.

 

I would've went ballistic on them if they did that to me!!!

I've been thru a number of bad dealerships (Nissan) and have just found a decent one, who recognized straight-away to give me their most anal-retentive technician.

THAT I like.

Sometimes, you gotta just keep looking until you find a good one.

 

I think it's true that MOST of these techs are paid to finish jobs FAST, and they do ALOT of jobs each day. The REAL difference is in the Svc. Mgr's who interface with the customer....they have the abiity to make things right, if the tech's fall short.

 

Anymore I still prefer to stay away from the dealerships and do basic svc. myself -- but when i DO have to go to the "stealership", I make it clear what i want and what I expect BEFORE they do the service.

 

Be fair - be clear - and be firm. If they don't treat you right - go elsewhere.

I dont know... Being mad at a dealership because the tire pressure was off by 1 psi from what they said, is not right. Maybe their gauge was off by 1 psi. Maybe your gauge is off by 1 psi. You can ask them to readjust the tire pressure using YOUR gauge if you'd like, but I haven't seen anybody go anal about tire pressures. I seen people go crazy about the oil not being exactly at the full level on their dipstick, oil change reminder sticker not being on straight, and how there are missing tire valve cover caps. But being 1psi off is like WOW.

I would've went ballistic on them if they did that to me!!!

 

It happened in December and I'm still dealing with it. The general manager fired the tech that worked on my car and the service manager. Unfortunately, the service manager was the only one that was pulling for me to get compensated properly. In fact, during my last conversation with the general manager, he said that I would only receive a refund for the service if I signed away any right to a future claim.

 

I met with a lawyer but he said that we can't do anything until the vehicle is basically dead. At the moment, there was negligence but no outward damage. We could have the engine taken apart and have the cylinder heads measured at my expense, but if nothing is wrong, then I foot the bill ($$$).

 

Right now, the Illinois Attorney General's office is trying to mediate it. Subaru of America has offered me $1,500 cash towards a new vehicle independent of any other offers or dealership incentives. Nice gesture, but not enough for a potentially destroyed powertrain. The coolant level has dropped slightly since the car was served properly but it might have been air bubbles.

 

Consumer rights lawyers are hard to find. I guess there isn't very much money in fighting for the little guy.

Do any of you work on cars for a living?

As far as your tire pressure goes, maybe your gauge and their gauge are different give the guy a break man.

The techs at Irvine Subaru are very nice to me - I don't treat them like jerks either.

Read the story carefully before thinking that I went insane on them for a 1 psi difference because this is not true.

 

And it can't be just gauge difference because they clearly wrote it on paper "Set all tire pressure to 32 psi" and I even asked if that part on the paper was true and they said yes. So they actually didn't cared about putting the proper pressure in the tires. And I know by experience that 32 psi in the front will make the car handle like crap so I would've adjusted the pressure back at home anyway so why not make the tech do it the way he was supposed to on the first place?

 

And after they "fixed" the pressure, I gauged all the tires and it gave me 33 psi for all wheels. If they've set the tire pressure properly and my gauge was off, there would've been a 2 psi difference between the front and rear tires anyway.

 

No, it's not just my gauge that is off. It is a cut corners job plain and simple. And I stayed very polite too.

And to answer your question:

Do any of you work on cars for a living?

No I don't. But my job consists in inspecting and repairing a fleet of specialized equipment and it really pisses me off when I get one one that had a crap job done to it or was damaged by another tech who didn't gave a damn about it because it wasn't his.

i was a mechanic/tech as well as a shop owner for over 35 years. yep there can be screw ups. tire pressure is subjective. my shop saw many underinflated tires. we always inflated them about three lbs over the recommended amount for several reasons. temp, customer inability to check/inflate tires, etc. gauges can be as far off as 5 psi so maybe the gauges are differant. but what i think you need to do is just realize that things can be differant and just adj them yerself. most techs want and do do the right thing. they really don't have time to mess with you. i've had and seen all kinds of issues. some reasonable and some not. but you must be reasonable and calm and level headed to get anything. i have almost had customers arrested cuz they would be unreasonable no matter what i offered to do. that is their place of work. what would you do if someone came into your place of work and let loose?? we are people like you and when you talk down to us we just shut down. best,

 

george

My husband works at the "stealership" as a service advisor. I know all the mechanics and techs personally, see them on a regular basis. As I said before, there are only a handful of techs who touch my car because it's modified. They understand modded cars and know what to look for. Other techs don't want to touch the car because they really don't know what they're looking at. That's fine by me.

 

I have been to many dealership service departments and small shops. Some techs are good and some are pretty much idiots. I have found this to be true at both dealership service depts and small shops. I believe it's luck of the draw. Finding good techs and hard workers isn't an easy task, not to mention trying to make customers happy.

My husband works at the "stealership" as a service advisor. I know all the mechanics and techs personally, see them on a regular basis. As I said before, there are only a handful of techs who touch my car because it's modified. They understand modded cars and know what to look for. Other techs don't want to touch the car because they really don't know what they're looking at. That's fine by me.

 

...You liked that "stealership" thing, didn't you??....

 

I agree with this -- i'm not unreasonable , but i AM more demanding than the average customer - and not unrightfully so....I just KNOW more than the avg. customer about their car!

The last tech I had tried to tell me that i wasn't using the correctly rated API index on my motor oil. (mobil1)

Next time i came in, I had printed-off a page from API's site proving that I was indeed correct. I wasn't a dick about it....I merely made a joke about it when I presented it to the svc. advisor AND the mechanic.

It pays to be nice to people!

 

gr

before my husband worked in service, as a regular consumer, I also felt that all dealership service dept were stealerships and out to screw me over. What I actually find, is that no, they want to do their job, and take pride in what they do.

 

I can also say, that being married to one of the most anal service advisors on the face of this planet has it's pros and cons. I am constantly reminded of what's covered or NOT covered under warranty should one of my latest "adventures" back fire. that's ok, because he also makes sure the cars are running well and they are more than taken care of when it comes to regular and routine maintenance. Nothing but the recommended or better goes into the car, often times well before they need to be due to my driving style and the fact that i do track my car. Our techs are extremely knowledgeable (which I will admit is rare to find at a dealership) and if they were more organized or had enough money, could easily open their own shop and a flock of customers would go running to them.