Dealership service F'up! Always check their work!!!

[resq302]

Ok, this is not a Dodge related subject but good for everyone to think of.  After having numerous problems with my 2005 Ram and Mopar buying it back, my dad and I got 2005 Ford F150 stepside FX4 trucks and love them better than the Dodges.  Anyway, my truck went in on Monday for a hard shifting problem and the dealership needed it for another day to replace a check valve ball.  I picked it up yesterday only to have it shift worse slipping and banging.  After driving it home, I checked the trans fluid only to find NOTHING on the dip stick.  I called the service manager and ended up being switched to his voice mail.  Now my truck is back there after having to drive it back, yes, I said drive it back to the dealership.  Now my trans is probably FUBAR.

As sad as it is to say, I am now going to have to check everything that is repaired anymore as this is the second dealership that something like this has happened.  The first time, my wife was charged for an air filter that they never installed.  (dealership where we purchased my truck and her Escape)

Just an FYI to all fellow car enthusiasts to make sure your mechanic is doing the work correctly, not half A$%*D. 

[70charginglizard]

Lesson learned here.

Never go to the dealer! 

[resq302]

Where else can you get warranty work done. 

[andy74]

having grown up in dealerships,and seeing what kind of goobers they hire for the lube bay/oil change guy i can see what you are talking about,walmart and good year are worse!

[resq302]

Well, I just got a call from the service advisor who said that my truck is ready.  That it was "only a quart low" and the trans cooler must have "opened up".  He is claiming no damage was done to my trans as the fluid that was in there was still clean and not burned.  At least I have it on record that my truck went in for "NO TRANS FLUID ON THE DIPSTICK" notated on the work order and I signed the work order so if anything happens to the trans later on, I have it on record.  Of course the dealership will try to say that it has nothing to do with the trans going after the warranty is up.

This is why I like to the work MYSELF so I know it is done right!  Funny thing is the service advisor when I called to make the initial appointment, he complained that I only bring my truck in for warranty work that they never see my truck for service.  Hmmmm..... after this incident, I can't understand why I do my own oil changes.  By the way... the truck only has 16,000  miles on it!

[no318]

I am an instructor at a techinical college.  I help prepare students for careers in the auto. field.  I used to be a dealership tech and then a GMC service manager.  I must say that there are good and bad in dealerships and independent shops.  There is NO WAY that anyone can be a master of ALL aspects of auto. repair.  Especially current things.  It sounds like a mistake was made in your situation, but I am sure that there are alot of aspects of your Ford that they are way more up to date with than you are.  Doing you own work is your perogative, but it seems that you have had WAY more than your share of bad luck.  I just don't think it is fair to say that you know more and are a better tech than ANY dealership.  Just my 2 cents worth. 

[41husk]

My Challenger is in the shop now, not a dealer but a trusted tech, I rebuilt my 340 fired it up tuned it, changed the oil and found lots of metal.  I don't talk much about other peoples screw ups, I seem to do just fine on my own.

[resq302]

No318,

I never said that I know every last thing on a vehicle.  I have had a Dodge dealership not tighten up an oil filter only to leak out at least a quart of oil by the time I got home.  When they went to take the oil fill cap off, they broke that off so they could not add any oil.  Granted, this involved working with some internal parts of the trans which I would rather not attempt if I could avoid it, however, something as simple as running the vehicle to make sure there is enough fluid in the trans should not be overlooked.  Stupid litte mistakes like this make a customer leary about bringing in a vehicle for service.  

When I worked part time for a tire service center (ETD), if I had a doubt about something, I checked it again.  Its not worth the lawsuit to overlook lug nuts that are only tightened by hand instead of double checking them with a torque stick.

[no318]

No318,

I never said that I know every last thing on a vehicle.  I have had a Dodge dealership not tighten up an oil filter only to leak out at least a quart of oil by the time I got home.  When they went to take the oil fill cap off, they broke that off so they could not add any oil.  Granted, this involved working with some internal parts of the trans which I would rather not attempt if I could avoid it, however, something as simple as running the vehicle to make sure there is enough fluid in the trans should not be overlooked.  Stupid litte mistakes like this make a customer leary about bringing in a vehicle for service.  

When I worked part time for a tire service center (ETD), if I had a doubt about something, I checked it again.  Its not worth the lawsuit to overlook lug nuts that are only tightened by hand instead of double checking them with a torque stick.

Customer service is VERY important.  I agree with where you are coming from on that.  I also agree that it is hard to find employees that are willing to go the extra mile to see that things are right, not just quick.  There are plenty of people in the industry that have given it a bad reputation.  We all know that BAD things spread WAY faster than POSITIVE experiences.   

[resq302]

UPDATE-

Well, I just got a call from the Ford Dealership and picked it up on my lunch break.  Its amazing what a little(two quarts) trans fluid will do.  The truck shifts like a charm now and I hardly feel it shift from first to second.  As for the smoking issue of my trans when I pulled it back into the dealership lot yesterday, it seems (according to the Service Advisor) that the fluid was in there but low (which I already knew) and from it being low and driving it, it foamed up causing the bad shifting and such and making the fluid vent out the side of the trans due to pressure.  The smoking was the trans fluid on the side of the hot trans.  When asked about if the trans could have been damaged, he said no as the fluid in it was clean and not burned.  Due to my lunch break almost being done by the time I got done there, I did not have a chance to have the vehicle warm up check the trans fluid.  I should be able to check it once I get home tonight.  Lets keep our fingers crossed that it is all well and good.

[dodge freak]

Why the heck did you not just add the trans oil yourself ? Its only $5 or so. Those dealers don't care, they think after 3 years its time for a new car or truck.

[resq302]

For starters, right now I don't have the extra $10 for two quarts of trans fluid.  Secondly, why should I have to pay out of my own pocket for something they screwed up?  Lastly, if I add fluid and something goes bad with the trans, how am I to prove that they didnt add or install enough fluid when I topped it off?  I learned with my ram that if you try to be the nice guy and let the dealerships get away with an inch, they will take a mile.

No offense to any good people here on the board that work at dealerships.

[dodge freak]

I was a Lube Guy at a dealership in the late 80's. You should have seen the crap they try to pull. A car which the dealership just got on a trade in, had allmost no oil in it when I drain it-like a half of quart maybe and it was like tar. I told my boss and he said to fill it with clean oil and a new filter, run it till it was hot, drain it and then put a new filter and fresh oil in it. I told him the motor is shot but he just walked away. Well I did that and the motor did sound better. It went on the used car lot, some 30 year old looking lady took it-with no warranty for like $4000. That motor went out on her a month later and the dealer-from what I hear ed just gave her a discount on a rebuilt motor-like $1500. I felt bad for her, the guys there told me somebody was looking at it-that I should say something but I just act like my boss did. For our great work like 75% of the shop was let go about 6 months later, me and my boss also. It was like a big party working there, pot, girls-the office workers, drinking at our 1 hour lunch breaks. Not too sure but your dealer sounds like the place I worked at.

[41husk]

That sounds like a government job

[Brock Samson]

  No,. a union job,.. eh, Lou?. 

[dodge freak]

No in Chicago the auto tech's at dealers are in a union but not here in Michigan--thats a big reason they got away with firing 75% of us in one day with no warning.

[MichaelRW]

Slight thread drift here: When I was in high school I worked part time at Story Oldsmobile in Lansing, MI. I installed tires, moved cars, whatever was needed. Since I had no wheels at the time except for the occasional use of the parent's car I was keeping a lookout for a good trade-in car here at the dealership. Now this is 1966. So one day in comes a real nice looking 1965 Impala. I checked it out and it had over 80,000 miles on it.  A few days later I decided to look it over again. Now it has 25,000 miles on it. At that moment I decided to never trust a dealership again.

[gtx6970]

Theres good and bad in all professions , Dealer techs are no exception.