Sears Automotive at Annapolis mall warning

bcp

bcp

In My Opinion
My wife was going to take the Jetta there to get the filters changed, lubed, etc.. basically the 80k service.
The guy at the counter said it would be 700 bucks or so.
She wondered why because the dealer would do the checkup and all that stuff for around 500.00 (still a rip-off if you were to ask me)

The explanation?
Sears price included the tune-up. and that included the spark plugs...
Then the guy explained that it really needed the tune-up, and if the spark plugs had never been changed, it was past time.... he even looked in the book for the price to do this.

Then he argued with her about the car even having spark plugs, evidently, much to my surprise and hers, her car has spark plugs. The service guy told her, so it must be true.

Too bad for him that the pan lady has more brain than he did, see, she has a diesel, it has no spark plugs, you dont actually tune it up, you just make sure the filters and such are in good shape.

Now, do you suppose he was trying to pull one over on her, or was he really that f-ing stupid and had no clue that a diesel might just operate differently than a gas engine???

At any rate, as would be expected, she left without getting any work done, and Im pretty sure that we wont be taking it to the Sears for anything at all,, anything.

Now maybe she will listen to me and just take it to the damn dealer where it belongs in the first place.. even with their rip off prices.
 
dustin

dustin

UAIOE
probably just a dummy... i'm not sure of any Vdub or euro shops around the area other than the stealerships.... especially since its a TDI i would take it to someone who knows VW
 
bcp

bcp

In My Opinion
dustin said:
probably just a dummy... i'm not sure of any Vdub or euro shops around the area other than the stealerships.... especially since its a TDI i would take it to someone who knows VW
Click to expand...

There is a hole in the wall shop in Silver Spring that does a great job on the VWs, its pretty much all they do, VWs and Porsche.

Just not the most convenient for us.
 
BOP

BOP

Well-Known Member
bcp said:
Now maybe she will listen to me and just take it to the damn dealer where it belongs in the first place.. even with their rip off prices.
Click to expand...

You're nearly always going to pay a higher price at a dealer for virtually any service or repair that you can have done at an independent garage.

Think about it, though: dealer service departments have a higher overhead than most independent shops, barring those who specialize in a specific make or makes of automobile. A new car dealership used to exist to sell used cars. They wouldn't have even done service work if the manufacturers didn't insist on it. Back then, the sales department paid the bills. That's not as true any more. Service departments are required to pay their own way in this day and age.

In theory, a dealer is more likely to have the experience and knowledge to giev you the best service and/or repairs to the brand. In theory. That's not always the case, particularly with respect to services like oil and filter changes, and the like.

As far as the $500 qoute from the dealer, that doesn't seem too awfully out of line, given that it's a dealer, and given that it's probably a 100k service. Depending on what's being done, and the degree of difficulty, that's actually a pretty good price, if it includes the timing belt and water pump (it's got to come off anyway, why not change it?).

Now, if it's basically a 50k service, no f'n way.

This is what I've ALWAYS recommended, when I worked at independent garages, particularly with people who came in for coupons: find a place that you like and can trust (that come with recommendations from people you know), and build a relationship with them. Take my word for it, you will absolutely save money in the long run.

For one thing, the people who know you, who know your vehicle, will cut you breaks on the price of things; especially labor. You'll know, because they'll tell you. I never, ever failed to let a customer know when I comp'ted them for some service I did that I didn't charge them for, especially if there was some extra effort in it for me.

For another, the people who work on your car will prioritize things for you. I've literally handed people lists and said "we need to do this and this today; this can wait until next payday, and this other stuff we can take care of some time in the next few months." People would literally show up month after month, lists in hand, and say "I need to get this next thing done now."

Also, people who work on your car regularly will tend to notice anomolies more readily than someone who's taking it into the service bay for the first time. That can save you the really expensive repairs later on.

For instance: I took my kraut made brit import to my regular mechanic of about 5 years. I only brought it in for regular service, but I got a call later on that said, "Hey, we need to change the outer wheel bearing on this thing." The bill was about $300, if I remember right, but you want to take a wild guess as to how much it would have been if he hadn't caught it? Exactly.

If you get a good vibe from your dealer, and you're not paying a lot more than an independent, and it's high on the convenience scale (example: near work, loaner vehicles), why not? Take it somewhere, and stick with them, unless they betray that trust.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
bcp said:
My wife was going to take the Jetta there to get the filters changed, lubed, etc.. basically the 80k service.
The guy at the counter said it would be 700 bucks or so.
She wondered why because the dealer would do the checkup and all that stuff for around 500.00 (still a rip-off if you were to ask me)

The explanation?
Sears price included the tune-up. and that included the spark plugs...
Then the guy explained that it really needed the tune-up, and if the spark plugs had never been changed, it was past time.... he even looked in the book for the price to do this.

Then he argued with her about the car even having spark plugs, evidently, much to my surprise and hers, her car has spark plugs. The service guy told her, so it must be true.

Too bad for him that the pan lady has more brain than he did, see, she has a diesel, it has no spark plugs, you dont actually tune it up, you just make sure the filters and such are in good shape.

Now, do you suppose he was trying to pull one over on her, or was he really that f-ing stupid and had no clue that a diesel might just operate differently than a gas engine???

At any rate, as would be expected, she left without getting any work done, and Im pretty sure that we wont be taking it to the Sears for anything at all,, anything.

Now maybe she will listen to me and just take it to the damn dealer where it belongs in the first place.. even with their rip off prices.
Click to expand...

If there is a Clymers for it, I'd buy it.

It will tell you what's involved in all interval services, AND will tell you how to do them (if for no other reason, you can determine a fair price for the amount of work they do).

I had a Chevy Lumina Sedan, my tuneups were expensive because there was something like 1.5 hours in labor just to get to the spark plugs on the back of the engine (yes, I got the part about the spark plugs).

Clymers will also tell you what needs to be done with the glowplug(s) on your particular engine.
 
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BOP

BOP

Well-Known Member
ALLDATAdiy.com :: Leading Source of Diagnostic and Repair Information

A subscription costs 25 dollars a year, but you can get flat rates, labor guides, schematics, troubleshooting trees, and so on.

Alternatively, you can call around and ask what people charge for specific services.

One of my customers, way back in the day, was himself a retired mechanic. He told me one time "I'm not so worried about the price as I am about whether I'll like the repair or not."

I'm the same way. I have thousands of dollars worth of tools (not what I can get for them, sadly), and I almost never use any of them. I've got better things to do with my time than turn wrenches on later model cars. I take mine and Mrs BOP's vehicles to the same mechanic we've been taking them to for 4 years now (we left one mechanic after a year), and I've been happy with the service.

Yeah, I could have gone around and got tires for both vehicles cheaper, but I was having other work done, and it all evens out anyway. Trust me, I keep a close watch on the finances, and it does.

The only problem is, as a side note, that my wife's vehicle is old enough, with enough miles on her, that she's costing me more every year than I'm wanting to spend. The CAR, I mean. Not Mrs BOP.

You're foolish if you don't allow a minimum of $500 a year just for service work on a vehicle. Currently, my bill is averaging over double that. Time to do a cost-benefit analysis. Anyway, I don't know that I could save a lot of money from that $500 by going back to being a DIYer (which I was for many years prior to the 20 I spent as a professional mechanic). Plus the wear and tear on me, the aggravation - let's face it: I don't enjoy it the way I did when I was younger.
 
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