On the day before Thanksgiving I found myself 300 miles from home, but near the city where I bought my 03. Since I knew I would be in that area I had made an appointment for the third servicing for the truck.

My appointment was for 3 p.m., and I drove in at 2:50. This is a very large dealership, but only one other truck was in the service area. To their credit, the people in the dealership were extremely nice and friendly, and escorted me to a comfortable lounge area, complete with magazines to read and a TV built into the wall. Good thing I had something to do.

At 4 p.m., a clerk came in to tell me she sure was sorry it was taking so long, but their oil heater wasn’t working, and the oil was moving very slowly. Now, that’s what she said! Not being mechanically inclined, I don’t know if she was serious, joking, or making up an excuse.

Time passed. To make a long story much shorter, I was back in the truck at 4:50. The oil and filter change took one hour and 50 minutes, at a large, well-known dealership.

Okay. the point to all this. One of my few strong points (or maybe weaknesses) is I’m a “Mr. Nice Guy,” and not the sort of person to tell others off or create a scene. I was displeased at having to sit for nearly two hours, but kept it concealed.

What I’d like to know is whether this sort of situation is unusual or not. Do others have the same problem? Was a two hour wait normal? If it was you, would you go back again?

I was treated well, and they did knock $15 off the charges. But, I sort of feel the big delay wasn’t really necessary, or wasn’t explained properly to me. It’s really not that big of a deal, it’s just I left the dealership feeling I had been cheated out of quite a little time I could have been doing other things. Though I’d post this here, and perhaps on another forum I read a lot, and see what sort of response I get. What do you think? Thanks for any opinions.

 

unless the dealer ship advertises a 30 or 60 minute oil change i think you got off good being able to come in at 3 and wait. Ive been to dealers that want you to leave it for the day for an oil change. Just the fact that they took the time to tell you it was gonna take longer than expected and knocked some cash off would mean to me they are trying to please the customer whether or not the reason they gave was lagit is another story. If this is the first time you used them and were happy with everything else. I would give them the benefit of the doubt and try them again. as long as it was done right.

 

Unless the dealership is giving away free oil changes I don't think it's worth my time for the dealership to change my oil. I do it myself and it's a lot cheaper and can easily do it in less than 30 minutes.

MikeyB

 

I agree with DF5152.

 

Do it yourself. That way you know what and how much is going into your truck. It takes less time, less money and you know it is done right.

 

[quote author=Maccandy link=board=17;threadid=23044;start=0#msg215930 date=1070207543]
Do it yourself. That way you know what and how much is going into your truck. It takes less time, less money and you know it is done right.
[/quote]

Are there any warranty implications by changing it yourself?? I keep ALL my receipts and a detailed maintenance log....but was wondering what would happen to my warranty if I happened to develop an engine problem.....does anyone have any experience in that kind of situation??

Regarding the dealership - I think I would agree with the other guys. Since it is the day before Thanksgiving they could have been short staffed, also, a couple of people could have been home sick, they could actually have been having equipment problems as well. Even though it didnt look busy....its not a quick change place. And they did knock $15 off...I dont think that is unreasonable. JMHO....

 

Personally I stay as far away from the dealer service area as i have to. Only take it in if it's actually broken. Once the vehicle is purchased, in my opinion, having the dealer perform routine service work is out-n-out theft.

Always change my own oil, takes about 30 minutes and then dispose of the old oil at the local recycle center.

As far as warranty goes. I just record each oil change in a little book I ckeep on all my vehicles.

2 cents

 

You stated that "you were treated well, and they knocked off $15".
That sounds like a dealer you might want to go back to.
They could have blown you off, took your $$$ and said C-Ya.

A late aftenoon oil change won't have too much priority in the dispatch load, not to mention that a mechanic playing "Beat the Clock" won't make much off of the job.

It's quicker and cheaper at a Jiffy-Lube type place.
But the dealer now has a record of your properly done oil change.

 

I agree, if you're going to have it done at a dealer (I do until my warranty is up, officially), then they should've had you outta there 45 mins tops. Mine have run no more than that and they apologize after 30 minutes. $15 off is an okay gesture. Worth it.

Next time, hold their feet to the fire and let them know you've got only 45 minutes to have it done, paid for, signed off on, and waiting for you and I bet they'll do it! Call ahead (I know the circumstances didn't dictate this time) and they'll be "on" for you, I'm betting.

 

Kind of excessive but atleast they treated you right. When I took mine in for the CO2 recall it took three hours and forty-five minutes to do what was supposed to take thirty minutes. They offered nothing, not even a sorry for the long wait. Needless to say, I will not go back to that dealership.

 

I think one of the problems is the techs never know which vehicle is there for the day or which one has a customer waiting. I know when I go into MB for service and have to wait, they put a little sign on the roof of the car that says 'customer wait' . Then again usually when I go in for service they just give me a free loaner.... dodge just gave me the number to the local enterprise, lol :

 

Are there any warranty implications by changing it yourself?? I keep ALL my receipts and a detailed maintenance log....but was wondering what would happen to my warranty if I happened to develop an engine problem.....does anyone have any experience in that kind of situation??
Well, since you are in Canada, you don't have the protection of the Magnuson-Moss act. Logic would say that if you keep receipts and a log, you'd be OK, but then, life is often not logical.

 

Sounds like they treated you well. 2hrs is a bit long, but if they were busy, or something did come up, then it might take a bit longer. Even Jiffy Lube has lines on a busy day.

What impresses me is that they lowered the cost and admitted the mistake.

How does one spot a good Dodge dealer? I've had issues with them in the past, don't know of a good GM shop either. On the other hand my Ford dealer is just top notch. I'm not saying Ford is better, just that I like this particular dealer.

Any tips for spotting a good Dodge shop? "5-star" seems all but useless.

 

I can't answer the question of how to spot a good Dodge dealer, but I have really been lucky.

Didn't do business with the one locally, because price was too high. Received a nice letter from them after I bought my 03 elsewhere, and in the letter they asked why I had shopped elsewhere and said they would like me back as a customer, to try them again in the future.

When I bought my 03, I tried three other dealerships first. I just mentioned my hometown dealer. The second dealer (neighboring town) called me and when he found I had purchased elsewhere, he said he was sorry he hadn't been able to sell me a truck, asked me to come back again in the future, and invited me to use their facilities for servicing needs and addded I was "always free to call on them for any advise I might need."

Finally, at dealer Number three (another neighboring town), I also received a call, and a nice "regret" we couldn't do business. Prior to my buying the truck, dealer No. 3 spent time with me looking through his computer trying to find the right truck, and all this with a "no pressure" attitude.

Then, the place I bought the truck, mentioned earlier in this thread, has been great. Pleasant people, including two who gave me their business cards and told me to call them if I ever had questions, or needed advise.

So, great Dodge dealers here in western Colorado. Actually, Ford and Dodge are the same dealership here in my home town.

I've really been lucky. Only regret I have is that I would probably have saved several thousand dollars if I had known about this site before I started shopping for a truck.

 

Thanks to everybody who offered advise.

Looks like the way to go is to service your truck yourself, and hang on to those receipts! Thanks again.