Ever wonder what happens with your car at the dealership? Link to what happened at a Chevy dealer

[www.corvetteforum.com]

The car owner dropped off his car at the Chevy dealership for some warranty work, but put the PDR (performance data recorder) in valet mode where it picks up audio. The fun began when the tech's started working on the car. They didn't do themselves any favors.

Also, there are some legal aspects to this regarding the recording of conversations, prompting this letter from Chevy:

[www.autoblog.com]

Sounds like a brave new world out there...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2014 09:16PM by MikenOH. (view changes)

You have just discovered the Mediterranean Sea. Wow, techs talk trash. If the techs had charged for service they didnt perform, or had damaged the car and then lied about it, txhat might be news. Unfortunatly, this is a case of "keep walking, nothing here".

Quote
San Rensho
You have just discovered the Mediterranean Sea. Wow, techs talk trash. If the techs had charged for service they didnt perform, or had damaged the car and then lied about it, txhat might be news. Unfortunatly, this is a case of "keep walking, nothing here".

What I thought was interesting here was:
-The addition of new technology on the car has some ( I think ) unintended consequenses .

-Taking the reported comments at face value, it seemed like a lot of ill-will was directed at the owner for not allowing the radio to be played while it was being worked on--which is his option. It didn't sound like they followed through with their threat to mess with the radio, but I don't think I'd want a guy working on my car with that kind of an attitude. Their behavior overall was childish and reflected badly on the dealership.
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-I like the notion of have a system recording vehicle data--location/speed/route--when it has been turned over for technicians for work. As Marc on this board has related from his experience, not all techs will treat your car with the respect an owner might expect.

-Last, having owned both Corvettes and Porsches for the past 30 years, my expereince with Porsche technicians has been stellar--knowledgable and courteous to a man. Corvette techs OTOH, have been all over the place, both good and bad.

there are great dealerships and great techs. Aside from the price, my P-car dealer (Paul MIller) does terrific work, has mature, experienced and helpful techs, and respects cars. One pays for this privilege though.

Too many times, dealerships are money factories, and worse, training grounds for young techs. Many of the better ones ( not all) go off later and start their own business, or move on to a head tech job somewhere.

Especially on the warranty stuff, there's a conflcit- they are not paid full rate or reasonably hours, and yet there is still pressure to do > 1 hours work in an hour for both his own paycheck,and dealer margin.

Years ago i was told flat out by an Audi dealer when i confronted them on "free" service not done "if we tried to do all that in the time allowed we'd lose money". Um, my problem?

And this is the SAME dealer that years before had a good friend working as head tech and a terrific service manager. I would go nowhere else, and couldn;t sing their praises from a high enough mountain. The tech is now a honcho for Audi and the service manager was let go since he didn't generate enough profit. They installed the owner's son. Dumb-ass, but hard nosed. After buying 3 cars from them, I have not been back.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com