Dealer Rip Off!

[MBS]

Can any work be done on a car in todays world for less than a $100 bucks besides a oil change?

[Q'smuscle]

Originally Posted by USMUCL

There seems to be an assumption in this thread that the radio wiring really was the problem.

If it was, than that $110 is well spent, especially if the mechanic fixed it. But, I find it highly unlikely the technician messed with anything on the aftermarket radio. It is more likely they unplugged the battery to reset everything, blamed the original problem on the aftermarket radio, and told him it was done.

Just sayin'

This is what I was going to say! You guys saying fixed the problem but the problem isn't fixed ! Is it?

[PalmerGA]

Originally Posted by MBS

Can any work be done on a car in todays world for less than a $100 bucks besides a oil change?

No. OP must be living in the past if he thinks $110 was a "rip off". I mean, everything works now, right? If all it took was disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes (as he suggested), why didn't he just do that himself?

I have dealt with that same dealership - bought my 2012 1LT from them. I was very dissatisfied with the experience, but I believe they are being called out unfairly on this one.

[SAWMILL]

If you knew about disconnecting the battery for 10min. You should have tried that yourself before taking to the dealer.

[gutterball]

Hay. give the Guy a break. 1st of all, the Radio wiring has nothing to do with the problem, you have a bunch of circuits come off the 12V, and each has there own fuse. To say that an aftermarket Radio setup caused the problem, is just plain Stupid. The op is proberly right, the Tech just disconnected the Batt to see if that would solve the problem, and it did.and 2nd, his Batt is 4 years old, if you leave your Car sitting for a week, you might get a dip in Voltage when starting, which could have caused the Anti theft mode to engage.

[wayne watson]

Originally Posted by Wizard1183

$110 for a dummy with a laptop to diagnose probs? Wow! Mechanics there only make what? $25-30 an hr? So they're charging about $75-85 on top of a the mechanics fee? Ripoff! They're not mechanics. Thats a long lost art.

I brought my 2014 Sierra in because it was misfiring. (Faulty spark plug wire because I brought into another dealership who could see me same day when this occurrence happened before) This moron tells me the camshaft is bad. Need to replace it. Im like WOW! OK! Get me a rental. That afternoon I get a call. Your trucks fixed. It was a faulty spark plug wire. I went there and said I dont want that moron working on my truck anymore if I have to bring it back in. They said well he said that before he connected it to the computer, it wasn't a final diagnoses. I said I dont care. I dont want him working on my vehicles. Brought it in a col more times for software recalls and he's yet to work on it. lol

im a dummy with a laptop, go screw yourself, you have no right to call all mechanics dummies. whatever you do for a job must be needed or you would'nt do it and so do i. so next time your cobbled up shit breaks, fix it yourself

[wayne watson]

Originally Posted by MBS

Can any work be done on a car in todays world for less than a $100 bucks besides a oil change?

yeah, you can grow a pair and fix it yourself

[Mongo RS]

Originally Posted by Mr.Jgunn65

My 2011 SS stayed parked in my garage for 5 days because I had surgery done to my knee. Unfortunately the battery died so my neighbor gave me a jump.
5 days should not make a battery go dead. My cars sit for weeks on end at the airport and always start right up

. Long story short, car started but went into Anti-Theft mode and gauges would not respond. About an hour later, gauges were normal but Onstar and my aftermarket (Pioneer) would not work. Knowing these two are electronically intergrated along with Anti-Theft unit may have to be reset by computer at the dealer. I go to MILTON REUBEN Chevrolet in Augusta Georgia where I bought the car new.

If you know all this, why would you go to the dealer?One hour later, the Service Manager and the Technician told me that the radio wiring was the fault and had to be put back to factory specs. Like I a supposed to believe this!!!! So I took a shot in the dark and asked this ASI trained techician did he disconnect the positive battery for 10 minuetes the reconnect it?

see above. If you knew this, why not try it first? He comes back and tells me everything is fixed, Then these bastards charge me $110.00. you have an aftermarket system in your car and you expect free or cheap service? Be glad they even looked at it, some would tell you to go back to the installer

Where ever this idiot got his training he should get his money back. If i'm gonna get screwed at least kiss me first!

My thoughts in red.

The factory radio in my 2010 is a pretty nice unit, and with all the integration I don't see any advantage to changing it. This tale of woe reinforces that opinion.

[wayne watson]

Originally Posted by Mongo RS

My thoughts in red.

The factory radio in my 2010 is a pretty nice unit, and with all the integration I don't see any advantage to changing it. This tale of woe reinforces that opinion.

alot of the time, strange issues like this are self induced but every body is a pro and no way they caused it. if i wanted to, i could pencil whip a ticket so bad, it would empty your account but i dont because in karma, and try to do the most honest job possible so thats why it ticks me off to be included in the group of crooks because of my job. i agree, there are rip offs out there but if he could have fixed it, he would have. try fixing random peoples cars when you cant get the details needed, 1 1/2 hour labor is not bad

[Todd in Vancouver]

Originally Posted by wayne watson

im a dummy with a laptop, go screw yourself, you have no right to call all mechanics dummies. whatever you do for a job must be needed or you would'nt do it and so do i. so next time your cobbled up shit breaks, fix it yourself

I'm a District Manager for a chain of Automotive repair shops and I can tell you the majority of my guys work hard and spend a lot of money on tools and do constant training and up grading. A Technician today has to be a problem solver, computer literate, hands on, customer friendly and still get the job done with quality and efficiency. They have all the respect I can give them for a tough job and expensive trade to be in.

It's not easy to make a living doing this job anymore and everyone should be a lot more appreciative of what our guys and gals do for the customers we service. I can tell you that as prices go up and cars become more and more complicated and greater skills are needed it won't be to much longer until customers will be paying $200/hour plus parts. Dealerships in my area are already at $150'ish and we are closing in. Charges are close to a 50/50 mix labour to parts so that'll be a $400/hour rate for most repairs. JMHO...

[wayne watson]

Originally Posted by Todd in Vancouver

I'm a District Manager for a chain of Automotive repair shops and I can tell you the majority of my guys work hard and spend a lot of money on tools and do constant training and up grading. A Technician today has to be a problem solver, computer literate, hands on, customer friendly and still get the job done with quality and efficiency. They have all the respect I can give them for a tough job and expensive trade to be in.

It's not easy to make a living doing this job anymore and everyone should be a lot more appreciative of what our guys and gals do for the customers we service. I can tell you that as prices go up and cars become more and more complicated and greater skills are needed it won't be to much longer until customers will be paying $200/hour plus parts. Dealerships in my area are already at $150'ish and we are closing in. Charges are close to a 50/50 mix labour to parts so that'll be a $400/hour rate for most repairs. JMHO...

well said, these cars today will keep lanes, brake for you etc...not that the camaro has all that, but dont be so fast to judge, i have been building and working on cars since i was 16 yrs old, 43 now, i've seen some changes and any one who rides a chair and reads is more than welcome to put the book smarts against reality any time...the book is rarely right

[CamarosThree]

How's this thread working out for you?

[two_wheel_mayhem]

You really don't want to jumpstart a car such as a Camaro. You ran it with too low of system voltage causing it to throw multiple fault codes. You need a battery charger around the house. It's asking a lot to expect the car to charge a dead battery and run all it's equipment.

Pay attention to the volmeters on these things if you run into these problems, if it starts dipping down into the 10s you will experience system shutdowns and fault codes.

Your car likely has a bad battery or excessive draw when its parked. I doubt it is the Pioneer head unit, wondering if you have any amps in your car though.

[wayne watson]

Originally Posted by two_wheel_mayhem

You really don't want to jumpstart a car such as a Camaro. You ran it with too low of system voltage causing it to throw multiple fault codes. You need a battery charger around the house. It's asking a lot to expect the car to charge a dead battery and run all it's equipment.

Pay attention to the volmeters on these things if you run into these problems, if it starts dipping down into the 10s you will experience system shutdowns and fault codes.

Your car likely has a bad battery or excessive draw when its parked. I doubt it is the Pioneer head unit, wondering if you have any amps in your car though.

it could be one of many factors, not always the aftermarket product, left int light on for instance, i once had someone who 's battery only died(according to her at the airport) see what i mean? turns out, it was the hands free link causing a draw. long story short, the car was only left sitting when they were out of town. this is the type crap we deal with so it's worth every dime