Hi folks;

After reading threads on several forums with respect to bad service, bad reliability of some high end cars, I thought I'd do an article for a major magazine on good/bad dealership service policies and such.

If you'd like, post a paragraph or two here good or bad about a situation, like/dislike. Provide names where possible of the dealers so I can contact them directly to get their side, or alternatively, consider posting stories about how you don't get good loaner cars, or service recalls, etc.

I'll be concentrating on BMW's, Mercedes, Porsches' for the article, but would love to hear about Ferraris. I'll also be pulling from real life experience with my Diablo, M3 and 996TT, but I'd like a balance of stories from owners all over the USA.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of tha article and will advise where you can see it once the magazine goes to print.

 

I GOT RIPPED BY MCKENNA PORSCHE A WHILE BACK... I ORDERED A CAR FORM THEM THEY TOOK MY DEPOSIT... NEVER ORDERED MY CAR AND THEY TRIED TO SELL ME TWO CARS AND TOLD ME THAT THEY WERE THE ONES THAT I ORDERED.. ONE OF THEM WAS IN THE WRONG COLOR AND TOLD ME THAT SOMEONE AT PORSCHE GERMANY AND PAINTED MY CAR BALCK INSTEAD OF BLUE!!!

AS FOR GREAT SERVICE

JACK WEIR OF RUSNAK PORSCHE IN PASADENA HAS BEEN A GREAT SALESPERSON FOR ME FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS.. I BOUGHT MY 996 FROM HIM AND ENDED UP GETTING 2 MORE AFTER ..

 

aS for a good service man.. dominic at Mckenna porsche has been a great service person, he was my service person at pacific porsche and when he moved to mckenna porsche i had to swallow my pride since, it is hard to find a good service adviser now..

 

Definitely contact the losers at Newport Beach. Don Knaggs is the Service Advisor who refused to service my car in a timely manner because I gave him a bad review when I got a phone survey for a previous visit. He said he'd get to my car "in a few months" if I brought it in. He said "it works both ways Jake." I couldn't believe it.

Then I contacted the Service Manager, Bill Schindele. Even more useless, as he defended Don saying that his service advisors work so hard and I should have handled it differently instead of giving him a bad review on the phone survey. Isn't that what they're for?

I'm a 34 year old, hard working professional. I may look a bit younger (I hope) and I have a bunch of tattoos, but I believe every time I came in, it was before or after work, and I was dressed in business attire.

I don't know. These guys just have some ego problems or something.

 

So many horrible stories from so many makes and dealers, so little time.
BMW's whole attitude can be summed up: I drove 120 miles to a dealer to trade my Toyota Sequoia ($3k more on the sticker) for a 330Ci. After 40 minutes waiting for the used car manager to "appraise" my 8 month old, 6,000 mile car, I drew a line in the sand over time and he responds with "I'm not going to do it unless you're serious." Yeah, I drove 120 miles and sat here for nearly an hour just your waste your time. What a bunch of a-holes.

I think these kinds of stories are merely anecdotal. The real story is that it is universally accepted that car dealers are synonymous with sleezy, torturous, heartless, rip-off joints. Its a part of urban lingo, comparing unsavory characters to a "used-car salesman". People loathe the car-buying experience because they "know" they are going to get ripped-off. They just accept it. "Every dealer is the same" they say. "What can I do?"

Have you met anyone (who has bought a new car) who has never had a bad car-buying experience? Anyone who never felt they overpaid? Anyone who has never been mistreated or received bad service? I've yet to meet that person. Even people who work for or have worked for dealers freely admit, "Well, I know who to talk to," or "they know me."

Here's your title: Buying a Car is like Battered Wife Syndrome. For inexplicable reasons, we return to our abuser over and over again.

Even GM was acutely aware of this problem. But rather than change their business model (why? it works!) they sold bunk when launching Saturn with a 'no haggle' sales process. Ever talk to a Saturn buyer? Ask them why they have problems at regular dealer they don't get with Saturn. "Have you tried pointing at a car and saying, 'I want that one'? Where's the hassle?" They say, "No, because you have to haggle to get a deal."... "As opposed to Saturn who makes it policy to give no one a deal?" ... "Well, at least its fair that everyone pays the same." ... "You mean everyone gets ripped-off equally?"

I once wrote a very detailed letter to a dealer Service Manager describing that I was in because my car was back for the 5th time to fix the same problem. Not because they didn't fix the original problem but each time they fixed something, they broke something else: Replaced heater core, left 2 inches of standing anti-freeze on the floorboard and shorted the radio. Replaced the radio and broke the center console. Replaced the console and scratched the dash. Replaced the dash and broke the window crank. This is not a joke, this is real. My salesman took me to see him in person. I shared my letter and outlined the fact that I had bought my new car from his dealer 2 years prior at age 17 and was looking to add another new car to my garage but was hesitent because of his service dept. That if they couldn't treat me right, how could I justify buying my next car from him? Or given that I was 19 on getting my 2nd new car, how many would I be likely to buy over my lifetime? How many from him? His response, "We service almost 100 cars per day and we can't make everyone happy." Well, I've bought 11 cars since then and not one from him. Would an apology been too much to ask? (By the way, they broke my door lock when they fixed the window crank. I never brought it back for that 6th visit. I took it across town and paid his competitor.)

What if restaurants treated customers like this? What if every restaurant was a Dick's Last Resort - only for real? How often would we go back when they overcharged us for the wrong plate of cold food then acted annoyed when we weren't gracious? What makes the automotive market immune to bad behavior?

$0.02

 

hey craig call me sometime

 

Lee2375;
Email me yiour phone number, can't find your card from SEMA.

clieberman@magnaflow.com

 

Riverside Audi...in West NY!

Worst buying experience ever! I know it's Audi and not on your list of dealers, however, they tried to screw me over several times in a row!! What a bunch of thieves!

I will never do business with these guys again!

Too long of a nightmare to post...if you want the details...PM me.