Quote:
Originally Posted by Guru
took the Olds in for inspection and this is what they found.
Front struts rusty
intake gaskets leak
inner tie rod ends need replaced
trans pan gasket leaks
Oil pan gasket leaks
needs new intake air tube
all four tires are dry rotted.
altogether over $1300 worth of work if I had them do it al.
Showed the list to the dealer and they said hogwash, they trust their mechanic more than what mine found.
JFC
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Trust the mechanic you took it to, and here is why.
When I first opened my repair shop, the first order of business for me, long before advertising, was to run down to EVERY small/medium sized car dealership (not major dealerships, mainly smaller privately owned lots) and setup business arrangements with them, even if they did have an 8 dollar an hour mechanic on site.
I offered them GREAT labor pricing, free inspections, and free pickup, since most were just down the street from me.
I'm a pretty savvy businessman so I had deals setup left and right at my shop, and on day 2 had the first cars roll in, long before I even had signs hung. What I then learned, was a bit more about the business than I thought I did.
1. Most of these smaller dealership cars are auction cars picked up from towlots or insurance auctions that have some faults and couldn't be sold immediately.
2. The smaller dealers didn't always want EVERYTHING fixed, some things they were okay without.
3. They deal strictly in bulk, rather than on an individual basis when getting repairs. They won't fork out $2,500 dollars for a repair if the car is worth $7,000, but they will spend 250 dollars to cover it up.
One dealership in particular, which I cannot name for legal reasons, would bring me 5-10 cars at a time, with a budget of $1,800 dollars out the door. Seems like a lot, right?
Considering that these guys wanted a base amount of jobs done on each one, Oil Changes, Transmission/Coolant flushes, and Tire rotations if needed (just as an example of a few jobs), it didn't leave a lot of room for major repairs.
I cannot count on my hands or feet, how many times I was told NOT to do a repair because it was too costly, by the same dealer within a single month or two, with me knowing full well that this car will be in my shop or somebody's shop within weeks of it being sold.
I didn't like that part of the business one bit, and have since decided that I will NEVER buy from a smaller dealership, ever, unless I've worked on the car personally or have a great working relationship with them.