Main dealer mechanics, waste of time.

[postie jon]

wifes last vitara went in for recall work in the engine bay,replacement intercooler i think, she collected it and came home, i came home from work and looked at it,too find the chrome surround of the grill was cracked,straight onto the phone to them, o sir the young mechanic did say the grill had a fracture in it,well u better get onto your parts dept and order a new one then hadnt you ,o ok sir. replacment came delivered in a box by the car cleaner with a courtesy car from 25mls away, yeah i had to fit it myself but only cos i didnt trust m.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I'm not precious with my Tucson....after my neighbour drove into it 3 weeks after it was delivered . She would have demolished my house but luckily my newly restored mr2 was in the way...

 

[Gareth J]

It's important to recognise that tech filled cars aren't a problem in and of themselves, it's rather that they have become so complex, no one person can know the ins and outs of an entire vehicle. Therefore, it seems like there has been little emphasis put on teaching mechanics how the basics all fit together because there is so much to learn on the laptop.

I used to drive and old beetle everywhere, my only car. I did all the servicing and knew it inside out no diagnostics port here but it didn't need one.

Fast forward and I'm now running an old BMW E46. Still basic by today's standards but the plug in diagnostics abilities is absolutely brilliant for fault finding, you can see outputs from every sensor on the car, while driving if needed. All that data, without even popping the bonnet can be a fantastic timesaver but you really do need to be able to join the dots sometimes. Maybe the mechanics are to blame for their lack of understanding or maybe it's the car companies for not providing them with more fool proof software.

 

[Ashley Burton]

It's important to recognise that tech filled cars aren't a problem in and of themselves, it's rather that they have become so complex, no one person can know the ins and outs of an entire vehicle. Therefore, it seems like there has been little emphasis put on teaching mechanics how the basics all fit together because there is so much to learn on the laptop.

I used to drive and old beetle everywhere, my only car. I did all the servicing and knew it inside out no diagnostics port here but it didn't need one.

Fast forward and I'm now running an old BMW E46. Still basic by today's standards but the plug in diagnostics abilities is absolutely brilliant for fault finding, you can see outputs from every sensor on the car, while driving if needed. All that data, without even popping the bonnet can be a fantastic timesaver but you really do need to be able to join the dots sometimes. Maybe the mechanics are to blame for their lack of understanding or maybe it's the car companies for not providing them with more fool proof software.

I would say the franchised dealerships are to blame for not wanting to pay good wages for capable people. Also lack of training to diagnose faults correctly. Instead apprentices are too use to fitting parts in the hope it will fix the fault at the customers expense. Rather than checking the operation of surrounding components before confirming that the part in question is actually at fault. I admit it's becoming more difficult for independent garages & DIY enthusiasts to fix the modern day vehicle as they require expensive diagnostic equipment & dealer level technical information.

Bottom line is yes the earlier day vehicles are more reliable due to simplicity & less complications.

 

[doubleboost]

I don't like to call other garages as I think it is bad karma
That being said
I tested an SLK Merc belonging to a regular customer.
He has a service plan with the main dealer, this was its first time with us.
The car was 5 years old with 40 k on the clock.
Both main steel brake pipes & one front were very badly corroded & I failed them
Adding a dangerous for use on the road comment
The customer was most upset.
I had taken pictures as I could see what was going to happen
I gave him a price to replace the pipes (not a nice jab at all)
I suggested he rang his main dealer
They came and took the car away (on a trailer with curtain sides)
The next day their service manager contacted me saying that all of his testers would pass and advise the pipes
I told him to get on with it as I would never go back on my decision regarding them
I tried to contact the owner to see what was the outcome
We did an MOT check on the car they had passed it with an advisory on the pipes
About 3 months later the owner turned up at our garage, He had been back to the main dealer for a new number plate
They did a health check on the car and informed him that
All the steel brake pipes were badly corroded and needed replacing immediately
They quoted him something stupid to do the job
I replaced them charging 7 hours plus the pipes & fluid

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

One of my worst experiences was when I had the missus take my old Celica in for an MOT to the main dealer(ST182 - beautiful condition with 50k on the clock). The car needed tyres and a back box but I was working away and didn't have the time...it failed with a quote for £2,500 for work to be done...bear in mind this was about 12 years ago...they seem to be wanting the missus to throw it in px against a new car or something crazy.

All sorts of stuff turned up...and I mean down to things like the rubber grommet on the aerial!! They claimed it was a danger to drive...I just laughed... drove it to my local tyre and exhaust place...£500 and it was all sorted....the MOT guy said he'd rarely seen a cleaner example. Popped back to the dealer as I'd left the service book behind....one of the shop mechanics was leaving...he gave me the look of shame! (the car had a full Toyota service history too....all stamped up with invoices...it was a beautiful car!).

Just wish I'd never sold her...I still see the car as it's still local...every time I see her it's like someone is rubbing salt in the wound!

 

[dannyp]

still rember fixing at a BMW 750i that had full bmw service history had a developing misfire on throtel that was getting worse, i changed 1 spark plug problem gone, wonder if it as a coincidence that it was number 12 at the back on the right looking at the car you know the one under the dash.

the upsettign thing was the plug that came out was one of those factory fit bosch plugs so every tech that had serviced it at bmw or investigated this problem had never looked at that plug, happily swap ever sensor under the sun tho, the owner was not happy ( purple bounceing screaming rage not happy ) when he asked "so what do you thinks wrong with it and whats it going to cost" spark plug mate about £3.50 for the plug but took few hours to get the old one out but it's all fixed now.

 

[Woody.v8]

Trucks are as bad now, a friend of mine has upgraded his Scanias and has regretted it, he has a bill on the table for north of 10K for an injection problem thats still there. After changing just about everything they decided it was an ecu fault, and thats a Scania main dealer. Gave him back the truck on three occasions after changing loads of bits for him to find the problem still there. Another friend with a Daf pulled across a dual carriageway, his trailer was blocking the two lanes northbound and the cab one lane southbound when it just stopped (mayem ensued). Daf tech van turned up two hours later to plug it in and get it started, mate asked him the problem and he shrugged his shoulders and said he didn`t know , truck has not done it since but wtf . Old school for me with a cable pull stop.

I ripped the battery tray/batteries clean off this old girl once and it still got me home. Keep yer urlektronics.





Bob

4000 series Foden, I've done a bit on them

 

[normspanners]

The car was 5 years old with 40 k on the clock.

Funny enough I did a sprinter 1st mot... ok 170K and had to replace F-R brake pipes, and another its sister I had to advise, yet I still see some really old mercs with VERY high milage with originals pipes on.
I did a honda civic diesel 09 few mths ago full dealer service history they had a slight problem it was not running quite right, I said lets change the fuel filter well its a pig to do its behind the gearbox, not visable ,so air box/ battery out, gear linkage etc etc, when I got it out it was a honda filter and funny enough... with the date on it .... strange that date was just a bit earlier than the registration of the car !
Same family and...
Another diesel honda 3yr old crv under honda warranty filter is a pig behind the engine not many people know its even there, nobody on internet could definitely state its location I only found it by following the pipes after stripping off all the floor guards job ended up about 2hrs but some of that was obviously my fault , it had just had a honda full service but water light came on, OH WE definitely changed the filter, it will be £ 80 to fit another, customer will have to pay, coz not honda's fault, hum, again similar date on filter??

 

[normspanners]

I don't like to call other garages as I think it is bad karma

I agree

Both main steel brake pipes & one front were very badly corroded & I failed them

Brake pipes are VERY subjective though, one man's fail is another man's pass, I failed an old rolls royce last year the two pipes disappeared into a box under the drivers seat and to me they looked to be corroded quite bad about 5ft long oh yes and power steering leak from pump seal, so fail, it had to go to rolls royce specialist for repair coz of a sales warranty, they had changed the pipes and cleaned the old pipes up and put them in the boot to be fair they didnt look too bad after rust being cleaned off , BUT the thing weights well over 3ton? and automatic.
,HUM, NOW the bill was £1000, this year it came in and failed------- on power steering leak from pump seal!!

On the other hand I had a hyundai come in with a fail from another garage on brake pipes, the pipes still had the green plastic cover on them, seemingly all the way and I would have passed them!! it was only till we unclipped it from the axles plastic clips and the pipe snapped, in that clip, YET the next clip was perfect !! ok, you are not particularly gentle with old pipes you just pull them out and you could NOT see the corrosion, BUT the other garage was right. maybe they had had an episode with another similar car ??
another was freelander that I past with no problems, the pipes were perfect but two days later, a pipe burst on NSF inner wing, the pipe goes through a grommet under battery when it was investigated the evidence showed the alternator had failed mths or years before it had boiled the battery the acid had come out and run down the innerwing filling the brake pipe grommet that sealed around the pipe, that then formed a little cup and held the acid, it rotted the pipe in the 8mm length in the cup only!
Now luckily the woman didnt have a problem BUT imagine if she had mowed down a bus stop full of kids out side school, how would I and moreover the driver feel ! ALSO how long would an MOT take if you were to check EVERY few mm of pipes, some of which it is impossible to see ! problem is someone somewhere would jump on their soap box and berate YOU !!

 

[anto44]

I'm a mechanic in a large vag dealership and I've just read through this thread and to be fair its a fairly accurate portrayal of the main dealers unfortunately. There is still a few good dealers out there to be fair but they're getting rarer by the day. The reason I see is that traditionally the workshop would have been run by a senior mechanic that was after working his way up to running it but nowadays the workshops are being run by people with no mechanical knowledge whatsoever but have a college degree in business management or some junk like that and come in with the aim of reducing costs and improving profits and the garage ends up full of apprentices and just barely qualified lads with very little experience because all the good experienced lads leave because they won't work for some twenty something shirt and tie that doesn't know a balljoint from a gearbox.
The garage i work in is run by a very experienced mechanic who moved into the position after years of working on the spanners. Our workshop has 2 apprentices and seven mechanics all with a minimum of fifteen years experience and the level of skill and workmanship we are held to is very high. I can honestly say we never would have been let do half the things that I've read about in this thread but we're a dying breed and it's probably only a matter of time before my boss gets replaced with some kid in a suit promising increased profits and the garage ends up with 5 apprentices and 4 mechanics in their early 20s and all the good lads are gone to the independent trade and we're just another useless dealership

 

[normspanners]

I'm a mechanic in a large vag dealership and I've just read through this thread and to be fair its a fairly accurate portrayal of the main dealers unfortunately. There is still a few good dealers out there to be fair but they're getting rarer by the day. The reason I see is that traditionally the workshop would have been run by a senior mechanic that was after working his way up to running it but nowadays the workshops are being run by people with no mechanical knowledge whatsoever but have a college degree in business management or some junk like that and come in with the aim of reducing costs and improving profits and the garage ends up full of apprentices and just barely qualified lads with very little experience because all the good experienced lads leave because they won't work for some twenty something shirt and tie that doesn't know a balljoint from a gearbox.
The garage i work in is run by a very experienced mechanic who moved into the position after years of working on the spanners. Our workshop has 2 apprentices and seven mechanics all with a minimum of fifteen years experience and the level of skill and workmanship we are held to is very high. I can honestly say we never would have been let do half the things that I've read about in this thread but we're a dying breed and it's probably only a matter of time before my boss gets replaced with some kid in a suit promising increased profits and the garage ends up with 5 apprentices and 4 mechanics in their early 20s and all the good lads are gone to the independent trade and we're just another useless dealership

WELL SAID that man !!

The reason I see is that traditionally the workshop would have been run by a senior mechanic that was after working his way up to running it but nowadays the workshops are being run by people with no mechanical knowledge whatsoever

ON THE NAIL IN ONE !

 

[anto44]

Soft hands are ruining the trade.

 

[normspanners]

but we're a dying breed and it's probably only a matter of time before my boss gets replaced with some kid in a suit promising increased profits and the garage ends up with 5 apprentices

If you can find ANYONE that wants to be an apprentice in my nephews school he was the ONLY one in his year and thats coz he used to help me and was obsessed with cars, he has now left the garage to be an electricians mate, he now is earning twice as much.

 

[anto44]

Only hope for finding a good apprentice these days is if you get a little petrol head thats doing it cause he has an absolute passion for cars. The best ones are lads that grew up around working on cars with they're fathers or brothers at home on their drives.

 

[normspanners]

The other problem is the manufacturers only allow their dealerships techs a half or one hour max diagnostics, that really should be unlimited, if required, so to clear the techs name he just logs it as whatever clears it at the time and on to the next
I was driving a 16 plate sprinter with a problem for a few days helping out coz the owners of the truck were stuck for a driver and I told Merc dealers the issue was the alternator reg. Oh merc wont allow us to fit an alternator coz its not proved, we have done every test merc wanted. Well I have just done 350 mls with a diagnostic link up connected and its the alternator,-------Well we will inform merc of your findings -------HUM 3 WEEKS and 5000 mls later it had an alternator ! that could have been 6mths if a car.

 

[taxi ray]

I am still waiting for a definite answer, but the vw garage said that the oil pressure was that low that he is surprised that the engine was not knocking.
Next job is to drop the sump and get a better look at the problem, its not going to be cheap.

 

[normspanners]

I am still waiting for a definite answer, but the vw garage said that the oil pressure was that low that he is surprised that the engine was not knocking.

Well std oil light switch works at 2-3 psi, if you are running engine at that pressure you already HAVE A BIG problem.
got the exact same thing with a pump NOW, switch is on test as I write this !! and have a mate bringing more switches from USA next week!, ( only place to get the ones I want ) I have made the thing, auto start, with an engine controller and float switches, I fitted an adjustable OP switch for this very reason to tell us if the pressure drops below 20psi and its now stopping the engine, at some time in the night through its engine safety checks, so going out the door now to fit the pressure gauge to the engine ! because it runs all night with no one in attendance and there seems to be an Oil pressure problem BUT better than wrecking the engine which it would do with a std switch .

 

[normspanners]

I am still waiting for a definite answer, but the vw garage said that the oil pressure was that low that he is surprised that the engine was not knocking.
Next job is to drop the sump and get a better look at the problem, its not going to be cheap.

Have they checked the oil quality ?? a leaky injector can dilute the oil to virtually oily diesel and cause hot engine, low oil pressure, fine when cold but zilch at 90 c

 

[taxi ray]

Not sure if they have checked the oil quality, getting basic info from garages is like pulling teeth.