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My Dealership is Shutting Down!
By JLP | July 24, 2008
I was in my local dealership today, dropping off my Rendezvous to have the brakes checked out. I was standing there and I overheard one of the service writers on the phone talking about how they were shuttering the GM department (Buick, Cadillac, GMC, and Pontiac).
The first thing I thought was, “Where the hell am I going to take my car?” Some of you are probably wondering why I’m taking my car to a dealership for service in the first place. Well, I don’t normally take it to the dealership for routine service. But, it is nice to have them available for the bigger jobs.
When they close this dealership, the closest GM location—besides the local Chevy dealership—will be in a little town about 20 miles away. This stinks because it means that the shuttle service probably won’t be available, which means I’ll have to either have someone drive up there with me or I’ll have to sit around and wait while they service my car.
I guess I’m going to have to find a local garage that I can trust. That sounds scary.
Topics: Cars | 8 Comments »
July 24th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I totally understand what you’re dealing with. Situations like these is a perfect example of why I want websites like Yelp.com to flourish. Sites like those can be used to find decent and honest business reviews, and in your case garages. I used them to find the garage I currently use but I have to admit that the site still needs more people to review auto shops, body shops, etc. Especially when trying to be financially savvy, finding places that won’t screw you out of your hard earned dollar is very important.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
JLP
Things must be very different where you live. Auto dealers around us are all crooks that use FUD to squeeze money out of you they can’t make in selling cars. We’ve had negative experiences with 4 local dealers each a different brand.
I find that service departments in dealers play off of the fear that a local guy doing the work will void the warranty (untrue). Their parts are expensive (brand name oil filters?) when off the shelf ones are of the same quality. We’ve had experiences in being overcharged for labor i.e. 2 hours labor for 20 minutes work and one estimate of $650 for a job that our local garage quoted $500. A friend of mine in the business also knows first-hand that at dealers the experienced mechanics don’t get a lot of hours because of their pay and you’re likely to have some kid working on your car.
I do take our car to the dealer every so often for a cheap service (i.e. oil change) to see if there are any service bulletins on the car since the one thing I’ve found that the local guy can’t do is update the software on the car’s computer.
That said, I do admit there are shady local guys too, and it’s hard to find a good one on your own. Word of mouth always worked for us, so it’s good to know people that have lived in the area a while, but doing that investigating really paid off for us.
$.02
K
July 24th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Car Talk has a good mechanic shop rating site. We found a local shop that specializes in Toyotas and Hondas there that charges about half the dealer price for various jobs.
http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/find.html
July 25th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I heard an NPR story recently about repairpal.com It sounded like great idea. Wondering what a repair should really cost is the biggest concern for me. Angie’s List is another resource, but a lack adequate reviews for your area can still be a problem.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
hahaha…oh, you were serious. My nearest dealership is 170 miles away. Good luck with your garage search. Really like your blog.
July 26th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Or get a Honda/Toyota etc and not have to bring your car in as often.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Ask other Buick (or GM) owners where they service their cars – especially people with older models. This is how I found a great mechanic. Particularily listen to single women (or women whose husband’s know nothing about cars, such as myself) if they trust a mechanic, he’s good as gold. I have a mechanic now whom I will consult with before I buy a car. In other words, I’ll only buy the models he works on. When my husband’s car was totaled last year I gave him a list of cars he could buy that Dallas (our mechanic) works on. I told my husband to buy one of these cars and if he didn’t he was on his own as far as repairs went. My husband is no dummy, he bought a car off that list – he doesn’t want to go shopping for a mechanic either.
When I bought my Acura a few years ago I had it serviced a few times at the dealer – maily cause there was warranty work involved. They always found extra things wrong with it. I would take my car over to my mechanic, Dallas, and he’d check it out and say “looks good, I don’t know what Acura saw wrong with it.” In other words – I’m scared to go to the dealer, not my mechanic. All those shiny floors, clean waiting areas, and free food at the dealer – who do you think pays for that?
July 27th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Oh, and Doug, I’m with you on the Honda/Toyota thing (as I own an Acura and a Toyota), but JLP has a Buick and that’s the one domestic brand I will swear by. My mother has driven Buicks since 1973, and my grandmother has driven them since the 50s (she’s 90 and still drives a Buick). Those cars are great. They take the miles and require minimum work. Of the 12 or so Buicks I’ve known my mother and grandmother to own, only 1 was a lemon, a 1981 Century. Other than that one car the rest have take up to 120k+ miles with few repairs.
JLP would do good to keep this Buick as long as its reliable and serves his family well. He can then buy another Buick or get a good Honda/Toyota (and I’ll add Nissan). Unfortunately for me my mechanic (as discussed above) doesn’t work on Buicks or else I might be tempted to get a Lacrosse.