Is there a web site I can view to review how dealership service departments have been rated? A dealer by me in NJ claims to be the #11 rated dealership in the country for Acura dealers and wanted to see if that holds water. Thanks!

 

Well, those ratings are done by the Mfr, not by some independent organization. And they measure only certain criteria, and weight heavily on aftermarket service surveys (which is why dealers do the follow up calls - to influence your response in advance of the surveys).

I think real-world anecdotes (ask here, or search on the dealer's name on a search engine) and an inspection by you can be helpful. Throw out the high and low ratings, as some people will never be satisfied, and others fawn over getting the car back in one piece. i would try to walk around unobtrusively and do a walkaround - as a former tech, I can tell you that a clean workplace, with quality tools and relatively new looking major components (like brake service lathes, wheel balancers, alignment devices, etc,) can goive some idea of how much is invested in the service bays, rather than in the latte and hi-speed internet access lines in the lounge. If you find a tech willing to talk, ask him how long he has been there - a good indicator of service shop atmosphere. Listen to the chatter - is it full of curses, or is it the chatter of a workplace that is busy? Techs will say (**^**&* if they hit a thumb, but people walking around throwing things and cursing all the time are unhappy - either with themselves, but sometimes with the shop.

 

Can we make a section rating various service departments by states? Rets, NeuronBob, RonA??

 

What's to prevent rival dealerships from getting in there and puting all sort sof garbage?

I swear that half the posts on this forum whining abut trivialities are by 330i owners trying to bolster their re-sale vaoues so they can dump them.

 

Kind of hard to make it happen here...

At this stage, we won't hold any rating system for dealership yet. The poor judgement/evaluation/review system is a liability in making the forum a long run.

 

LOL, my friend.....very possibly true! Points for you for speaking the cold hard truth!