I live on the south shore of Boston. Which dealership was this?

 

My brother in law has a company truck he drives and it is leased. they have a place that does the oil changes and the last time he didnt think they changed the filter. So he marked it the next time and sure enough, he got his marked filter back still on the truck. he is a pretty fair sized guy and went in and got irate with them and he thought they were going to get in a fight over a $5 filter! he reported them to the leasing company and bbb. pretty bad a place cheats you but then tries to lie when it is obvious

 

I use chalk (my kids have lots of Crayola sidewalk chalk) to mark my tires before any service like this.

You can mark them any way you like. I used to mark FD, FP, RD, RP, where F=front, R=rear, D=driver, and P=passenger. However, I now just mark one or two of the tires and make sure they are in different places after the service.

Incidentally, I've never had a problem with Pohanka Acura in this regard.

 

I used dots to mark it. I started with the drivers front tire and put a dot on the outside of the tire towards the tread. I didn't want it close to the hub, otherwise they may see it. So I wouldn't forget where the mark was, I used the Acura "A" on the hub to point to the mark. I then went to the passenger side front and put 2 dots. I continued around the car with different number of dots.

I used a black magic marker so it would blend in. If I used anything else (paint, etc.), they might see it and know.

 

Let's just say it's outside of Boston, going west and the city starts with an "F".

 

Since it's not your dealership, where are you out of? The reason I ask is that I bought an MDX in NH back in December and will need to get things done somewhere for that vehicle. It would be good to know which dealership you think is good.

Thanks

 

So the tech sees the marks and knows you watch for things done right- thats a good thing!
Though I doubt most are looking for secret marks to confirm their laziness, that would be efforting

Cars that have the wheels balanced on the car have paint marks on lugs to show where it mounts on the axle studs- so goes back on same exact place

 

The dealership also said they rotate just front to back. Are our tires rated for one direction travel? So we can't rotate left to right? Or is this another lie?

 

Some tires are directional, but I am pretty sure all the stock tires are non-directional (not *positive* about the summer tire options).

So, in that case, the dealer is feeding you more .

Ask them if they actually have a service/owners manual. Tell them they don't even need to be able to read, 'cause theres pichures just for guys like them. Have them follow the pikture for rotation.




BTW - rememeber it is YOUR car. They are paid to do the service YOU want, Not the service they want. If they won't give you proper service at a reasonable price, go somewhere else. You didn't spend $30 - $35k to be jerked around on oil changes and tire rotations.

 

Heh, I think you meant town that starts with "F". I think it's officially the state's largest town. Although it's so big you'd think it was a city. Thanks.

The dealership nearest me is Clair down in Walpole. So far we've had nothing but good experiences with them. Oh and in case anyone from Clair is reading this, consider this a heads-up, because I too will be testing you guys in the near future.

 

Nice...but not suprising.

 

I had a Honda service rep tell me that they replaced EVERY SINGLE GEAR inside my 03 Elements gearbox to fix a 3rd gear grind issue (they created). When I told him it was absurd because it would cost 3 times as much as a brand new trans, he insisted it was still true. I asked him for a printout to show all parts ordered. The printout showed 3rd gear-set only and he still insisted that all 5 gears AND reverse were replaced. He eventually went to talk to the mechanic doing the work and still insisted all gears were replaced. I ended up bringing in the manager who agreed replacing all 5 gears was completely impossible, and couldn't imagine why the rep was insisting. I can't believe they let these freaking people work there when they don't even have a single clue...

Fuk dealerships...

 

As an ex-Mechanic, ex-Service writer, and ex-Service manager, all it takes is one bad Mechanic to ruin the reputation of the entire dealership. You can have 10 mechanics in the shop but it only takes one to make all look bad. I worked at the largest Chevrolet dealership in the state. The Dealership's Manager's son worked in the shop and his nickname was Dutch. We service writers called him the "Dutch of doubt" because he had the majority of customer returns for problems with his work. Is the whole shop bad then? No because we had some of the best mechanics that I had ever worked with there and they did not appreciate Duke's antics. And the last thing I wanted in my day was an irate customer I had written up earlier in the day.

My advice is if you do have a problem with some work to not go in and attack the Service manager or Service writer right off. Explain to him/her what the problem is and then see where they go from there, work with them. If you do not get satisfaction then go off on them. Could be they do suspect they have a problem individual and want to fix the problem. When I was a Service Manager, I had enough on my plate that I didn't need extra hassles dragging me down. Duke had left the Large Chevrolet dealership to go to a smaller dealership down south who then hired me as their Service manager. He had not changed in the mean time and had gotten worse!! But I knew his antics so roughly a month after I arrived he quit in a mutual separation!

If you are not comfortable with the Dealership then mark your tires and filters and check their work. Ask for the used parts after the repair. Unless there are a lot of crooked and/or stupid people working in the dealership they do not want unhappy customers. The reason I was hired as a Service Manager of a multi-line dealership was to fix a bad reputation. It took purging (getting rid of Dutch and others), hiring the right people and lots of going the extra mile turned things around. As someone that worked in several dealerships a while ago I just wanted to give this discussion my perspective or

 

Blackura are you In VA or MD??? We have Rosenthal dealerships in Northern VA and they are referred to as "Rosenthief" why...because they are shady!!! I have personaly witnessed them trying to Rip people off so beware! Half of their staff has probably been to prison and the other half probably should be.

Also beware of dealerships who add on a bunch of worthless fee's. On my old Dodge I took it to Brown's Dulles Dodge in Chantilly VA for a Routine 60,000 mile service and a new power window motor. When I looked at my invoice they tried to charge me $30 for "Supplies" I asked the service manager what this fee was and he said for "misc nuts, bolts, towels etc" I laughed and him and said I thought that would be covered under the "Labor" cost. I told him there was no way I was paying him 1 penny for "Supplies". He was visibly embarrassed at the fact that I called him on this bogus fee and he promptly removed it from my bill! Remember they will cheat you any chance they get!! Don't stand for it! I never took my car back to that dealership again nor will I ever buy a car from them ever. All for a $30 bogus fee! Lost my business for life!

 

What dealership do you work at??

 

$30 is ridiculous... I will admit however that most shops do have a fee for shop supplies. However, some will include it in their hourly rate - though given a competitive market regarding shop rates, many areas don't (want to reflect the lowest rate possible).
I know the dealership I worked at it was on average $3 bucks for a decent size job. But this was also based off of approx <1% of the total cost of the job etc.. I don't remember any shop supply charges being over $6 as long as I worked there..

Definitely gotta watch-em....

 

Last time I brought my car in for something routine, they told me that the tech noticed the seatbelts weren't retracting properly. Of course, it was complete BS...the car only had 18K miles and there was nothing wrong. It appeared on my bill as a warranty charge for an hour of labor to Acura and some fee for cleaning supplies.

 

Next time I get my 04 TL serviced, I will MAKE SURE to mark the appropriate places.

 

Same thing happened to my wife's Honda Pilot in New Mexico. I paid for tire rotations and one tire kept showing up on the dashboard as needing air. They "rotated" the tires and the same tire kept registering as needing air. My complaint was then aimed at faulty tire sensor. It ended up that the tire had a nail that produced a small leak. If it wasn't for the dashboard tire sensor, they would have gotten away with robbery.

Same thing happened, general manager called me personally and apologized and put a $30 credit on my account for future services.

I will now mark the tires to verify they've been rotated.

 

I've had problems with this dealership's service, too. I hate to use them, but I work in the same town and sometimes I have no choice.

They always try to push some service - last time I went there for a flat tire they tried to get me to do a "power steering flush". They had a test tube by the register that looked like it was full of sludge, that they used as a prop to scare people. Of course, that wasn't from my car.

I think they have a scam of the week that they run on everyone - transmission fluid flush, cabin filter, etc. I hate to say that I ended up leaving them $1500 the last time I went in for a flat tire - they replaced the tire, then said the wheel was bent, then it was a broken strut, etc. I wasn't up to fighting them - my wife was seriously ill in the hospital and it was just something I didn't have the energy for. But, they'll never get another dime from me. I hope it's worth it to them.

 

I have so many horror stories from Acura dealers. Thats why I do 90 percent of my repairs and mods myself.

 

wow! I work @ pohanka in chantilly, I havnt heard of anything scandalous. If i do ill be sure to keep you guyz post'd.

ps: they do a lazy job wit car wash..

 

oh you mean, "rub the dirty water on the car routine" i think all dealerships have that problem...

 

I have always had problems with Dealerships,dating back to my collection Nissans before I got my new Acura. Haven't been to an Acura service center yet, though!

Hopefully, my first visit this week to have my oil changed will be a pleasant experience. If it is not, or they try to cheat me, I will report it here with the location and name of the tech and manager so as to wrn everyone.

I don't mind paying for work done, but I hate getting ripped blind. It's not just the cost of the rip off, but the damage they do telling you :they changed the oil" or "rotated the tires". It goes far beyond the initial cost of what they charge!

 

I have always had problems with Dealerships,dating back to my collection Nissans before I got my new Acura. Haven't been to an Acura service center yet, though!

Hopefully, my first visit this week to have my oil changed will be a pleasant experience. If it is not, or they try to cheat me, I will report it here with the location and name of the tech and manager so as to wrn everyone.

I don't mind paying for work done, but I hate getting ripped blind. It's not just the cost of the rip off, but the damage they do telling you "they changed the oil" or "rotated the tires". It goes far beyond the initial cost of what they charge!

 

I am very anal with my car as many of you are here and reading this thread infuriates me to no end. I am very mechanical and have room and tools to do the majority of maintenance myself. What steps do I need to perform in order to prove I did the work myself... I read an earlier post that the dealer harrassed someone because they neglected to get the 30k done at the dealer. I don't want to void my warranty because I refused to grab my ankles.

 

I know they rotated the tires on my 07 TL-S...the rear tires were at 35 PSI with the fronts at 32 PSI. I talked to the service writers and they said that they always fill tires to 32 PSI - even on the type S. I also noticed that they scratched the chrome plastic bezel where the shift lock is when they installed the music link. I now take the car to Seattle Acura for service.

 

I just had my new TL-S serviced at Frankel Acura here in MD. I am never going back there again. I had them install a sunroof wind deflector which they had installed incorrectly, damaging my sunroof seal causing them to replace my sunroof glass.

The service manager said he would not only replace my glass, but also replace the wind deflector because they broke the clips. Well, the morning I took my car in for service, I marked my deflector with my knife.

Later that day, I came to pickup my car and my old deflector was still installed and the paperwork states that it was swapped out for a new one!

After fighting with the manager, and him claiming that they did in fact change it, and me proving that it was still the old one, they made me a new appointment for me to come in and have a new one put on. After I get this taken care of, I'm never going back there again.

 

I believe this is touched on in the Maint Section of your Owners Manual. Regardless, just keep your reciepts for all parts and record the work done in the Owners Manual. You might also post it up on Owner Link as well.

Acura CANNOT dictate where you have your routine/preventive service done. And they CANNOT void your warranty for having it done outside the dealership.

Your obligaton is to follow the recommeded maint schedule AND have the service performed "correctly". Thats it! Any other so called "requirement" is .

 

Cool, thanks for the answer Bearcat! I most certainly will do it myself. It's a shame we can't trust people who are supposed to know our cars as well as we do. I have heard great things about Lexus service, are they as good as people say or are they just better at hiding it?

 

Everytime I take my mothers Lexus to service, I leave feeling like a King...literally. They try soo hard to be good, its crazy. They even offer to bring her car to her work and take the loaner back.

 

WOW. Well I'm glad you caught the issue. It makes me sick that these dealerships are doing this and they make other dealerships that are honest and loyal make us look bad. A b-1 service should be no more than $80 (which is still high)

 

They technically can't even void your warranty for those so called requiremnts. There is a specific legal meaning to the word "recommended". The maintenence guide is littered with the words, "Recommended", and "Should", etc. If it were to have any legal binding as being requried to maintain your warranty, it would've been called a "Mandatory Maintenance Schedule", not a recommended one. The schedule itself also would've used the words, "Must", "shall", etc.

Perhaps I spend my day working with too many attorneys

 

yea somewhat like that... they totally missed out on clean'n my rims. that junk was ddddiiiirrrrrttttyyyyy!

 

I Just returned from the Dealership in New Jersey (Acura of Ramsey off of Route 17) and had them do A1 service. I opted to go with synthetic oil (Mobile 1) and of course have the tires rotated. I also let them wash my car so I could see how good of a job they did.

I marked my filter and all my tires in case I couldn't see the work being done.

Service rep (Tom) was very courteous, explained all the procedures and set the time to about 1 hour. I went to the waiting room and next to the cashier is a door with a window, so I was able to watch them work on my car!

They did a great job. I saw the new filter being put in (blue Honda filter) along with the proper oil, they rotated the tires and were generally careful with the car.

The wash was fine. I didn't get to watch that portion. Car had very few water spots left on it and most of those were on the shelf above the bumper under the trunk.

Took about 50 min. and they went over all the charges, said they were sending my survey and asked me to be nice but fair in the response. No questions, paid the bill and booked on down the road........

I am elated, especially after all my previous experiences with Nissan dealers. Especially the one in Waukesha off of 18 when I lived in WI. (They were rip off artists of the worst sort!) I will watch them closely the next few visits but my confidence in them is pretty high.

If you live in Bergen county or close to it, I would recommend this dealerships service center!

 

The same thing happened to me at Keyes Acura in Van Nuys, CA for my A1 service. They INSISTED that they had rotated the tires and they had NOT. And they refused to refund the money, only to make it right. Which meant I had to take time off work and go in to have it done "again" on my own time.

When it came time for the B1 service, I figured I'd go to a local lube shop for the oil change $65 for synthetic) and to the Bridgestone dealer for the rotation ($10 but sometimes they'll do it as a courtesy!)

Screw Acura and their $150 B service. What a joke.

Mechanics usually "inspect" things anyway because if you need a brake job, they're going to want your business!

So the moral is to find a shop you can trust for maintenance and leave the warranty repairs to the dealer to fix.

Oh... and I had the lube shop throw in a K&N filter for some cheap price, I can't remember what. But it was more than the Acura dealer would have done!