Obama finally sold off the remainder of GM stock some time back at a net loss to the tax saver. As a matter of principle, if and when I do buy a new car, it will not be with a company that was bailed out by the USG. In the meanwhile I'm driving a 15-year-old car (I still have less than 100K miles on the car), but GM abandoned the make and model several years back. Until recently, that abandonment was a minor issue for most maintenance issues.
I personally dislike getting my car serviced at dealerships. To give an example, I had purchased a routine maintenance policy for my last new car (covering things like oil changes). It ended up being a hassle because I've often had hour-long commutes and the service departments had business hour schedules. So I would have to rearrange my work schedule; now I've had to do that for physician appointments, but not for oil changes.
Probably the most notorious repair job has been power windows. I don't know what the world record is, but I've had 6 repairs, each one of the 4 windows at least once. This is one of my most telling encounters: I had just moved to Maryland and came back to my car after grocery shopping to find q rear window down 2-3 inches. Uh-oh! I knew I hadn't touched the window control. If you haven't had the problem, you can try to manually close the window, but it's futile: the window will eventually sink into the door frame. This is on a Thursday, and heavy rains were expected over the weekend.
This repair was covered under my contract (although I had something like a $150-250 deductible for the repair; the maintenance agreement probably expired around 2008, and I've had to pay full price since). But I was told they couldn't fit me in until next Wednesday. What am I supposed to do given the forecast? I was told to duct tape something over the window.
The last time I had a window repaired, the local Chevy dealer pulled the same Procrustean policy. Luckily I lived maybe a mile from a Pep Boys, and they took care of me almost immediately. I had to walk back after dropping off the car and it was available a day later.
Some dealers are better than others. When I had my oil changes done in the NW Chicago suburbs, the dealer tossed in a complimentary car wash, nice touch.
My local one in South Carolina is interesting. Lots of creature comforts: complimentary WiFi, a popcorn machine, a soda fountain and coffee machine, large-screen TV, cushioned chairs. If it's a long repair, they'll also give you a complimentary ride home. It certainly beats those small thinly-padded chairs with months-old magazines and vending machines I was used to at other dealers.
But this dealer got on my nerves for 3 basic reasons. I think I've mentioned one in passing in one or 2 posts. There was a recall on my ignition keys. It had something to do with a slot on the key; apparently people would try to attach other things to the slot (which I never did), which caused safety issues. So my understanding was they had to attach a plastic piece to reduce the slot. Now I had been getting spam-mailed by GM just before I left WV, and I decided to get it done soon after moving to SC. I got it done--or they told me it had been done, but for some weird reason, GM was still spamming me with postcards to get the repair done. I contact both GM and the dealer, saying why do they think it hasn't been done? No response. I run into another issue affecting fueling. and took the car in last March, also have them change my oil. They did the pricey oil change; I asked about the recall issue, and he assures me it was a bureaucratic error and he would take car of it. (I should note that FINALLY the postcards stopped coming.) Oh, and by the way, your control problem; we can't do it, don't have the parts. (Note: no follow-up on the control problem.)
So a couple of weeks back I'm headed to do one of those ubiquitous drug tests related to a future job assignment and I have a brake line problem. I limp into a gas/convenience center and call to have my car towed to the dealer. Long story short, after 5 days, they refuse the repair, claiming they can't get the parts. I end up paying $60 to get my car towed to a brake shop which makes the expensive repair.
In what only could be classified as chutzpah, the same dealer that rejected the repair soon peppered me with emails about time to come in for scheduled maintenance. This brought to mind that fuel-related control issue which they had never followed up on. So I sent a query about the deferred repair, setting up a potential repair date, somewhat constrained by my business travel schedule. One of the service people responds they (still) don't have that part in stock; it costs (over $100); am I sure I want it? When I confirm, she reschedules for the next day. I try to ask: are you sure the part will be available in time? She basically says, "Assume unless I call you back by 5PM, there won't be a problem." She talks over me for the rest of the call, claiming she can't hear me over the phone connection, and ends the call.
So if you've read to this point, you can probably guess what happened. After I go to my Friday appointment, the service agent, after about an hour of my waiting, informs me the repair part is not in stock and takes 5 days to order: reschedule for next Wednesday? Nope. What happened to the promised call if they couldn't do the job Friday? "It doesn't matter; the reality is this is how long it takes to get the part from Detroit. On the bright side, we've taken care of your recall problem." What the hell are you talking about? You guys claimed to have done it on 2 prior occasions I brought in the car. "Well, it's really done this time." Nice to know it takes an hour to put plastic on an ignition key.
Oh, why did I really go to the dealer in March as I described? Somehow my dashboard mirror fell off my windshield. The agent told me (after finishing the $45 oil change) that it couldn't repair the mirror; it required special tools they didn't have. "Go see a windshield repair shop." I ended up going to one which fixed it in about 15 minutes and charged me about $7.
In contrast, the brake repair shop followed up with a call this week to ask my feedback with their repair.
Now I'm sure that there are a million prospective readers with worse horror stories. It's not even so much the repairs themselves as the bureaucratic arrogance. The check on hapless dealer service departments is the independent auto repair shop, in the context of this post Pep Boys, the windshield repair shop, and the brake repair shop. There are clear similarities to Big Government which, for example, pushes compliance costs on employers, may mandate occupational licenses, etc. The system is at the convenience of the State. Independent services, like package deliveries and private schools, have to compete for consumer dollars because they do not have mandates guaranteeing customers.
