2009 Dodge Ram 1500: Service Kleptos

Wow, did you get oil everywhere?

Some not so long time ago I had my Honda Si serviced at the dealership and after several days of driving with the smell of oil, I had realized that the dipstick was missing.

After taking two of my vehicles ('03 Chevy S-10 ZR-2 and '07 WRX) into their respective dealers for standard maintenance, I noticed both vehicles were missing some of the bolts that hold on the skidplates (the WRX is really more of a splashgaurd). Both have acces holes, but removing them is easy and provides much better access to the oil filters. Not sure if this is a coincidence or if these bolts just tend to rattle loose but....

A number of years ago I dropped my Buick SkyHawk off at a GM dealer to have them try to find a stalling problem.

The next day when I picked it up the report said they could not repeat the problem and billed me $115. I was annoyed but paid the bill, got my key back and returned to my car.

It was then I realized the key I had given them was the wrong key. They lied about driving and testing the car and it was only when I demanded they show me how they tested the car without the correct key that they refunded my money.

No apology though. They said it was a misunderstanding and could not see why I was upset.

I haven't been back to a dealer on any car since then

Not really a dealer story, per se, but I once took my Passat to the nearby outlet of a national chain of auto repair shops for a new axle. Went to pick it up and the counter guy says, "We test drove it and everything is fine but the abs light is flashing, I don't know what that's all about". I walk out to the car and there, attached to one of the left front tire lug nuts, is a really large socket. I remove it, bring it inside and drop it on the counter, leaving without a word. No flashing abs light, needless to say.

Dolts.

After taking in my 1999 SHO for maintenance (this was 2002 or 2003) and the car kept stalling or nearly stalling under really low speed. I brought it back the next morning and found out that they didn't plug a couple of things back in and the MAF sensor was dirty. They fixed it, but left a complaint with the service manager and got a partial credit back on the cost of maintenance, as well as a free rental.

I was on my way to Hilton Head and hit a pothole, ruining the RF tire. I was driving the Club Sport, which does use a bit of oil(1 qt. every 3000 miles or so), so I checked the oil at every fuel stop AND when I got to Hilton Head. I NEVER added any oil. Fast forward three days-I'm at the Hilton Head Tire Kingdom having my tire replaced. On the way back to the condo I smell burning oil and the CEL illuminates. I pull over, pop the hood, and find that my oil filler cap is missing. I call Tire Kingdom and they treat me like an idiot: "Sir, you need to go back to the shop that changed your oil." Funny thing, I drove the car from the Ohio Valley to SC and never smelled any oil or noticed the CEL... Luckily, I found the cap laying on top of the motor mount. After an hour of scrubbing and a roll of paper towels the engine bay was presentable again. My guess is that some idiot at Tire Kingdom thought the car was in for an oil change and got ready to pull the drain plug when someone yelled "No, Goober! That 'uns jest here to git the tar changed." So, Goober closes the hood without replacing the cap. Morons.

The local Dodge dealer did the same thing to my Ram. Between my experience, this, and the newest Viper post...wow. Simply unbelievable.

I took my Viper in for a broken hatch shock mount. They said they would need to cut a hole in the... oh wait... nevermind...

Took my Lexus to the dealership for routine service. Afterwards, I would hear a clunk when I turned.
Opened the hood and found a socket sliding around the firewall!

I have a nice 12mm Snap-On socket in my toolchest. Sadly, the only Snap-On tool I own. :(

When I was in between moving from Tallahassee to Austin and living in a hotel, I didn't have the tools for a tire rotation/oil change for my dearly departed SRT-4. So I brought it into the dealership for the service. By the time I was heading out of the parking lot at the dealership I heard some thudding from the front, driver's side wheel. I got out of the car and realized that the dealership cross threaded and overtightened to the point of snapping four out of the five lug bolts. The other four were in the parking lot in the pattern I was driving out of the place.

The service person who "took care" of my car was promptly fired.

Had to get some emergency repair work while out of town in Nebraska at what had to be the smallest Ford dealer in the world. They did the work (punctured oil pan) without any problems but I found a OBDII scanner wires and all in my windshield washer fluid tank. It was fried but I keep it as a reminder to always check the truck before I leave the place of service.

I had a 2002 SE-R that got an oil change at the dealer as part of a recall. A few months later, I'm in the process of changing my oil when I find that not only was the filter cranked on way too tight, my filter wrench doesn't fit the filter. The dealer used a smaller 1.8L engine oil filter on my 2.5L engined car.

This was the same dealer that didn't realize that my hot weather starting problems were due to a bad fuel pump not holding pressure (unable to replicate problem, so it must be fine).

I took my wifes Durango in for the regular oil change and tire rotation. Paid the bill, got in the Durango and started to drive off. However something seemed very loose in the steering and I could her a grinding noise. I stopped, got and looked down the the drivers side front tire to see that they had barely finger tightened the lugs. The wheel was so loose it was actually tilted on the bolts. I went in and complained to the service manager. They immediately repaired and gave me my next two oil changes on them.

I brought my Mustang GT in for a TSB that replaces a plate that sits above the transmission because it rattles. A one day job turned into a one week adventure pretty quick. After 2 days of waiting I get a call saying one of the guys pulled into the bay next to where my car was, and took the bumper off; no worries for me because they of course would replace it. 2 more days later I get a call saying they torqued down the shifter linkage bolts a little too much and snapped it off, and it would be another 2 days till the part is in.

When I finally got my car, I drove it around, ever so excited to have it back again, only to notice the odd smell of burnt plastic. Come to find out, the exhaust was so far off from center, one of the tips was resting against the bumper and melted it off, so I had to go back to get that repaired as well. At this point I wouldn’t trust any of the mechanics that worked at this dealer with a screwdriver, let alone my car ever again.

I once went to a dealer for a minor issue, was enthusiastically greeted by a knowledgeable tech who said he they could get on it right away. The tech pointed out the waiting area with real furniture, a fresh pot of coffee and a collection of current magazines. 25 minutes later the keys were returned, the tech apologized that I had been inconvenienced, the service was done at no charge, the car had been washed and I was on my way. ............. another unbelievable story

Reading some of these really gets you thinking about the saying “you need to either find a good mechanic, or become one”

I don’t have any real horror stories as most of my dealer service experiences were positive. I had a couple of incidents with the Toyota dealership that I bought my Celica from. I normally do all my own maintenance but I had the dealership do my first oil change on the Celica because it was offered to me for free when I purchased the car. They forgot to put the oil cap back on and oil splashed all over the engine compartment of my brand new car. I wasn’t all that mad about it though because they apologized and completely cleaned it all up and offered another free oil change.

Then when I took my car in for the 2nd free oil change, a couple of the mechanics came into the waiting area to ask me if I noticed anything about the way the car was driving. I kind of shrugged and asked them what this was all about. Apparently there is some kind of a spacer that is put in the strut coils to limit the suspension travel during transport and it was never removed upon delivery. They kind of had a good laugh about it at first but when they asked me where I purchased the car and I had to inform them that I had purchased it from their dealership and therefore they were the boneheads that forgot to remove it when the dealership took delivery of the car.

First service on my Mazda 3. Brought in my own oil instead of using the bulk oil which most dealerships supply. Explained that to service writer, placed new jug of oil on passenger front seat. Waited. Got bill, bulk oil billed to me. Explained I brough my own oil in. Sorry. Then take adjusted bill to car to find my oil still sitting on front seat. Go back in, explain to service writer. Sorry. Watch car go back inside shop. I stand outside door and watch. "Oil change tech" takes oil out of my car, puts on his bench and continues to do what he was doing on another car. Ten minutes later my car comes out with not so much as the hood being raised. I lose it on SW, Tech and service manager. Last visit to that dealership ever. Mazda Canada notified.

"A sales person will sell you your first car, but it's the service department that will sell the next".

Why is this so hard to understand???

I perform a lot of the really simple simple maintenance work(lubricant/fluid changes, brakes, etc.) myself, but I have also found an excellent dealer(as well as an indie shop) for the three vehicle brands I own. Consequently, I am a bit reluctant to consider any other brands- why mess with a good thing?
Although I would make an exception if I turned up a nice 911 or Cayman S...;)

Back in 1979, I took my '77 VW Rabbit into local dealer's service department, because of stalling and battery not charging. Found that the molded wiring harness plug coming out of the alternator was getting fried along with the wires. Rather than replace the harness, the service department cut a good plug off another harness and soldered all the wires to the harness in my car, then wrapped it with duct tape. The tape melted and the problem continued, because of many cold solder joints. I should've learned, but same service dept. replaced a leaky head gasket and forgot to tighten down the head properly, which warped after a trip through the desert to Las Vegas. They wouldn't take responsibility, even though they were the only techs that ever worked on the car. Happily, VW shut down the entire dealership soon afterwards.

i took my focus in to a ford dealer to have its oil changed. i told them i was leaving it with them and ill be back just before closing. service dept closed at 5. i came back at 4:45 and found the service area locked. i went to the receptionist in the new car lot and she told me "oh they went home for the day, when they dont have any cars come in sometimes they scatter early!" i told her "actually, my car is in there so can they scatter back?" they didnt call me to ask if i could be back any earlier or anything. so the receptionist with her eyes opened big with suprise called the service manager to come back. long story short i got my car back and got called a few names on my way out to get it by the service manager :(. notified ford corporate of the issue and the names, got 10 free oil changes and 45% off any genuine ford accessory :D

Went to get my subaru aligned with the winter tires on. Didnt take it to dealer, instead a tire/alignment specialist. Driving it home, everything seemed fine, but on sharp turns there was a rubbing sound. I took it back, and they told me "nope, everything looks fine".

I drove it for another day, decided to look for myself, found a pair of channel locks clamped to my steering rack and the tire was rubbing. I went back to the shop and they claimed that there was no way they did that....so how did you do an alignment, just worked around the pair of channel locks?