OT Car dealership service
Not working today, took my car I bought in October of 08 into dealership because neither of my remote keys are working. I also purchased an extended warranty but it turns out remotes are not covered, imagine that.
My beef is, I have to pay 55 dollars for a diagnostic test to find out what is wrong with the remotes. Added on to that, they need me to leave the car there for a couple hours so they can look at it.
The whole situation pisses me off, I purposefully by an American car, the damn remotes do not work, I have had the car less than a year and I have to pay to get it diagnosed and spend 2 or 3 hours in the dealership to boot. Seems like a bunch off bull, when all they have to do is reprogram the Key. Am I off base here?
August 14th, 2009 at 9:23 AM ^
Contact the company that the dealership represents directly. Ford, GM or whoever. Tell them that it's a dissatisfying experience.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:46 AM ^
Thanks, called Pontiac, informed remotes are not covered. I guess I am just going to have to grin and bear it. It will be a cold cold cold day in Michigan before I pay 55 dollars to diagnose that my remote does not work, jeez how many possibilities are there? Not 55 dollars worth of possibilities for me
August 14th, 2009 at 10:28 AM ^
There are actually three: the batteries are dead, the remote needs to be re-programmed to the car, or there is a more serious problem which makes the key trash. Either way, a $55 charge is baloney, but there could be more to the problem than replacing the batteries like in your TV remote control. Most new car dealerships make next to nothing on new car sales; all profit comes from service and parts. They only sell the new cars to ensure a stream of cars coming in for service and parts.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:28 AM ^
I had a Toyota dealer charge me 65 bucks to run a diagnostic test telling me the gas cap on my Sequoia was loose.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:48 AM ^
This is hilarious to me that this was posted today. I took my car in at 7:30 yesterday morning. They didn't look at it until 3 and of course didn't have the part AT THE FUCKING DEALERSHIP!!!, so I'm without a car for most of today too. My rage is relentless.
August 14th, 2009 at 9:57 AM ^
I feel your pain
August 14th, 2009 at 10:25 AM ^
Having spent a number of summers working for a dealership, I can tell you that a standard process when they haven't had the time or organizational skills to take care of your car, they tell you that the parts aren't in yet. It was a running joke at the (very high-end) dealer I worked at. When the service rep was telling a customer that, we all kind of smirked at each other. They just simply didn't get around to it, and didn't want to make any customer feel like they're being ignored. Better to blame the mysterious "parts warehouse" in god-knows-where.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:05 AM ^
I think this sort of thing is pretty common, regardless of the brand you buy. That's just the way dealerships work.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:05 AM ^
only buy Japanese cars (they can be made here). Not American or Korean :)
All joking aside, dealers are generally crooks. Don't get serviced by them and do not buy an extended warranty. If you need a good mechanic, check here.
http://cartalk.com/content/mechx/
August 14th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^
Thanks for the link. My dealer had been pretty good, but after the bottom fell out last fall, I think things have gone downhill.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:20 AM ^
Call your sales person...tell them this is bullshit and if he wants you to come buy another car from him in the future he'd better arrange for this to become a free repair (which it should be anyway, how does "unlocking the car" not fall under your standard warranty?!).
If your sales person doesn't totally suck they'll be able to take care of a small repair like this in hopes of winning some customer loyalty.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:41 AM ^
The "shelf life" of most car salespeople seems to be about six months.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:23 AM ^
that is crazy..... did you buy the car new or was it used??? when i bought my used ford last summmer and it came time to decide on the extended warranties the guy went over every thing with my wife and i just to make sure what we were getting. and if i remember correctly the key pads were not on there.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:25 AM ^
Not only have I bought a car there in the last year 2 of my sisters have as well.
I am beginning to think they just put shit batteries in the remotes, because if I dick around with the remote for a while and hold the buttons in for 5 seconds, it will sometimes lock the door or unlock.
Once I figure out how to get the back off of this remote, I am going to purchase 1 battery and see if it does the trick.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:34 AM ^
open up the remote, do you see any wear or corrosion? has it ever been wet?
August 14th, 2009 at 10:36 AM ^
I am trying to open it up. so far unsuccessful, I need a real narrow screw driver
August 14th, 2009 at 10:41 AM ^
take it to a watch repairman, for a few bucks. they probably have the tools to open it up, and could possibly have the correct battery (i have no idea if watches and key remotes use the same battery).
August 14th, 2009 at 10:44 AM ^
Great Idea, I am off to somewhere to get this cover off. Gonna google watch repairs, the type of battery is written on the cover
August 14th, 2009 at 10:27 AM ^
I have worked in dealer service as an advisor for 7 years. I can probably answer a lot of your questions, so fire away.
Blazefire, dealers are independantly owned and operated. Manufacturers have no ability to tell the dealers what to do. You can complain, and those complaints will be forwarded to the dealer, but they cannot force the dealer to do anything.
bj, the dealer i work at would have charged you $100 to tell you that. gas cap = evaporative system leak. Diagnosing this usually means they had to pressurize the fuel system and follow for the leak. The tech is gonna charge 1 hour labor for that. that being said, when a customer tells me their service engine light is on my 1st question is always 'did you just get gas? is the cap tight? check it and call me back'.
gordie, was the car new when you bought it? if so the remotes are probably covered under the factory warranty. i would guess at least 3 years, but i don't know what specific make you have. there are dozens of different extended warranties out there. some cover remotes, some don't. you can always call them directly and ask, it's possible the advisor is assuming they don't cover it cause so many don't and he never specifically checked. did you already try replacing the batteries in the remotes? if it's not the remotes themselves then yeah, i could see having to leave it off for a while, electrical diagnostics are a bear.
hope this helps
August 14th, 2009 at 10:34 AM ^
Right now you are more likely to get negged for having "Beantown" in your name.
Thanks for the Info.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:50 AM ^
it has a certain lyrical quality, don't you think?
August 14th, 2009 at 10:48 AM ^
dealerships are such a rip
August 14th, 2009 at 11:45 AM ^
Took my remotes to a watch-repair place and the guy was great, said the battery is good in both remotes. One of the remotes has a connection loose and needs to be re-soldered.
The remotes still will not lock door with any consistency but they will open the trunk. I guess I am SOL, will just have to unlock my doors the old fashioned way. Watch repair gave me this info at no charge.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:49 PM ^
I grew up in my dad's auto repair shop, and I can give three very basic rules of thumb when it comes to auto care.
1. Never go to a dealer
2. Never go to Walmart
3. Find a good, honest local guy who has been around for a while.
In this particular case:
The dealer is going to want to charge you $50 to tell you that your remote battery is dead, and that it will cost $50 more for a new one, which you have to purchase now that it is ordered. Oh, and by the way, you need new brakes.
Walmart won't understand what you are talking about, begin draining the oil, and then tell you that "that aint something we do" while sending you on your way with no oil in your engine. (I don't know if they could help with the remote, but I personally know of engines that they have ruined, then refused to replace)
Your honest, local guy will probably use common sense and tell you to just get a new remote or maybe look to see if it needs to be programmed. Either way, try keylessride.com. You can order a remote pretty cheap from them, or find a local guy. Until then, use the key.