Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:22:19 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: What a real VW mech @ the dealer has to says about a vanagons
In-Reply-To: <c803c1a70709100918g59eefd6cxeab256308d16bc40@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Dealers, of 'the Stealership' as they are also known....
For sure, you'll often pay through the nose with them, and they are to be
avoided usually.
Dealers are independent businesses of course - free to work on anything, or
not work on anything.
My guess is that many car dealerships, especially the big fancy ones.....my
guess is they have to bring in 20 grand or even way more than that, every
day, just to run the whole operation. They have 3 sources of revenue usually
- sale, parts, and service.
The service department produces the most. The pressure to produce a lot of
cash flow there is huge. If they are jammed up with newer car work, and
warranty work ( warranty work is, or can be, pretty juicy for a dealership -
often it's a known fix - the manufacturer expects to pay for warranty work
to the dealer )...........my point is, if they are working at capacity with
newer car work, and warranty work, they'll be less inclined to take in what
to them is a 'special case' - an old van.
Not saying it's fair, or smart, or nice. I WISH they would support their
older vehicles and customers more ! Given the system they work under, it's
probably the best they can do.
This is no consolation, but in general, I experience that finding someone
who is competent, eager to serve, does good work, and delivers good value -
in ANYTHING ...car repair, washing machine repair, what have you ....finding
someone like that for any service or repair is just plain rare. Like one in
a hundred, or one in 50 anyway for sure.
And being willing to pay top dollar...........that in no way guarantees that
you'll really get real value and competency. Not at all. They'd have you
THINK that, but it's not really true. Upwards of 3/4 of the car work I see
is done poorly, like terrible workmanship, or the wrong thing done, or the
wrong part installed etc......'mostly' and most unfortunately the 'real
commitment' in the car repair industry seems to be 'justify all the repairs
you can, insist that it's imperative they be done, and do the work as fast
as you can, get the money, and get the car out of there. "
It's like this - "Oh, you want us to examine the car carefully and figure
out exactly what it needs, discuss with you the various choices and help you
pick the right one for you in this particular case, then do perfect
workmanship on the car, using quality parts, and get it out on time, on
budget, with perfect results, the first time - why you must be joking, if
we did that we'd go out of business."
Scott
www.turbovans.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jeff Lincoln
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 9:18 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: What a real VW mech @ the dealer has to says about a vanagons
Dealers are scams in my opinion. I have never dealt with a VW dealer but in
all my previous run ins they are over priced scams.
My sister was once quoted over $700 by a dealer to do an alignment on a car
she had. She told them to stick it and went elsewhere.
Then there are always those $300 tail lens cover replacements. It's just
messed up.
On 9/10/07, Chris Lisica <wavanagon@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> this quote farther down the page:
>
> Most dealers turn away older cars because they have no techs with
> experience
> on them. Gotta ask yourself.. will that customer buy the new product when
> you don't support the old one?
>
> That guy who said they won't even work on them was probably a car
> salesman.
> At least he sounded like one.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> On 9/10/07, TC <trclark@shaw.ca> wrote:
> >
> > http://www.914club.com/bbs2/lofiversion/index.php/t62250.html
> > yah I know dont beleive all ya read
> >
> > I quote
> >
> > Who are the Vanagon experts here?
> >
> > I'm aware of some of the problems with the Wasserboxers, but I would
> like
> > to
> > hear from any experts.
> >
> > I don't need a Syncro or Westy. Luckie and I just need a practical
> vehicle
> > that's bigger than our 914s.
> >
> > The Scirocco and GTI are going up for sale.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> >
> > I am a mechanic at a VW dealership, TRUST ME. you do not want a vanagon,
> > we
> > will not even take them in to work on!! I heartily recommend either
> buying
> > an asian or domestic van, or holding out until "Project M"- our new
> > minivan
> > arrives next year as a 2008.
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Chris
> 88 Vanagon GL (daily driver)
> 87 Westfalia (in progress)
>
--
Thanks,
Jeff
'90 Carat (Grover)
'86 (We call this one Parts)
'85 GL (Preparing to move to a new Home)
'78 Bus (Melissa) Patty's Bus
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