Current Events > Does anyone here have experience with a car dealership trying to scam them?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I drive a 2016 Civic and have had no issues with the car. When I purchased it, I was given a set number of free oil changes. They never found any issued with with car, until today. Now, as I am using the last free oil change the dealership is telling me that the car has a couple thousand dollars worth of repairs needed.

Am I just being paranoid, or does this seem like the sort of thing they would try to do while I am there(for the last time with a free oil change) to get any last bit of money out of me? I did have a Midas try to scam me before, so I am always a bit worried about not finding trustworthy mechanics.

I know pretty much nothing about cars, but none of my alerts have went off, and I have had no noticeable issues.

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Dealerships do overcharge

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Extended warranty.

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Fuck ya.
Every single one.
Every. Single. One.

• As a young guy starting out I got scammed into leasing a Corella when I was already upside down with the car I was trading in.
• As a kid, I went on a test drive at carmax with this guy trying to push this car on me. It started smoking on the test drive and somebody from the dealership had to come get us on the side of the road.
• After the carmax thing, I went to another lot where I wasnt going to have enough cash to get the car and my credit wasnt really that good. So they tried to pressure me into having me wheel down my senile grandfather so they could put his name on the loan. And I mean this badgering went on for about 20 minutes at a table before I walked out.
• Years later I negotiated a deal at Toyota for my dads truck. All he had to do was walk in and sign the paperwork. I made the mistake of letting him go while I was at work. He came home with a shit load of extended warranties and service plans.

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TwoBit_Samurai posted...

while I am there(for the last time with a free oil change) to get any last bit of money out of me? I did have a Midas try to scam me before, so I am always a bit worried about not finding trustworthy mechanics.

You cant trust dealerships. The truth is that theyve probably got too much going on to really try to scam you (not counting tacking on flushes and extra maintenance shit.) But somehow youll probably find the one service manager scamming people to qualify for some in-house bonus or something.

My problem is that 90% of the dealerships Ive been to have been absolutely incompetent. I had a car that kept tripping an O2 sensor. Well if the sensor trips then your check engine light trips. If the check engine light is on then your car wont pass inspection in NC. No inspection sticker then you cant drive the car. I drove this car to 4 different Toyota dealerships and each time these dummies did the same damn thing. Just popped a new $80 sensor on there and said done. Never even looked for what was causing the sensors to blow. Theyd reset the check engine light and 50 miles down the road it would trip again. Finally at the 4th dealership I said I wasnt paying for another damn O2 sensor unless they actually fixed the problem. The guy at the little service podium wanted to argue so I walked. Traded that car the next day for a Mazda which ran for 10 years without a problem.

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$2,000 is worth at least a 2nd opinion, imo. Especially given I am not a mechanic, and a coincidence like that warrants watching my own back because who else will?

Id take it to a reputable third party and foot for a diagnostic if I had to, adding, My brother works on his own car sometimes and told me to mention then whatever the dealership is recommending.

Dealerships dont buy used. They buy whole kits new rather than a screw. They make lots of money, so warranty yes, no warrantyeh, situational. Regardless, that on your way out the door sales pitch makes me nervous.

Id be like, Wait, did I walk into Jiffy Lube?

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I second the suggestion of taking it to an independent mechanic. A big part of the price the dealership is giving you could be where they get their parts from.

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Yeah we are definitely going to take it elsewhere for an inspection

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As someone who works at a dealership, those "X free oil changes" are designed both to sweeten the pot on a potential sale, and to make it up in service and parts by drawing you into the service lane when you might normally take it somewhere else (for stuff other than warranty work). The main "gravy" here is tacking on fluid flushes and such, all that BG additive shit that teeters between "can be useful sometimes" and "snake oil"

Not so many sales stories here, but I've got loads of stories of warranty fraud and halfassery in the service lane lol

A lot of them will claim the bank won't approve your loan without buying their $2,000 extended warranty.

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I have dealt with a car dealership, yes.

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DuranOfForcena posted...

one time i was at a dealership with a buddy of mine who was trying to get an insider deal from a kinda sketchy guy he knew who worked there, and one of the mechanics stole my twix bar

are you george costanza

One time I went in for an oil change at a dealership and they came out and said they checked my cabin air filter and it was filthy. I looked at him straight in the eye and loudly asked how that could be since I changed it 2 weeks ago (they were a lot of customers around and I was pissed since I knew they wanted to take advantage of me being a woman).

Dude backpedaled and said they didnt actually look at it, they just assumed it needed to be changed since they hadnt changed it. WTF.
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they are always trying to upsell and get more money

A couple thousand is pretty excessive. I also drive a 16 civic and Id dare them to find even a few hundred dollars worth of repairs needed. I bought it in January of 2016 too. Im taking it in for a service on monday and Im sure theyll say I need to also do this and that. Just tell them no, get what youre paying for and leave. They cant force you to do it.

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BeyondWalls posted...

My problem is that 90% of the dealerships Ive been to have been absolutely incompetent. I had a car that kept tripping an O2 sensor. Well if the sensor trips then your check engine light trips. If the check engine light is on then your car wont pass inspection in NC. No inspection sticker then you cant drive the car. I drove this car to 4 different Toyota dealerships and each time these dummies did the same damn thing. Just popped a new $80 sensor on there and said done. Never even looked for what was causing the sensors to blow. Theyd reset the check engine light and 50 miles down the road it would trip again. Finally at the 4th dealership I said I wasnt paying for another damn O2 sensor unless they actually fixed the problem. The guy at the little service podium wanted to argue so I walked. Traded that car the next day for a Mazda which ran for 10 years without a problem.

omg my dads car had the exact same issue. check engine light keeps coming on. took it in under warranty 5 or 6 times. they claim to have done all sorts of troubleshooting and fixes. wasn't until i got consumer watchdogs involved and nissan head office that they finally fixed it for good.

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Cuticrusader09 posted...

One time I went in for an oil change at a dealership and they came out and said they checked my cabin air filter and it was filthy. I looked at him straight in the eye and loudly asked how that could be since I changed it 2 weeks ago (they were a lot of customers around and I was pissed since I knew they wanted to take advantage of me being a woman).

Dude backpedaled and said they didnt actually look at it, they just assumed it needed to be changed since they hadnt changed it. WTF.

This is an old trick, unfortunately it usually works. Some places like Jiffy Lube even go so far as to keep a stock of dirty filters to whip out and show you as a visual aid on "just how bad it is".

Yes, dealership will always try to squeeze you. I always get a second quote from an auto body shop and most of the time, it's way cheaper.

I have an 18 camry. Should i keep going to thr dealership with them? I mean i can do oil changes elsewhere, but other stuff i insist (like cabin air filter and other stuff).

They were trying to charge me 2 grand last time, but i was like fuck that, and they were like, "ok its not needed now, but next visit."

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Even if your car needs repairs, the dealership will rip you off. Take it to an independent mechanic.

I only ever go to the dealership for free services like recall shit

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My mom once had to ask several times before they would tell her the loan interest rate. They kept insisting on focusing on the monthly payment, then brought up refinancing a car loan.

Naturally she just left. She could easily have gotten a loan from the bank and still bought the car, but she went to a different dealership out of spite lol.

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Never buy from a dealer/used car lot, they will always jack up the price. Also, always do your own car work unless it requires expensive equipment.

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TwoBit_Samurai posted...

I drive a 2016 Civic and have had no issues with the car. When I purchased it, I was given a set number of free oil changes. They never found any issued with with car, until today. Now, as I am using the last free oil change the dealership is telling me that the car has a couple thousand dollars worth of repairs needed.

Am I just being paranoid, or does this seem like the sort of thing they would try to do while I am there(for the last time with a free oil change) to get any last bit of money out of me? I did have a Midas try to scam me before, so I am always a bit worried about not finding trustworthy mechanics.

I know pretty much nothing about cars, but none of my alerts have went off, and I have had no noticeable issues.

They're lies. I got an oil change done and the shop told me my car had an oil leak and it wouldn't last 6 months. 3 years later, still runs like a dream.

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Visible oil leaks can be cause for alarm on a young engine, but for broken-in cars they're more of a nuisance that might grow into a bigger problem. They definitely make the engine nasty and dirty and leave stains on the pavement, but most of the time it's a failing gasket or seal and not going to put you on the side of the road right away. If you have an external oil leak significant enough that it's imperative to fix, you're going to notice it because something in the engine bay will be absolutely puking oil, either in a steady dribbly stream or in true projectile vomit fashion.

A bigger concern is when you're burning oil; look for a situation where you're losing oil but it's not significantly leaking externally. On older cars, it's probably due to something like piston ring wear, because it's an old man that needs to be fed a quart of oil every once in a while between changes. On a newer car, especially a turbocharged one... get that shit looked at.

Actually, any oil leak connected to a turbo is bad news all around, so don't postpone fixing that. The results could be... well, think of what would happen to a jet engine if a fan blade broke off and got sucked in at full speed >_>