PSA to check the technicians work after the grille shutter replacement.

[MJB4450]

Honestly not surprised. Warranty work probably doesn't pay much, so they do it half assed. I had a 2015 Rav4 before my Tacoma, and don't get me started on Toyotas so called "fix" when it came to a recall to "fix the battery from moving around and shorting the car out on the hood and causing a vehicle fire. It's the techs fault and Toyotas in general.

The problem is the pay system. They get paid predetermined hours depending on each individual task. They like big jobs because if it pays 50 hours and they can cut corners or if they are one of the few good ones and can get it done in 30 hours, they still get paid the 50 hours. That's the problrm. It just encourages short cuts and half assed work. But management loves it because they can bring in more jobs. Tech hate warranty work because it's usually something petty and if the factory says it can be done in 1/2 hour, it will usually take that long. Plus they have to waste time getting the vehicle, setting up, etc. BTW when I worked at a Ford dealer, Ford was paying the dealership much more than the regular rate the dealer charged customers but still paid the techs the same rate they paid them for non-warranty work. So the dealership management loved warranties, more profit. That encouraged some to claim warranty work when it was not covered. So we had to send photos and prove to Ford that every warranty job was legit.

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[Sagebrush]

Where I worked...

That's the definition of a poorly run place.

 

[MJB4450]

That's the definition of a poorly run place.

Which is exactly why I left as soon as I could.

 

[crepr12]

Pick a brand and the story is the same...Dealership service depts are a crap shoot at best

 

[MJB4450]

Pick a brand and the story is the same...Dealership service depts are a crap shoot at best

Exactly. What I described is not the exception but the rule. It is a very transient business. Techs, salesman, management cycle around from dealership to dealership and independent shops frequently. The guy who screwed up your Toyota today may well be screwing up Chevys tomorrow (not that Chevys need any help being screwed up). Used to happen all the time. A tech would get pissed off about something, I'd then see him loading up his toolbox. He'll make a phone call and five minutes later have a job somewhere else, sight unseen. That's why it's so hard to get things improved. All most employees at a dealership care about is how much money can I make THIS month. They don't care about the future because they probably won't be there so there is no loyalty or investment into process improvement or customer satisfaction. You have to find that very rare shop that has honest ownership, management and long term employees to have a chance at things being done right.

 

[TacoFreak]

You have to find that very rare shop that has honest ownership, management and long term employees to have a chance at things being done right.

A perfect description of how dealerships work today. Almost every dealer employee I talk to usually mentions the brand of the dealers where they used to work. That goes from the sales/service managers, finance people, to the service writers, salespeople, and mechanics. That kind of zoo is bound to screw up any business IMO.

I think I have a good dealer because it is owned by the family that started it and a lot of them work there too. The general manager is the founders son and the service manager is his granddaughter. So they seem to want to treat customers right, and I will find out when I ask them why my 12V battery never is charged to a normal level.

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