I once took my Polo GTi to the VW dealership because the cable to charge the battery from the alternator was damaged. The damage on the cable was visibly obvious. I didn’t tell the dealership I knew what the issue was when I took it in. They called me back later that day and said the alternator was broken and the cost to repair was $1800. I told them to get fucked and told them the cable was the issue. They went back and checked the car. Called me an hour later and said the cost to repair was $120. Now if I didn’t know what the issue was, they would have charged me $1800 to replace a cable. They have no shame.
Had similar experience last week with my mk6 gti. Turbo oil lines apparently leaking (had to take it for yearly inspection) i had just serviced the car 24 hours ago and saw no leaks. Asked them to put it up on hoist in front of me. All of a sudden NO LEAKS! shock pikachu face
The problem is that unlike car guys like us, 95% or maybe even 99% of car owners don’t even know how to change their blinker fluid so car dealers (and independent workshops) get away with extorting customers. And if they are really good, they’ll offer their -victims- customers a nice coffee and a rental so they get a 5-star rating for ripping them off too.
My brother doesn't have any car knowledge and back in the day he had a 2002 astra..he took it in for its service at the dealership and they asked is there anything that you want us to check...he said it sort of surges sometimes (car was a manual..so probably just was him on the clutch).. when he picked it up they said they replaced the ecu and charged $1600.. he rang me and asked if that would of been the problem...I said wait there.. I drove there and went back in there with him and asked if we could get the old ecu.... and amazingly they couldn't find it... so i said you need to refund that $1600 back immediately it took a couple hours but they did eventually when they realised I k ew more than them about cars... I said how did the car drive in if the ecu didn't work... and they tried saying the old ecu was in the bin and it had been emptied so I went out the back and said no it doesn't look like it..get 1 of the guys to fish it out and they knew it wasn't there.... I never trust dealerships
@@jonasstahl9826 I very much doubt that watching TH-cam videos will help many people that hardly know anything about cars. Don’t underestimate the amount of information car enthusiasts like us have consumed. And we are interested, eager and capable to learn.
If you really want to mess with you service managers day, take your car in 3 months before your warranty expires and tell them you are thinking about selling and want a road worthy done. When he gives you the list of "issues" that need to be fixed go through and point out all the ones that are covered under warranty and tell them you will have those jobs done for free 😊
FYI, service managers do nothing but sit in the office all day, have nothing to do with working on vehicles. . Techs do the work, do you really think dealer techs are that stupid that they would make a list of warranty work?
Pressed the wrong button. Start again , so he arrived home in a new XP Falcon station wagon the local dealership didn’t appreciate,would not do anything with a few problems , next Christmas coast for holiday down to where he got the car walk-in looking at the new model Falcons , the salesman who sold him the XP , greetings etc would you be interested ,COULD BE , we will have to do an parasail on your OK look around , shortly afterwards comes back , a little bit of work to do on it for resale CAN I HAVE A COPY OF THAT,yes THANKS BETTER GET IT FIXED THERE IS ONLY8DAYS BEFORE ITS OUT OF WARRANTY ,all the problems where fixed before his holidays where over Old JC
2017 Triton (one year out of warranty) just recently started kicking out of third gear, 135k on the clock. Local dealer inspected and logged it with Mitsubishi Aust. They made no promises at the time but it has just been repaired within two weeks of inspection at no cost! Top marks to Mitsubishi!
My girl friend recently took her Outlander in for a service at a dealer , she was charged a fair bit for a service which included replacing the brake fluid . Funny when I checked the bleeder nipples on the callipers , no residue or witness marks on the nipples . The service manager didn't return calls . Eventually they took the car back and did the work she paid for . You can shear a sheep all it's life but you can only skin it once .
It's funny, I had the exact same thing happen with my partners car. At.........Cricks Sunshine Coast. Since then I vowed NEVER to have anything to do with them ever again. I'll drive to Brisbane for a new car before I ever set foot in that dealership again.
In US Murica it's common for radiators to rot out before 5 years time in the 'Rust-Belt' states where heaps of salt are used as a deicing agent on the roads in winter. In the warmer states it's common for radiators to fail from random gun fire.
Love your stuff John, You inspired me to get a lemon law refund on my Wranglemon when it spent 120 days parked in the service bay waiting for parts that never came. I've never forgotten how your no bullshit inspired me to no bullshit and standing up for myself. Good on ya mate. Cheers from Florida!
Hi,John many years ago my daughter was moving to north QLD and got a quote from the dealership to check the car over , it came in at just over $1000.00 needed a new door lock and a new taillight , dad ,me stepped in NO , Igot the lock and light took around 20 minutes to replace . Got the entire job including getting the vehicle checked over by a mechanic friend for around $400.00 . A couple of days later I got a survey from head office or the car company , I hit it big time , eg , as it took me 20 minutes to change the light and tailgate it puts your hourly rate at $250.00 per hr sending them a copy . Well my phone went wild , What can we do to help , nothing only get into the real world , you will never see any of my vehicles again for services . About 2 weeks later I got a phone call from the dealer , did you do a survey on us , YES , WELL YOU HAVE WON A $500.00 fuel voucher .
One of the biggest dealer scams are cabin air and engine air filters. In my Forester both can be replaced without any tools in less than 5 minutes combined. But they charge approximately 5 times as much as they cost at the parts counter and 8-10 times what they cost online. Batteries and brakes are other dealer profit leaders. The profit margins and labor charged vs actually required borders on fraud.
I've seen plenty of complaints from owners of new Subaru's being charged hundreds of dollars as a diagnosis fee to investigate things like knocking noises when they are under new car warranty.
Had an original battery on a Landcruiser last 5 years, worked out I would have to buy 2 1/2 local batteries in that time, so it would be a bit cheaper to pay the extra for a genuine one. Guess what, the replacement lasted just 2 years. Dudded again.
Each car dealership contains multiple stand alone profit centres; Spare parts, Workshop, New cars, Ming Moles...and unfortunately post purchase doesn't give a shit if you never buy another car from them again if they can bend you over right now to bolster this months departmental figures.....
My old Golf TDI needed a radiator replacement at around the 70k mile mark. £130 for a rad, £20 for coolant, couple of hours of leisurely work, half a dozen cups of tea. Job done on my parents driveway, no nasty surprises, no specialist tools or knowledge needed. No idea what the exchange rate is from Brexipotamian beer tokens to Shitsvillian microPesos, but I'm guessing it's nowhere near the thick end of a grand.
If you used the dealer ,you would have got a superior service performed involving *a dozen cups of tea* and copious teeth sucking as he described why he was charging so much.
@@mcdon2401 oh yeah, don’t you know that even those are genuine VW articles imported from Germany ? If you ask politely, they might even supply you with the name of the OEM, so you can purchase them yourself from their German supplier! 🤣☕️
That's nothing, my Isuzu Dmax 2021 started doing DPF burns every day after 45k service. The dealership investigated (3 weeks) and declared "fuel contamination " and no warranty cover therefore. Isuzu Australia supports them. Requested I pay for fuel system flush, change of injectors (!) And then they would INVESTIGATE some more.... I went to local DPF specialist, he checked the DPF, found it perfect. He changed the pressure difference sensor and that's all. Isuzu dealer and Isuzu head office have very poor corporate culture of probably scamming type.😊
Do not buy Isuzu Grasshopper. Learn from your mistake. Fix it up just enough & flog it so the next Grasshopper can learn from his mistake. Blessings to you fine sir. In Canadastan they don't sell Isuzu anymore. They did have some GM rebadged ones years ago. But not now. Now bend over and let the dealership take a look!
100%. Isuzu are absolutely useless. My partner bought a brand spanking new 2021 Isuzu, it came with such delightful features such as; lurching forward when putting it in park with the handbrake, also with beautiful transmission "bangs" Went in to Isuzu told him he is putting it in park "wrong" but yet the test drive car didn't need the handbrake on first then park? (Partners car still lurched forward anyway) They also said they "couldn't replicate the bangs and no we don't want to see the video" and this was just from the desk woman no mechanic in site. Grubby service. Never again. we ended up selling it to a dealer with profit 🤷♀️
What pisses me off is dealer service departments (VW) charging for windscreen washer top ups. I always make a point of having mine 100% full when taking in for a service and they try to charge me every time. It’s usually a charge of $3.50 or so, but it’s the principle of you should not be charging a customer for an item they are not actually carrying out!
OMG YES! Each time i go in to get car serviced at dealership (they are generally pretty good) they charge something like $2.50 for a washer top up. I have even topped it up to brimming prior to taking it in to see if they do it.... yes
A simple solution that I have used in the past is to tell the service writer that I do not and will not consent to CAF, EAF, or fluid changes and to not even check. None have tried to charge for top-offs. That has been when my cars were under warranty. Afterwards, they only go to a dealer for recalls. They don't even go back for their free checkups they use to get you in and sell you service you don't need. Find an independent that is cheaper and actually cares because they understand that repeat business is better in the long run.
Had an eerily similar experience just recently. Ran over a fallen tree branch after a storm putting a big hole in the radiator of my 18 month old ASX. Dealer quoted $1600 to replace it over the phone ($800 for the rad, $200 for coolant and $500 labour). A local radiator specialist quoted $620 ($275 for the rad, $100 for coolant and 1 hour labour). You can guess where I took it. Plus it turned out the branch took out the condenser as well as the radiator which cost me another $300 odd. Dread to think what it would have cost from the dealer.
@@BatCaveOzyeah I rounded down a bit plus there were some other smaller fees in there as well, close enough though and either way I wasn't having it! lol
Always scratch up your oil and fuel filters etc , before a service so you know they have been changed if charged for new , you will catch them out every time
The radiator in one of our cars…a 1982 Celica…had an alloy core and plastic top and bottom tanks bonded and crimped on, as most modern cars have these days. 40 years and 220,000km, and after over 15 years of ownership, blasting around in central Queensland 40+ degree summers and freezing nights in inland Queensland towns, it’s still perfect. There’s no goddamn way any “reasonable person” would believe a five to six year old radiator to fail like that.
Check your plastic top tank for a whitening "star burst" pattern in the black/dark green/browning plastic near the hot inlet to the top radiator tank. Corollas from the 90's had a tendency to blow that spot around 80k kms. I replaced 2 at that interval on my daughters' cars.
if you are one of the 'lucky middle class to own a VW' you should. I broke up with a lady that owned a bastardized GOLF and expected me to be her personal car mechanic. That vehicle was the VW from Hell. Half German/ Half Mexican. No VIN # no parts. You just couldn't chance it. She got a good deal on it. I got the best deal when I walked out of our relationship. lol
Working on them is also a lot less enjoyable than working on many other brands. A mechanics ability to repair the vehicle is an ultra low priority in VWs engineering process.
Good video John as you know the condition of radiator coolant can be somewhat verified with a multimeter. There’s a few TH-cam videos kicking around on that as a ballpark estimate to its condition and if it’s within the service interval of say two years since it was last changed, they could just filter it through an old rag or a old clean T-shirt or something straight into a watering container and reuse it for sure the multimeter test is just a bit of a backup For the want of 80 bucks, there’s an argument to just change it ….. Also, I think you’ll find four hours will be the time referenced in “the book” and the year 10 high school drop out on 15 bucks an hour is the guy bolting it up …. Then the head mechanic would come over and stick his nose under the Bonnet. In between bites of his sandwich and say yep that looks okay to me……. And away you go…
AMAZING information. Love this. Great preso! I know you have said in the past the the ACCC has the templates but you brought this to the front of my mind again. I feel more empowered now if something goes wrong with my car in the future.
my 2004 BA falcon recenly threw a thermofan through the radiator, sadly the radiator didn't survive but even after almost 20 years and nearly 200,000km the radiator had been faultless. ended up costing me like 300 bucks to replace brand new the radiator, coolant, thermofans and labour. I know you are not a fan of Ford but i really love my Falcon.
A friend of mine has a local garage and he (for some odd reason) works on quite a few VW golfs. I have seen him do radiator jobs that would take atleast 4 hrs if not more. You start by removing the front number plate and working back from there until the radiator drops out on the floor. Don't get me started on there stupid water pump placement and drive system. I replaced the rad. in my WRX in an easy 20 mins. where half that time was for swopping the fans onto the new one on the floor.
Typical of dealers, my Nissan Pathfinder went in for a service and was told that my rear disk brake pads and hand brake, shoes were worn out, and it was going to cost me $1100. To be replaced . I said don’t bother, so I did it myself for $70 for pads and the hand brake shoes were fine! How can you believe what they tell you.
Hi John, Did a search online and found that All Automotive Parts Queensland will sell a new aftermarket direct replacement Radiator for Volkswagen Polo 6C/6R GTI 2010-2017 for $189.95 AUD. Sterling Parts sells one for $178.75. But it of course it will not be genuine and may not match Volkswagen's legendary quality! 😂🤣
Awesome Vid John. But in fairness I thought you were going to talk about the nefarious windscreen washer fluid top up! $8 for a short squirt of sunlight…..
I have lost count of the number of times I have stood behind someone at a dealership and had to bite my tongue and say nothing when I have seen people have their trousers / skirts ripped off them and being fondled by the dealer saying that this is a fair and reasonable practice when they take their car in for work. The worst one was a dealership which refused to change my spark plugs because they said that the engine was a diesel. They charged me for spark plugs but not only failed to supply any but also said they couldn't change them. I had to take the car home and change them myself. How can a franchised main dealer not know the difference between a petrol engine and a diesel engine?
Had an FG falcooon did the milkshake auto thing under warranty time frame ( just ), stealership rings up " took it for road test ain't nothing wrong with it ", me "best you look under the bonnet then mate". took a while but got sorted,, eventually , no way I was fronting up for a new auto and a S&F bill .
I was in WA (from Queensland) to visit my rellies and to be careful, I contacted a VW dealership to have an Oil Change (no service was required) done on my Caddy Camper TDi and when I went to pick the vehicle up, they tried to charge me $430+, and showed me this piece of paper with a lot of ticks on it. To top it off, there was a charge of $80 for service materials. I had told the service bloke 3-4 times, I only wanted an oil change. So when I saw this amount being charged, I gave the service guy a piece of my mind and he started stuttering and stammering and headed out back. He came back with a revised today of $227 and even though I was kinda unhappy about that ($24 a litre for oil that another dealer in NSW charged me $15.60 for), I did pay up and get out of there, never to be seen again.
I’m old enough to remember the big stink about genuine parts costs going back to the late seventies. I believe it was the RACQ at the time who “built” a new Kingswood by ringing around dealerships and ordering literally every part as it would cost over the spare parts counter. Remember this was back when you could even buy a bare body shell from the big 3 here in Australia. The total cost came to something like three times the cost of a new vehicle.
My boss has a '07 Audi A6 Allroad V8 petrol that he uses occasionally, it needed a replacement radiator and the dealer in Dorkland gave him a price of approx. $1800 + fitting. He got one from his local radiator shop for just over $600 fitted. He then priced one up from an Audi dealer in the UK and it's landed price was just under $900 including freight and GST. I honestly believe that they load the prices as people expect European cars to cost 2 - 3 times the price of Japanese/Korean cars to repair or maintain.
I own a Land Rover D4 and always order my parts from the UK as the price difference is incredible, we are being bent over and copping the big one in this country. Most of my parts that I order usually arrive between 5-10 days.
I worked for a very well known company walked into the paint shop one day and the painter was spraying $7 Repco oil filters black so we could charge $45 for them. I quit I wasnt going to be involved in such robbery.
Tried all that with a Subaru dealer and Subaru Australia and got nowhere. They just kept talking around in circles. Needless to say, they're never seeing the car again and I'm not going to buy another Subaru.
I purchased a certified used Subie Outback back in 2012. From day 1 the windshield wipers would work sporadically. When I called the salesman back he said to bring it in. I bring it to service and tell them the issue. I didn’t tell them I just bought this certified car. They call me with a 600 dollar estimate to replace the wiper motor……… once i mentioned that I bought the car a week earlier and it was supposedly gone through meticulously. All of a sudden it was a simple fix that would be covered. I haaaaaaaate car dealer service depts.
Watching your you tube on the desler rip-off for a VW radiator I let you know my experience. Just another example of a Dealer ripping off the consumer. About 9 months ago l was towing our caravan up north in Cape Tribulation, as we were driving up Cape Tribulation road the transmission stopped working, after a few minutes of wondering what went wrong I put it back into drive and we went on our way. Four days later we drove to our next destination (Cairns). As my vehicle was still under warranty I went to the dealer and mentioned what had happened, the service department told me that I boiled the oil in the transmission and needed to be changed and that would cost me $850.00, so not being a mechanic and in a desperate situation I agreed as I did not have a choice so I booked the vehicle in for a transmission oil chang. A day later I received a phone call from the dealer to inform me that the filter would not be delivered for another week, I was pretty pissed off at this stage so I decided to contact the car company (not mentioning any names) ready to blased someone as why they couldn't deliver a transmission filter to cairns within a couple of days from Brisbane. It happened that I contacted the technical department so I was asked what happened so I explained. The technical department informed me, do not let them change the oil, as the vehicle was still under warranty and asked me who the dealer was as the transmission would be re-maped at no cost. The technical department then rang the dealer and informed them to re-map the transmission. I then felt the dealer was about to charge me $850.00 then request a warranty claim for the remapping and not change the oil at all. Regards Mike. spiteri.mike14@gmail.com Mobile 0421315 791
Few years back had a AudiQ5V6DSG, 60 000km service cost @ 0000 stealership $2700 (~$1000 just for DSG oil, etc. etc.). From then only normal mechanic, but no coffee, crumpets, car-wash.
Looking forward to watching this. I recently had a bad experience at a main stream deal that I trusted for the last 7 years (Shame on me). It’s put me right off the brand now.
This reminds me of when MB tried to hit me with 5k for front rotors and pads and 2 hrs labour. Politely tell them to get stuffed and just did it myself with genuine Brembo rotors and pads,took less than 45 min and about 4 beers in between getting it done. Warranty be damned.
Do not EVER take your car to a dealership for anything other than complimentary services, recalls, or warranty work. They create problems that don't exist and they charge you triple what you could get it done for anywhere else.
I’ve had two VWs in a row. The first one ate water pumps every 2 years. The next one ate DSG clutches AND after pumps every 2 years. Sold it earlier this week. I’m out. Off to Tesla. Can they possibly be any worse? 🤔
I nearly splurted my morning cuppa out of my nose when you said VW Polo GTI and a cooling system related issue. The Polo that lives here had a leaking water pump at 5years and 70000kms. According to the mechanic ( Independent Audi VW specialist ) "they all do that", apparently some go in as little as 30000kms. After my experience with an Audi and a cam chain tensioner made of cheese I wont touch another VAG car again.
This kind of bill is ripe for putting through small claims. It worked for me, the manufacturer didn't even show up so it was default in my favour. Then once I had a judgement they didn't pay. So I had to send in the bailiffs, at their cost. All up it cost them more than double. But as long as fewer than every second person sues them for basic Australian consumer law noncompliance, the default response will be the one involving six and travel.
Having worked for dealerships for the past 40 years including vw the service part of the dealership has changed so much in ths last 20 years before it was keep the customer happy at all costs but now days its rip the customer off with up sells (coolant flush ,power steer flush ,brake fluid flush , ac clean , engine oil flush , injector clean which is poring a can of injector clean into the fuel tank and charging $129.00 for opening the fuel cap , can of inject clean $10.00 = $119.00 profit ) customer should say if its not in the service book dont get any of the upsells done, and if the customer has a problem with his car ,the service advisor task is to making the customer believe its his fault the car has failed and looking into his service history if he has missed any sevices etc . Customers who make a big noise and speak to the sevice manager and then speak the dealer principal normally get the issue fixed or the bill reduced but the meak and mild customers get nothing and always gets reamed But as you say the modern dealership is a money making machine with little to no care for the customer Cheers
And my favourite - the ‘tyre rotation’ The wheels are already off to check the brakes but if you want them rotated (front to back) there’s an extra charge. That was $50 back 15 years ago when I ended my 34 year career in ‘Dealership Land’. I’d imagine a ‘tyre rotation’ would be more than that nowadays. Oh - and the local Subi Dealer here charging for 2.5 hours labour on a service but calling to say the vehicle is ready in under and hour - and no - only one bloke worked on it.
Took my Mazda tribute to local Mazda service centre some 6 years ago, because gear shift locked up. Was told Shifter and console would need replacing,$ 1980.00. Was not happy, so went to local mechanic who explained was Solenoid lockout problem and simply disconnected the Solenoid and problem fixed $65.00. Had other service issues with Mazda over expensive servicing for my MX-5 so never went back and bought my SUV from KIA.
Dealership at $132/hour, you have to be kidding? They would be $180 plus. If you doubt me, call them and ask what the rate is. The aftermarket Workshops in my town are $150 plus. I have no doubt the Rad from the VW brand would be that price, and the markup is far below what you reckon, It's the manufacture not the dealer that makes the lion share of the profit on parts. And What is a Dealership to do with every car that presents to their business with a complaint outside of the warranty, agree to sacrifice $ and go into battle with the manufacture for less profit? On coolant, Glychol in coolant is probably what has caused the leak in the radiator. I have observed over several decades in the industry coolant leaking from vehicles cooling systems wherever rubber seals, Orings etc are used. The tanks on the radiator are sealed by large rubber seals. The industry knows about this coolant issue as I have seen over the years. Water pumps have a weep hole which will ooze coolant when the water pump shaft seal leaks. After replacing multiple water pumps for this failure years ago I decided to disassemble a Falcon pump to investigate the failure. The shaft seal is a carbon ceramic design common to water pumps, but the seal assembly is sealed to the housing with a rubber end seal, this was found to be the point of failure. Now allot of water pumps have a weep hole that incorporates a little reservoir under it so by the time the coolant stain is evident the part/vehicle is out of warranty. I have had many cars over the years that have had minor coolant leaks which I have fixed by flushing the system and using a water rust inhibitor mix.
Fluid flow does cause erosion plus there are temp cycles I would argue they are technically a wear component but a rad shting itself around 6 years seems like a dud piece of crp
Let most the air out of your spare tyre just before taking your car in for a service. The invoice always states the spare tyre pressure was checked. The spare will still be flat after you collect your car, ALWAYS!
Had mine serviced last week they stripped my sump plug and told me they had to Put a helicoil in ,,$200 bux Later , anyway they burnt me no more service work for them crooks
Don't forget the 15% the parts department charges to the service department. Then that's when the service department hits the consumer with a further 20% or more. And hides it in the cost of the repair.
There’s a little more involved than just “unbolting and bolting a radiator back in” lol I replaced my radiator on a Nissan Frontier and getting the hose clamps off is a pain, given you can access them. Draining the coolant out takes time. Taking plastics off that are plastic riveted in, some radiators can only be taken out if the alternator or other belt components are taken off. I’m not siding with shops, but I know first hand it can be pretty involved.
Hi John, love your work. Might have a story for you if interested. Subject is extremely dangerous downshifting to low gears in a first of UP series 2011 Mazda BT-50 3.2L 6spd auto 365k. It was still drivable albeit I nursed it at lower speeds on back roads to my mother's than booked it in at Mazda Springwood qld. I had towed to them. They verbally informed me of it requiring a New transmission and gear selector at $16,000. I declined and picked car up. On picking it up, I was charged a diagnostic fee, I asked for the diagnostic report and was informed no error codes were found and couldn't give me a diagnostic report. I drove it from Springwood to home at Boronia Heights, not exceeding 60kph. Not a single issue. Drove it around the block next day, and was shifting gears up & down eradically. The original owner had told me the transmission was replaced at 120,000k yet Mazda claimed no record of it. Through research, I found there was a recall in relation to transmission downshifting at speeds. Odd thing is this bt50 was very first of release model, but not included in the recall, approximately 1mth earlier than those recalled. I also found the replacement lead frame assemblies now come with a foam insulator strip that slips over the shift solenoids (say to fix a cross short between terminals). I ended up ordering the lead frame through Ford as it was half the cost Mazda wanted. Replaced it myself, car is working perfect. $632 vs Mazda $16,000. What a rort.
Have owned a golf r I’m pretty sure that changing the radiator would involve removing the bumper, inter cooler, oil cooler and then radiator which takes time. Would be interested for a mechanic to chime in
I took my brand new Nissan Micra back to the dealer where I purchased it for the 6 months or 5,000klm service. The car, in fact, had about 1,100klm on it. They told me I needed to have my air conditioner compressor oil sampled and tested. They said they would drain 30ml of compressor oil and then test it. If it was fine, it was $129 to refill the 30ml. If there was a problem then it would be "parts and labour" as air conditioner parts were not included under warranty. Trust me, that was the last time I stepped foot inside that dealership for a service.
@@froggy0162Skoda Octavia 2&3 diesel engine and turbo petrol respectively never changed radiator or any other random failure parts and well over 300k on both, sticking with euro just maintain it yourself on time
my partner gently backed into a VW bumper and cracked the badge on the front and part of the grill (we never saw that part because it's not visible, nor structural). Got sent a bill for about $1300 to replace the whole grill and badge. On the quote it had about a days work for around $800 and parts to be about $500 (or other way around). When we started looking it up we found out you can replace the badge for $20 - $80 (depending where you buy) in under 30 seconds. The grill was around $300 but wouldn't take a whole day and even if it did it shouldn't be more $300-400. In the end we sent the guy the videos of the badge and grill replacement and said good luck!
When did radiators start lasting only 90k kilometers? We have a couple of 20+ year old vehicles with over 200,000 kilometers, and they still have their original radiators.
@Paul Sz yeah, I had one place try that.. And diff oil despite it not being on the schedule. Mysteriously next service they didn't pick it up.. magic self cleaning diff oil and engine!
Chrysler Canada, when I actually went to a dealership for parts, normally charged anywhere from 300%-1,200% markup on parts used on your vehicle. Take it or leave it was the deal. Ya, with your vehicle up on the hoist in their garage. No, they won't put off-brand parts on for you. Then all of a sudden. You start to learn how to fix your own vehicle. And do a better job cheaper, and you learn too!
Being in the service game (not automotive but similar) I can see how costs add up though - for what seems like a straight forward job, they may have to remove the front bumper, lights etc maybe de-gas the A/C, remove old rad and cross check with new rad, remove the fans, the wiring loom to the fans, any other pipes or wires in the way, always a chance the replacement parts are wrong, a slightly different revision or new "universal" design of parts that need other supporting brackets, screws or such that you only find out once you unpack things,(then someone needs to put time into dealing with the return paperwork to ship it back to the supplier and order the new part). What if the customer has serviced it elsewhere and they have contaminated the coolant which may have caused the failure in the first place, you have to warrant your own work, so new coolant is the only smart thing to provide that insurance, then putting everything back together, re-gas the a/c bleed the system, disposing of the old coolant, complete the paperwork, debrief with the customer. None of the above allows for any rusted nuts that need to be split or ground out, what if an air lock occurs and needs some massaging to bleed out, the clips that break when removing things, the new radiator could have defects, leaks, seeping joins and you have to strip it all out again. How do you allow time for that when its out of your control? How many people here commenting have actually been in the service game? Doing this day in, day out commercially? I guarantee your view will change if you even did this for a day. Servicing things correctly takes time, needs experienced trained tech's, good tools, equipment, good supporting staff, tech manuals, an excellent and organised parts team etc etc. So many stars have to align for a repair job to go well and at the end of the day its quite a low glamor, reward-less job with constant complaints and negativity, so no wonder good techs and service managers move on to other more lucrative industries. I believe the solution is more detailed quotes and customer discussion. ie. don't just say "replace radiator with new = $1200". But outlay the work required to actually do the job properly and list the steps to guarantee a high probability of a successful job.
You should see the service bills on a 30,000 kia sorento at 5 years apparently acording to kia they just about fall apart, (it just need to oil changed and fluid check) However i must be extorted to keep warrenty.John is not talking about the majority of service techs just the Dealer servicing cost. If a job is difficult just take a few photo to back up the service work. I have family in the business and the rip of storys are shocking. Split radiator core is all on the manufacture no matter how long it takes.
My sentiments exactly. I’ve been a professional tech for a long time and many people seem to think that the job is low intelligence, low skill and way too expensive. They seem to either not realize or forget about what you mention. Overhead costs alone can be staggering between insurance, litigation abatement, taxes and government compliance as well as employee benefits such as retirement and such. Then there’s the fact that paying for a technician’s years of experience and expertise is a legitimate point. As the saying says, “cheap labor isn’t good and good labor isn’t cheap.” I do agree though that dealerships aren’t always on the level. Having worked at one for a while years ago and still having to deal with them regarding our fleet’s vehicles that are still under warranty I can say that some are good and some not so much. When asked I rarely recommend for people to take their car to a dealership over one of a few local and reputable private shops.
New Triton 3K on the clock. Been to the dealer (not the one I bought it from but who cares) once to look at the radio that dies when the car interior is higher than 24 degrees. Second time in I’m busy at work and believe the service dept closes at 5:30. Go to pick my Ute up and get hit with a bill for $150 because they said it had after market wiring. This was the sales guy because the device dept shuts at 4:30. They won’t release the car without payment. It has only been 2 places 1 where I purchased it new and 2 these guys. I had not even lifted the bonnet let alone take out a screwdriver. 6 months later after numerous calls to speak to the manager. I got agreement that it was NOT aftermarket wiring and I would get a credit on my next service. I got my next service and got the bill expecting to see the credit. I had to ask for it. That us Mitsubishi customer device for you.
I got there a while ago. I am 73 and wish I didn't have to crawl under cars on my driveway. I have tried 4 local dealerships for work and that is the reason I am still servicing my own cars. I have to do the work I have paid them to do. I have run out of garages to go to.
It is listed as 2.25 hours on Autodata. This also includes the bleed & pressure test. The rad is £90gbp aftermarket, or £185gbp from the dealership. These are trade prices, including vat. They've definitely been had.
A rip off here in the UK is to change your wiper blades without asking, they say the old ones were worn out and they charge a huge amount for a job you can easily do yourself, or Halfords will do it for a very small fee. I asked for my old ones to be returned so that I could examine them, they refused saying they were already gone from the premises.
Warranties are total B.S. . Years ago where you bought a product is where you took it back for warranty . Now a days you buy something and they tell you that you have to send it back to the manufacturer .
I drove past our local Diesel mechanic's shop a couple of weeks ago and just out of interest I went in and asked their opinion on getting my Isuzu MUX re-mapped to gain a little torque for towing. I was told my best course of action was to get my ECU "flashed" with a new program which would change some of the parameters of the engine's tune. I asked if they would have to order in this "program" and the guy replied it was a common car and they had the program on file and would just have to load it on. I asked how long in advance I would have to book it in and he replied they were 4 weeks behind but for something like this they could do anytime as it didn't take long. He then quoted me $1550. I was on the fence regarding a re-map, this quote made me fall off that fence and I decided the power output of the car was just fine.
@@AutoExpertJC Another mechanic told me a re-map was an individual tune using a dyno to monitor adjustments whereas a flash was just downloading the software and drive away. In the case with this guy he said he had the software on file so didn't have to purchase it. I thought $1550 was excessive for this process, I have seen the same thing advertised for $500 which also seems good money for a simple download of data.
@@user-vk4vd7vr5t You only pay for software once, then you can use it in as many cars as you want for free. Apparently you can even get a copy of the software off the internet for free on many popular cars, including mine.
All mechanics do this, I went to a franchise one called automasters, wanted to replace my spark plugs but were replaced by them 7 months ago. The guy was like,n oh man sorry I should have double checked. Tried to rip me off. Wanted to glaze my 7 year old rotors too for $500 bucks, instead of replacing, already done it 2 years ago with them. Went to a specialist and changed rotors for $700. Should have just changed rotors 2 years ago and saved $300.
You can also reverse your credit card payment up to 18 months after the event. They admitted the bonding of radiator broke down so therefore not fit for purpose. Or also Make a complaint to Queensland Consumers Affairs. Be armed with the ACCC not fit for purpose info. So 3 ways to pursue this.
Yep well said John. People need to think outside the square and look at reputable local mechanics to do this type of stuff - at half the price! I have found that dealership service centres are full of unsupervised inexperienced apprentice mechanics working on my car whilst paying premium price. I have recently found a great local mechanic (With supervised apprentice mechanics) who knows what he is doing and does so at a reasonable price.
John I bought a new DMax twin cab Ute in 2021 with your help after researching for over 12 months, and as an optional extra I ordered an aluminium drop side tray electric tipper body. It has never worked properly and the electric motor has now failed totally. Isuzu said it's not their problem but TJM's who installed it despite the fact I paid them for it. Tjm says it's not their issue, who should I target first???
Similar problem with seat tear in 2019 Subaru but only 16K miles on seat due to 2 recall replacements( for squeaking) while car under warranty. Now 1 year out of 3-year warranty, but Subaru agreed to pay dealer for seat repairs as "customer good will" service. In my 71 years have owned @40 cars (most new) never had seat wear out in 16K miles. This post really resonated with me.
John, you have truly worthwhile promotions in the form of Olight, Nord VPN, and Manscape. Terrific video regarding those Vulga Autos Group criminals and their ilk. I think I would need a good purge dealing with those sociopaths.
Hi John we have a 2006 Hyundai Terracan (so over 18 years old) now with 250,000 kms on her. In that time we’ve had one power steering hose fail. Still has the original exhaust system and apart from wear and tear parts has never let us down. She also towed a 2 tonne caravan around OZ for two and half years. Love the old girl, her paint is almost as good as the day we bought her new. Thanks for trying to help us with this information.
I recently had my Toyota RAV4 Hybrid in for a 45,000km service. Originally I was told it would take 3 hours when I booked it in. I took the car in at 7.45 am and was prepared to wait in the lounge until it was serviced. I spent 5 mins discussing an issue with the service rep and the car was still where I left when I went inside, got myself a coffee, connected my iPad to their free internet and settled down to wait. At 8.20 am I was informed that the service had been completed. I was informed that it needed a front wheel alignment and that it why they couldn’t rotate the tyres and I couldn’t get an alignment done for another 3 weeks as they didn’t have time to do it today. What about the 2.5 hours left on my quoted service time. I also question how the could possibly have done a complete service in that short time. They apparently changed oil and filter, changed rear diff oil, check cv joints, steering brake wear, etc. oh and test drive it. Ripped off???
John what about the EPA charge then waste oil and filter disposal fee, and workshop supplies fees and to top up your window washer bottle with a dash of detergent and water,and wheels dont get rotated i put a paint pen dot on the two front wheels and upon inspection at the dealership the wheels have not been rotated so i went back to the service department and asked how do you rotate the wheels and she said on the hoist so i gave her the keys and said that you had better do the rotation the apprentice learnt fast courtesy from a retired motor mechanic.
Commision. You didn't mention the service advisor getting paid a healthy commission for "selling" extra work and parts. I don't believe they get paid for warranty work but they do get paid commission for retail labour and parts the "sell". The front counter is against the consumer too because the service advisor also wants to send their kids to private school.
The weather seals on my FG2 Ford ute split. These are about 1200mm long max and about 20mm wide max. The dealer price for the driver side is$550 and the passenger side is $450. Ford said they are restricted parts and had to supply the VIN # to get them. Told them to shove it. Used some silicone rubber glue to fix them
I very recently rang a local dealership and asked what the cost of 186000 klm service was and got the reply was, oh thats the biggest service your car will have in its lifespan we change all fluids and filters and check and adjust valves price $2900 dollars well fuck me there wouldn't be more than $500 in parts and it would take them five hours to do. then i rang the next nearest dealership and they quoted $1700 for the same service.
I mark parts grease nipples etc ,and when I point out missing items on fixed price service they do not care. How do you check rear drum brakes without removeing wheels.
VW are difficult to work on and parts are very expensive. Brand-new Toyota OEM radiator for my car on Ebay costs $150 replacing the coolant with pre-mix Toyota red for less than $50. Would fit myself. In my case will probably never need replacing. Of course, if I went to the dealer, I would be up for a stupid price like the person mentioned in this video.
Cricks Highway Kia refused to honour a fifth free service loyalty card for the Cerato I bought at that Dealership in 2012. Determined not to buy with them again. Recently used Private Fleet brokers to source a Seltos. Emailed them beforehand not to deal with Cricks. Got me to agree to the contract verbally over the phone and wouldn't tell me which dealership until I agreed. When I got the paperwork - it was Cricks Highway Kia. Now stuck waiting three months with no idea of delivery date with a dealership I wanted to avoid (keep being told, check with us in a few months!). Thought using a broker should have avoided all this. The biggest laugh though is they locked me into a kilometre limit on my trade in Cerato, when they cannot even tell me how long I need to wait.
Well the all-brass radiator on my 32 year old Nissan diesel SUV... has never been touched and keeps it's cool... Funny thing that... who would have thought that a radiator completely made out of a good grade of metal (the same metal that was used since the start of ICE vehicles) would last longer than a lightweight metal that can corrode quickly...and has to interface with plastic end tanks via a rubber gasket. A 1992 Toyota Corolla that I bought for my daughter needed the plastic tanks replaced each 80,000 kilometres. You could see the white spot of the heat cycle stress working at the plastic near the inlet at the top of the radiator. Based on that I look for the same thing every time I open a Toyota bonnet...just in case.
Was considering rhymes with for a service as unfortunately I have a Renault and a Volkswagen and my last Renault dealer has screwed me over with servicing. Need to look elsewhere now. I like both my cars. Why don’t stealerships include brand and customer loyalty in their business equation? I would be happy to take my vehicle back to the people that sold it to me for service and maintenance if it didn’t require being ripped off every time?
I learnt to drive in the late 80s on an ancient morris 1100 where just about everything failed at one stage or another, so I learned a lot about car engines, and my Dad taught me how to do an oil change, check spark plugs and change a tyre. Served me well. In late 90s, took my Barina to the Holden dealership for a service, and they tried to tell me the constant velocity joint needed replacing. I looked at the the service agent, who was looking at me thinking I knew nothing about cars, and I said “no it doesn’t, are you sure you’re looking at the right car?”. Never went back to that dealership.
I have been taking my car to Honda. The last service they said they rotated the tyres, they didn’t. That said they tested all lights, they didn’t (known brake light still blown) They said fixed a warranty issue, they didn’t. Why did I pay $350 for $20 worth of oil?
To be fair, it’s not a super quick job to do a radiator on these. It’s bumper off, headlights out, crash bar off and some other stuff. But, like all modern cars stuff is pretty modular and if you know what you’re doing with the right tools it’s probably an hours work.
Yeah that was my thought too. I've never done one but I've done a bunch of AH Astra, ZC Vectra etc back in the day and they're a bit of a shit to do. Probably not like the mighty BA Falcon radiators that come out the top in two minutes 💪
Or that’s what a VW dealer would have you believe. Friend has a later style Beetle, (basically a Golf in sheep’s clothing). She needed a headlight bulb replacing. Not the whole unit, just the bulb. They quoted her somewhere around £400, because in their words, they needed to remove the bumper/fender and most of the front end, to get enough working room. I went online, to learn the job could be completed with a universal extension on the ratchet. So £400+VAT became £1-£2 for the bulb and nothing for the 15mins. it took for me to change it. I’m guessing the VW dealership, would have done it the same way as me, only they’d have pocketed the £400.
Had to supply a screenshot of 5 odd million results from a Google search about the known timing chain hydraulic adjuster issue on my Skoda 1.2l. The image included a winning class action report from the UK about the same problem. When I took the car in for that issue I had a call re: brakes and rotors needing replacement. At 66,000 ks! Historically I'm really good with brakes, so I was sceptical. Took it my local guy. He sent me images asking which one/s? None needed work then, and he did them at 150ks, with probably some 5000ks still to go.
Once your vehicle is up on the hoist. Your ASS BELONGS TO THEM. But it was just for a free inspection. Ya, right lady ... That scam is as old as a Model T.
I just got charged $670 for an oil change & wipers then got told my next service was going to cost $1800. This is for a 2019 triton ute!!!! That's not going to happen in any way, shape, or form.
The most common service scam is these capped priced service plans. As an independent mechanic They are all BS. In every car review they champion these BS plans which never cost what they say ever I know from personal experience. They charge for extras such as fluid changes or brakes etc. please for a video on these. They are the biggest blight in my opinion. They lock you into a BS contract which is not worth the paper it is written on. Also you are an engineer not a mechanic if I was to replace a radiator I would charge you approximately $350 to do the job about $125 per hour. Plus I would always flush your coolant so that’s about another $50. I would never ever reuse coolant. Thirdly I never trust any dealers I run my own business I do occasionally do some warranty work & I never take No for an answer. I do the work for the customer & chase the company later. I suggest that consumers stop being idiots & stand their ground. Go to an independent mechanic get an invoice & tell said dealer they are to replay you for the work. Don’t take no for answer.
Re-using Coolant sounds like re-using old Oil, just bluddy silly... If you cannot afford to replace Coolant ( for more Years reliability afterwards ) then surely cannot afford to own a Car....
![Chevy Ripped Me Off: Undercover Investigation [TRUTH REVEALED]](/img/n.gif)
I once took my Polo GTi to the VW dealership because the cable to charge the battery from the alternator was damaged. The damage on the cable was visibly obvious. I didn’t tell the dealership I knew what the issue was when I took it in. They called me back later that day and said the alternator was broken and the cost to repair was $1800. I told them to get fucked and told them the cable was the issue. They went back and checked the car. Called me an hour later and said the cost to repair was $120. Now if I didn’t know what the issue was, they would have charged me $1800 to replace a cable. They have no shame.
Had similar experience last week with my mk6 gti. Turbo oil lines apparently leaking (had to take it for yearly inspection) i had just serviced the car 24 hours ago and saw no leaks. Asked them to put it up on hoist in front of me. All of a sudden NO LEAKS! shock pikachu face
Should have demanded they do it for free as compensation for trying to rip you off over $1600.
The problem is that unlike car guys like us, 95% or maybe even 99% of car owners don’t even know how to change their blinker fluid so car dealers (and independent workshops) get away with extorting customers.
And if they are really good, they’ll offer their -victims- customers a nice coffee and a rental so they get a 5-star rating for ripping them off too.
My brother doesn't have any car knowledge and back in the day he had a 2002 astra..he took it in for its service at the dealership and they asked is there anything that you want us to check...he said it sort of surges sometimes (car was a manual..so probably just was him on the clutch).. when he picked it up they said they replaced the ecu and charged $1600.. he rang me and asked if that would of been the problem...I said wait there.. I drove there and went back in there with him and asked if we could get the old ecu.... and amazingly they couldn't find it... so i said you need to refund that $1600 back immediately it took a couple hours but they did eventually when they realised I k ew more than them about cars... I said how did the car drive in if the ecu didn't work... and they tried saying the old ecu was in the bin and it had been emptied so I went out the back and said no it doesn't look like it..get 1 of the guys to fish it out and they knew it wasn't there.... I never trust dealerships
@@jonasstahl9826 I very much doubt that watching TH-cam videos will help many people that hardly know anything about cars. Don’t underestimate the amount of information car enthusiasts like us have consumed. And we are interested, eager and capable to learn.
If you really want to mess with you service managers day, take your car in 3 months before your warranty expires and tell them you are thinking about selling and want a road worthy done. When he gives you the list of "issues" that need to be fixed go through and point out all the ones that are covered under warranty and tell them you will have those jobs done for free 😊
Brilliant 👏
FYI, service managers do nothing but sit in the office all day, have nothing to do with working on vehicles. . Techs do the work, do you really think dealer techs are that stupid that they would make a list of warranty work?
My dad did something similar , he went on holidays on the Gold Coast , went to the local Ford dealership , Baught
Pressed the wrong button. Start again , so he arrived home in a new XP Falcon station wagon the local dealership didn’t appreciate,would not do anything with a few problems , next Christmas coast for holiday down to where he got the car walk-in looking at the new model Falcons , the salesman who sold him the XP , greetings etc would you be interested ,COULD BE , we will have to do an parasail on your OK look around , shortly afterwards comes back , a little bit of work to do on it for resale CAN I HAVE A COPY OF THAT,yes THANKS BETTER GET IT FIXED THERE IS ONLY8DAYS BEFORE ITS OUT OF WARRANTY ,all the problems where fixed before his holidays where over Old JC
Mark, given the content of John's video, you, sir, have made my day.
2017 Triton (one year out of warranty) just recently started kicking out of third gear, 135k on the clock. Local dealer inspected and logged it with Mitsubishi Aust. They made no promises at the time but it has just been repaired within two weeks of inspection at no cost! Top marks to Mitsubishi!
My partners Ute was repaired with same problem for free as well. Even though she is the second owner
My girl friend recently took her Outlander in for a service at a dealer , she was charged a fair bit for a service which included replacing the brake fluid . Funny when I checked the bleeder nipples on the callipers , no residue or witness marks on the nipples . The service manager didn't return calls . Eventually they took the car back and did the work she paid for . You can shear a sheep all it's life but you can only skin it once .
They just vacuumed it out of the master cylinder reservoir, maybe cleaned the inside with a rag if accessible, and topped it back up.
Too many people have this problem I have found!
It's funny, I had the exact same thing happen with my partners car. At.........Cricks Sunshine Coast. Since then I vowed NEVER to have anything to do with them ever again. I'll drive to Brisbane for a new car before I ever set foot in that dealership again.
Yep, brake fluid thing happened to me at mitsubishi dealer too!
Total pricks.
In US Murica it's common for radiators to rot out before 5 years time in the 'Rust-Belt' states where heaps of salt are used as a deicing agent on the roads in winter. In the warmer states it's common for radiators to fail from random gun fire.
Love your stuff John, You inspired me to get a lemon law refund on my Wranglemon when it spent 120 days parked in the service bay waiting for parts that never came. I've never forgotten how your no bullshit inspired me to no bullshit and standing up for myself. Good on ya mate. Cheers from Florida!
The hardest thing for many of us is that who can you trust to service/repair your car? It’s difficult to find an honest person sometimes.
Its actually really hard to find an honest and competent mechanic these days.
I have had one for many years. He retires soon and I will have to try to find another!
I know a very good, honest and reliable mechanic.
Me☺👍
If anyone knows of a good one in SW Sydney let me know
They don't exist. Australia is the land of wealth. It's wealthy for a reason because everyone will rip you off.
Hi,John many years ago my daughter was moving to north QLD and got a quote from the dealership to check the car over , it came in at just over $1000.00 needed a new door lock and a new taillight , dad ,me stepped in NO , Igot the lock and light took around 20 minutes to replace .
Got the entire job including getting the vehicle checked over by a mechanic friend for around $400.00 .
A couple of days later I got a survey from head office or the car company , I hit it big time , eg , as it took me 20 minutes to change the light and tailgate it puts your hourly rate at $250.00 per hr sending them a copy .
Well my phone went wild , What can we do to help , nothing only get into the real world , you will never see any of my vehicles again for services .
About 2 weeks later I got a phone call from the dealer , did you do a survey on us , YES , WELL YOU HAVE WON A $500.00 fuel voucher .
One of the biggest dealer scams are cabin air and engine air filters. In my Forester both can be replaced without any tools in less than 5 minutes combined. But they charge approximately 5 times as much as they cost at the parts counter and 8-10 times what they cost online. Batteries and brakes are other dealer profit leaders. The profit margins and labor charged vs actually required borders on fraud.
But so many people can not even open the hood and check the oil. Those people will gladly pay to have filters replaced.
I've seen plenty of complaints from owners of new Subaru's being charged hundreds of dollars as a diagnosis fee to investigate things like knocking noises when they are under new car warranty.
Had an original battery on a Landcruiser last 5 years, worked out
I would have to buy 2 1/2 local batteries in that time, so it would
be a bit cheaper to pay the extra for a genuine one.
Guess what, the replacement lasted just 2 years. Dudded again.
And who checks to see if they actually replaced the filters???
@@ronalddoherty1067 you can smell plastic for a few days when it's replaced.
Each car dealership contains multiple stand alone profit centres; Spare parts, Workshop, New cars, Ming Moles...and unfortunately post purchase doesn't give a shit if you never buy another car from them again if they can bend you over right now to bolster this months departmental figures.....
John , I have been watching you for a while and I don't know what people would do without you and your knowledge and advice . Thank you. 😊
No worries, Erica.
My old Golf TDI needed a radiator replacement at around the 70k mile mark.
£130 for a rad, £20 for coolant, couple of hours of leisurely work, half a dozen cups of tea. Job done on my parents driveway, no nasty surprises, no specialist tools or knowledge needed.
No idea what the exchange rate is from Brexipotamian beer tokens to Shitsvillian microPesos, but I'm guessing it's nowhere near the thick end of a grand.
If you used the dealer ,you would have got a superior service performed involving *a dozen cups of tea* and copious teeth sucking as he described why he was charging so much.
@@paulgee-i7j it's obviously a better class of teabag at the dealer...
A radiator in a decent built car would last 20 years lol.
Shit talk ya own country not our ya pom
@@mcdon2401 oh yeah, don’t you know that even those are genuine VW articles imported from Germany ?
If you ask politely, they might even supply you with the name of the OEM, so you can purchase them yourself from their German supplier! 🤣☕️
That's nothing, my Isuzu Dmax 2021 started doing DPF burns every day after 45k service. The dealership investigated (3 weeks) and declared "fuel contamination " and no warranty cover therefore. Isuzu Australia supports them. Requested I pay for fuel system flush, change of injectors (!) And then they would INVESTIGATE some more....
I went to local DPF specialist, he checked the DPF, found it perfect. He changed the pressure difference sensor and that's all.
Isuzu dealer and Isuzu head office have very poor corporate culture of probably scamming type.😊
I found Isuzu ute to be difficult in regards to warranty claims.
They both have something to gain out of you...
Do not buy Isuzu Grasshopper. Learn from your mistake.
Fix it up just enough & flog it so the next Grasshopper can learn from his mistake. Blessings to you fine sir.
In Canadastan they don't sell Isuzu anymore. They did have some GM rebadged ones years ago. But not now.
Now bend over and let the dealership take a look!
100%.
Isuzu are absolutely useless.
My partner bought a brand spanking new 2021 Isuzu, it came with such delightful features such as;
lurching forward when putting it in park with the handbrake, also with beautiful transmission "bangs"
Went in to Isuzu told him he is putting it in park "wrong" but yet the test drive car didn't need the handbrake on first then park? (Partners car still lurched forward anyway)
They also said they "couldn't replicate the bangs and no we don't want to see the video" and this was just from the desk woman no mechanic in site.
Grubby service.
Never again.
we ended up selling it to a dealer with profit 🤷♀️
What pisses me off is dealer service departments (VW) charging for windscreen washer top ups. I always make a point of having mine 100% full when taking in for a service and they try to charge me every time. It’s usually a charge of $3.50 or so, but it’s the principle of you should not be charging a customer for an item they are not actually carrying out!
Been there done that.
OMG YES! Each time i go in to get car serviced at dealership (they are generally pretty good) they charge something like $2.50 for a washer top up. I have even topped it up to brimming prior to taking it in to see if they do it.... yes
@@bryanjuni706 It has made my day to know i am not the only person who notices this robbery.
A simple solution that I have used in the past is to tell the service writer that I do not and will not consent to CAF, EAF, or fluid changes and to not even check. None have tried to charge for top-offs. That has been when my cars were under warranty. Afterwards, they only go to a dealer for recalls. They don't even go back for their free checkups they use to get you in and sell you service you don't need. Find an independent that is cheaper and actually cares because they understand that repeat business is better in the long run.
@@Noah_E CAF= check all fluids?
EAF?
Had an eerily similar experience just recently. Ran over a fallen tree branch after a storm putting a big hole in the radiator of my 18 month old ASX. Dealer quoted $1600 to replace it over the phone ($800 for the rad, $200 for coolant and $500 labour). A local radiator specialist quoted $620 ($275 for the rad, $100 for coolant and 1 hour labour). You can guess where I took it. Plus it turned out the branch took out the condenser as well as the radiator which cost me another $300 odd. Dread to think what it would have cost from the dealer.
Pretty good mechanic to be able to replace it over the phone 😂
" Dealer quoted $1600 to replace it over the phone ($800 for the rad, $200 for coolant and $500 labour)"
800 + 200 + 500 = 1500 (not 1600)
@@BatCaveOzyeah I rounded down a bit plus there were some other smaller fees in there as well, close enough though and either way I wasn't having it! lol
Always scratch up your oil and fuel filters etc , before a service so you know they have been changed if charged for new , you will catch them out every time
The radiator in one of our cars…a 1982 Celica…had an alloy core and plastic top and bottom tanks bonded and crimped on, as most modern cars have these days.
40 years and 220,000km, and after over 15 years of ownership, blasting around in central Queensland 40+ degree summers and freezing nights in inland Queensland towns, it’s still perfect. There’s no goddamn way any “reasonable person” would believe a five to six year old radiator to fail like that.
Check your plastic top tank for a whitening "star burst" pattern in the black/dark green/browning plastic near the hot inlet to the top radiator tank.
Corollas from the 90's had a tendency to blow that spot around 80k kms.
I replaced 2 at that interval on my daughters' cars.
if you are one of the 'lucky middle class to own a VW' you should.
I broke up with a lady that owned a bastardized GOLF and expected me to be her personal car mechanic.
That vehicle was the VW from Hell. Half German/ Half Mexican. No VIN # no parts. You just couldn't chance it. She got a good deal on it.
I got the best deal when I walked out of our relationship. lol
I just feel for the mechanics pumping out high paying jobs while getting paid f all
Working on them is also a lot less enjoyable than working on many other brands. A mechanics ability to repair the vehicle is an ultra low priority in VWs engineering process.
Good video John
as you know the condition of radiator coolant can be somewhat verified with a multimeter. There’s a few TH-cam videos kicking around on that as a ballpark estimate to its condition
and if it’s within the service interval of say two years since it was last changed, they could just filter it through an old rag or a old clean T-shirt or something straight into a watering container and reuse it for sure
the multimeter test is just a bit of a backup
For the want of 80 bucks, there’s an argument to just change it …..
Also, I think you’ll find four hours will be the time referenced in “the book”
and the year 10 high school drop out on 15 bucks an hour is the guy bolting it up ….
Then the head mechanic would come over and stick his nose under the Bonnet. In between bites of his sandwich and say yep that looks okay to me……. And away you go…
AMAZING information. Love this. Great preso! I know you have said in the past the the ACCC has the templates but you brought this to the front of my mind again. I feel more empowered now if something goes wrong with my car in the future.
Not too far in the future...
my 2004 BA falcon recenly threw a thermofan through the radiator, sadly the radiator didn't survive but even after almost 20 years and nearly 200,000km the radiator had been faultless. ended up costing me like 300 bucks to replace brand new the radiator, coolant, thermofans and labour. I know you are not a fan of Ford but i really love my Falcon.
A friend of mine has a local garage and he (for some odd reason) works on quite a few VW golfs. I have seen him do radiator jobs that would take atleast 4 hrs if not more. You start by removing the front number plate and working back from there until the radiator drops out on the floor. Don't get me started on there stupid water pump placement and drive system. I replaced the rad. in my WRX in an easy 20 mins. where half that time was for swopping the fans onto the new one on the floor.
John was talking about a VW Polo...
Typical of dealers, my Nissan Pathfinder went in for a service and was told that my rear disk brake pads and hand brake, shoes were worn out, and it was going to cost me $1100. To be replaced . I said don’t bother, so I did it myself for $70 for pads and the hand brake shoes were fine! How can you believe what they tell you.
My 3 pron quoted me $2800 to do front brakes…. Sold it for a Kia Stinger.😊
Hi John, Did a search online and found that All Automotive Parts Queensland will sell a new aftermarket direct replacement Radiator for Volkswagen Polo 6C/6R GTI 2010-2017 for
$189.95 AUD. Sterling Parts sells one for $178.75. But it of course it will not be genuine and may not match Volkswagen's legendary quality! 😂🤣
Awesome Vid John. But in fairness I thought you were going to talk about the nefarious windscreen washer fluid top up! $8 for a short squirt of sunlight…..
I only use demineralised water in my washer. Fortumately, my aircon makes it by the bucket! (condensate)
Hyundai wanted $99 for a cabin filter. $25 at repco and a two minute job to fit it myself. Highway robbery.
I have lost count of the number of times I have stood behind someone at a dealership and had to bite my tongue and say nothing when I have seen people have their trousers / skirts ripped off them and being fondled by the dealer saying that this is a fair and reasonable practice when they take their car in for work. The worst one was a dealership which refused to change my spark plugs because they said that the engine was a diesel. They charged me for spark plugs but not only failed to supply any but also said they couldn't change them. I had to take the car home and change them myself. How can a franchised main dealer not know the difference between a petrol engine and a diesel engine?
Shit world we live in when the most outstanding Integrity from someone in the Automotive Industry in Australia is a Utuber.
Had an FG falcooon did the milkshake auto thing under warranty time frame ( just ), stealership rings up " took it for road test ain't nothing wrong with it ", me "best you look under the bonnet then mate". took a while but got sorted,, eventually , no way I was fronting up for a new auto and a S&F bill .
I was in WA (from Queensland) to visit my rellies and to be careful, I contacted a VW dealership to have an Oil Change (no service was required) done on my Caddy Camper TDi and when I went to pick the vehicle up, they tried to charge me $430+, and showed me this piece of paper with a lot of ticks on it. To top it off, there was a charge of $80 for service materials. I had told the service bloke 3-4 times, I only wanted an oil change. So when I saw this amount being charged, I gave the service guy a piece of my mind and he started stuttering and stammering and headed out back. He came back with a revised today of $227 and even though I was kinda unhappy about that ($24 a litre for oil that another dealer in NSW charged me $15.60 for), I did pay up and get out of there, never to be seen again.
One of the biggest problems is the dealership has time on their side with any dispute.
I’m old enough to remember the big stink about genuine parts costs going back to the late seventies. I believe it was the RACQ at the time who “built” a new Kingswood by ringing around dealerships and ordering literally every part as it would cost over the spare parts counter. Remember this was back when you could even buy a bare body shell from the big 3 here in Australia. The total cost came to something like three times the cost of a new vehicle.
A mechanice did that with a AU Falcon, new price $31,000, too buy parts to build it $270,000, it was on accurent affairs a few years ago
The Daily News newspaper in Perth did the same with an FJ Holden back
in the day, similar result.
Yep, think we all did the same as mechanic apprentices. My memory was 100 times the car cost...
My boss has a '07 Audi A6 Allroad V8 petrol that he uses occasionally, it needed a replacement radiator and the dealer in Dorkland gave him a price of approx. $1800 + fitting. He got one from his local radiator shop for just over $600 fitted. He then priced one up from an Audi dealer in the UK and it's landed price was just under $900 including freight and GST. I honestly believe that they load the prices as people expect European cars to cost 2 - 3 times the price of Japanese/Korean cars to repair or maintain.
I own a Land Rover D4 and always order my parts from the UK as the price difference is incredible, we are being bent over and copping the big one in this country. Most of my parts that I order usually arrive between 5-10 days.
@@Paul-45-70 well now you have to pay GST on all online purchases regardless of which Country they are coming from.
@@paulsz6194 , Yes that’s right if the order is greater than $1000 and in most cases it’s still a lot cheaper than purchasing the same parts here.
I worked for a very well known company walked into the paint shop one day and the painter was spraying $7 Repco oil filters black so we could charge $45 for them.
I quit I wasnt going to be involved in such robbery.
Tried all that with a Subaru dealer and Subaru Australia and got nowhere. They just kept talking around in circles. Needless to say, they're never seeing the car again and I'm not going to buy another Subaru.
I purchased a certified used Subie Outback back in 2012. From day 1 the windshield wipers would work sporadically. When I called the salesman back he said to bring it in. I bring it to service and tell them the issue. I didn’t tell them I just bought this certified car. They call me with a 600 dollar estimate to replace the wiper motor……… once i mentioned that I bought the car a week earlier and it was supposedly gone through meticulously. All of a sudden it was a simple fix that would be covered. I haaaaaaaate car dealer service depts.
The local Hyundai dealer is replacing the muffler on one of our cars next week. No questions asked; good customer service. Decent coffee too.
Kona by any chance?
@@prussiaaero1802 The coffee , or the car?
@@paulsz6194 Ah, the car. Is KONA a coffee? Oh, on Hawaii, yes it is, it seems.
"It really shouldn't be this way..." Truer words never spoken!
Watching your you tube on the desler rip-off for a VW radiator I let you know my experience.
Just another example of a Dealer ripping off the consumer.
About 9 months ago l was towing our caravan up north in Cape Tribulation, as we were driving up Cape Tribulation road the transmission stopped working, after a few minutes of wondering what went wrong I put it back into drive and we went on our way.
Four days later we drove to our next destination (Cairns).
As my vehicle was still under warranty I went to the dealer and mentioned what had happened, the service department told me that I boiled the oil in the transmission and needed to be changed and that would cost me $850.00, so not being a mechanic and in a desperate situation I agreed as I did not have a choice so I booked the vehicle in for a transmission oil chang.
A day later I received a phone call from the dealer to inform me that the filter would not be delivered for another week, I was pretty pissed off at this stage so I decided to contact the car company (not mentioning any names) ready to blased someone as why they couldn't deliver a transmission filter to cairns within a couple of days from Brisbane.
It happened that I contacted the technical department so I was asked what happened so I explained.
The technical department informed me, do not let them change the oil, as the vehicle was still under warranty and asked me who the dealer was as the transmission would be re-maped at no cost.
The technical department then rang the dealer and informed them to re-map the transmission.
I then felt the dealer was about to charge me $850.00 then request a warranty claim for the remapping and not change the oil at all.
Regards
Mike.
spiteri.mike14@gmail.com
Mobile 0421315 791
Few years back had a AudiQ5V6DSG, 60 000km service cost @ 0000 stealership $2700 (~$1000 just for DSG oil, etc. etc.).
From then only normal mechanic, but no coffee, crumpets, car-wash.
Looking forward to watching this. I recently had a bad experience at a main stream deal that I trusted for the last 7 years (Shame on me). It’s put me right off the brand now.
This reminds me of when MB tried to hit me with 5k for front rotors and pads and 2 hrs labour. Politely tell them to get stuffed and just did it myself with genuine Brembo rotors and pads,took less than 45 min and about 4 beers in between getting it done. Warranty be damned.
Legend!
do ya wanna check my hilux ones ? i'll give ya 6 beers plus parts !!! 🤙🤙🤙
45mins and downed 4 beers glad its not my car beer and brake repairs
Do not EVER take your car to a dealership for anything other than complimentary services, recalls, or warranty work. They create problems that don't exist and they charge you triple what you could get it done for anywhere else.
They don't call them stealerships for nothing
I’ve had two VWs in a row. The first one ate water pumps every 2 years. The next one ate DSG clutches AND after pumps every 2 years. Sold it earlier this week. I’m out. Off to Tesla. Can they possibly be any worse? 🤔
Well, the DSG clutches won't wear out...
@@gregbailey45 I’m done with clutches. 😕
Why did you buy the second VW? One was enough for me!
I nearly splurted my morning cuppa out of my nose when you said VW Polo GTI and a cooling system related issue. The Polo that lives here had a leaking water pump at 5years and 70000kms. According to the mechanic ( Independent Audi VW specialist ) "they all do that", apparently some go in as little as 30000kms. After my experience with an Audi and a cam chain tensioner made of cheese I wont touch another VAG car again.
This kind of bill is ripe for putting through small claims. It worked for me, the manufacturer didn't even show up so it was default in my favour. Then once I had a judgement they didn't pay. So I had to send in the bailiffs, at their cost. All up it cost them more than double. But as long as fewer than every second person sues them for basic Australian consumer law noncompliance, the default response will be the one involving six and travel.
Having worked for dealerships for the past 40 years including vw the service part of the dealership has changed so much in ths last 20 years before it was keep the customer happy at all costs but now days its rip the customer off with up sells (coolant flush ,power steer flush ,brake fluid flush , ac clean , engine oil flush , injector clean which is poring a can of injector clean into the fuel tank and charging $129.00 for opening the fuel cap , can of inject clean $10.00 = $119.00 profit ) customer should say if its not in the service book dont get any of the upsells done, and if the customer has a problem with his car ,the service advisor task is to making the customer believe its his fault the car has failed and looking into his service history if he has missed any sevices etc . Customers who make a big noise and speak to the sevice manager and then speak the dealer principal normally get the issue fixed or the bill reduced but the meak and mild customers get nothing and always gets reamed But as you say the modern dealership is a money making machine with little to no care for the customer Cheers
And my favourite - the ‘tyre rotation’
The wheels are already off to check the brakes but if you want them rotated (front to back) there’s an extra charge.
That was $50 back 15 years ago when I ended my 34 year career in ‘Dealership Land’. I’d imagine a ‘tyre rotation’ would be more than that nowadays.
Oh - and the local Subi Dealer here charging for 2.5 hours labour on a service but calling to say the vehicle is ready in under and hour - and no - only one bloke worked on it.
Took my Mazda tribute to local Mazda service centre some 6 years ago, because gear shift locked up. Was told Shifter and console would need replacing,$ 1980.00. Was not happy, so went to local mechanic who explained was Solenoid lockout problem and simply disconnected the Solenoid and problem fixed $65.00. Had other service issues with Mazda over expensive servicing for my MX-5 so never went back and bought my SUV from KIA.
Dealership at $132/hour, you have to be kidding? They would be $180 plus. If you doubt me, call them and ask what the rate is. The aftermarket Workshops in my town are $150 plus.
I have no doubt the Rad from the VW brand would be that price, and the markup is far below what you reckon, It's the manufacture not the dealer that makes the lion share of the profit on parts.
And What is a Dealership to do with every car that presents to their business with a complaint outside of the warranty, agree to sacrifice $ and go into battle with the manufacture for less profit?
On coolant, Glychol in coolant is probably what has caused the leak in the radiator. I have observed over several decades in the industry coolant leaking from vehicles cooling systems wherever rubber seals, Orings etc are used.
The tanks on the radiator are sealed by large rubber seals.
The industry knows about this coolant issue as I have seen over the years.
Water pumps have a weep hole which will ooze coolant when the water pump shaft seal leaks.
After replacing multiple water pumps for this failure years ago I decided to disassemble a Falcon pump to investigate the failure.
The shaft seal is a carbon ceramic design common to water pumps, but the seal assembly is sealed to the housing with a rubber end seal, this was found to be the point of failure.
Now allot of water pumps have a weep hole that incorporates a little reservoir under it so by the time the coolant stain is evident the part/vehicle is out of warranty.
I have had many cars over the years that have had minor coolant leaks which I have fixed by flushing the system and using a water rust inhibitor mix.
Fluid flow does cause erosion plus there are temp cycles I would argue they are technically a wear component but a rad shting itself around 6 years seems like a dud piece of crp
Let most the air out of your spare tyre just before taking your car in for a service. The invoice always states the spare tyre pressure was checked. The spare will still be flat after you collect your car, ALWAYS!
They checked it was there ...yup. Good luck on my zero spare wheel car.
Had mine serviced last week they stripped my sump plug and told me they had to Put a helicoil in ,,$200 bux Later , anyway they burnt me no more service work for them crooks
Don't forget the 15% the parts department charges to the service department. Then that's when the service department hits the consumer with a further 20% or more. And hides it in the cost of the repair.
There’s a little more involved than just “unbolting and bolting a radiator back in” lol I replaced my radiator on a Nissan Frontier and getting the hose clamps off is a pain, given you can access them. Draining the coolant out takes time. Taking plastics off that are plastic riveted in, some radiators can only be taken out if the alternator or other belt components are taken off. I’m not siding with shops, but I know first hand it can be pretty involved.
Hi John, love your work.
Might have a story for you if interested.
Subject is extremely dangerous downshifting to low gears in a first of UP series 2011 Mazda BT-50 3.2L 6spd auto 365k.
It was still drivable albeit I nursed it at lower speeds on back roads to my mother's than booked it in at Mazda Springwood qld.
I had towed to them.
They verbally informed me of it requiring a New transmission and gear selector at $16,000.
I declined and picked car up.
On picking it up, I was charged a diagnostic fee, I asked for the diagnostic report and was informed no error codes were found and couldn't give me a diagnostic report.
I drove it from Springwood to home at Boronia Heights, not exceeding 60kph.
Not a single issue.
Drove it around the block next day, and was shifting gears up & down eradically.
The original owner had told me the transmission was replaced at 120,000k yet Mazda claimed no record of it.
Through research, I found there was a recall in relation to transmission downshifting at speeds.
Odd thing is this bt50 was very first of release model, but not included in the recall, approximately 1mth earlier than those recalled.
I also found the replacement lead frame assemblies now come with a foam insulator strip that slips over the shift solenoids (say to fix a cross short between terminals).
I ended up ordering the lead frame through Ford as it was half the cost Mazda wanted.
Replaced it myself, car is working perfect.
$632 vs Mazda $16,000.
What a rort.
The radiator in my Mazda wore out.
It took 25 years but it definitely wore out. (plastic upper tank ruptured - assisted by a stuck thermostat)
Have owned a golf r I’m pretty sure that changing the radiator would involve removing the bumper, inter cooler, oil cooler and then radiator which takes time. Would be interested for a mechanic to chime in
I took my brand new Nissan Micra back to the dealer where I purchased it for the 6 months or 5,000klm service. The car, in fact, had about 1,100klm on it. They told me I needed to have my air conditioner compressor oil sampled and tested. They said they would drain 30ml of compressor oil and then test it. If it was fine, it was $129 to refill the 30ml. If there was a problem then it would be "parts and labour" as air conditioner parts were not included under warranty. Trust me, that was the last time I stepped foot inside that dealership for a service.
my last camry first faliure was at 200,000 kms my fault, forgot to chage timing belt after driving the car like lead foot new york taxi driver.
Shop around. Don't buy an overpriced European car. My 2004 Toyota Corolla (270,000kms) has the same radiator it came out of the factory with.
So does my 2005 Renault with 240K on it. Manufactured by Valeo who also makes the VW radiators.
@@froggy0162Skoda Octavia 2&3 diesel engine and turbo petrol respectively never changed radiator or any other random failure parts and well over 300k on both, sticking with euro just maintain it yourself on time
Good to see someone has balls to call out crooks. Well done John!
my partner gently backed into a VW bumper and cracked the badge on the front and part of the grill (we never saw that part because it's not visible, nor structural). Got sent a bill for about $1300 to replace the whole grill and badge. On the quote it had about a days work for around $800 and parts to be about $500 (or other way around). When we started looking it up we found out you can replace the badge for $20 - $80 (depending where you buy) in under 30 seconds. The grill was around $300 but wouldn't take a whole day and even if it did it shouldn't be more $300-400. In the end we sent the guy the videos of the badge and grill replacement and said good luck!
When did radiators start lasting only 90k kilometers? We have a couple of 20+ year old vehicles with over 200,000 kilometers, and they still have their original radiators.
The interesting thing is how they suggest something one service, then next time it isnt also suggested. Magic! Just refer to the service schedule.
Yep, over servicing is so common. I like it when hey ask " when was the last time you had your injectors cleaned"...
@Paul Sz yeah, I had one place try that.. And diff oil despite it not being on the schedule. Mysteriously next service they didn't pick it up.. magic self cleaning diff oil and engine!
I overheard a call from a garage ordering parts. What I got from it was that they pay 30-70% less than the price they give you at the parts store
Chrysler Canada, when I actually went to a dealership for parts, normally charged anywhere from 300%-1,200% markup on parts used on your vehicle. Take it or leave it was the deal. Ya, with your vehicle up on the hoist in their garage. No, they won't put off-brand parts on for you.
Then all of a sudden. You start to learn how to fix your own vehicle. And do a better job cheaper, and you learn too!
@@luckyguy600 exactly. I do most work on my vehicles. Off brand parts have to meet certain requirements such as brakes etc.
Being in the service game (not automotive but similar) I can see how costs add up though - for what seems like a straight forward job, they may have to remove the front bumper, lights etc maybe de-gas the A/C, remove old rad and cross check with new rad, remove the fans, the wiring loom to the fans, any other pipes or wires in the way, always a chance the replacement parts are wrong, a slightly different revision or new "universal" design of parts that need other supporting brackets, screws or such that you only find out once you unpack things,(then someone needs to put time into dealing with the return paperwork to ship it back to the supplier and order the new part). What if the customer has serviced it elsewhere and they have contaminated the coolant which may have caused the failure in the first place, you have to warrant your own work, so new coolant is the only smart thing to provide that insurance, then putting everything back together, re-gas the a/c bleed the system, disposing of the old coolant, complete the paperwork, debrief with the customer.
None of the above allows for any rusted nuts that need to be split or ground out, what if an air lock occurs and needs some massaging to bleed out, the clips that break when removing things, the new radiator could have defects, leaks, seeping joins and you have to strip it all out again. How do you allow time for that when its out of your control?
How many people here commenting have actually been in the service game? Doing this day in, day out commercially? I guarantee your view will change if you even did this for a day. Servicing things correctly takes time, needs experienced trained tech's, good tools, equipment, good supporting staff, tech manuals, an excellent and organised parts team etc etc. So many stars have to align for a repair job to go well and at the end of the day its quite a low glamor, reward-less job with constant complaints and negativity, so no wonder good techs and service managers move on to other more lucrative industries.
I believe the solution is more detailed quotes and customer discussion. ie. don't just say "replace radiator with new = $1200". But outlay the work required to actually do the job properly and list the steps to guarantee a high probability of a successful job.
You should see the service bills on a 30,000 kia sorento at 5 years apparently acording to kia they just about fall apart, (it just need to oil changed and fluid check) However i must be extorted to keep warrenty.John is not talking about the majority of service techs just the Dealer servicing cost. If a job is difficult just take a few photo to back up the service work. I have family in the business and the rip of storys are shocking. Split radiator core is all on the manufacture no matter how long it takes.
You talk too much sense!
My sentiments exactly. I’ve been a professional tech for a long time and many people seem to think that the job is low intelligence, low skill and way too expensive. They seem to either not realize or forget about what you mention. Overhead costs alone can be staggering between insurance, litigation abatement, taxes and government compliance as well as employee benefits such as retirement and such. Then there’s the fact that paying for a technician’s years of experience and expertise is a legitimate point. As the saying says, “cheap labor isn’t good and good labor isn’t cheap.”
I do agree though that dealerships aren’t always on the level. Having worked at one for a while years ago and still having to deal with them regarding our fleet’s vehicles that are still under warranty I can say that some are good and some not so much. When asked I rarely recommend for people to take their car to a dealership over one of a few local and reputable private shops.
New Triton 3K on the clock. Been to the dealer (not the one I bought it from but who cares) once to look at the radio that dies when the car interior is higher than 24 degrees. Second time in I’m busy at work and believe the service dept closes at 5:30. Go to pick my Ute up and get hit with a bill for $150 because they said it had after market wiring. This was the sales guy because the device dept shuts at 4:30. They won’t release the car without payment. It has only been 2 places 1 where I purchased it new and 2 these guys. I had not even lifted the bonnet let alone take out a screwdriver. 6 months later after numerous calls to speak to the manager. I got agreement that it was NOT aftermarket wiring and I would get a credit on my next service. I got my next service and got the bill expecting to see the credit. I had to ask for it. That us Mitsubishi customer device for you.
I do feel genuinely sorry for people who have to pay others to repair their cars. I'm not looking forward to that time in my life at all.
I got there a while ago. I am 73 and wish I didn't have to crawl under cars on my driveway. I have tried 4 local dealerships for work and that is the reason I am still servicing my own cars. I have to do the work I have paid them to do. I have run out of garages to go to.
I can't imagine how many people who have to deal with shoddy and unacceptable service from all the brands, especially European and luxury car brands.
Warranty stuff is almost always handed off to the third and fourth year apprentices and they do NOT get paid ~$30/hr.
It is listed as 2.25 hours on Autodata.
This also includes the bleed & pressure test.
The rad is £90gbp aftermarket, or £185gbp from the dealership.
These are trade prices, including vat.
They've definitely been had.
A rip off here in the UK is to change your wiper blades without asking, they say the old ones were worn out and they charge a huge amount for a job you can easily do yourself, or Halfords will do it for a very small fee.
I asked for my old ones to be returned so that I could examine them, they refused saying they were already gone from the premises.
They lied to you. Then one day ... lo & behold ... the entire dealership just burned down! OMG, how could that happen?
Maybe a Russian dude was smoking near the dealership?
What is the durability timeframe for a new car? Any court cases?
Warranties are total B.S. . Years ago where you bought a product is where you took it back for warranty . Now a days you buy something and they tell you that you have to send it back to the manufacturer .
I drove past our local Diesel mechanic's shop a couple of weeks ago and just out of interest I went in and asked their opinion on getting my Isuzu MUX re-mapped to gain a little torque for towing. I was told my best course of action was to get my ECU "flashed" with a new program which would change some of the parameters of the engine's tune. I asked if they would have to order in this "program" and the guy replied it was a common car and they had the program on file and would just have to load it on. I asked how long in advance I would have to book it in and he replied they were 4 weeks behind but for something like this they could do anytime as it didn't take long. He then quoted me $1550. I was on the fence regarding a re-map, this quote made me fall off that fence and I decided the power output of the car was just fine.
Re-mapping and flashing are the same thing. You're paying for the software. (The code.)
@@AutoExpertJC Another mechanic told me a re-map was an individual tune using a dyno to monitor adjustments whereas a flash was just downloading the software and drive away. In the case with this guy he said he had the software on file so didn't have to purchase it. I thought $1550 was excessive for this process, I have seen the same thing advertised for $500 which also seems good money for a simple download of data.
@@geoffdrew5207 You are also paying for the time and effort someone spent creating the software tune.
@@user-vk4vd7vr5t You only pay for software once, then you can use it in as many cars as you want for free. Apparently you can even get a copy of the software off the internet for free on many popular cars, including mine.
@@geoffdrew5207 welcome to the world of licensing costs
All mechanics do this, I went to a franchise one called automasters, wanted to replace my spark plugs but were replaced by them 7 months ago. The guy was like,n oh man sorry I should have double checked. Tried to rip me off. Wanted to glaze my 7 year old rotors too for $500 bucks, instead of replacing, already done it 2 years ago with them. Went to a specialist and changed rotors for $700. Should have just changed rotors 2 years ago and saved $300.
You can also reverse your credit card payment up to 18 months after the event. They admitted the bonding of radiator broke down so therefore not fit for purpose. Or also Make a complaint to Queensland Consumers Affairs. Be armed with the ACCC not fit for purpose info. So 3 ways to pursue this.
Yep well said John. People need to think outside the square and look at reputable local mechanics to do this type of stuff - at half the price! I have found that dealership service centres are full of unsupervised inexperienced apprentice mechanics working on my car whilst paying premium price. I have recently found a great local mechanic (With supervised apprentice mechanics) who knows what he is doing and does so at a reasonable price.
John I bought a new DMax twin cab Ute in 2021 with your help after researching for over 12 months, and as an optional extra I ordered an aluminium drop side tray electric tipper body. It has never worked properly and the electric motor has now failed totally. Isuzu said it's not their problem but TJM's who installed it despite the fact I paid them for it. Tjm says it's not their issue, who should I target first???
When buying a car my priorities are, can I change the lightbulbs, the battery and the oil filter...not alot of choice left on the market
Similar problem with seat tear in 2019 Subaru but only 16K miles on seat due to 2 recall replacements( for squeaking) while car under warranty. Now 1 year out of 3-year warranty, but Subaru agreed to pay dealer for seat repairs as "customer good will" service. In my 71 years have owned @40 cars (most new) never had seat wear out in 16K miles. This post really resonated with me.
John, you have truly worthwhile promotions in the form of Olight, Nord VPN, and Manscape. Terrific video regarding those Vulga Autos Group criminals and their ilk.
I think I would need a good purge dealing with those sociopaths.
Hi John we have a 2006 Hyundai Terracan (so over 18 years old) now with 250,000 kms on her. In that time we’ve had one power steering hose fail. Still has the original exhaust system and apart from wear and tear parts has never let us down. She also towed a 2 tonne caravan around OZ for two and half years.
Love the old girl, her paint is almost as good as the day we bought her new.
Thanks for trying to help us with this information.
I recently had my Toyota RAV4 Hybrid in for a 45,000km service. Originally I was told it would take 3 hours when I booked it in. I took the car in at 7.45 am and was prepared to wait in the lounge until it was serviced. I spent 5 mins discussing an issue with the service rep and the car was still where I left when I went inside, got myself a coffee, connected my iPad to their free internet and settled down to wait. At 8.20 am I was informed that the service had been completed. I was informed that it needed a front wheel alignment and that it why they couldn’t rotate the tyres and I couldn’t get an alignment done for another 3 weeks as they didn’t have time to do it today. What about the 2.5 hours left on my quoted service time. I also question how the could possibly have done a complete service in that short time. They apparently changed oil and filter, changed rear diff oil, check cv joints, steering brake wear, etc. oh and test drive it. Ripped off???
John what about the EPA charge then waste oil and filter disposal fee, and workshop supplies fees and to top up your window washer bottle with a dash of detergent and water,and wheels dont get rotated i put a paint pen dot on the two front wheels and upon inspection at the dealership the wheels have not been rotated so i went back to the service department and asked how do you rotate the wheels and she said on the hoist so i gave her the keys and said that you had better do the rotation the apprentice learnt fast courtesy from a retired motor mechanic.
Commision. You didn't mention the service advisor getting paid a healthy commission for "selling" extra work and parts.
I don't believe they get paid for warranty work but they do get paid commission for retail labour and parts the "sell".
The front counter is against the consumer too because the service advisor also wants to send their kids to private school.
The weather seals on my FG2 Ford ute split. These are about 1200mm long max and about 20mm wide max. The dealer price for the driver side is$550 and the passenger side is $450. Ford said they are restricted parts and had to supply the VIN # to get them. Told them to shove it. Used some silicone rubber glue to fix them
I very recently rang a local dealership and asked what the cost of 186000 klm service was and got the reply was, oh thats the biggest service your car will have in its lifespan we change all fluids and filters and check and adjust valves price $2900 dollars well fuck me there wouldn't be more than $500 in parts and it would take them five hours to do. then i rang the next nearest dealership and they quoted $1700 for the same service.
Now this is worth listening to.
I mark parts grease nipples etc ,and when I point out missing items on fixed price service they do not care.
How do you check rear drum brakes without removeing wheels.
VW are difficult to work on and parts are very expensive. Brand-new Toyota OEM radiator for my car on Ebay costs $150 replacing the coolant with pre-mix Toyota red for less than $50. Would fit myself. In my case will probably never need replacing. Of course, if I went to the dealer, I would be up for a stupid price like the person mentioned in this video.
Cricks Highway Kia refused to honour a fifth free service loyalty card for the Cerato I bought at that Dealership in 2012. Determined not to buy with them again. Recently used Private Fleet brokers to source a Seltos. Emailed them beforehand not to deal with Cricks. Got me to agree to the contract verbally over the phone and wouldn't tell me which dealership until I agreed. When I got the paperwork - it was Cricks Highway Kia. Now stuck waiting three months with no idea of delivery date with a dealership I wanted to avoid (keep being told, check with us in a few months!). Thought using a broker should have avoided all this. The biggest laugh though is they locked me into a kilometre limit on my trade in Cerato, when they cannot even tell me how long I need to wait.
Well the all-brass radiator on my 32 year old Nissan diesel SUV...
has never been touched and keeps it's cool...
Funny thing that...
who would have thought that a radiator completely made out of a good grade of metal (the same metal that was used since the start of ICE vehicles) would last longer than a lightweight metal that can corrode quickly...and has to interface with plastic end tanks via a rubber gasket.
A 1992 Toyota Corolla that I bought for my daughter needed the plastic tanks replaced each 80,000 kilometres.
You could see the white spot of the heat cycle stress working at the plastic near the inlet at the top of the radiator.
Based on that I look for the same thing every time I open a Toyota bonnet...just in case.
Was considering rhymes with for a service as unfortunately I have a Renault and a Volkswagen and my last Renault dealer has screwed me over with servicing. Need to look elsewhere now. I like both my cars. Why don’t stealerships include brand and customer loyalty in their business equation? I would be happy to take my vehicle back to the people that sold it to me for service and maintenance if it didn’t require being ripped off every time?
I learnt to drive in the late 80s on an ancient morris 1100 where just about everything failed at one stage or another, so I learned a lot about car engines, and my Dad taught me how to do an oil change, check spark plugs and change a tyre. Served me well. In late 90s, took my Barina to the Holden dealership for a service, and they tried to tell me the constant velocity joint needed replacing. I looked at the the service agent, who was looking at me thinking I knew nothing about cars, and I said “no it doesn’t, are you sure you’re looking at the right car?”. Never went back to that dealership.
I have been taking my car to Honda. The last service they said they rotated the tyres, they didn’t. That said they tested all lights, they didn’t (known brake light still blown) They said fixed a warranty issue, they didn’t. Why did I pay $350 for $20 worth of oil?
To be fair, it’s not a super quick job to do a radiator on these. It’s bumper off, headlights out, crash bar off and some other stuff.
But, like all modern cars stuff is pretty modular and if you know what you’re doing with the right tools it’s probably an hours work.
Yeah that was my thought too. I've never done one but I've done a bunch of AH Astra, ZC Vectra etc back in the day and they're a bit of a shit to do.
Probably not like the mighty BA Falcon radiators that come out the top in two minutes 💪
Or that’s what a VW dealer would have you believe. Friend has a later style Beetle, (basically a Golf in sheep’s clothing). She needed a headlight bulb replacing. Not the whole unit, just the bulb. They quoted her somewhere around £400, because in their words, they needed to remove the bumper/fender and most of the front end, to get enough working room. I went online, to learn the job could be completed with a universal extension on the ratchet. So £400+VAT became £1-£2 for the bulb and nothing for the 15mins. it took for me to change it.
I’m guessing the VW dealership, would have done it the same way as me, only they’d have pocketed the £400.
Had to supply a screenshot of 5 odd million results from a Google search about the known timing chain hydraulic adjuster issue on my Skoda 1.2l. The image included a winning class action report from the UK about the same problem. When I took the car in for that issue I had a call re: brakes and rotors needing replacement. At 66,000 ks! Historically I'm really good with brakes, so I was sceptical. Took it my local guy. He sent me images asking which one/s? None needed work then, and he did them at 150ks, with probably some 5000ks still to go.
Once your vehicle is up on the hoist. Your ASS BELONGS TO THEM.
But it was just for a free inspection.
Ya, right lady ... That scam is as old as a Model T.
I just got charged $670 for an oil change & wipers then got told my next service was going to cost $1800.
This is for a 2019 triton ute!!!! That's not going to happen in any way, shape, or form.
The most common service scam is these capped priced service plans. As an independent mechanic They are all BS. In every car review they champion these BS plans which never cost what they say ever I know from personal experience. They charge for extras such as fluid changes or brakes etc. please for a video on these. They are the biggest blight in my opinion. They lock you into a BS contract which is not worth the paper it is written on.
Also you are an engineer not a mechanic if I was to replace a radiator I would charge you approximately $350 to do the job about $125 per hour. Plus I would always flush your coolant so that’s about another $50. I would never ever reuse coolant.
Thirdly I never trust any dealers I run my own business I do occasionally do some warranty work & I never take No for an answer. I do the work for the customer & chase the company later. I suggest that consumers stop being idiots & stand their ground. Go to an independent mechanic get an invoice & tell said dealer they are to replay you for the work. Don’t take no for answer.
Re-using Coolant sounds like re-using old Oil, just bluddy silly...
If you cannot afford to replace Coolant ( for more Years reliability afterwards ) then surely cannot afford to own a Car....
@@bluddyrowdy8757I agree. I never ever do it in my own shop.