Lovely Dealership Experiene
I went to the dealership for an oil change (free lifetime - otherwise I would do it myself) and decided I wanted to upgrade to synthetic oil. I expressed this to the relic that was behind the counter and told him I would pay the difference. His response - "We do not carry synthetic oil because the maufacturer does not recommend using it."
"Are you saying that synthetic oil is bad for the engine?" I asked.
"That's correct." He said.
At this point I just smiled and said "that's fine, just change the oil" and walked away. Arguing a point with this man I could see would be futile. And this was the service manager! I guess when the nameplate changes from Dodge to Chrysler it also changes the makeup of the engine. Interesting. I did not know that.
Later the manager comes back and tells me they can't get the valve stem caps off to fill the tires ( I put on aftermarket aluminum ones). He said they could try but they may damage the stems, requiring that they be replaced. Without thinking I said "that's fine, try to get them off". He came back a little later and said they could not get them off and that they are now all leaking. Parts and labor would come out to be $120.00.
Again I started to laugh, not beliving what I'm hearing. $120.00 for 4 valvestems? That can't be right. I looked around and it dawned on me where I was. I was at a dealership! What was I thinking when I said "go ahead". I just figured it's a valve stem, how much can it be?
I talked to the general manger on duty and got the price reduced to 4$47.00 for all 4. Not the best deal in the world, but better than $120.00!
At the end of it all as I was paying my bill, the dinosaur of a service manger, who seemed to be sleepwalking through the day, just rambling things off to other customers like me was programmed or something, came up to me and said, "We'll be sending you a survey through the mail, please remember what we did for you today and fill it out and send it in."
You bet I will pal. Next time can you use sand as a lubricant? All this from a Five Star Dealer. Lovely.
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