Referring to a "Dealer" as someone who steals

[Crasher]

No and especially not at the moment.

[WazzaS-Line]

Crasher, I would be inclined to agree with you, however, I have friends who have worked for and still work in VAG dealerships who have told me horrendous stories of what is basically "stealing"

Examples are:

1. V10 TDi Touraeg's brought in for services costing nearly a grand and only being biven a "tozzer". "Tozzer" is a term used to describe a service where a tech simply tops up th levels and has the car valeted !!!
2. Cars being MOT'd and given a "drive by" - referring to the car not actually being given an MOT at all and simply driven by the MOT bay.
3. Tarde in cars having service history "created" and sold on to traders.

A good friend who works at a VAG garage has stated on numerous occasions that Full Main Dealer History, in his opinion, isn't worth ****. He sadi he would rather take his vehicles to a trusted friends back stareet garage for a service.

I'm not saying they are all bad, but get in the real world, THIS goes on !!! hence the term ******** !!!

[martin1810]

I am in the unusual position of visiting more workshops of all descriptions than most people are ever likely to do. I am absolutely certain that most technicians and most workshops are honest people who just do a job like the rest of us. The idea that dealers are out to rip off customers is nonsense. Everyone wants to get paid for their work and car dealerships are no exception.

[a8 tech]

Well said Martin

[Crasher]

Every walk of life has bad apples and the examples you quoted are not endemic of VAG main dealerships but classic examples of human nature, which isn’t always good.

[peteo]

In issues like this, it is important to distinguish between the individual members of staff and the pricing and other policies of the dealership, or indeed, any garage.

I don't think that VAG garages are any worse, in the main, than other dealerships. What we do know, from all sorts of research ranging from trading standards through to the Consumers Association, is that, overall, the standard of work in British Garages is not good. If my memory serves, the Consumer Association has found, again and again, that only 1 in 4 garages do a halfway decent job.

I agree the use of the word "stealing" is emotive and, possibly, actionable in law without any proof.

What we can say, I think, is that most franchised dealerships offer poor value for money and that the work, especially on routine servicing, is not always carried out to the best of standards.

[Eshrules]

What we can say, I think, is that most franchised dealerships offer poor value for money

Seems your PM was an empty promise

If people see dealerships as poor value for money, they'll vote with their feet and supply/demand will ensure better value for money is earnt.

[Crasher]

What we can say, I think, is that most franchised dealerships offer poor value for money

I don’t agree entirely, if you saw the ridiculous times that VAG make the dealers stick to on jobs (such as under six hours to change an Audi A4 2.4 V6 cabrio clutch and flywheel) then you can see why their labour rates are so high, the job times in the vast majority of cases are just not realistic, especially when a car is getting on a bit. The consumer is partly to blame for what is happening, they push for cheaper this, more equipment the other, better big boys toys to play with and longer intervals and then moan like buggery when what is ostensibly a massively updated 120 year old design fails and you can add to the users faults that they treat the things like a main battle tank, which they aren’t!

[peteo]

I suppose one thing that tends to gall people in paying for any service is the labour charge. We know that if we pay £65 per hour, the technician is only getting a fraction of that sum in his pay packet. Obviously the labour charge also goes towards the overheads of the business such as heating lighting and rent and nobody should object to any business making a profit.

I am no expert in this area, I can only go on what I observe and read. I wonder if there is not a difference between specified repairs and routine servicing? When I was quoted £1,100 to replace a heater matrix on my old Bora, and when the guy explained exactly what was involved, I could see that it was a massive job. But when you take your car in for little more than an oil change and you walk away with a bill for anything between £150 and £200, then you do start to wonder.

[zollaf]

when i was working as a mobile mechanic in milton keynes, i once had a customer moaning at me charging him £30 an hour. i looked down at the small pile of tools being used, breaker bar £85, few spanners, £10 each, ratchet £40, caliper rewind kit£100, etc. then the fuel to get to him, the van i had to keep on the road, etc... the costs soon add up. ive got a workshop now, and to be able to fix modern cars ive had to fork out £3000, yes 3 grand on a diagnostic computer to do any make. a ramp to lift the car up is £2500, gas to heat a workshop, 3 phase electric, autodata for info on cars, £600. i have a small single bay workshop with probably £30, 000 worth of kit to do my job. multiply that up to a main dealer with 10-20 bays, all the kit that they have to have from the manufacturer, and you soon get into very large figures. how main dealers operate with these overheads is mind bogling, and the fact they only charge £100/ hour i find incredible. there is obviously a choice to go to a main dealer, or any other garage, a choice you make, it is not forced upon you.if you feel a garage has not done its job properly, or you have been overcharged, then dont go there again, and perhaps talk to trading standards about it.