How to Book Your Car Into a Main Dealer?

How to book your new car into a main dealer?

This sounds like such a simple request doesn’t it?

“Can you service my car and I have an annoying misfire on the engine at around 2,000rpm or 30 mph, its driving me crazy jerking me back and forth in my seat!”

We will come back to what seems like a simple request! I started in the Motor Trade in 1981 and was still active until 2007 in various roles in the Motor Trade. The bulk of my time was spent in main Volvo Dealerships however I have worked for Volkswagen and Audi and Vauxhall main dealers. I started as an apprentice Car Mechanic and ended up as a Service Manager in charge of the whole Service department. That hopefully will qualify my opinion.

So there you are in the Service Reception amongst shiny new cars all smelling of leather and polish. A fresh faced man of around 21 years old will say,

“Hello Mrs Jones how can I help you?”

Then you reply,

“Can you service my car and I have an annoying misfire on the engine at around 2,000rpm or 30 mph, its driving me crazy jerking me back and forth in my seat!”

The young Service Advisor will take your keys and service book to be stamped and if you have a good Service Advisor he will take a telephone No for you and enquire when you need the car? However standards of the Service Department in garages has fell so dramatically I doubt if you will be asked those questions.

You walk away and catch a bus to work. In your mind you see your car on a computer and several fully trained mechanics are servicing your car and sorting out the misfire? Wrong! I’ll tell you what’s happening, Your service book has been stamped already by the fresh faced service advisor, today’s mileage has been written in the book.

You job pack (Keys book etc) are placed in a plastic wallet and given to the Workshop Controller (I did this for years) his job is to assess all the work in for the day and ensure that all being well all the cars that came in get back to the customers on time and repaired. It is one of the most important and stressful jobs in a main dealership.

Now the workshop controller has perhaps 16 mechanics under him and they will produce a minimum of eight hours work ok so far? that’s 128 hours everyday to be completed! The workshop controller will look at your job pack and see. 2 hrs for the service, and a few minutes of diagnosis time on the misfire it represents 2hrs in his workshop. There are clutch replacements, engine rebuilds, trim problems, wheel bearing replacements, you name it, he has to allocate the work to the best of his ability.

Its 12.00pm and your lunch break, you phone the garage and ask how your car is doing?

“Are Mrs Jones yes your car is doing fine”

“Great what about the misfire?”

“We are working on it I can see your car through the window its all wired up on life support he, he”

The truth is your car is in the same parking space as you left it 4 hrs earlier! Young inexperienced service advisors lie as they cant handle telling the truth which is,

“Are Mrs Jones your vehicle is set to go into the workshop anytime now, I’ll call you with news a little later”

They lie because Mrs Jones will then say,

“Why did I get up early and bring the car in for 8.am if you have not even started it?”

So they lie!

At 3,30pm your car is rushed on the ramp and as they are busy a 18 year old apprentice will be told to service your car as quick as possible as your collecting at 5.00pm!

The service goes ok the oil is changed and the tyre pressures adjusted you get expensive screen wash put into your windscreen washer bottle and your lights are checked. The young apprentice says to his mechanic who is working on another car at the same time,

“I’ve done the service on the job card it says engine misfire and jerking, I cant drive yet and you haven’t shown me how to link up the laptop yet?”

The mechanic tuts at being taken off another job and walks over to Mrs Jones car and slams down the laptop and plugs it into the engine. The self diagnostic routine is run and fault codes says,

“Engine running lean on over-run possible Air Mass sensor fault”

The mechanic tells the apprentice to go to the parts department and order a new Air Mass sensor. The parts dept don’t carry fuel injection parts only fast moving service items such as brake pads and spark plugs and filters.

Mrs Jones arrives at the service reception and the service advisor presents her with a bill for £220! For the service which took 45 minutes and was carried out by a junior apprentice. Mrs Jones enquires,

“How about the jerking it was driving me nuts?”

The service advisor has no idea! He reads out your bill and says,

“Oh yes you need an Air Mass Sensor, unfortunately we don’t stock it. I have a ticket here from the parts department its £126 would you like me to order the part you do have to pay up front?”

Mrs Jones is not happy she says,

“So it still jerks around? that’s the main reason I brought it in sod the service!”

The young service advisor goes slightly red in the cheeks and replies,

“Sorry about that if you order it I will call you as soon as the part arrives and we will get you in to fit it, we will try to do it whilst you wait?”

Mrs Jones takes her keys and throws her debit card on the counter! The car misfires and jerks all the way home!

This happens day in and day out in every main dealer across the UK! I will try to explain why this happens? When Mrs Jones booked her car in the service advisor saw in his minds eye ‘Service’ mechanics like servicing its easy and quick to do and garages work on ‘Time Saved Bonus Schemes’ which in a very basic way means the faster you work the more bonus you will earn at the end of the week!

When the job pack is given to the Workshop Controller he also only sees ‘Service’ the controller issued the job late as he knew it would take 2hrs at most easy work, he to ignored the misfire! When the mechanic was issued the job pack it was 3,30pm! He had 1.5 hrs to service the vehicle and diagnose the misfire! Impossible and that’s where it all went so wrong for the customer. The garage was fine they got paid and paid in advance for ordering a part!

Without getting too technical when a modern car misfires or stalls fault codes are stored in the onboard computer and these codes can be removed by laptop and used as a guide to what went wrong. Almost like a very basic flight recorder on an aircraft! The problem with the technology is when an engine stalls or misfires it brings up a code straight away its like a run to mummy code! It says,

“Engine running lean on over-run possible Air Mass sensor fault”

That fault code will come up every time there is an engine problem. What should happen is the fault codes should be cleared and an extended road test should be carried out and then re-check the fault codes? It didn’t happen! Also mechanics now days rely solely on these electrical codes! However engines are still mechanical mostly and gaskets fail, engine valves burn out, spark plug leads fail ,etc etc. Fault codes cant help you under these mechanical breakdown issues?

My advice to Mrs Jones would be this after my 27 years in the motor trade! Book your car in for what is important I.e. the engine misfire and jerking, make that the reason for the booking and mention in passing that the car is due for a service however the service under no circumstance must be carried out until the misfire is sorted and you want a phone call to say what was wrong with the engine before you agree to the service! Make that point over and over again make the service advisor write in in bold on the job pack!

Also if you get your car in for 8.00am tell the service advisor that you can pick the car up after 1.00pm as your boss is very helpful, put a slight time pressure on the job! The more slack you give the service dept they will use every minute of that day to get the work done in the most profitable way possible for them not you!

When you drop your car off in the morning take a note of the mileage on your Speedo and take the bay no its parked in! trust me on this one. I once booked my Ford into a garage for a misfire only no other work. I am qualified to do the work but I was working full time in a Call centre and myself and partner needed the car it was our sole form of transport.

I called the garage at 1.00pm and the service advisor said,

“Your car is next into the workshop!”

Alarm bells ringing already! I phoned at 4.00pm the service advisor said,

“Your Mondeo is on a road test we think we have found out the fault I’ll tell you when you collect”

I walked across the forecourt of the garage and my car was in the same bay as the morning! I opened the door with my spare key and checked the speedo the car had not turned a wheel in 8 hrs! I was not a happy camper! If I were them I would have run out the back door and gone home!

The service advisor handed me a parts requisition slip for an Air Mass Meter costing £175! I said,

“Air Mass Meter eh!”

I spied my job pack and it was immaculate not a mark on it! I picked up the paperwork and said,

“Wow your mechanics are the cleanest in the world! Not a finger print well done! And where are the clocking on and off times from the workshop controller? Why is my car in the same bay as I left it and the mileage on the job pack is the same as when I dropped it off! How did you road test it?”

The service advisor just stood there and had gone beyond red he was scarlet! I said,

“Go get me the manager right now!”

The manager flung his arms around behind the scenes I could see through a crack in the door he was shouting in the faces of the service advisor and workshop controller! He eventually came out and said,

“How can I help you Mr Banks?”

“I said cut the crap you have had my car all day and have not even opened the door! don’t deny it have you?”

The Manager replied,

“No sorry we had mechanics off sick we just could not fot it all in today”

I replied,

“I bet you got all the services done for today though?”

No reply, he then said,

“Mr Banks I would like to pick up your car from your house and leave you a courtesy car and give your vehicle top priority?”

I replied,

“Not a chance your establishment is full of liars! Your young service advisor has been taught all wrong! Tell customers the truth as bad as the news is they appreciate honesty! I will find another Ford Dealership and try them you will never get a penny out of me!”

I walked away and they never saw me again. As I started and drove off I could see the manager waving his arms in anger still!

I do hope these tips are helpful? you can be more worldly wise with the Motor Trade in future. Do not accept lies and take precautions when you book your vehicle in!

Lord Banks