Silly dealerships.....

My lady friend has an 08 Mazda 5 which overall has really been a good vehicle. Recently the strap which holds the gas cap on, or rather holds it to the vehicle while fueling up, broke. This bothers her and she wants to get it fixed. Upon inspection the strap and the gas cap are one so naturally she has to get a new gas cap rather than just replace the strap.

Off she trots to the dealership where she bought the car and by the way where I also bought my Miata, for an estimate. It's bad enough that the cap is $50.00 but the best part of all is the $37.50 for installation. Installation? Of a gas cap? It amounts to pushing a rubber plug with a lip on it through a hole and then screwing down the cap. I think we may be talking sub 10 seconds here. Thankfully she waited to buy it until she talked to me.

Dealerships...........they have no soul.

Doing a job like that at no charge (like they're not already making enough on the cap) is a perfect way to earn return business, and real money.

... stealerships

[PT Barnum]

There is a sucker born every minute.

[/PT Barnum]

And it isn't the dealerships fault that she probably went to the Service counter instead of the Parts counter. So as much as it hurts to say it and people to hear it, she deserves what she got.

Feedyurhed wrote: Dealerships...........they have no soul.

What would you do if you knew every month you would be crapping 10k a month minimum to keep the doors open?

My Ford Escape had a factory gas filler that did not need to be opened, just put in the hose. It was convenient. I have thought of similar for my other cars including wife's Mazda 5.

http://www.amazon.com/Stant-41003-InStant-Fill-Gas/dp/compatibility-chart/B000RDDSQ8

While doing some googling to see if the cap above would work with a '08 Mazda 5, I found the following. Seems '08 had a gas cap issue.
http://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/general-tech-6/gas-cap-stuck-14137/page4/

Just came back from dealer, who installed revised gas cap on my new '08 Mazda 5. Mine stuck on 3rd gas fill...only 900 miles on car. Dealer gave me a copy of the Service Bulletin covering 08 & some 09 Mazda 3's and Mazda 5's...any produced before September 12, 2008. The Service Bulletin No is 01-050/08, dated 11/25/08. Thought this might be helpful to others, in case your dealer service dept is clueless. I had them show me the difference between old cap and new cap, so I could better understand the issue and have some confidence that new cap will indeed be a fix. Fingers crossed. Love car otherwise, but this is a major bummer if it happens again. Reply With Quote

Followed up with...

Went to the dealer this am and didn't even need to reference TSB #01-050/08 (thanks for the heads up Bilyeu5!). Was in and out in about 10 minutes. Actually forgot to check out the new cap to see if there were any identifiable differences from the one that jammed. Will post if I notice anything that will identify the problem. UPDATE-So, I eyeballed the replacement and there is a noticeable difference. On the white portion that seats in the tank's opening there is a raised (and closed) rectangle. On the prior cap, that rectangle was not closed, i.e. it was "3-sided." That is likely what causes the problem. When inserted and tightened, the cap could improperly seat on the lower of the two tiers created by this opening. If the one on the opposite side was correctly aligned, this would cause the cap to misthread and jam. Moral of the story, if you have a "3-sided" cap, get it replaced.

those caps won't pass emissions testing in NJ. They take them off of the car here and put them on a machine to pressure test them

As a service advisor, I would do stuff like that all the time. Swap out small trim stuff, install fuel caps and wiper blades, joking with the customer as I did it.

I got my ass REAMED over that. Why? The techs were complaining that I was keeping work out of the shop. I'm not stupid, on high mileage cars I'd try to find a reason to get them in the shop. But on a car with, say, 10k miles? Which had maybe just been serviced? What's the point? All it does is piss people off to waste their time or hit them with a labor charge.

Plus, a lot of those people know they can go to PepVanceZone and they will install bulbs, batteries etc for free. All it takes is one instance and they will remember. But the techs don't want to hear that.

So when you say the stealership has no soul, maybe- just maybe- it's really a tech in the shop who is greedy as hell.

Curmudgeon wrote: All it takes is one instance and they will remember. But the techs don't want to hear that.

Most people don't know what it takes to run a successful business.

exactly.. that is the kind of customer service that would bring people back.... and in the case of Curmudgeon and the OP.. drive them away

I went through that with my Hyundai Tiburon. The car only went in for warrenty work a couple of times.. but it was never a pleasant journey each time. It took three trips for a door panel, (they ordered the wrong colour, but discovered AFTER taking my car apart) and two for an airbag light.

The airbag light they blamed on my aftermarket stereo.. so I got hit with a $300+ bill to reset it.. and when I got the car back, I had no dash lights.. which they also blamed on the stereo.. I just ordered the reostat and did it myself for around $30...

The stereo had been in my car for two years before the airbag went light went off..

The joke that Hyundai's warrenty was "americas best voided warrenty" held true.

mad_machine wrote: those caps won't pass emissions testing in NJ. They take them off of the car here and put them on a machine to pressure test them

Which is why Ford as gotten rid of those removable gas caps and now builds that valve into the filler neck. No more gas caps.

Zomby woof wrote: Doing a job like that at no charge (like they're not already making enough on the cap) is a perfect way to earn return business, and real money.

A dealership once wanted $45 to replace a third brake light bulb in a Dodge Avenger...

About the $45 Avenger 3rd brake light bulb: the late '80's Buick Century had the turn signals in the front bumper. The bulbs were replaced from the rear, but you could NOT get the sockets out to replace the bulbs unless you removed the front bumper cover and then took the light out of the metal bumper bar. That one legitimately involved a labor charge for that reason.

I got cussed out by more than one little old lady who just could not understand why it took an hour and (at the time) $70 to replace a bulb. When doing one of these the techs would use a hole saw on the rear of the bumper so the socket could be removed easily the next time. Probably screwed up the crash safety, but what are ya gonna do?

mad_machine, many VW's from ~1994 on had a data link from the radio to the engine control unit. It allowed the VAG 1551 to perform radio diagnostics and also if the car was equipped for the speed sensitive volume it was the data link for that. This wire looked exactly like a ground wire and would, if you tested it, actually complete a ground circuit. If that wire were improperly used, not only could it fry the ECU and other control units but it could blow up the test computer! One of many pages on this problem: http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/aftermarket-radio.html

There was a VW tech bulletin which stated that if the factory radio plug were cut off to allow installation of an aftermarket unit, the car's warranty was presumed to be void. As in: if a car came in with a driveability concern and the plug had been cut off, all bets were off.

If a plug from a company such as Metra, etc was used, to plug into the stock harness, then all was well.

We were expected to enter that information (cut or not) into VW's database for other dealers to access. If we did not, and another dealer damaged their VAG it was quite possible they would expect our shop to repair it.

Due to the possibility of damaging the tester, it was necessary to remove the aftermarket radio to verify the connections before plugging the computer in. VW would not cover this as part of a warranty repair and the techs expected to be paid for it. Man, did THAT create some friction!

Now just about every manufacturer includes that data link in their harness, so cutting the harness to add a radio to ANY new car is NOT a good idea.

Ranger50 wrote:

Feedyurhed wrote: Dealerships...........they have no soul.

What would you do if you knew every month you would be crapping 10k a month minimum to keep the doors open?

Treat my customers better so they would continue to be customers?

I spend way more than that to keep my doors open and I don't nickel and dime my customers to death. We do a lot of stuff for free that we could charge them hundreds of dollars for. I'm not in the auto business, but it's just good business in any industry to keep your customers happy and to treat them with fairness, honesty, and respect. $37.50 to install a gas cap is none of those things.

Claiming the customer "deserved it" makes your case even weaker.

Techs have been getting the dirty end of the stick for a long time. So no labor = no work.

End of story.

Zomby woof wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: All it takes is one instance and they will remember. But the techs don't want to hear that.

Most people don't know what it takes to run a successful business.

It does cost a wad to keep the doors open. That means that when a repair does land in the shop you need to squeeze every dime out of it. That's why labor charges are so damn high. Also, there's the liability. Good example: check engine lights.

People pull up to PepVanceZone, they plug in the little code reader and print off what it says. They then bring that slip to the dealer and say 'here, fix this'. Now there is a problem. If we do that repair and the light is still on, the customer expects us to continue for free till it's fixed. That's not a good way to do a repair. So now you have to tell someone 'yes their tester says it's this and we can do that for $ but if it doesn't fix the problem we are not liable. We need to perform our own diagnostics for $.' Now they are in a lather: 'You want $ to do what he did for free? You cheating slimy bastard.' But that's how it needs to be done and it's a necessary evil.

But yeah running people off with big $ labor for swapping bulbs and gas caps is a poor idea. They won't come back and worse yet will tell all their friends.

Curmudgeon wrote: About the $45 Avenger 3rd brake light bulb: the late '80's Buick Century had the turn signals in the front bumper. The bulbs were replaced from the rear, but you could NOT get the sockets out to replace the bulbs unless you removed the front bumper cover and then took the light out of the metal bumper bar. That one legitimately involved a labor charge for that reason.

And Buick is/was still doing that. Replacing a tail light in my wife's 2000 LeSabre is a 20 minute-2 person job. You have to remove the whole light aross the width of the trunk lid. So ~8 bolts to remove then get someone to hold the light while you take the socket out and replace the bulb.

donebrokeit, you are exactly right. Techs have gotten the short end of the stick for far too long. The manufacturers have squeezed the warranty labor guides to the point where it's insane. Their reps will tell the managers 'tough titty. Make it up on customer pay' which basically means customer pay work gets padded to subsidize the manufacturers.

But the reality is people still won't come back if they are charged for what they perceive to be a tiny freebie repair. (Perceptions are reality, BTW. That's the way the world works.) If techs would see it that way, a lot more stuff would go through the shop (and a lot more upsell opportunities would pop up. ).

But they don't and won't, so someone has to pick up the slack. That's why so many service advisors do what I do: replace a bulb etc so they will come back. FWIW: a car with a 36/36 warranty generally does not have bulb/wiper coverage after 12/12. But the customer doesn't give a E36 M3; they bought a car with 36/36 warranty and that damn bulb better be free, even if it is a $125 HID bulb.

Let me ask you this: if someone charged you $40 to replace a bulb in a lamp at your house, how would you react? How about (as in the original example) $90 for a gas cap?

A friend asked me itf there was a particular reason I keep buying Fords. I said ione reason was because of the dealers service,from the owner on down to the parts guy.

iceracer wrote: A friend asked me itf there was a particular reason I keep buying Fords. I said one reason was because of the dealers service,from the owner on down to the parts guy.

carguy123 wrote:

mad_machine wrote: those caps won't pass emissions testing in NJ. They take them off of the car here and put them on a machine to pressure test them

Which is why Ford as gotten rid of those removable gas caps and now builds that valve into the filler neck. No more gas caps.

And they leak fuel like CRAZY on an autocross course! I'm surprised the SCCA hasn't totally banned them yet, either.

It isn't just the autoX track...

Curmudgeon wrote: It does cost a wad to keep the doors open. That means that when a repair does land in the shop you need to squeeze every dime out of it. That's why labor charges are so damn high. Also, there's the liability. Good example: check engine lights. People pull up to PepVanceZone, they plug in the little code reader and print off what it says. They then bring that slip to the dealer and say 'here, fix this'. Now there is a problem. If we do that repair and the light is still on, the customer expects us to continue for free till it's fixed. That's not a good way to do a repair. So now you have to tell someone 'yes their tester says it's this and we can do that for $ but if it doesn't fix the problem we are not liable. We need to perform our own diagnostics for $.' Now they are in a lather: 'You want $ to do what he did for free? You cheating slimy bastard.' But that's how it needs to be done and it's a necessary evil. But yeah running people off with big $ labor for swapping bulbs and gas caps is a poor idea. They won't come back and worse yet will tell all their friends.

+1 On this... Another example "I read it on the internet, so this is what I need replaced." Just setting someone up for comeback city...

I guess its kinda unrelated, but do 10yr 100000mi warranties exist still? I remember seeing them for most cars but now i only see like 3 years