I had the oil changed 5 days ago at the dealer and every morning I would find a new oil spot where I had parked. I needed to take it back to dealer for some rattling noises so I also said to check for the oil leak. They just called me, it's now two days later, and he said that the special sheild to keep the oil off of the frame was not used when they changed the oil. He said the frame has holes in it which allow it to fill with oil and it's still draining after 5 days. He said they cleaned it really good. What in the hell are they talking about? What kind of dealer is this? And as for the rattling noises he said the panels are still all apart but he hopes the same mechanic will show up tomorrow to put them back. What kind of dealer is this??????????

Hey! This is the United States of America! What in the hell do you expect? Comprehensive service? Quality work? Attention to detail? Customer satisfaction? Oops! Wrong country...wrong question. "Never mind." Before you leave your car for service at ANY dealership or service emporium...check the employee parking lot to see what the mechanics drive. I guarantee, if you've never done this before it'll be a real eye-opener! Keep shopping until you like what you see. (It may take a REALLY long time to find a place you'll be comfortable with, no matter what brand or model you own!!!!!)

That sounds typical to me unfortunately. I've twice had dealer techs not screw on the drain plug all the way after an oil change. The second time I asked them to come out and clean the oil off my driveway. But I have heard of this happening at other places too. You would think these guys would be experts at changing oil, but I'm guessing boredom and just plain not giving a hoto plays a big part.

[quote:95ca67aab2="bush555"]The local EZ-Lube has always been top-notch: quick, thorough, conscientious. (Unfortunately, they can't service the rear differential, which uses Honda-proprietary fluid.)[/quote:95ca67aab2]

The one time I cheaped out and had a Jiffy-Lube do my oil, the bulk oil dispenser meter was broken and the the guy overfilled the engine case by a few quarts. They started up the engine and the oil all blew out the air intake all over the guy in the pit. Need I mention that the only route the oil could take from the engine to the air intake was through the engine seals. Grr. My Colt was never the same after that, it just loved burning oil...

-brendan

Have you checked your dealer's oil change prices? We did and after comparing the prices to those at the Quick Change Oil Place (where my husband takes his Civic) the E goes to the dealer and it is $9 cheaper than the Quick Change place.

Miata @ dealer after many successful oil changes: leave parking lot and immediately notice pressure gauge drop to nil. Stop and pull the stick. No oil. Oops says they. (p.s. yes I know Miata gauge is a fake,,,analog idiot lite!)

VW @ dealer after many successful changes: get home and 10 min later see oil dripping. Oops - forgot to put the seal in the plug...a VW/Audi goodie for those who haven't been there....

are the quickie places w/out fail?

No

to wit - wise is my van riding so hard? Could it be that the tires are inflated to 95 lbs?

please don't lean on the headlite covers of my Miata - you bend them and I have big unsightly gaps in my hood...yes I can bend them back but how many times and paint cracks ya know.

so???

when ya find a good one...give 'em a tip!

Unless you’re willing to do it ALL yourself, don’t just give ‘em a tip – learn their children’s names and birthdays, buy them lunch, go bowling with them! If someone besides you actually cares about YOUR car, do whatever it takes to become that person’s FRIEND! Consider the alternatives: you either get to do it all yourself, or trust someone making minimum wage (who can only afford to drive some clapped-out wreck – remember to check out what the workers can afford to own and are actually driving). If anyone has any expectation of some other level of “service” than what they get from a minimum wage shop employee, they’re seriously delusional. How much would YOU care if you were paid to change the oil on some dipstick’s Porsche? Oh, yeah, I must be wrong. You’d really CARE. And the owner’s attitude toward the “quality of the job you did” would really be a positive influence on how sincerely you CARED, right? Yeah, I thought so.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion...that being said, Pride in your job does not start with the money that you are paid to do it. If that were the case every minimum wage making individual would be "Out to get you".....you better watch out the bagger at the grocery store might try to sabatoge your eggs......get real people. Just because someone makes minimum wage (even though I HIGHLY doubt that a mechanic or anyone else at the dealer or oil Lube Express is making under $6) doesn't mean that they don't care about the job that they are doing, except perhaps when your minimum wage attitude walk in. Money does not equal pride.

Plus, I don't know about what oil change place that you are taking your car to, but the majority of the places I go to do not have clunkers and junkers in the parking lot, telling me that these guys and gals really care about cars and hence the reason that they are in the business to begin with. Much like the "minimum wage" guys at Circuit City that installed my alarm.....to be honest their cars were pristine and in better shape than my brand new E.

I didn’t mean to imply that low-paid people don’t take pride in their work. I sense that like me, though you may be underpaid, you take immense pride in your work, Diane. I was simply suggesting that (like YOU acknowledge that YOU did) people should consider observing who it is they’re actually doing business with, and what they ought to expect for the money they’re forking over. If the Honda dealer’s employee lot is filled with ten-year-old Ford pickup trucks, I’m not going to be all that comfortable having work done on my Honda there. Nor, if I owned a Ford pickup truck, would I feel particularly comfortable taking it to a Ford dealer whose employee lot was filled with ten-year-old Honda Civics (or Yugos!).

Perhaps I only meant to suggest that it’s not a perfect world we live in. It’s easy to ASSUME too much, and I personally just think we each need to take more responsibility for the way things turn out. It’s getting to be too normal (it’s only my opinion!) to look for someone else to blame for whatever it is that’s happened, when the mirror is really the first place we ought to be looking.

For people unwilling or unable to do the work on their own cars, I was only trying to suggest that the best solution is to cultivate the friendship of a mechanic who is willing to work on whatever make or model you own over the years. I trust PEOPLE I know; not brands or job classifications.

When I look in the mirror (read some of my own posts) I realize that I can get way too worked up emotionally, and make statements that are not very nice. I’m going to work on that, because it’s MY responsibility, and I, especially don’t like the obnoxious way I come across. I’m trying to play nicer, OK?

Okay :lol:

I bought my E with a program called "Honfidence" It is a program designed to get people to service their Honda Vehicles at Honda dealerships by keeping a record in the honfidence book, and showing that you have had it serviced at Honda dealerships they extend your warranty to 7 year 100K. The catch... the dealerships have to be involved in Honfidence which is only 5 in the country. I just had my first service (5K) and was very impressed with the dealer. They did cost more but also rotated tires and gave complimentary wash. Just a thought. I think if more dealerships offered this kind of program more would go to them for service. I know I will do my best to go there.



Jesse :D

>The catch... the dealerships have to be involved in Honfidence which is only 5 in the country.

That's one helluva "catch". :evil:

We have to be missing a key piece of information here. If this arrangement is as it appears you say it is, and you paid for this "program", then something very fishy is going on. The odds of your being able to service your vehicle over that period of time at a practically exclusive "eligible" location are essentially zero.

I believe that the old saying is that nothing is free. the program came"free"but like you say it is rare that I will get to service at these 5 dealerships for ever