Minimizing the Pain of Auto Service or Repair

The pain of buying a used or new car may be greater than the pain of having it serviced, but you need to have it serviced far more often than you must buy a car. Below, I’m listing eight suggestions to make your visit to your car dealer’s or independent service department as pleasant as possible.

(1) The Dealer with the Best Price Might Have the Worst Service. Remember that you don’t have to have the same dealership service your car that sold you your car. You probably bought your car from the dealer who gave you the best price. You should have your car serviced at the dealer who can best maintain and repair your car. The price of service is important, but secondary to the quality of the service and repairs. Do a little research. Ask friends and neighbors who drive your make of car. Check with the BBB and the County Office of Consumer Affairs. Ask the service manager at the dealership to show you his factory score on CSI (customer satisfaction index) and customer service loyalty (what percent of customers return to this dealer for service?) Every manufacturer surveys dealers’ service customers and ranks that dealer by how well he treats his customers.

(2) Establish a personal relationship with your service advisor. The person in the service drive who writes up your repair order is very important. Be sure you get a good one. He should be knowledgeable, attentive to your needs, promptly return phone calls, and recommend only necessary services. You might not find this person on your first visit, but if you aren’t comfortable with the person you are dealing with, ask for one with whom you are. When you make an appointment to have your car serviced, always ask for that service advisor.

(3) Don’t pay the “gotcha”, miscellaneous supplies fee. Almost all car dealers and independents tack on a phony fee when you pay your bill which is simply more profit to the dealer but is disguised by various labels. It is also sometimes called “environmental impact fee”, “sundry shop supplies” and many others. The cashier just adds a percentage ranging from 5% to 10% to your bill. This is no different than the “dealer fee” that the sales department tacked on to the price they quoted you on the price of the car. Most dealers will waive this fee if you complain about it, especially if you threaten to call the BBB, their manufacturer, or the Florida Attorney General’s office.

(4) Always road test your car, preferably with the technician. If you brought your car in for a drivability problem such as a noise, vibration, or pulling to the right or left, don’t accept the car back until you ride in the car with the technician or service advisor and confirm that the problem has been remedied. I also recommend that you drive the car with the service advisor to demonstrate the problem when you bring it in. Experiencing what you experience always communicates your problem more accurately than verbally describing it.

(5) Ask for a written estimate of the total cost of repairs and maintenance. Florida law requires that the dealer give you a written estimate. By law, they may not exceed this by more than 10%.

(6) Make an appointment ahead of time. You should insist on making an appointment and you should try to make that appointment at a time when the dealer’s service department will be least busy…typically the middle of the afternoon on weekdays or Saturday and Sunday. Avoid the 7:30-8:00 morning rush. When your service advisor has written up your repair order, ask him how long it will take. After he tells you, ask him to let you know ahead of time if, for any unforeseen reason, your car will not be ready in the promised time. Often when you call a service department they will tell you to “bring the car in anytime” or “come right over”. Service advisors will tell you this because they are either too busy or too lazy to take the time to make a proper appointment. When they tell you this, tell them that your time is very valuable and that you insist on an appointment at a time when they can get you in and out quickly. Always write down the name of the person that gave you the appointment.

(7) Shop and compare high cost repair prices. Most service departments are competitive on maintenance items like oil changes, wheel alignments, and tire rotations. However, the costs of major repairs can vary considerably. If you are looking at an air-conditioner, transmission, or engine repair that can cost several thousands of dollars, get bids from more than one service department. Often just suggesting that you will do this will keep the cost down from the dealership you prefer.

(8) Introduce yourself to the service manager. This falls along the same philosophy as developing a good personal relationship with your service advisor. It can’t hurt to know the “boss”. If you are on first name basis with the service manager, it just might earn you a slightly higher level of treatment from those that work for him. Be sure you meet the real manager. Lots of service advisors/salesmen call themselves managers or ASM’s… assistant service managers”. They are not…they are service salesmen.

ATTENTION: CAR SALESMEN: JOIN MY WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM

www.YourAnonymousFeedback.com

Your car dealership probably adds non-government fees to the advertised prices of all the vehicles they sell. Florida law (and all other states) requires that all such fees be included in the advertised price. Why should you “rat” on your car dealer? These hidden fees cost you money just like it costs the unsuspecting customer. Your commission (average 25%) isn’t applied to these hidden fees which are generically referred to as dealer fees, but go by many other names. What they have in common is that they are not government fees. The Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, FDUTPA, section 501.976, par. 16-18. (see in the last paragraph).

These hidden fees average over $1,000 in South Florida which costs a car salesman an average of $250 commission on every car he sells. An average car salesman sells about 12 cars per month which totals $3,000 monthly that’s going into your dealer’s pocket instead of yours. Your dealer may have told you that the law requires he add his hidden dealer fees to the price of every car. This is untrue. If he eliminated the dealer fee and just raised the price of the car by that amount, you would be paid your fair commission. Your customer would also know the true price instead of being tricked.

The witness information I gather from your feedback towww.YourAnonymousFeedback.com can be used to make dealer fees illegal in Florida and perhaps the entire USA. I’m consulting with attorneys to launch a large class action suit against car dealers on behalf of car buyers. Tell me what’s going on in your dealership when you sell cars to customers who come in on advertised vehicles. Does your dealer include all his hidden dealer fees in the advertised price? The names of these fees vary, but some of the most common are dealer services fee, dealer fee, notary fee, doc fee, tag agency fee, electronic filing fee, e-filing fee, dealer prep fee, etc. Does he include some but not all? The best test of whether a fee is bogus or not is whether the dealer collects sales tax on the amount. If he charges the customer sales tax, it’s a bogus, non-government fee. All non-government fees (no matter what name your dealer chooses) must be disclosed on the buyer’s order with the language you can read in FDUTPA in the last paragraph of this article. They also must be included in the advertised price.

I completely understand why you’d be nervous about whistle-blowing on your employer. I’m sure you work hard and don’t want to lose your job. The link I’ve provided, www.YourAnonymousFeeback.com, is run by a company named Incogneato that provides this link to hundreds of blue chip companies so that their employees and customers can offer anonymous feedback. Some of these companies are Amazon, Tesla, Airbnb, PSB (Public Service Broadcasting) and Adobe. You can check them out at www.incognea.to. YOUR ANONYMITY IS GUARANTEED.

You can help put a stop to all dealer fees which will significantly increase your sales commissions and allow you to be honest with your customer.

Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act 

(16) Advertise the price of a vehicle unless the vehicle is identified by year, make, model, and a commonly accepted trade, brand, or style name. The advertised price must include all fees or charges that the customer must pay, including freight or destination charge, dealer preparation charge, and charges for undercoating or rustproofing. State and local taxes, tags, registration fees, and title fees, unless otherwise required by local law or standard, need not be disclosed in the advertisement. When two or more dealers advertise jointly, with or without participation of the franchisor, the advertised price need not include fees and charges that are variable among the individual dealers cooperating in the advertisement, but the nature of all charges that are not included in the advertised price must be disclosed in the advertisement.
(17) Charge a customer for any predelivery service required by the manufacturer, distributor, or importer for which the dealer is reimbursed by the manufacturer, distributor, or importer.
(18) Charge a customer for any predelivery service without having printed on all documents that include a line item for predelivery service the following disclosure: “This charge represents costs and profit to the dealer for items such as inspecting, cleaning, and adjusting vehicles, and preparing documents related to the sale.”

Car Dealer Don’t Trust You: Their CUSTOMERS!

I’m always amazed by the way car dealers who use deceptive advertising and unethical sales tactics rationalize their behavior by blaming you, their customer. The following is a direct quote from an anonymous car dealer’s email I received in response to one of my columns in this newspaper:

“I don't think you would make any of these comments if you sold fords in a non-metro market. How do you expect dealers to change when consumers think they should pay less than dealer cost for a car and then walk into any other form of retail store and pay what they are asking?? Your ideas are noble but there are other dealers who have tried 'your' methods who are no longer in business.”

This dealer is saying that his customers are so ruthless and cunning that they won’t buy a car unless they can buy it below his cost, and his only solution is to trick them into thinking that they are buying it below his cost, like tacking on a “dealer fee” to the price they quoted the customer. He also goes on to say that my “ideas are noble” but I can’t possibly be successful, and I will go broke trying. I truly appreciate his concern and I want to assure him, if he is reading this article, that my business is doing well.

This attitude is a prevailing part of the culture in many car dealerships. Many dealers, dealer managers, and sales people don’t trust their customers (how paradoxical!). They don’t even like their customers. A very common expression among car dealers and their sales staff is “Buyers are liars”. This means that a prospective customer will not tell you the truth about the condition of his trade-in, he will lie to you about the price he got from your competitor, and he is likely to remove those new tires that were on his trade-in when the dealer appraised it when he comes in to pick up his new car.

There are also a lot of dealerships where used car buyers and people with bad credit are held in especially low esteem. They have nicknames for people with bad credit like “slugs” and “roaches”. Apparently dehumanizing these unfortunate members of our society with derogatory labels makes it easier to treat them so shabbily. People with bad credit are targeted with direct mail, TV and digital advertisements making absurd promises that convince prospective customers that they can finance a car no matter how bad their credit. In some dealerships applicants are coached on how to falsify credit application and pay records. In some cases, the applicant may not even know he is signing a false credit application which is federal offence. In most cases the credit is refused and the applicants are not even given the courtesy of a return phone call to tell them this.

I don’t claim to be a psychologist (and I don’t even play one on TV), but I’ve read articles explaining how humans will stereotype other people in a fashion that falsely justifies their negative behavior toward those same people. We see this with racism and even in wars. If you make yourself believe that car buyers are out to take advantage of you, “buyers are liars”, you can’t feel guilty about tricking them into paying a dealer fee. If you trick a “roach” or a “slug” into coming in to buy a car on credit when they probably can’t, why should you feel guilty? After all, roaches and slugs don’t have feelings.

What these kinds of dealerships don’t understand is that you must trust a person first before you can expect her to trust you. You must treat a person with respect before you can expect that person to respect you. Somebody has got to go first. My experience over the past 50+ years as a car dealer is that 99.9% of my customers are good people who I can believe and trust. Those are pretty good odds and I just assume that every customer I’m dealing with is part of that 99.9%. Once in a great while I get burned, but the loss from that one in a thousand that takes advantage is far out-weighed by the other 999 who respond positively to my trusting them and treating them with courtesy and respect.

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE: DON’T GET RIPPED OFF BY A CAR DEALER

1. Choose the exact vehicle you want to buy or lease before you discuss price. Research this carefully and take your time. Consumer Reports is your best guide. Test drive the exact year, make and model vehicle for several hours, at least. Do not discuss price at this stage under any circumstances.

2. Go online to find your lowest price. The 2 best resources arewww.TrueCar.com and www.CostcoAuto.com. There’s no charge from TrueCar but you must be a paid member of Costco.

3. You should also check the best price with at least 3 dealerships. Deal only with their Internet departments. Insist on an out-the-door price plus GOVERNMENT FEES only. Beware of hidden fees by various names, collectively referred to as “dealer fees”. Beware of DEALER installed options added to the quoted price.

4. Shop and compare interest rates and terms with your bank and your credit union. Never rely on dealer financing without comparing it with your bank or credit union.

5. Get the true value of your trade-in by pretending that you want to sell to dealers who sell the same make as your trade. CarMax is also a good place to bet a bid on your trade-in. Remember to deal with the used car manager of the dealership and tell him you are selling your car and do not want to buy another.

6. Once you’ve determined the dealership that apparently has the best price, visit that dealership to confirm things are on the “up and up”. If they try to add anything to their quoted price except FEES THEY MUST PAY TO THE GOVERNMENT which can only be sales tax and license plate, LEAVE. Offer this dealer your trade-in if he will match your best price and your financing if he can beat your bank or credit union. One caveat on the trade-in…Florida and most states offer a sales tax savings for the trade-in allowance. Be sure that your third-party trade-in offer allows for this.

I guarantee you that if you follow these six simple rules, you will never again be ripped off by a car dealer.