dunx

iTrader: (3)

A senior manager at work paid £300 for two tyres on her mini.....

A friend's Seat had two new batteries and still had problems, laptop said no problem, I said faulty alternator... He went in and shouted for 2 minutes, alternator changed problem solved, only £150 down for two dead batteries !

Wouldn't go near one, especially if I couldn't watch the b*ggers at work.

We have all heard the "chip shop run" stories...

imho

dunx

P.S. My specialist was a top three rated UK tech. for an now ex-Subaru dealer, good enough for me !

scoobyboy

yes!!

seems quite reasonable to me!

from your attitude yes we can

13 yrs working on subarus at a main dealer and no.2 in the country according to subaru themselves,
think that qualifys me!!

i would maybe have asked "how much" first thats what most people do

PantsUK

iTrader: (1)

How could I ask how much ?? We were expecting no cost as it would have been a warranty job the fact that no fault was found is the reason for the cost but 13yrs at a main dealer (I wondered why you were defending) I'd have thought that was a simple concept for you to understand!

After 13yrs subaru training if it takes an hour and a quarter to check the battery alternator and suspension strut i'd suggest better training is needed or is it that the good guys bugger off and set up their own businesses?

O well I think you're in the minority of opinion (as most of us don't/haven't work for a main dealer so have an unbiased opinion)! Staying with specialists in future i'd rather pay half the cost per hour for better service.

scoobyboy

half the cost half the service i fail to see how someone can diagnose play in a strut properly with it still attached to the car but you get what you pay for i suppose.

PantsUK

iTrader: (1)

well chandlers didn't take it off either so there really is no excuse is there!

and how can you say half the service?? you've not used every specialist in the country have you?

tolster

iTrader: (2)

Agree with you pants, IMHO dealers know jack when it comes to upgrading or tuning a scoob, oil change and tyre pressure maybe but that's about it. Tell me scoobyboy, when was the last time you raced, mapped or developed any subaru and then put them to the test on a track with success? I'm not directing this just in your direction but dealers are a rip off (and yes i have first hand experience) just because subaru give a technician the seal of approval does not mean they can rip off the customer!!

scoobyboy

totally different business to what i do and totally different customer

what you want to compare is your tuner with the tuning arm of subaru i.e sti
you can't compare a tuner or mapper to a main dealer because it's not the same type of work.

Soobmeister

i have said i will not comment on this thread, however simon this thread is not about tuning or upgrading a subaru. i have my own opinion on 'specialists'. Dealers are more expensive than your 'specialists' and that is because as scoobyboy says they have a lot more overheads. IF you want to use a 'specialist' then fine, your car your choice. All the same IF you want a use a main dealer then same again you invariably will pay more but they get the most up to date info on your cars. Main dealers make mistakes, as do 'specialists' but as they are CHEAPER most people will choose to not notice this so much. I tend to notice that a lot of people come to us when 'specialists' have failed to diagnose faults properly or have hade several goes at trying to cure a fault and can't. it seems on here that main dealers are generaly poorly thought of but have you thought where the car your driving actually came from???????

Cannon Fodder

iTrader: (100)

As I have been reading this thread since it started I would like to add my own points of view (and yes I do work in a main dealership and no it is not Subaru):

As I am sure all parties will agree you can get poor repairs carried out at both franchised and independant outlets.

Main dealerships get costs imposed on them (special tools, technician training, signage, furniture, diagnostic equipment etc) by the manufacturer for which they have no contol over meaning that typically the base labour rate they pay to their technicians has to be multiplied by a factor of four or more (especially in city centre dealerships) in order to just break even.

Can you imagine if every diagnostic or small job that went into the workshop was not charged out, and to be fair to most dealerships they will try and absorb the time as it more hassle than the worth of it in order to charge for the job but this sometimes cannot always be the case.

The paid warranty labour recharge rate is typically around 90% of the standard retail labour rate, most dealerships will get a warranty audit at least once a year during which time the manufacturer will try to reclaim monies paid out for the smallest reason such as job card not signed by technician or parts causal sheet not filled out or no serial number entered. I can assure you that most dealers prefer retail to warranty repairs and a lot of manufacturers will not accept warranty claims below £20.00 and expect the dealership to absorb this cost (perhaps somebody could tell me if Subaru practice this).

Most dealers will negotiate on their retail rate in order to gain new business / retain existing business remember nothing ventured nothing gained.

And before you ask I will probably be taking my car to an indepedant workshop but I will insist on genuine parts being used but this is down to distance (one dealership is 60 miles away and the other one is 50 miles away).

I do not expect to see my post used as another reason to beat people up who work in main dealerships, I will not end up in a slagging match.

PantsUK

iTrader: (1)

I never meant this post to be a slagging off of main dealers of course they have higher costs.