After my last experience with a dealership when I took the car in for the 15K mile service, where I paid $135.00 and they tried to charge me an additional $75.00 for new wiper blades, I took a friend's advice and brought the car to a local shop today for the 20K service. What a happy difference and what a find!
They were right on time for my appointment, the technicians went over the work that would be done and/or checked, the job was finished in an hour, and the bill was less than half that of the dealership.
I had the rest of the day to do whatever, so I took a short walk on the boardwalk where I noticed that the electronic games arcade was gone and about to be replaced by some other business, possibly a restaurant. (As you can see, the doors are sliders and all the neon and signage have vanished.) At least Funland is still intact, so the traditional rides on the Boardwalk will reopen this spring. And that's a good thing.
At this point I received a phone call from someone at the restaurant interested in the list of furniture in storage I posted at the server's station, saying they'd like to take a look at it today, if possible. I was happy to do it. Although the guy doesn't speak English well - the brother who does was stuck in traffic - I believe he understood well enough to talk with his brother about what he saw, liked or didn't like. In any case, the two will talk tonight at work and we'll talk tomorrow about what they want to do, or not.
A productive day all round. I like when that happens.
Time for a festive something with olives.
And so it goes.
*
several olives, I say !
ReplyDeleteI take my own cars to a repair shop on a back street in a little town - now a bit out of the way for us. It is totally worth it. They are far more knowledgeable. Their prices are fair. Their service is phenomenal. After getting burned at the local dealership, this shop was a great find for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to take my car to a dealership they ALWAYS charged me. ALWAYS. In fact, the first time I took it in for an inspection, TWO MONTHS AFTER I BROUGHT THE CAR FROM THEM, they charged me $19.95 for new blades. I said "Why? It's a brand new car?" They gave me some BS about "There are new requirements for window shield wiper blades."
ReplyDeleteAfter about three years and many hundreds of dollars for "repairs"
that I was told were absolutely needed for the annual inspection, I stopped going to the dealer. BIG CHANGE. My 1998 red Forester Subaru now has 118,000 miles and is running just fine. Remember, the dealerships have an incentive to charge because they have a large staff to support (medical, retirement, and overhead.)
I'm glad you made this discovery. You'll save a long of money.
Spo: I DID have several olives!
ReplyDeleteLem: This is the first car I've bought with an existing warranty (which I found was a total crock)so what did I know? Nuttin'!
Ron: Yes, I am learning as I go along. Too bad the education process is so expensive.
Thanks for stopping by guys.
And yes, you're right. The "warranty" is a load of crap. Especially the "train warranty" (which I didn't take thank goodness.)
ReplyDelete