Required disclosures & documentation at repair shops?

[Chapap]

Skip to paragraph 2 for the question. This is just the story:
My wife recently took her Mazda in for an oil change. Being that it's 1 year old, we take it to a (possibly formerly) trusted dealer. She knows to only get an oil change and avoid the $90 filters and other BS. She asked for "only a basic oil change." The advisor showed her the 3 options, the cheapest being $300. It was fairly clear: Plan, list of things, price. She hates cars so much that I think she actively forgets all car related terminology. She saw "basic" and "$300" and thought that's what an oil change must cost now. She asked if that's just an oil change and nothing else. Dude said yes. The services are (they claim) automatically populated by mileage. Basic included an $100 MAF cleaning and $75 cabin filter (per lifetime warranty requirement they claim. will have to check contract). I went in, not for my money back, but to see if I still like them. The service manager basically said that she picked that plan and that's that.

So what are they required to give the customer? In the past I've signed forms that said things like 'received/waived written estimate' and "max price authorized." Did the number on the screen constitute receiving a quote? Is small service different than big repairs? I'm pretty ticked and don't want to go back, but then there's the question of voiding warranties by using 3rd party shops (issues with documentation, certification?).

Edit: Not a $90 air filter... that'd be ridiculous.

 

[Ranger850]

I have this problem with my wife and the dealership all the time. Wife knows to keep the oil changed and tires filled with air. Every time she takes it in for routine service, they always try to hit her with something extra. She tells them to "Check with My husband", they have my number, but I never hear from them. When I take it in, I never get upsold on anything, and they never ask me for a dime. She leaves all panicked out, thinking we're about to void the warranty or something is about to catastrophically fail.

 

[Blmpkn]

90$ for a cabin air filter can't be right... I just paid the dealer to do mine the last time the truck was in and there's no way it could of cost that much. I'll try to find the paperwork.

 

[Blmpkn]

51.xx$ for the dealer to change my cabin filter. 35.xx$ for the filter itself.

 

[Chapap]

You're right. $90 for an air filter would be ridiculous.

 

[Blmpkn]

View attachment 85435
You're right. $90 for an air filter would be ridiculous.

Had to lol at the "full circle inspection" being a 48$ value

An inspection PLUS certification that your car is safe for a year up here is a state mandated 18.50

 

[97RangerXLT]

I am thinking this dealer is a bit scummy and going after your wife for her lack of knowledge.

With that being said, the cabin filter may need to be changed every so often to keep the warranty, but the dealer does not have to do that. However that being said, you would have to prove that if a warranty claim came up, so save your receipts, and write the mileage and date on the new filter when you put it in. Like 850 mentioned above, tell her to give them your phone number and if they have any of those questions to call you.

Now since it is illegal, immoral, and probably fattening to punch the service manager in the throat, I would look at finding another shop/ dealer that is a little less scummy. if this is a "one off" situation where you have had good service and no rip off schemes, you might have a chat with the service manager and discuss expectations when they deal with your wife or any other female for that matter and move forward from there.

AJ

 

[Chapap]

if this is a "one off" situation where you have had good service and no rip off schemes, you might have a chat with the service manager and discuss expectations when they deal with your wife or any other female for that matter and move forward from there.

AJ

Note: service manager was sitting next to the advisor when she checked in, se he had the entire story.

It was a one-off, but I also don’t think it was. This was the 15k mile service and the filter was due per Mazda. Not sure about the maf yet. The service manager seemed not to get my purpose when I spoke to him about it. No acknowledgement of her intention to get an oil change only. I said I trusted this dealer to not be scummy. What he heard was that I want my money back and this wasn’t the service she ordered. It’s like the advisor met the dealer’s minimum transparency requirement by showing the options, and when she selected the package she clearly didn’t intend to select, he just went with it.

Manager did say that next time she should request an oil change only and they wouldn’t up sell. I said that’s exactly what she did this time. Of course he said she didn’t… see… she got the basic package.

I think I’ve decided not to go back to this dealer by writing this post.

 

[rubydist]

The factory warranty does not (and cannot by law) require that you use the manufacturers parts nor require the dealer to do any required maintenance. The law is called the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. As long as you can document that you did the required maintenance and used decent quality parts, a warranty claim cannot be denied because the dealer didn't do it, or because it was not a Mazda part.

There is no manufacturer that requires a mafs cleaning every year. There are lots of large companies that look at maintenance costs as part of their evaluation of which vehicles to buy as company vehicles, and the government also reports on recommended maintenance costs for the first 100k miles of vehicle life, so the manufacturers have pushed out a lot of maintenance stuff to 100k or later to reduce the apparent maintenance cost of their vehicles. There are some manufacturers that recommend the cabin air filter be changed every 10k miles - I don't know Mazda well enough to know about them, but Subaru tells you to do that, so its possible that Mazda does too.

To me, the moral of the story is not to send your wife to get the oil changed. That is why I do that stuff myself. Because I also don't have to worry that the kid didn't put the drain plug back in, or didn't pour the new oil into the engine, or didn't tighten the filter, because I know people who have had those experiences and those are the kind of things that once is too much.

 

[Ranger850]

IMO, the problem is turnover. I bought my Santa Fe in 2019. I go there a few times a year for service, and almost every time, I have to deal with someone I've never seen before and who has no idea who I am. I feel like yelling to them "YOU ARE THE NEW PERSON, I COME HERE ALL THE TIME", but I refrain. The 3 year service plan just ended, so now I don't have to go back until I need to do something with the warranties. It is a Hyundai, so I supposed I will be back, lol.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Unfortunately a lot of shops seem to profile people and try to take advantage of them. I’ve heard of dealerships and chain stores that they either get a base pay and a percentage of what work they do and some are based on what they can sell you. If you come in for an oil change and they can sell you on a bunch of easy to do stuff, they can bank more money. Lots of shady dealings go on.

I had a deer jump in front of my F-150. Insurance wanted me to take it to their local adjuster based at a local car dealer but it took a week to get scheduled in. In the mean time, I got an advertisement for that specific dealer offering good trade in and special discounts and all. Didn’t think much of it at first. When I went to the dealer the first thing the adjuster said was “well, your truck is pretty old and rusty so we’ll probably end up totaling it.” Had to argue with him that I was not letting them total the truck and they had me leave it for a couple days to “investigate further.” When I still didn’t bite on letting it go, they said that it wasn’t going to be totaled but needed an alignment and my ball joints “looked really bad” and they would probably break stuff doing the alignment and that wouldn’t be covered and I would have to pay whatever they got into for that and they couldn’t tell me how much it cost and I lead them on for a couple minutes playing along and then was like, huh, well, that’s pretty funny because all four ball joints and both tie rod ends and sleeves are less than a year old and I slathered them with grease when I put them on so they should be dirty and greasy but not rusty. That got them trying to backpedal really fast and I said yeah, I’m going to take my truck back and a check for the repair and do the work myself because I no longer trust you. Pretty sure they were hoping I’d bite on totaling the truck and buy something off the dealer. Or at least fleece me out of some extra money.

 

[sgtsandman]

A lot of places will profile a customer and base their pitch on that. Often using deceptive terms that while are true in some aspect are not the whole truth.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that have little or no clue at all when it comes to vehicles and it is increasing. This is men AND women. I was just at the auto parts place the other day to pick up some air filters for the 2019 and dump the used oil from the oil changes. The man had no clue about vehicles and had asked something about changing the lug nuts. The woman he was with seemed more informed and obviously wore the pants in the relationship. Very sad to see....

Anyway, I would definitely be looking for another dealer if you are going to use a dealer for your maintenance.

 

[Chapap]

Sales is commission based and that makes plenty of sense. Salesman's job is to convince a custmor that their brand is better than competition. Unfortunately, I've never met a salesman that knew more than me with my couple hours of research... and they often do the typical sales tricks sneaking money into the deal.

Service shouldn't be commission. It SHOULD be pure luck for them selling service. Someone comes in for an oil change, they have zero control over what else is wrong/due. Also doing air filters at a rate of $1,500/hr is prety crummy.

 

[19Walt93]

Stuff like this drives me nuts. When I retired in 2017 one service advisor had been with me since 1985 and my newest one started in 1995. They were paid hourly, just like I was and were told point blank that I wanted them to sell every needed service and no add on b/s like BG products, for example. A well maintained vehicle will be more dependable and give the customer better service. I'd rather hand someone a bill for an oil change than one for a reman engine- and then have to explain why it was needed. At 15k a cabin filter is on Ford's maintenance list and from experience with my own, going to 18k was as far as I'd stretch one. Regardless, not changing the cabin filter doesn't affect the warranty- at worst it might restrict the air flow through the heater and a/c. We all had wives, sisters, and mothers so women weren't taken advantage of.
After 42 years at the dealer, I have no idea what a throttle body or MAF service is, nor have I ever heard of it being included in the maintenance.
BUT, the early 90's Escort GT with the Mazda 1.8 dohc had cold engine knock problems due to insufficient piston to head clearance. Ford insisted Mazda release different pistons to actually fix it, Mazda added decarboning to their maintenance list and charged the customers for it. A Ford owner would have called me a crook if I suggested that.

 

[sgtsandman]

The only thing I can think of for a MAF or throttle body service is those spray cans with cleaner in them that you can pick up from an auto parts store.

Not expensive or very labor intensive by any means.