Re: Good work, and bad, by VA dealer

[Josh Pinkert <flush@radix.net>]

At 08:16 AM 10/28/97 -0500, Andrew Duane USG/PE wrote:
>Hairy green toads from Mars made Josh Pinkert say:
>
>> I figure that with the recent upswing in Audi sales, the dealers cannot
>> handle the capacity.  So they rush through cars and neglect to get the work
>> done correctly.
>
>What does the recent upswing in sales have to do with this?
>
>Dealers *live* by rushing cars out the door, especially with warranty,
>recall, or standard "maintenance" work. They don't want to tie up
>one of their mechanics for hours looking over something they aren't
>going to charge much (if anything) for.
>

If the dealer has 'X' number of Audi mechanics because they are used to
handling 'Y' number of Audi cars.  Then all the sudden, some Audi models
start selling better, and there are twice as many Audis (2 x Y) coming into
the dealer for service (warranty or not).  Because they only have X
mechanics, and they may be slow to hire more (or expand their service bays,
etc), they can still only handle the old capacity.  The service department
is backed up for weeks...and they rush cars through to keep up with the
demand.

BTW, I believe the dealer gets reimbursed by Audi for warranty work.  No,
they don't make money off the work, but it doesn't cost them anything.

And I don't care if dealers live to rush cars out the door.  My car
deserves full attention.  If they won't take care of things properly the
FIRST time, I'll give them a poor evaluation and move on to the next
dealer.  My guess is that it'll be the lesser of evils, eventually.  That
won't keep me from raising a stink when I get sub-par service.  If you
don't complain, they're never going to improve.


- Josh Pinkert
- flush@radix.net