Dodge Dealerships --- are they nuts???!!!

[RTuvell]

A dealership is a small business.

With all due respect, a dealership may be a small business but just about every major dealership in my town is owned by a millionaire!

 

[gsbrockman]

I perform all of my maintenance on my truck, and enjoy doing such work. For all of you guys flogging Dodge or a Dodge dealer, be glad you don't own a Ford w/6. 0L. I'm not dogging the Ford in general, but have any of you priced an oil filter, two fuel filters, and an air filter for a 6. 0L ? Has anyone looked under the hood of a 6. 0L ? What a pain maintenance is on those trucks... ...

Greg

 

[BGParks]

Own a small business and then figure it out. A dealership is a small business. I DON"T change my own oil or rotate tires.

I do not mean to give any offense here but I don't quite understand your thinking. As a small business owner would you rather make $10 profit on 10 customers or $5 profit on 100 customers? It seems to me you turn a small business into a large one by increasing volume and you increase volume by giving good service for a good price --- not by price gouging for parts. Taking advantage of your customers just because you can will only decrease your profits by reducing the amount of return business and eliminating word of mouth recommendations. Just my . 02 cents worth.

 

[klenger]

The dealers charge it because they can, and many of their customers will pay it w/o any question because they don't know any better.



I'm madd as hell and I'm not going to take it any more.

 

[JCleary]

I do not mean to give any offense here but I don't quite understand your thinking. As a small business owner would you rather make $10 profit on 10 customers or $5 profit on 100 customers? It seems to me you turn a small business into a large one by increasing volume and you increase volume by giving good service for a good price --- not by price gouging for parts. Taking advantage of your customers just because you can will only decrease your profits by reducing the amount of return business and eliminating word of mouth recommendations. Just my . 02 cents worth.

I really don't think that the dealers are price gouging too much. If you take into account that most qualified diesel techs (and gas techs, for that matter) cost a lot. I know any mechanic worth his salt around here is making $25 to $35+ per hour. Add on to that benefits, or in some cases union dues on the part of the small business/employer, workers comp (gone up 300% in CA in the past 5 years) your service managers, your parts personnel, your building rent/maintenance, the lifts, the tools, and your COST per hour of labor is way up around $75 to $85 per hour. Granted, you have your cheaper labor like the car washers, but even the cheap guys cost the dealership at least $30/hr. Plus it costs money to send all these guys to all the schools and seminars they need to attend to stay current on new technology.



So, if you look at it, $100/hr is about $15/hr profit, but don't forget, tax comes out of that. So if the parts department is making 50 points on their inventory, that's what it takes to stay alive.



Also take into account that any warranty work is done by the dealer at a discounted rate. Kind of like what a HMO does to your doctor. They only pay a fraction of what you would have to pay for the same visit/operation.



Just because an owner of a dealership is a millionaire does not mean that he/she is an evil person who tries to rip off every person that walks in. They work very hard to keep a business profitable.



There is a LOT of risk associated with owning a car dealership, and if you take the risk and are good at what you do, you should be rewarded by earning a lot of money.



It *is* done by making a little on a lot of customers. They couldn't stay in business if they were making all of their customers angry by overcharging.



Are you getting ripped off by a nice restaurant when they charge $25 for a steak dinner that cost them less than $5? No, because there are a lot of other expenses associated with putting that filet in front of your face. Kind of similar to servicing your truck. There is added value which justifies the cost.



In most cases, anyway

 

[sanyata]

It seems to me you should be shopping around. Is there a Walmart close by? There is an example of making money by sales volume over high profit margins. Seems like you could take your preferredi filters there and have the basics done pretty cheap. I took my truck in the the local Wally World last week and they charged me a whopping $6. 00 to rotate the tires. Though I didn't have it done, they charge $7. 50 per wheel for lifetime balancing.

The only thing I doubt they do is the fuel filter.

Best wishes on the health issues.

Doug

 

[EBottema]

The main reason the dealership must charge you 30 bucks to change your filter is b/c they get to pay workers comp, taxes, wages, enviro fees, biz license, and more and more. Remember, you are not just paying for their time, you are paying for the facility and the cost of them doing business. They charge you either pay or do it yourself, end or story. Its hard running a shop so don't be mad at them. Be mad only when they try and void warranty!

 

[scootergmc]

For $100, I'll change anyone's oil. You bring the oil and filter and vehicle to my house.

 

[hammersley]

Don't use creative accounting with the shop rates....

There are fixed costs that are largely independent of the amount of repair business they take in - like the insurance on the business - the light bill - the heat etc..... Be honest - any shop worth it's salt can at least double and sometimes triple the actually hourly rate by using the BOGUS flat rate system... ... we all know the reason for it but I think it screws the consumer!



And talk about bogus items that they want you to have done because of the creative local concepts - for example here it's the "Northwest maintenance recommendation!" Just a simple way of causing naive people to spend way to much for work they don't need... IMO!



Also - I have driven rigs for almost half a century AND I have NEVER paid anybody to rotate my tires! Come on - where do you guys buy your tires? I know the truck comes with tires - but any shop wanting you to be their customer when these ones wear out will rotate then for free now - if not find one that will.

 

[catoiler]

If memory serves me right Cummins owns Fleetguard so you might be safe using them! :-laf

 

[EBottema]

Yes, Fleetgaurd is owned by Cummins.



In my opinion, I find it rude to bring your own filter or any other item to a shop unless they do not sell that type or the part they are installing is hard to get (such as on a classic car). If I owned a shop and stocked a similar part but the customer insisted to provide the part, I would tack some extra money onto the labor side and give no warranty on the work at all since they did not buy the part from me. Remember, shops are a business and need to make money. You don't bring food to a restaurant do you? I totally agree with saving money, and I try all the time buying stuff on ebay and getting discounts in other ways. If you want a cheap way to maintain your vehicle, do it yourself or pay the full price to the dealer or get an indept shop to do it.

 

[hammersley]

The DODGE Filters are FG Filters!

I Think..... how about that... ... ... .....

 

[DPKetchum]

With all due respect the three dealers I worked for I know two were millionaires and possably the third. But let me tell you they had more grit then most folkes I know. One dealer owner I worked for is a couple whom I don't much like but all had one thing in common. They ate,lived and put 200% percent in those dealers. They were at it around the clock 7 days a week. Most of the time THEY were there when I got there(6:30 a. m. )at it all day and most of the time still there at or near when everyone left. At tax time or inventory time THEY were even more balls to the wall. Issues come at them left and right,employee meetings,customers,insurance issues,workman comp issues,franchise meetings,sales reps,service reps,bank reps,Epa issues,power bills,grounds maintance and the list and work they put in goes on and on. I don't know were they find the energy or how they keep the tension headaches from killing them. Its was never ending. I thought I was a hard worker with LONG hours,it didn't hold a candle to THEM(dealer owners)at least the ones I have been involed with. Parts prices/labor prices etc. were discussed and they were aware as well as every auto sold new and used.

 

[BGParks]

Volume and good will, not price gouging is how you grow a business.

A lot of people keep defending the dealers practice of price gouging on parts by saying that they have expenses (selling a filter that Geno's sells for $12 and manages to make a profit on it at that price for $40 when it probably costs them 5-7 dollars is price gouging). Of course they have expenses. And of course they are in business to make money but again I say you don't do it by gouging your customers and making them mad. Every small business that grew into a really large and successful business did it in the same way --- you compete with others to increase your volume and take market share (customers) away from your competition. The larger your customer base, the more successful you are and the larger your business gets. If you offer better service and parts at a better price you will increase the volume of the business you do and therefore make more money. As I said, would you rather make $10 profit on 10 customers or $5 profit on 100 customers??? You do the math! When I was able to work on my own vehicles I never took them to the dealer unless I had no choice, I also never bought parts from the dealer unless I had no choice -- why? Because they were ridiculous on their prices. If they had been more reasonable (reasonable being defined as more than the aftermarket price but not 3 to 5 times as much for the same part or service) then they would have had years of my business which went elsewhere. Keep the customers happy and you get the return business and the word of mouth referrals. Make the customer feel that they are being ripped off and you PO and alienate them causing them to take their business elsewhere. Not smart! So in essence to say you have to price gouge because you have expenses is ridiculous! If you want to be able to pay your expenses and have more net profit to boot then increase your volume by keeping your customers happy and causing them to want to bring their vehicle in to you rather than take it elsewhere. Also a happy customer is going to tell a friend about where they got treated right and they are also going to tell friends where not to go!

 

[DPKetchum]

It just might be NOT the dealer thats gouging. The filters are sold to them under a differant lable. ANY ONE working in a D. C. parts dept reading this. I'm curious of the dealers cost on the fuel filters. I think I'll call Monday to a parts manager I know and ask!The prices come down to them with cost,wholesale and recomended retal. Like that to all dealers of all makes. I'm not defending but lots of comsumrs buy with out much of a second thought. In 2001 I wrote,handled,but over the curb a average of 30k a week parts,labor,customer pay and warranty every week. They were 4 of us writing service for a average of 30 techs. I was usually at the top of the heap with the other three between 20k to 28k a week. We hardly ever got slim on work,usually always had a plentiful suppy constanly coming in. Warranty made up about 20% of that figure. Nissan was the same other then warranty making up about 15% of that figure. Labor per R. O. was higher with Nissan the D. C. vehicles. The import customers did spend more on maintance then the domistic lines.

 

[rbattelle]

The prices come down to them with cost,wholesale and recomended retal. Like that to all dealers of all makes.

I would expand on this statement even further. For several years I worked for an automotive parts warehouse [whose name I won't say]. They are the people who supply "a certain nationwide chain" of parts stores.



Every single part had a whole slew of prices associated with it: from what the original manufacturer charged the warehouse all the way up to what we called "list price". List was the highest. Just below list were prices suggested for "Jobber" (mechanics and people with store accounts), "Employee", "retail store", and so on all the way down to the price the warehouse paid for it.



The price that was charged was 100% up to the discretion of the store owner. I found that they tended to follow this rule: random walk-in customers off the street were charged "list price". Mechanics and shop owners who only did occasional business with them were charged "jobber" price. And people who did a lot of business or otherwise were very well liked by the store (for whatever reason) were charged something less than "jobber". [We as the warehouse always charged the store the "retail store" price].



My point? Be nice to people and be a good customer and you'd be amazed how much money you might save over time. I believe it was Donald Trump on a recent episode of "The Apprentice" who said "everything's negotiable".



On edit: as an employee I was charged warehouse price +10%. Every part I bought was 1/2 to 1/4 the "retail price". Oh, how I miss that job sometimes! It was also interesting to see the variation in markup across different parts. Sometimes really cheap parts were marked up a TON because they were perceived as being either very rare or very "high tech". Also, the "parts store brand" parts were nothing more than re-boxed or re-labeled major brands that cost much less than the price of the major label. I kid you not: we would get Valvoline trucks that would come in with pallets of Valvoline oil and pallets of parts-store branded oil. Same plant, same manufacturer, same product, different box: 2/3 price. [I'm just using Valvoline as an example].



-Ryan

 

[RTuvell]

Every single part had a whole slew of prices associated with it: from what the original manufacturer charged the warehouse all the way up to what we called "list price". List was the highest. Just below list were prices suggested for "Jobber" (mechanics and people with store accounts), "Employee", "retail store", and so on all the way down to the price the warehouse paid for it.



The price that was charged was 100% up to the discretion of the store owner. I found that they tended to follow this rule: random walk-in customers off the street were charged "list price". Mechanics and shop owners who only did occasional business with them were charged "jobber" price. And people who did a lot of business or otherwise were very well liked by the store (for whatever reason) were charged something less than "jobber".



My point? Be nice to people and be a good customer and you'd be amazed how much money you might save over time.

-Ryan

I'm sorry but IMHO the practice of charging different people different prices for the same item has "DISCRIMINATION" written all over it! "Be nice to people and get a lower price?" SAY WHAT?



Let's try these:

"Charge her more because she is a woman and doesn't know any better. "

"Charge him more because he is a senior citizen and doesn't understand what is happening. "

"Charge them more because they are just travelers passing through town when their vehicle broke down. "

Here's a good one: "Charge her less because she has a great figure. "



IMHO anyone who would advocate or participate in such a pricing scheme is immoral and unethical. I don't know the law but this seems to be bordering on illegal discrimination!

 

[Buddy's Ram]

R Tuvell wrote:

I'm sorry but IMHO the practice of charging different people different prices for the same item has "DISCRIMINATION" written all over it! "Be nice to people and get a lower price?" SAY WHAT?



Let's try these:

"Charge her more because she is a woman and doesn't know any better. "

"Charge him more because he is a senior citizen and doesn't understand what is happening. "

"Charge them more because they are just travelers passing through town when their vehicle broke down. "

Here's a good one: "Charge her less because she has a great figure. "



IMHO anyone who would advocate or participate in such a pricing scheme is immoral and unethical. I don't know the law but this seems to be bordering on illegal discrimination!



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Along that same line; what about the stores that sell you a discount card to get a lower price! or even give you a free card to get a lower price so they can track your purchases!

 

[TCDiesel]

Blaine Dodge



1 5072896AA seal-0 113G1 $55. 20

1 4617210 SOLENO 108G5 $189. 35

1 56028196AD TRANSD $69. 45



TOTAL $314. 00







Rosedale Dodge





1 5072896AA $35. 40

1 4617210 $89. 60

1 56028196AD $52. 16



TOTAL $177. 16



I consider this sealing, When I mention that that the cost was high at Blaine Dodge,The parts Guy said (to quote) If you don"t like it don"t buy it,Go somewhere else if you think you can find it for less, I don"t care I will just put it back. Blaine dodge service and parts are... . I will NEVER waste my time thier again.

 

[EBottema]

I remember needing a fuel filter for my 96 12v and mopars price was at the parts counter with my discount was almost 30 bucks. Its funny how cummins sells for 10-15 for the same filter that mopar sells for 30. If mopar is selling the filter for 30, then how is 40 a rip off? Reason for the price difference is simple. Cummins dealers sell 10 filters for every one that a normal dodge dealer sells 1. Cummins is going to charge less for that reason, plus their is competition with all the other heavy duty truck stores. I hate the dealer, almost every service guy at any dealer is a total hack that throws parts on a car to try and fix the problem. I refuse to take my truck to a dealer plus it helps doing my own work.

I always thought diesel services at the dealer were overpriced but they can get that since the public is scared to touch the engine thinking it is difficult or something. Just do your own oil and fuel filter changes, it is really easy, takes an hour of your time and then you know it is done right. Order your filters from genos and your oil from costco or another discount store. Your parts are in it 40 bucks and labor is on you-free