First trip to the service department

[rbattelle]

Sorry, Doc... I was poking fun at your spelling "Cummins" with a "G".

 

[radar doctor]

Maintenance

OK RB, I never won any Spelling Bee's, I guess it might help if i would check what i write before i put it out there. . At least you have me thinking again. That may be a bit hard to handle for a 66 yr old out of the traffic these day's. . So RB, I have seen and i might say admired your work on here along with many others. How about you young guy's get your heads together and come up with a plan to address the Problem of where in each State We TDR Members could take our Trucks for maintenance... I realize this might be a very Large Request and it might take Years but we have some of the greatest Minds in the World in this Great Country. . You know WHAT? We have many of them as Members right here on the TDR..... Happy Motoring Doc... ... ...

 

[rbattelle]

Well, Doc... I appreciate the compliment. Especially coming from a 66-year old.



The problem of coming up with a way for the membership to pool their collective dealership experience to make a "database" of good servicing dealers in each state lies simply in human nature. What I mean is, if Joe Smith has a great experience at dealer A, then later on Jim Jones has a really poor experience at dealer A, how do we determine who is "right"? It's human nature that some people just don't get along with others, and a dealer list would have a high probability of turning into a festival of complaints. Then the question becomes: how do you let a dealer respond to criticism?



Perhaps a good idea would be to have a voting area, where people could vote on each dealer in their local area for service and sales. There would be no option to add any text... you simply rate your experience on a scale from 1-5. Then when people seek service, they just check out which dealers have the highest ratings.



Of course, there's always this site.

 

[radar doctor]

Sounds ok Lets do it.....

Hey RB, You just might have the Solution... In the past i have worked in the Public's eye for 38 years and i know you are Right on about Humans. This is my Beef with the Repair System... This happened about 3 years ago... ... I bought a 99 Dodge Ram 4x4 Automatic ( Cummings). . Went to a 5 Star Dealer with a problem that my Automatic Transmission would shift up and down... They advised they didn't have a computer on hand to check into the problem but would call me when they did... 2 months later they called and said they had barrowed a Machine but there Mechanic had quit his job and they didn't have anyone to check the system. They advised they were trying to get someone hired. 11 months after my complaint they fixed the problem by replacing the Throttle Positioning Sensor. . I know what your thinking, (Why on earth did i hang with them so Long). . Well that is a good question . . The nearest dealer from me would be another 50 miles and this one is only a few miles... Besides they are a 5 Star Dealer... and still are and they have one mechanic today. . Thanks for letting me Vent TDR Members . . I Challenge all TDR Members to come up with a PLAN like RB suggested. . Then Turn it over to the TDR... What have we got to loose???? DOC.

 

[DPKetchum]

I was a GOOD service advisor as well over the years shop foreman,service manager,dispatcher,warranty booker etc. I KNEW the product I handled. I liked the products I handled. I had a lot of GOOD customers. I made the Dealership LOTS of money. Showed up on time,stayed late etc. 25 years worth 11 to 12 hours a day. The last stint was a D. C. dealer. The stress of customers and techs got worse as time went on. Especially the TECH issue. They came and went as they pleased,had NO respect for the customer or their employer which got worse over time. (managements fault)and on TOP of this Management would change computer programs or work procedures with out a HINT to us/SURPRISE! go on vacation or take a day or two off and come back to find Rolodex/notes/phone numbers to vendors/tow companys etc all THROWN away. Its frustrating to know and do your job well and to have to cope with constant policy and proceedure changes to accomidate the drunks and slackers they hired to write service along with me. On top of that the percentage of pay steadily got lower so you had to work twice as hard at a MUCH higher labor and parts price to make the same money. As well as a LACK of benifits,not even a TWO WEEK vacation until 5 years on the job!Even then THEY acted like it was KILLING them for you to take it. Heaven forbid you take BOTH WEEKS together. Thank GOD I'm retired due to a WORN out disc from POUNDING CONCRETE 11 plus hours a day! One day in the MIDDLE of the day I noticed cars I had booked to come in the shop weren't and when I asked WHY I was told a NEW computer dispatching system and THEY thought THEY would just TURN IT ON and see how it worked. Never mind I had CARS to be worked on. THEY kinda LAUGHED about it and told me to call customers and tell them SOMETHING of why it would NOT be ready etc. I said BY, YOU DO IT! Havent looked back since. Theres LOTS more but I think you get the hint. ADD the NEW type customer to this and its NO wonder they have the problems they do. I went from handling $550000 a year in the mid 80s to over 1 million a year(parts and labor,customer pay,warranty and internals) in the 21st century and making 20 grand a year less!Oo.

 

[rbattelle]

Yup, that's about how I pictured it at a dealership. Beaurocracy (sp?) claims another victim.

 

[kstehnacs]

speedo jumping

If the speedo jumps around with the truck sitting still, see if you have an ABS module located in the left rear of the engine compartment, right under the hood hinge. Unplug the connector, and see if there is or was water in it. Clean it out, and there is a jumper harness that goes in between as part of the fix. do a search as I think there is a tsb on this.

 

[DPKetchum]

I also had the HIGHEST CSI they ever had,The highest gross profit and the techs under me ONCE we had a understanding of WHO the quarter back was and who was the line the least amount of comebacks and headaches. I 'm NOT the only one who has hit the same problems. I 'm told its rampant!I had ANOTHER dealer approach me and said I had a REP for running a well run and profitable service dept. Said all they had were lazy younguns etc. They OFFERED me LESS then I made in 1989,"6" days a week etc. I was like YEA RIGHT, and wonder WHY YOU have a problem(the dealer). They DID manage to at least come back with about the same money I made in 1992 but the SIX days a week thing was a HUGE roadblock. I did a minor stint with a G. M. dealer in 1991 and 1992 that was decent money and a CAR to drive including fuel. I took them from $30k or so a month(parts and labor)to a high of 88k a month with higher CSI and less complaints(added 4 techs also)and THEN my year end money was SEVERAL thousand short of what THEY told me. The WIFE said OH I took care of that! She added the CAR as DEMO to my earned income(5k)wrote down the car(a benefit to them)and I paid 4 k in taxes that year and did it with a SMILE. I said ADIOS. My accountant thought it was FUNNY but hated it was at my expense. I guess SHE thought I was STUPID. I worked myself to the BONE in that store. It was not much better then a rat hole to start with. Told its kinda not much better now.

 

[radar doctor]

WOW WHAT DO WE DO????

After reading the above I'm really at a loss of what to do. . RB, you got any idea's. I was reading in the TDR about a dealer ship in Carson City NV, I get the Idea that they may be a Good outfit. Trouble is it's a bit far to travel from Kansas to get Maintenance. So Guy's What do you think if we had a list of Dealers that our Members had been too, and approved of... from each State and List them on the TDR?? I guess that wouldn't't Guarantee 100 percent Satisfaction but we need to start somewhere... Any Idea's??? DOC.