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Fix it myself or take it to the dealer?

dcmdon

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I needed an oil leak diagnosed and the dealership offered to squeeze me in in 4 weeks time as fully booked. when I had them reattach the parking brake cables it was a 2 week wait to get in and then one week at the dealership for a 30 minute fix. I agree it’s great to do stuff under warranty as it’s free but with most dealers even good ones who cover everything under the sun under warranty the wait times are crazy here in the NE right now. I would make an appointment at the dealer and see if you can wait that long
The difference is that a good dealer will give you a decent loaner so it won't be your problem if it takes a week for them to get to it.

Another poster here reminded me that Lexus will actually flatbed a loaner to your house, drop it off and then pick up your car on the flatbed and bring it in. They do this for repairs as well as regularly scheduled service.
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Trickster

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The difference is that a good dealer will give you a decent loaner so it won't be your problem if it takes a week for them to get to it.

Another poster here reminded me that Lexus will actually flatbed a loaner to your house, drop it off and then pick up your car on the flatbed and bring it in. They do this for repairs as well as regularly scheduled service.
I believe Genesis does something similar.
Guess that’s why they are classified as premium brands.
 

Trickster

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Not here - I'd drive up to their door at 6:45 am and be the first in line - and tell them to fix it while I went into their showroom and had coffee and donuts on their dime.
Yes, I could fix it, and yes I likely even have the parts (I've got thousands of nuts and bolts from 50 years of shop work) but I want Jeep to know about it, and the dealers to know about it. It does make a difference.
And I'm the sort I'll be right there in front of the door - they WILL Take care of it.
You sir are a service department’s description of a “pain in the ass”.
Demanding special treatment without an appointment.
So those that have appointments should now have to wait for you to be slotted in ahead of them. Geez.
 

ShadowsPapa

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You sir are a service department’s description of a “pain in the ass”.
Demanding special treatment without an appointment.
So those that have appointments should now have to wait for you to be slotted in ahead of them. Geez.
Nope - this is a first-come, first-served for small things like that. That's why they have the line up at the door place.
If you want something larger, you DO make an appointment.
They have different people who handle different things.
It's not demanding special treatment when you have a small emergency and they are equipped with different slots for such things.
For my tonneau cover issues - I drove in, they looked at it, and we agreed on a later appointment.

It's how they handle things there.
A lot of it also depends on the day, their schedule, etc. - generally they are manned and equipped to handle small things within a couple of hours. Larger things - like my steering gear issues, it was by appointment - but - I drove in, they checked the TSB, and set me up for a couple of days later.
In normal years when fully staffed, you only wait a few days. The steering gear issue it was a 2 day wait. But you can drive right in for consultation.
For my wife's electrical issues because of the unknowns, it was a couple of weeks but then I told them we had enough vehicles it was no problem to wait. So the wait was a bit longer because I told them we were fine.

For the shop on the other side of town where I bought the truck - you absolutely call first. But even at that, it's not a long wait.

I've worked in shops myself. I know how it works.
 
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I drove up no appointment. They got me in took a look tried to get a thread chaser on it. Couldn't get it rethreaded. Put a nut on as far as they could ordered the part said it should be a couple days. I think that is the difference between a just soso service advisor and a great one.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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I needed an oil leak diagnosed and the dealership offered to squeeze me in in 4 weeks time as fully booked. when I had them reattach the parking brake cables it was a 2 week wait to get in and then one week at the dealership for a 30 minute fix. I agree it’s great to do stuff under warranty as it’s free but with most dealers even good ones who cover everything under the sun under warranty the wait times are crazy here in the NE right now. I would make an appointment at the dealer and see if you can wait that long
Differences in regions. Not that long a wait here. It can vary as last time I talked to one of the service writers - he said multiple techs were out because of covid and family emergencies, and 2 service writers were gone - one with covid and another had a wife having a baby that week. When there are things like that, that's life, you have to wait. But most of the time they are pretty quick in Ankeny, Dewey Dodge/Jeep. I've never waited over a couple of weeks for anything, any sort of appointment.
Even when I told them "I understand this isn't warranty and it may take some time and I may need to come back" they handled everything that morning - no charge.
Hard to judge these things as it varies so wildly between parts of the country, heck, even in different parts of one state. There are places in Iowa I know I'd be waiting for days if not weeks for simple basic stuff. And others - it's drive up and they'll check and let you know if you need to make an appointment. Sometimes I go with the intent of my wife picking me up and leaving the truck, and they simply say "can you stay with it and we'll get it in in about 45 minutes".
It's up to them.......
 

Jeep Stuff

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Went on a little jaunt up in the mountains Sunday. Heard a clunking somewhere between where I was and where I was going. Didn't make the sound driving down the road. Got home from work just now figured I'd look around. I think I found my issue. Missing a nut on I believe it's the sway bar linkage. Drivers side bottom picture. Passenger side top picture.
IMG_20211129_010200965.jpg
IMG_20211129_005944297.jpg
It's going to happen again even if you put a new nut, it's just over stretching the link and the nut stripping is kind of a fuse just a simple explanation. Just my opinion hope it helps. Next step get a Currie Rock Jock or Teraflex Trail Rate bar.
 
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It's going to happen again even if you put a new nut, it's just over stretching the link and the nut stripping is kind of a fuse just a simple explanation. Just my opinion hope it helps. Next step get a Currie Rock Jock or Teraflex Trail Rate bar.
The nut is just a bandaid. Getting a new end link for it this week. Dealer installed. Hopefully Friday
 

Trickster

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Differences in regions. Not that long a wait here. It can vary as last time I talked to one of the service writers - he said multiple techs were out because of covid and family emergencies, and 2 service writers were gone - one with covid and another had a wife having a baby that week. When there are things like that, that's life, you have to wait. But most of the time they are pretty quick in Ankeny, Dewey Dodge/Jeep. I've never waited over a couple of weeks for anything, any sort of appointment.
Even when I told them "I understand this isn't warranty and it may take some time and I may need to come back" they handled everything that morning - no charge.
Hard to judge these things as it varies so wildly between parts of the country, heck, even in different parts of one state. There are places in Iowa I know I'd be waiting for days if not weeks for simple basic stuff. And others - it's drive up and they'll check and let you know if you need to make an appointment. Sometimes I go with the intent of my wife picking me up and leaving the truck, and they simply say "can you stay with it and we'll get it in in about 45 minutes".
It's up to them.......
Sounds like you have a great relationship with a very good dealership.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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Sounds like you have a great relationship with a very good dealership.
I do - I "cultured it" by being factual, not quick to get upset, trying to have logical discussions and backing up my requests or thoughts with research before going in. For me it's difficult because I do have a short fuse sometimes and can be VERY impatient when someone isn't up to the task........ but it helps when the other side is a smaller dealership and their people - most of them anyway, decent to deal with.
I only had my hackles raised there a couple of times - when I first went in with the steering TSB none of them had ever heard of such a thing and the service manager - I could hear him ask the service writer "does it have a lift" and I was thinking - oh, don't EVEN go there........... and when I had tonneau cover issues - the service writer was sort of a - well, he was always so negative until another guy walked up and said "yeah, I've heard of this and Jeep has an entire STAR team dedicated to these things". Things quickly went right after that.
If I HAD to go to the other dealership - say, this one closed, it would definitely be different. Less personal, bigger, more corporate acting and you do want an appointment to even get their attention.

Shops make money by keeping busy - so they can't have many people standing around just waiting for the next quick thing to come in........... they normally end up over-scheduled a bit.
When I bought my General A/TX tires (through the dealership - believe it or not, they beat the discount places) I had an appointment. They called and said the tires came in and I asked when they could do it. I expected maybe an hour, 90 minutes, whatever. So I waited. It was nearly 3 hours later. Wow - for mounting and balancing 5 tires??
Turns out they had 3 people come up to the door that morning with flats - two of them women who couldn't change tires (or wouldn't?) and in two of the cases they ended up selling new tires.
Not a wonderful oh happy day feeling, but I understood it. I could have been smart and dropped it off............ the service writer did come out to me 3 times apologizing for the delay. That helped a lot knowing they were aware. They had one tire guy that day, another out sick (still covid floating around) . It was what it was.
 

Higher_Ground

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Well thank goodness for Black Friday. I got the torque wrench half off!

Now I'm debating if I should fill out the survey. They were polite and fast, but I feel like me losing a lug nut is sort of a red flag. Maybe 19/20 were on tight and correct but it's hard to trust them now. Losing one isn't a huge safety issue... but I've seen what happens when all of them start to back off at once.
 

dcmdon

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I do - I "cultured it" by being factual, not quick to get upset, trying to have logical discussions and backing up my requests or thoughts with research before going in. For me it's difficult because I do have a short fuse sometimes and can be VERY impatient when someone isn't up to the task........ but it helps when the other side is a smaller dealership and their people - most of them anyway, decent to deal with.
I only had my hackles raised there a couple of times - when I first went in with the steering TSB none of them had ever heard of such a thing and the service manager - I could hear him ask the service writer "does it have a lift" and I was thinking - oh, don't EVEN go there........... and when I had tonneau cover issues - the service writer was sort of a - well, he was always so negative until another guy walked up and said "yeah, I've heard of this and Jeep has an entire STAR team dedicated to these things". Things quickly went right after that.
If I HAD to go to the other dealership - say, this one closed, it would definitely be different. Less personal, bigger, more corporate acting and you do want an appointment to even get their attention.

Shops make money by keeping busy - so they can't have many people standing around just waiting for the next quick thing to come in........... they normally end up over-scheduled a bit.
When I bought my General A/TX tires (through the dealership - believe it or not, they beat the discount places) I had an appointment. They called and said the tires came in and I asked when they could do it. I expected maybe an hour, 90 minutes, whatever. So I waited. It was nearly 3 hours later. Wow - for mounting and balancing 5 tires??
Turns out they had 3 people come up to the door that morning with flats - two of them women who couldn't change tires (or wouldn't?) and in two of the cases they ended up selling new tires.
Not a wonderful oh happy day feeling, but I understood it. I could have been smart and dropped it off............ the service writer did come out to me 3 times apologizing for the delay. That helped a lot knowing they were aware. They had one tire guy that day, another out sick (still covid floating around) . It was what it was.
I have had similar experience in that I tend to get better service than the average person. I think it comes down to knowing how to work with them. I will tell them I understand what they are going through since I've worked as s service writer and a tech at a car dealer. When we talk scheduling I always tell them I'm flexible.

I will offer to them that if they can't reproduce a problem to come get me. Don't just write "could not duplicate" on the RO and go on to the next car.

My wife's Volvo had a noise. I told them that it varied with vehicle speed and got louder when you turned left. That helps them begin the diagnosis, but it also tells them that you know what you are talking about.

I am happy to find my way home or have my wife pick me up or happy to wait. Whatever is easier for them. I prefer to wait if there is going to be a diagnosis involved to avoid the "could not duplicate".

I've found that they don't even bother trying to sell me on a 30k service or similar that involves 3 things in the service book and 25 things they have added to try to make some customer pay revenue. (Your brake fluid is burned, we recommend a flush for $300. HA!!! No thanks, I'll buy a bottle of brake fluid and spend 45 minutes with my MighTVac)
 

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I have had similar experience in that I tend to get better service than the average person. I think it comes down to knowing how to work with them. I will tell them I understand what they are going through since I've worked as s service writer and a tech at a car dealer. When we talk scheduling I always tell them I'm flexible.

I will offer to them that if they can't reproduce a problem to come get me. Don't just write "could not duplicate" on the RO and go on to the next car.

My wife's Volvo had a noise. I told them that it varied with vehicle speed and got louder when you turned left. That helps them begin the diagnosis, but it also tells them that you know what you are talking about.

I am happy to find my way home or have my wife pick me up or happy to wait. Whatever is easier for them. I prefer to wait if there is going to be a diagnosis involved to avoid the "could not duplicate".

I've found that they don't even bother trying to sell me on a 30k service or similar that involves 3 things in the service book and 25 things they have added to try to make some customer pay revenue. (Your brake fluid is burned, we recommend a flush for $300. HA!!! No thanks, I'll buy a bottle of brake fluid and spend 45 minutes with my MighTVac)
What Jeep dealer do you plan on using in MA/NH? I have not had good luck with the couple I have tried, service from my experience seems to be their lowest priority of dealership departments.
 

dcmdon

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What Jeep dealer do you plan on using in MA/NH? I have not had good luck with the couple I have tried, service from my experience seems to be their lowest priority of dealership departments.
I am going to give Lawless in Woburn a try first. They are close. There is a woman service writer that I was talking to for a while when I was there shopping.

We will see though.

I'm in NH only on weekends in the winter and am there for a month straight in the summer. So I'll probably also check out the dealers in Laconia and Littleton. I'm about halfway between the two.
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