Is dealer pride a thing anymore?

[WILDHOBO]

Like many others, I do my own and keep track of dates, mileage, oil type, and receipts. The only thing I do as a cheap cya is use mopar filters until after 36k. That way any unrelated failure can’t be blamed on anything stupid. I worry more about how a tech might try to clean it with a pressure washer if they spill oil. These can’t be pressure washed under the hood without risk of electrical damage, and I’ve heard first hand of more than one instance of that from the dealer.

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[Klutch]

This question was raised in my mind after I walked away from the dealership with cash in hand, and didn't even get an eager handshake or hug goodbye. It's something that has concerned me for a while now, but this experience went right along with it.
The dealership itself wasn't anything extraordinary to begin with. They were just a small, mom-and-pop type of place. But what I found odd was the complete lack of pride that the dealer himself had in his work. He didn't even seem to care if I bought a car from him or not. It was as if he had given up on his business and was just going through the motions.

This has really started to concern me. Has dealer pride gone extinct? Is it truly necessary for these dealerships to succeed? The way I see it, there are three possible reasons why the dealership wasn't feeling any sort of pride in their work or product:

• The JDM dealership realized at one point that attempting to make a profit was pointless, so they quit caring about their work.
• The dealership is new and inexperienced, with little to no knowledge of how to run a business. They haven't realized the importance of pride in work yet.
• Car dealerships are businesses that naturally draw in people who won't put any hard work into them, so the dealerships are filled with people who don't give a damn about anything anymore.

It's the opposite. New dealerships are so profitable, they don't have work at providing good customer service. They work hard only at sales, sales, sales. "Oh, we ticked off ten people? No problem, we'll just advertise and bring in 100 more."

Last June I attended a Mustang event sponsored by a dealer north of Denver. I was waiting at the food truck and talking with a very nice woman also waiting for food. At some point, it became apparent her family owns the sponsoring dealership. And, during the conversation, it was also apparent how mind-blowing-wealthy this family actually is. I'm sure they're good people; seemed that way to me. But wow, the profits...

Sure, such people complain bitterly about taxes, government regulations, inflation, labor costs, competition and many other challenges. Then they hop a private jet to Aspen and spend the week at their 5,000 square foot ski lodge.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Can't say for all dealerships but Autonation by me for a time was pretty bad but they got new management and so far the last year they have really seemed to turn things around. My last two times in to get oil change and replace sun visor they called me after the service to make sure that everything was ok and if any issues just to let them know

That's been my experience with Dewey. They want to know how things went and they give you their card and number and say call if there are any problems at all.
When they replaced my steering gear the second time because the first one ended up looser after a few months - all seemed fine until a day or two later. Apparently it "burped" and purged the air with driving and the reservoir was empty.
I went back and explained - the service writer opened the hood, looked things over ( no leaks) and went to the parts department, grabbed a bottle of PS fluid (not cheap stuff) and filled it up to where it belonged and handed me the bottle with what's left. He said they've had it happen where there's apparently air trapped. It wasn't any lower than just the plastic reservoir being empty because as quick as he started pouring fluid in it came up in the tank. So it was BARELY empty.
So they not only took care of that, I got about 12 bucks worth of that expensive PS fluid to have on hand now.
They've fixed things that weren't technically warranty items and added the passive entry sales code to my VIN - no charge.
I don't like their sales tactics (the old 'I have to check with my sales manager', the sales person leaves for a few minutes, then comes back with more BS) but their shop is run differently.
These days they even send you a video of the tech doing the work and checking brakes and tires and so on.

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