Do main dealers do the work and tick the boxes or do some of the work and tick all of the boxes?
The later if ours is anything to go by ■■■■■■■ useless!
I personally wouldn’t use a main dealer for anything but parts or plug-ins, if I must, but basically it varies wildly even with the same logo over the door some are decent some are full of clueless idiots. Generally, it’s down to laziness and incompetence rather than any urge to make their employer more money. Best thing is to go somewhere that’s recommended as fairly muppet-free zone by someone sensible already using them.
I’ve always used main dealers, they sometimes go through phases of being very good then not so good as staff come and go. I try to make an effort to get to know the supervisors and some of the fitters even though the bosses may not approve too much, so everyone knows what level of service you require, what can be replaced, what needs authorisation etc. it also helps when you do some repairs yourself if you’ve got an “expert” to ask.
Have tried independents but they can struggle with fault finding sometimes particularly on electricals. Main dealers are more expensive but are a lot quicker at fault finding and repairs so downtime is minimised.
When collecting a vehicle after inspection I always park in front of their window and thoroughly check the vehicle. They know the slightest problem I’ll be back through the door.
One problem I currently have is not getting filters changed at the correct times. They sometimes “forget” even though I’m getting charged for it on the contract.
This has always been a problem and with several main causes. First is the manufacturer’s marketing department’s desire to make out that their vehicle requires less workshop time than one from their various competitors.So standard times are set for servicing and repairs that are difficult or sometimes impossible to achieve.
Second dealerships operate bonus schemes to encourage their fitters to be more productive - aiming for more than 100% efficiency. At the same time the dealer’s workshop is frequently actually an extremely inefficient environment to undertake the work. Many hours are lost either through the correct special tools not being available at all, not to be found in the allocated place (if there is one), damaged, or already in use. More hours are lost with fitters queuing at the parts department counter, frequently for items which one would class as consumables. In many instances too the clock starts running on the job as soon as the fitter is handed the keys and ends when he returns them having parked the vehicle.
Third fitters chase the bonus since it obviously improves the wages. But it is not just the pressure of the wage packet that has to be taken into account, performance is monitored so those who are deemed ‘too slow’ have to watch their backs.Given all the above obstacles placed in the way something has to give which results in box ticking.
Fourth is quite simple, just as in every other trade there are good and bad - so there are the greedy and the lazy. There are the good foremen who know who is the best person for a particular task ,make it their mission to ensure that everyone does the job properly and then there are the bad ones who encourage box-ticking since they get a share of the bonus pot.
I’m not going to bore you with loads of stories about servicing. But…I had a scania R470 on rental with truckeast Milton Keynes and they were as much use as a chocolate teapot. Brain dead. When I use to pick it up from a so called service I use to find the same faults were there even though it had been fixed. Simply stuff you pick up on your daily walk around checks i.e blown headlight.
Main dealership prices as well. Christ what total rip off artist they are. There hourly labour costs■■? £85 per hour. There parts?. Oil from the dealership…£97. Same amount and grade from a parts store, £56. On everything they do they rip you off and their work is total s…t.
Steer clear of them, there only intrested in big blue chip companies.
puntabrava:
Do main dealers do the work and tick the boxes or do some of the work and tick all of the boxes?
In my opinion they tick all the boxes and don’t do all the work including having the ability to road test a truck and not do any miles. It’s a shame because with new vehicles the operator needs the back up of a good main dealer workshop but they all seem determined not to give you everything you pay for.
It depends on the depot you use for any particular make. I’ve had three main dealer experiences with three different manufacturers & in each case they had/have branches which are good and not so good.
BB
To be fair to main dealers they are nailed to the floor by the big leasing companies and large fleet operators. They are told by these companies what rate they will be paid per hour and how long each job will take. Servicing will often be done to the customer’s schedule and check list rather than the dealer’s. In some instances the hourly rate chargeable is lower than that of many of their non franchised competitors. These companies also sometimes have their own parts account direct with the manufacturer, but the dealer has to process the ordering.
A friend of mine owns a small commercial workshop. He has had one particular small fleet customer for the best part of 30 years and enjoyed an excellent relationship. His premises are next door to this customer so ideal for both parties. The customer decided to change marque and at the same time lease rather than purchase vehicles, however stipulating that under no circumstances were his vehicles going to travel 20 miles to the main dealer. The last I heard was that the leasing company was being told that the vehicles will be repaired and serviced on the same terms, frequency, schedule and conditions as before; or no deal, there will be no lowering of standards to meet the leasing company’s budget.
Do you want to pay for lets say a full “c” service on a triaxle at 500000 km
EG full hub strip,clean and repack bearings,new shoes,maybe 2 slack adjusters,couple of cam bushes,2 new chambers,QR valve,shocker and an air bag or do you just want it through the next MOT.
To get it through the test and “tick” all the boxes might cost 600 quid to do the full service schedule maybe 3 grand.
Take your pick?
And thas only some crap trailer now if your talking tractors well what can one say.
Disc pads at 6 mm,air driers,cab filters,downloads,uploads,add blue logging etc
True main agents rob you blind but it aint the buggers that do the job thats ripping you off its the cost of all the diks in suits and the sweet young ladies in pencil skirts with bits of paper in their sweet manicured hands that cost the money.
I could service your Merc,Daf,Scania for half nay quarter the price you pay but unfortunately,like you ,we have other parasites that live on our backs that we have to support.
Bking:
I could service your Merc,Daf,Scania for half nay quarter the price you pay but unfortunately,like you ,we have other parasites that live on our backs that we have to support.
That’s an easy throwaway comment but even as an independent you’ve got a tonne of marque specific specialist tools to buy, 20T column lifts, some sort of diagnostic kit and the upgrades, costs ofoil tyre and other waste disposal etc. etc. and it’s not going pay for itself. You couldn’t undercut main dealers by 75% and stay in business.
Not sure why you’ve got on to trailers on a thread about main dealers but the £3k you’ve quoted on that however would seem over the odds for that work, you could buy another trailer for that and it would have to be very neglected to need that much work in one go in any case apart from the bearings you’d struggle with an MOT if the other items genuinely needed doing. Although, I do agree some customers do have difficulty differentiating between safety inspections and servicing.