Dealers and Trust

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ReSTored

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My 2020 Kia Telluride, just out of warranty, was in to the dealer in early November for an oil change and tire switchover. About 91,000 km on it then.

Told front brake pads were < 3mm and needed to be replaced. Given my mileage, the type of driving I do I figured no real rush and I'd just monitor. Periodic checks of the rotors showed no new score marks. This dealer actually moves dropped off vehicles to a repair facility about a km from the dealership due to lack of garage space, so no opportunity to actually step into the garage area to verify what you are told + I'd used their shuttle and was at home and we're a single car family. Bike already winterized BTW

So, yesterday I switched out the snow tires on rims and was able to inspect the rotors and the pads more carefully. Now at 98,000 km and they are nowhere near 3mm, look to be about 4mm - 5mm and rotors still smooth, no pulsating, no brake issues.

This dealer is constantly pushing repairs and PM services not needed and in excess of the "severe" service maintenance recommendations. All of which I decline.

I'm in west Mississauga, near Burnhamthorpe and Winston Churchill. Any recommendations for an independant shop that does good work and is honest?
 
ReSTored said:
My 2020 Kia Telluride, just out of warranty, was in to the dealer in early November for an oil change and tire switchover. About 91,000 km on it then.

Told front brake pads were < 3mm and needed to be replaced. Given my mileage, the type of driving I do I figured no real rush and I'd just monitor. Periodic checks of the rotors showed no new score marks. This dealer actually moves dropped off vehicles to a repair facility about a km from the dealership due to lack of garage space, so no opportunity to actually step into the garage area to verify what you are told + I'd used their shuttle and was at home and we're a single car family. Bike already winterized BTW

So, yesterday I switched out the snow tires on rims and was able to inspect the rotors and the pads more carefully. Now at 98,000 km and they are nowhere near 3mm, look to be about 4mm - 5mm and rotors still smooth, no pulsating, no brake issues.

This dealer is constantly pushing repairs and PM services not needed and in excess of the "severe" service maintenance recommendations. All of which I decline.

I'm in west Mississauga, near Burnhamthorpe and Winston Churchill. Any recommendations for an independant shop that does good work and is honest?
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Fwiw, I had a dilawri dealership tell me the same thing. I replaced the brakes 18 months later and they were still well over 3mm. Lying thieves.
 
ToSlow said:
Don’t need to go to a dealer, find a decent shop
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At the time I was under warranty. Yes, you can get work done while under warranty elsewhere but goodwill warranty is real and can be very valuable if needed. The less bones you threw the dealer, the closer your warranty coverage is to letter of the law. Once warranty is over, it is very rare my vehicles see a dealer again.
 
timtune said:
Sadly my guys are a bit too far for you. They are straighter shooters who only fix what you need and don't goon you on the price.

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My good guy has retired. When he did an oil change he looked around under the car as the oil was draining and checked things that the dealer would charge for. He knew granny type customer only drove 50 KM a week and didn't need NASCAR spec brakes.

Sometimes he'd give me a heads up that the next time he'll take another closer look at a suspension part. I don't drive NASCAR either.

I bought and have had my Hyundai serviced at Cooksville and they've been fair. The other place further west was frustrating to deal with. If you had a simple question you were told by the receptionist to bring your car in. She hadn't a clue as to whether the snag was covered by warranty, what it would cost or how long it would take. They didn't care about the inconvenience to me as long as they made the maximum buck for themselves.

The sadist attempt at a service charge was a GM dealer. The shaft for the heater fan split due to poor design. I showed it to them and got a call when it came in. The service clip board guy was trying to figure out how he could tie me up for an afternoon so they could book charges against the mothership. It pushes on. I did it myself.
 
ReSTored said:
This dealer is constantly pushing repairs and PM services not needed and in excess of the "severe" service maintenance recommendations. All of which I decline.
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I know someone who used to be a service advisor.

He said he quit that job because there was a lot of pressure by management to upsell, upsell, upsell services that weren't required. He said he felt dirty at the end of the day and he wasn't even the one wrenching on the bike...
 
@ReSTored I'm also west Mississauga near Dundas / Mavis. Have an awesome mechanic that I find to be an honest, and reasonably priced guy.

Very happy with the service and will highly recommend. Will shoot you a PM.
 
Oh man, this thread and the one about the overtightened drain bolt have my blood boiling. Why can't any dealership just do an honest job???

Daughter bought a brand new 2019 Jetta. Trying to keep them happy in case she needed warranty work, I asked around on the VW forums and Yorkdale came highly recommended. First time there, they guide me into the service drop-off to park very specifically - turns out I'm driving in front of an alignment scanner. Then they tell me it needs an full 4-wheel alignment because it's pretty bad. I told them "No way, the car only has 15,000 kms, never hit anything, and still drives perfectly straight. No thanks." To this day with over 60,000 kms, the car is still driving perfectly straight, and completely even wear across all 4 tires. F'n B-turds.

On the last visit just before warranty expiry, they told me I needed new brakes all around, especially the rears where the rotors were crusted in rust and they even made the comment that their mechanic's never seen anything so bad before. Because of Covid and some unrelated health issues, my daughter wasn't driving much so it sat outside a lot and did collect rust. I mention to them my others cars have sat for way longer and never developed rust like that. And for the price they quoted, I would rather do them myself. Well, it turns out the 2019+ Jettas suffer from rear brake rotor premature rusting and there's a TSB/recall and warranty extension in the US, but apparently not Canada (at least not when I had it in). Come on, if you've been servicing newly purchased 2019's for 4 years, you would have seen a pattern by now. But instead of suggesting a TSB, you say you've never seen them so bad before. F-Off!

Then later when I was changing her summers to winters, I noticed a huge dent in the rocker panel next to where the jack pads are supposed to go - looked like their 2-post lift's jack pads were too low for the arm to clear the rocker, and it got crushed when lifted. Of course they denied it with no proof.
 
I had my Tacoma TRD-PRO in for service , its Toyotas top end off road truck . Was told the rear brakes needed a clean and service , very rusty at thirty two thousand K . Service manager said it looked like they had gotten wet . A top end off road truck , with wet rear brakes needed assembly. Sure .


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Back when I was a service advisor we didn’t get commission on the jobs we sold, so we were there to get cars fixed and have happy customers.

Now, service advisors are salesmen and women and they get a cut of the sale for servicing work. So there’s the added benefit for them to push unnecessary repairs.

Hyundai dealer on Lakeshore damaged all 4 of my wheels once. When they rolled them they doubled them up with the EXTERIOR of the rims rubbing each other and denied any wrongdoing.

Then those mofos tightened my lugs so tight it took 2 mechanics to snap the bolts off with air hammers and a cold chisel.

I did my tires after that every single time to this day.
 
I had a really great little hole in the wall shop that was my absolute go-to for anything I needed for the last 8-10 years. They always did good work, never oversold anything that didn't legitimately *need* to be done, straight shooters.

Unfortunately I had a crappy experience on the phone with the owner a few months ago where he was downright rude about something....so now I guess I'm a shop orphan again.

There is another little mom and pop place literally within walking distance of my house that I have used a few times over the years...was always a good guy, although the owner retired and a bunch of young'ins seem to have taken over so I've been a little questioning about that whole situation, but I guess I'll give them a shot and see how they do moving forward. It's certainly convenient.
 
On the dealer front, shoutout to Clarington Hyundai - I took our new Quebec-purchased Ioniq5 there when we bought it a few months ago for some software updates and to be certified. The next morning I questioned my sanity on deciding to get a safety done at a dealer, but to the credit, the car passed without a single item needing to be fixed. Which is how it should have been as despite having some miles, it's really only 2 years old and seems to have been well maintained by it's previous owner.

So, yeah, they didn't "find" any issues or try to upsell anything at all. They also got the BlueLink (phone app telematics service for Hyundai) switched over from the old owner to us while I waited as well. So, the 1st interaction was great, it gives me a good feeling for if we ever need anything bigger done with the car.
 
PrivatePilot said:
On the dealer front, shoutout to Clarington Hyundai - I took our new Quebec-purchased Ioniq5 there when we bought it a few months ago for some software updates and to be certified. The next morning I questioned my sanity on deciding to get a safety done at a dealer, but to the credit, the car passed without a single item needing to be fixed. Which is how it should have been as despite having some miles, it's really only 2 years old and seems to have been well maintained by it's previous owner.

So, yeah, they didn't "find" any issues or try to upsell anything at all. They also got the BlueLink (phone app telematics service for Hyundai) switched over from the old owner to us while I waited as well. So, the 1st interaction was great, it gives me a good feeling for if we ever need anything bigger done with the car.
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I can say with experience that Whitby Hyundai has the pushy service advisors who say your car needs a fuel system treatment and brake service every year plus lots of everything else. I feel bad for the people that just say do whatever it needs especially the older folks on pensions.
 
I always dealt with Georgetown Kia, they always did exactly what I asked, never pushed additional repairs, just provided a report.
 
Jampy00 said:
I always dealt with Georgetown Kia, they always did exactly what I asked, never pushed additional repairs, just provided a report.
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Bought my Maverick from this dealership and the purchase process was great.

There was an oil pressure light on and when I came back cause I forgot my favourite hat I got the ‘sorry it’s under ford warranty so just call a tow truck’.

This was 2 days after purchase. Didn’t like the outright brush off but is what it is.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
I can say with experience that Whitby Hyundai has the pushy service advisors who say your car needs a fuel system treatment and brake service every year plus lots of everything else. I feel bad for the people that just say do whatever it needs especially the older folks on pensions.
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There are lots of stories of owners of this same vehicle in the US at get all of the same crap pushed on them when they come in for a routine service call – everybody always gets to laugh when the “service advisor” tries to tell you that your EV needs an oil change and fuel system service.
 
We bought our Santa Cruz from Oakville Hyundai, and the first 'free' oil change also included high-pressure sales tactics (including threats of voiding the warranty) that the brake calipers all needed to be rebuilt on a vehicle with 16,000 kms (!). I said a firm no thanks, and will never go back. Hamilton Hyundai has been much, much better. I've been told that Hyundai/Kia dealerships are less standardised than other brands, so the quality from dealership to dealership varies more than most.

I will say, Honda was the opposite for us. Both our BC dealership and the one here are amazing, stuck to the factory recommended service like glue, never upsold, and pricing was always fair and upfront. Service type would pop up on the dash, dealer would do that service, job done. I don't miss my Honda car, but I do miss the dealership...
 
I look at it this way... dealership techs are employees. They have little to no stake in the satisfaction of customers at large.
Good independent, community shops rely more on their reputation.
My local shop has a girl tech... I'm no chauvanist, but I'll admit... It's kinda weird being told what's wrong with my car by a chick, but it's pretty cool too.
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