Got 26 years in this business, basically my working lifetime.
Seen alot of business owners come and go. Poor attitudes, closed
minds and "know it all" attiudes. Gets the best of 'em.
This thread is about the announcement made by GM regarding the
extension of their warranty. Has nothing to do with your opinion of
dealers.
Many of our Wanderlodge family drive GM vehicles or are considering
GM vehicles. This information is directed to them.
The End
JDarst
--- In
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hohnstein"
<MHOHNSTEIN@...> wrote:
>
> Hey man, I've been in service work all my life. Some of my
closest friends are in dealership service departments.
> There is little you can tell me about the reality of things, I'm
not a consumer. If you pay flat rate, that is a problem for the
tech making a decision to put in just a little more effort, or to
care just a little more. All he gets paid for is to beat the clock,
not to give a $%*#, and you pencil users know it. My hourly guys
can stay on the bench and not have to worry about fighting with the
service writer for their time. You know what I'm talking about, if
not maybe you need to spend a little time on the shop floor.
> For the record, my shop does heavy duty drive train work and
dealerships cannot compete with our pricing. We don't do any of
the "general automotive" repair that most of the after market relies
on.
> Most dealerships seem to have one or two golden boys who get the
cream and the rest of the crew gets handled.
> It's a system that is fraught with political BS for techs and
creates adversarial conditions on the shop floor. That's the way it
is up here, maybe your "superstore" is a little more enlightened but
I have my doubts. Just keeping up with the service bulletins for
all the various makes must be a daunting task. All I know is we are
at 80 and hour and most of the dealers are at 85 or 90.
> The extended warrantee has been used before, hell is wasn't that
long ago Mopar had 7years/70k, boy did we get a lot of mini vans
coming in with 75k miles and sorry owners.
> Change the oils and filters per recommendation and don't let the
kids drive the thing and most cars last pretty good.
> MH
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jay Darst
> To:
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 6:50 AM
> Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: General Motors announces 5
year / 100,000 mile powertrain warranty 0 deductable
>
>
> Mike,
>
> Things are either different in your area than mine or they have
> changed drastically.
>
> Warranty work represents only 25% of my fixed operations, down
from
> 75%. We have increased our total service business over the past
ten
> years, 200%, so part of the reduction in warranty would be from
an
> increase in customers volunteering to come into my store, which
> exponentially increases the overall service business.
>
> My techs don't "slave" against the clock. They are paid on flat
> rate, which is a commission basis. A good tech will make more
money
> than a not so good tech. Good meaning experienced and trained.
It
> also protects the consumer as the tech is not paid by the hour
to
> fix a problem they didn't get right the first time. They fix
come-
> backs at no cost to the customer or the company.
>
> As far as Fords, agrees. They have their fair share of problems.
>
> As far as Dodge vs GM... In the 90's we would have a 65% Dodge /
35%
> GM warranty mix, with sales being about equal. Now we have 45%
> Dodge / 55% GM with chrysler products outselling GM products 2
to 1.
>
> Why do you suppose that is? Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep is owned and
> operated by Daimler, a German company. The same company that
owns
> DaimlerBenz(Mercedes Benz) owns DaimlerChrysler.
>
> In the OLD days, independant shops appeared to charge less for
same
> services that were performed at dealers. Brakes woul;d be 60% of
the
> cost of a dealer installed brake maintenance. Not so anymore.
>
> Dealers use a matrix to determine the labor RATE. We charge less
> than the local independant shops for this labor procedure, to
make
> up for the cost of the far superior brake linings we install. We
> gurantee our work and don't need the aggrevation of $15 brake
pads
> that squeek, dust terribly and wear out prematurely.
>
> Our service customers drive 30 miles and more to continue to
have
> their vehicles serviced by my team. Even with a repair facility
> within a mile of their home. They know what they are getting, we
> proved it to them during their warranty period, and they liked
it.
>
> Things have changed, dramatically, for dealers. Offer good
service
> at a fair, competetive price, provide service beyond the
> competition... OR GET OUT OF BUSINESS, which many are doing
because
> they just can't shift gears to this mentality.
>
> Soap box parked in driveway now...
>
> Jay Darst
> HPR Automotive Superstore
> Sales and GREAT service
> 85PT40 Wanderlodge Owner
> --- In
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hohnstein"
> <MHOHNSTEIN@> wrote:
> >
> > I remember when the General had 5 year 50k miles in the late
> 60's. My SS 396 325hp Chevelle got a water pump in Pendleton OR
for
> nada back in the day. They even covered the special high
> performance engines. I suspect it was hard on the bottom line,
they
> stopped it in '70 I think. I had rental Hyundai last month in
> Portland, it was Azura sedan with 9k on the clock. Their top of
the
> line piece, good looks, pretty fast, not bad on the handling.
> > I wonder about the 10 year deal, they better hope that most
folks
> lose the car before the end of the term.
> > On the other hand when trying to turn over the floor plan,
volume
> is king, most dealership service departments ain't the kind of
place
> that really helps customer relations. That deal where they make
the
> techs slave against the clock don't do a lot for encouraging
good
> work. We get a fair share of late model work after the owner
gets
> tired of the run around especially on them Ford diesel trucks.
> Fords stock will be much worse if they have to match a serious
> warrantee program. We don't see much of them GMs, lot's of
Dodges
> though.
> > MH
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jay Darst
> > To:
WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 12:41 PM
> > Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] General Motors announces 5 year /
> 100,000 mile powertrain warranty 0 deductable
> >
> >
> > This is a bit off forum content, but I think its worthy of
> noting.
> >
> > GM announced, about 20 minutes ago, that they now offer a 5
> year /
> > 100,000 mile warranty on all 2007 model vehicles.
> >
> > This warranty covers all 2007 brands and models, it is across
> the
> > board.
> >
> > For those of you who purchased a 2007 Yukon or Tahoe when they
> first
> > came out in Jan/Feb this year, you will be receiving a letter
> > stating that your warranty has been extended.
> >
> > If you bought a GM Continous Protection Plan (GMPP), you will
be
> > receiving a partial refund for that cost, directly from GM!
> >
> > This is very big news for a company that has been experiencing
> hard
> > times (like Bluebird).
> >
> > When Hyundai was troubled with questionable quality, they
> announced
> > a 10 year / 100,000 warranty and now that is the BEST
franchise
> to
> > have as their sales are very very good.
> >
> > Wander if Bluebird, known for their quality, should offer a
> > powertrain warranty of 10 years / 500,000 miles? hmmmm that
> might
> > work :~}!
> >
> > Jay Darst, Owner/General Manager
> > HPR Automotive Superstore
> > Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Buick-Pontiac-GMC
> > Sullivan, IL
> >
http://www.hprcars.com
> > OH, and 85PT40
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>