Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer

My Subaru dealer calls me to confirm appointments. On the other hand,
I don't take my car to the dealer for oil changes unless it's going in
for something else, too. For routine oil changes, like the rest of the
free world, I take it to my local 30-min oil change chain store...no
appointment necessary and I'm in and out in 30 minutes or less.
Respectfully, this seems like an awefully long thread over a dealer
losing an oil change appointment. I'm sincerely not picking on the
original poster, but in a general sense, it seems like anyone that
needs to take a day off from work to have their oil changed is lacking
something...and it ain't an appointment.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

"lkreh" <lkreh DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1129562682.758215.280890@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

> I'm sincerely not picking on the
> original poster, but in a general sense, it seems like anyone that
> needs to take a day off from work to have their oil changed is lacking
> something...and it ain't an appointment.

)))

You are right, but I suspect the original poster did not
intend it to be that way, he made an appointment (or thought
he made an appointment) and believed it will be over in an hour,
or so. It turned out otherwise.

MN
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

If the dealer is that far away - why not change the oil yourself?
Subarus are among the easiest to change the oil yourself on. You'll
get better quality lubricants and ppay less.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

If the dealer is that far away - why not change the oil yourself?
Subarus are among the easiest to change the oil yourself on. You'll
get better quality lubricants and ppay less.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

If the dealer is that far away - why not change the oil yourself?
Subarus are among the easiest to change the oil yourself on. You'll
get better quality lubricants and ppay less.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

"lkreh" <lkreh.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1129562682.758215.280890@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> My Subaru dealer calls me to confirm appointments. On the other hand,
> I don't take my car to the dealer for oil changes unless it's going in
> for something else, too. For routine oil changes, like the rest of the
> free world, I take it to my local 30-min oil change chain store...no
> appointment necessary and I'm in and out in 30 minutes or less.
> Respectfully, this seems like an awefully long thread over a dealer
> losing an oil change appointment. I'm sincerely not picking on the
> original poster, but in a general sense, it seems like anyone that
> needs to take a day off from work to have their oil changed is lacking
> something...and it ain't an appointment.
>

You sure know how to miss a point. The point of the discussion is that the
dealer treated the customer (me) like an inconvenience to his planned
workday, and called me a liar to boot. The appointment just happened to be
for an oil change. And, BTW, why I had to take a day off to get this done is
none of your friggin' business, so please STFU about it.

The 30 minute chain stores are convenient and reasonably priced, but they
are also infamous for screwing up (it happened to me). Wrong filters,
missing washers, wrong amount of oil.... the net has many horror stories to
tell. Keep going if it makes you happy to have you car serviced by a bunch
of kids, or by a guy who doesn't know enough to be a "real" mechanic. Might
as well DIY. I don't mind paying a few extra $$ to know it was done
properly. I do mind being called a liar by the dealer, and the only thing I
am lacking is patience for you.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

Alan, as I read the previous poster's snotty post I was reminded that
Usenet can be a really ugly place. My dealer is a LONG way from my
house and there is no dealer closer. I either have to find a time on a
rare day off to take it in or take a day off to get my oil changed.
Yes....I too take it to the dealer for that. When I bought my Subie,
there was a deal that if I paid $99 I could have a lifetime oil change
every 3000 miles. So I have more than gotten my money's worth. Up
until now I haven't HAD to take a day off because I do it on days when
I do have a day off, but if I had to in order to keep my car running
well, I would. And you are so right -- it is no one's business. That
wasn't the point of your post at all.

I think there are too many dealers -- all makes of cars -- whose
managers/owners or whomever have their heads up their asses and will
be sobbing when they are out of work because the lousy dealership has
closed.

And I would never take my car to a 10 minute (or 15 minute or whatever
minute) oil change hole. My husband's car had the rivets stripped on
the part of the car that the oil plug screws into (sorry don't know
the name of that part). That was a pricey fix -- and it happened at
one of those places. Sometimes I think that the people who work in
those shops are those that couldn't find a job anywhere else.


"Alan" <not.me.DeleteThis@uhuh.rcn.com> wrote in message
news:3dW4f.4942$nk2.2440@trnddc07...
>
> "lkreh" <lkreh.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1129562682.758215.280890@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> My Subaru dealer calls me to confirm appointments. On the other
>> hand,
>> I don't take my car to the dealer for oil changes unless it's going
>> in
>> for something else, too. For routine oil changes, like the rest of
>> the
>> free world, I take it to my local 30-min oil change chain
>> store...no
>> appointment necessary and I'm in and out in 30 minutes or less.
>> Respectfully, this seems like an awefully long thread over a dealer
>> losing an oil change appointment. I'm sincerely not picking on the
>> original poster, but in a general sense, it seems like anyone that
>> needs to take a day off from work to have their oil changed is
>> lacking
>> something...and it ain't an appointment.
>>
>
> You sure know how to miss a point. The point of the discussion is
> that the
> dealer treated the customer (me) like an inconvenience to his
> planned
> workday, and called me a liar to boot. The appointment just happened
> to be
> for an oil change. And, BTW, why I had to take a day off to get this
> done is
> none of your friggin' business, so please STFU about it.
>
> The 30 minute chain stores are convenient and reasonably priced, but
> they
> are also infamous for screwing up (it happened to me). Wrong
> filters,
> missing washers, wrong amount of oil.... the net has many horror
> stories to
> tell. Keep going if it makes you happy to have you car serviced by a
> bunch
> of kids, or by a guy who doesn't know enough to be a "real"
> mechanic. Might
> as well DIY. I don't mind paying a few extra $$ to know it was done
> properly. I do mind being called a liar by the dealer, and the only
> thing I
> am lacking is patience for you.
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

I was nearly positive that you wouldn't have posted here just for moral
support, but I guess I was wrong. That being the case, I guess I did
miss your point.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

Because I don't want to.


<bigjim RemoveThis @backpacker.com> wrote in message
news:1129598269.500411.18290@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> If the dealer is that far away - why not change the oil yourself?
> Subarus are among the easiest to change the oil yourself on. You'll
> get better quality lubricants and ppay less.
>
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

Alan <not.me.TakeThisOut@uhuh.rcn.com> scribbled:

> "Deb" <MagicTentacle.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1129493733.233749.288070@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> My oil changes at Manfredi Subaru in Staten Island have never taken
>> less than 3 hours. Yep, 3 hours, with a 7:30 AM "appointment" each
>> time. The only reason I kept going there is because they were
>> included for 36K miles with my 2002 LL Bean Outback. They knew I
>> was "waiting" because I only have one car, yet they never offered me
>> any sort of transportation, even though I noticed on the recent
>> survey that they are supposed to.
>>
>> After the free oil changes expired, I immediately started taking the
>> car to the local quick-lube place where oil changes take 30 minutes
>> with NO appointment.
>>
>> Recently, I was forced to take the car to the dealer again because
>> that's the only way I can get the cabin air filter changed. This
>> time, I had an 8:30 appointment and they LOST my paperwork by
>> leaving it inside my car and didn't even call me for the initial
>> consultation until 45 minutes later when I complained about not
>> being called. After that I requested being bumped up to a priority
>> case as I had already had 45 minutes of my time wasted. They
>> apologized profusely and wrote VIP on my paperwork but it still took
>> an additional hour. Total time spent for a 15 minute filter change -
>> TWO hours.
>>
>> The whole thing is totally unacceptable and I wrote as much on the
>> recent survey I received.
>>
>
> I thought I had it bad. Anyway, one of the nice features about
> Reedman is that they service Subarus in the same service department
> as Jaguar. Nine kinds of coffee...

My dealership was shared with BMW. I was amazed to always see more people
lining up at the BMW service counter than at Subaru's, for about the same
number of cars sold for each make...
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

"MK IV" <no.TakeThisOut@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:C6%4f.54011$Z24.44883@fe15.lga...
> Alan <not.me.TakeThisOut@uhuh.rcn.com> scribbled:
>
> > "Deb" <MagicTentacle.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:1129493733.233749.288070@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >> My oil changes at Manfredi Subaru in Staten Island have never taken
> >> less than 3 hours. Yep, 3 hours, with a 7:30 AM "appointment" each
> >> time. The only reason I kept going there is because they were
> >> included for 36K miles with my 2002 LL Bean Outback. They knew I
> >> was "waiting" because I only have one car, yet they never offered me
> >> any sort of transportation, even though I noticed on the recent
> >> survey that they are supposed to.
> >>
> >> After the free oil changes expired, I immediately started taking the
> >> car to the local quick-lube place where oil changes take 30 minutes
> >> with NO appointment.
> >>
> >> Recently, I was forced to take the car to the dealer again because
> >> that's the only way I can get the cabin air filter changed. This
> >> time, I had an 8:30 appointment and they LOST my paperwork by
> >> leaving it inside my car and didn't even call me for the initial
> >> consultation until 45 minutes later when I complained about not
> >> being called. After that I requested being bumped up to a priority
> >> case as I had already had 45 minutes of my time wasted. They
> >> apologized profusely and wrote VIP on my paperwork but it still took
> >> an additional hour. Total time spent for a 15 minute filter change -
> >> TWO hours.
> >>
> >> The whole thing is totally unacceptable and I wrote as much on the
> >> recent survey I received.
> >>
> >
> > I thought I had it bad. Anyway, one of the nice features about
> > Reedman is that they service Subarus in the same service department
> > as Jaguar. Nine kinds of coffee...
>
> My dealership was shared with BMW. I was amazed to always see more people
> lining up at the BMW service counter than at Subaru's, for about the same
> number of cars sold for each make...
>
>
This was my first time there, but I was the ONLY Subaru. Now, they are a new
Subaru dealer, so I'm sure part of it is that most people don't know about
it yet, but still... Also, their arrangement is that you drive your car into
an enclosed carport. Nice set up.
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

In article <z645f.16268$l_2.13765@trnddc02>, Alan <not.me RemoveThis @uhuh.rcn.com> wrote:
>
>"MK IV" <no RemoveThis @nowhere.com> wrote in message
>news:C6%4f.54011$Z24.44883@fe15.lga...
(snip)
>> My dealership was shared with BMW. I was amazed to always see more people
>> lining up at the BMW service counter than at Subaru's, for about the same
>> number of cars sold for each make...

Mmmmm, I bought my Subaru from an Infiniti dealer, and they were
pretty nice to deal with. Do BMW's come with free car washes and other
such stuff? I wonder if there was more stuff like that for their
service counter, so that's why it was busier? It was interesting to
watch the Infiniti dealer at work, though: for instance, they'd bring
the car keys in and call out someone's name so they could drive off
after having their car washed, and I did wonder what would happen if
someone was off in the rest-room and I claimed their car instead.

>This was my first time there, but I was the ONLY Subaru. Now, they are a new
>Subaru dealer, so I'm sure part of it is that most people don't know about
>it yet, but still... Also, their arrangement is that you drive your car into
>an enclosed carport. Nice set up.

Mmmm, the above Infiniti dealership, and my current Subaru dealer
(who also do Hyundai, etc.) are also like that. There's usually a door
closed over the entrance, and you honk your horn to have them raise
it. It's all quite seamless and efficient.

-- Mark
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer 

In article <1129598252.625946.119850.TakeThisOut@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
<bigjim.TakeThisOut@backpacker.com> wrote:
>If the dealer is that far away - why not change the oil yourself?
>Subarus are among the easiest to change the oil yourself on. You'll
>get better quality lubricants and ppay less.

Alas, it's against the rules of our apartment complex. I'm not too
impressed with our local Subaru dealers, at least in comparison to
other dealers I've visited, but at least I've found one who doesn't
make me wait for hours for an oil change and doesn't treat me rudely.
(Oh, and they call to confirm service appointments.) I've had bad
experiences with places like Jiffy Lube - so far, apart from the
dealer, Valvoline's the only oil change place left who haven't screwed
up something on a car of mine in the years I've lived in this city.
Despite having my car serviced at the dealer, I still haven't seen the
service records come up at mysubaru.com - maybe you're meant to enter
them all yourself?!

I've wondered why I don't see more garages out for hire - it could
have the pit underneath the car, a decent hoist for lifting the engine
out, an air compressor, whatever. I guess the liability would be too
large and the equipment too expensive to let random members of the
public borrow the facility, even with a hefty deposit. (Of course, I'm
talking about grander things than oil changes here, but living in an
apartment complex does rather compromise your ability to do your own
car maintenance!)

-- Mark
 >> Stay informed about: Finally Had It with My Subaru Dealer