CSlam

Can anybody tell me one single advantage of taking my car to the dealer to be serviced? I'm talking about simple things like oil changes and tune ups. I understand that they should know the car better, however I'm sick of paying 30% higher prices for simple tasks......also, having to make an appointment and miss a morning of work to have a 5 minute lube job seems ludicrous. Maybe it's just me.

Thanks.

Redsand187

There is no reason to go to the dealership to have regular service done.

That is how they make a large sum of their money. The invoice price of the car is actually what they pay for it... minus their holdback. (which is normallly another 2-5%) So they really don't make much more then say 1500 bucks on a car, then they have to pay the salesman, pay for the gift that they send thanking you for buying the car, pay for the gift they send to the person who refered you to them to buy the car there, and all that general stupid stuff. So the dealership its self is may only make 500 bucks on the deal.

But see, they count on you to bring the car in for servicing for the first 3 years. They spend about 15-20 bucks for materials and labor, and charge you 40-60 bucks, thats just for an oil change. Then the real "services" they charge from 200-500 bucks, and don't do any real work. A real technician does not even look at the car, normally, it is just the entry level guy on the lube rack that one day will be trained to be a tech, if he sticks around long enough.

MONTE 01&97 SE

iTrader: (1)

Oil changes at the dealrships around here are cheap, 19.95, doing it yourself is a little cheaper and alot messier! BTW they should send you coupons for them but other services are cheaper else where.

ocuihs

Please see Edmunds.com's
"Dealer versus Aftermarket: The Service Arena"
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/mai...ownership..4.*