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william240

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/541613

Ten years ago I bought a Caravan from this guy. I bought service contracts to last eight years. A few years ago it started to be almost impossible to get warranty work done. I had a MAP sensor replaced which a few months later stopped working. Went back about 6 times they must have reset the computer and a couple of days the same thing. After months of this went to another mechanic did a scan replaced the sensor for about the same price I was charged under warranty and it worked.

Got a battery from them, went under the 2 year warranty they charged me over $100 for replacement and testing to replace it. Every time I went in under my service contract I got stuck for $100. This guy has been around for a long time and apparently his reputation caught up to him. My neighbours used to talk about him. If he had the least bit of good service I might have bought my Patriot from him. It made me very leery about buying another Chrysler Service Contract. I get much better service from my corner mechanic without feeling like I'm getting ripped off. I found out his high pressure sales and bad service finally put most of my area off. If I never bought a service contract from them I would have been ahead over $2000.
 
Guys like that give the good dealers a bad name. Yeah, I was offered the extended service contract and declined it. I know they are looking for all the profit they can get right now, but not for me for that product.
 
Some call them stealerships and I have to agree. My dealer was trying to get me to come in for oil changes every 3 months. I said no thanks, I'll do my own and keep the receipts. Then the service techs were saying that only they had oil filters that fit. Yeah right buddy.
 
of course local dealerships can be more expensive than the local garage, but they also have more expertise on the parts and problems to your vehicle,,, sometimes the more expensive repair is cheaper in the long run.
Hmm, this thread is older than Egypt! For a lot of stuff I'll take it to a local guy, but if it needs trouble-shooting a dealer is much more likely to have seen the problem before. The dealer works on the same makes and models all day long, all week long, but the local guy might only see a Patriot every couple weeks. Dealers get service bulletins from the manufacturer so they may be informed of obscure problems a non-dealer wouldn't know about.
 
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