Lazy Dealers?

[Edwards]

With all of the talk of "lazy dealers" who won't replace or check out problems all over the map, I wanted to throw out an idea I had. Given the numerous reports from members who are conveying interactions with dealers all over North America, it seems something else is up. I surmise that dealers are in the game for profit and service-related profit should be one of their top focus areas. If even half of these reported dealer experiences are true, there must be a better explanation than "the dealers are lazy."

I suspect it all points back to Ram's reimbursement policies for dealers. I imagine all dealers intimately know what Ram will cover and reimburse and what they won't and, since they are in the business for profit, know exactly what not to waste their time on since they won't get paid for it. If this is the case, we should all stop complaining about individual dealers not going the extra mile and instead aim our collective energy on Ram Corp to reimburse dealers appropriately so that they can globally elevate the service experience.

Anyone have any actual experience that would lend credence to this thought?

 

[Patsy1099]

Think of dealerships as two parts: sales and service. Two separate businesses but both there to turn a profit, and rightly so. No profit, no business. They should try and make the most money they can, that’s capitalism. We as consumers try and get the best deals we can, that’s a market economy.

Manufacturers, like insurance companies, have standard rates they are willing to pay for labor and those rates are much less than you would pay your local mechanic. Additionally, each type of service: recall, service bulletin, warranty issue, is allotted a certain amount of time by FCA to “fix”. So for example, FCA might allot the pedal recall 1 hour @ $85/hr. The dealer might pay their mechanic $25/hr, plus misc dealership overhead. So at best they make $60 on the job. If it takes longer than that to fix, the dealer loses money. They have to go back to FCA and ask for an adjustment if there are special circumstances that would warrant them getting paid more. That’s the way the dance works. It’s a PITA for the dealer to deal with warranty and insurance work. They would much rather get paid a higher rate directly from the consumer. But this is their reality and there is a line that each of them will draw in the sand where certain work and certain customers, create an unprofitable situation for them. They would much prefer to be doing break jobs and not recall work. I can see both sides. Everyone needs to be able to earn a living. What “is” and “isnt’t” reasonable is subjective and gets blurry at times.

 

[rlc2020]

As someone in a customer service related business (I manage an optical shop) I deal with "warranty" work all the time. I put that in quotes because 99% of the time if a customers glasses break I alone end up eating the cost to replace them. I lose money on almost every warranty I do for a patient, but I do this because that is the cost of doing business if you want to be a top level provider. I provide excellent service, even if it doesn't make me profit at every step of the way. If these dealers arent making enough money during the sale and regular service/maintenance work to cover a few warranty claims that they may only break even on then they shouldn't be in business with FCA. I expect to have my truck serviced regardless of the dealers profit. My dealership happens to be excellent and never questions or complains about any service I request, warranty or otherwise. They were even willing to help me figure out a wiring issue that was cause by me adding some accessories that weren't original to the truck. Spent probably 30 minutes looking up wiring diagrams for me and walking through the wiring harness and they made $0 on that time. They did it just to provide good service.

 

[JDBob35a]

My truck has a bad spot on one of the front wheels, of course I didn't notice it until I got home (The DAY i bought the truck), called the dealership the next morning. I was immediately judged guilty of doing something to it on the way home, and was told they (Dealership) won't OK it being replaced, keep in mind at this point they had not seen the wheel or even a picture of it.
I had to drive an hour back to the dealer so they could take pictures to submit to FCA.
One of the FCA reps on this forum stepped in and helped me open a case and after about a months time my replacement wheel is on order because my FCA case manager told the service manager to replace the wheel.
Service manager came right out and told me they wouldn't replace the wheel because he was afraid they would get stuck eating the $1000 if FCA didn't approve the replacement.
I'm glad the FCA customer service person got involved otherwise I'm not sure what kind of shape I'd be in.
To me the bottom line was the dealer sold me a truck with a defective wheel, and it should be taken care of immediately, not "We'll see what FCA says about it."
I could understand the dealer being doubtful If I called a week or a month later, but I drove the truck off the lot right before they closed for the day and called as soon as they opened the next morning. Anything can happen but come on, I just traded them my 2013 F-150 with 98,000 miles on it with zero defects, not a mark on it, and the plastic still on the carpet under the mats, obviously I'm pretty OCD about my stuff.

 

[djwdjw]

My truck has a bad spot on one of the front wheels, of course I didn't notice it until I got home (The DAY i bought the truck), called the dealership the next morning. I was immediately judged guilty of doing something to it on the way home, and was told they (Dealership) won't OK it being replaced, keep in mind at this point they had not seen the wheel or even a picture of it.
I had to drive an hour back to the dealer so they could take pictures to submit to FCA.
One of the FCA reps on this forum stepped in and helped me open a case and after about a months time my replacement wheel is on order because my FCA case manager told the service manager to replace the wheel.
Service manager came right out and told me they wouldn't replace the wheel because he was afraid they would get stuck eating the $1000 if FCA didn't approve the replacement.
I'm glad the FCA customer service person got involved otherwise I'm not sure what kind of shape I'd be in.
To me the bottom line was the dealer sold me a truck with a defective wheel, and it should be taken care of immediately, not "We'll see what FCA says about it."
I could understand the dealer being doubtful If I called a week or a month later, but I drove the truck off the lot right before they closed for the day and called as soon as they opened the next morning. Anything can happen but come on, I just traded them my 2013 F-150 with 98,000 miles on it with zero defects, not a mark on it, and the plastic still on the carpet under the mats, obviously I'm pretty OCD about my stuff.

If you had noticed this before you drove off, I suspect they would have replaced the wheel instantly in order to make the sale. Even quicker if you walked off with a "call me when it is resolved" close. I get not being able to do that under all circumstances - I ended up inspecting mine in the dark during "monsoon weather" - needless to say the outside did not get a fine-tooth going over.

Only speculation, mind you, but if they could not get FCA to somehow pay for it on the back side by pencil-whipping some reimbursement or warranty repair internally without "seeing what FCA has to say about it". Only guessing, pre-sale would have been swapped from another inventory vehicle. Purely speculation of course, but definitely in character in my limited experience of pre and post-sale approach to service.

I think it is mostly not lazy dealers, but self-serving dealers.

 

[JJRamTX]

In this sense I was lucky because my Truck was the Demo Show Truck and everything was addressed when they were Demo'ing it. I got some extra miles but it also got all the bugs worked out up to that point. If they are reputable and want your business they will make sure you are happy.

 

[MFALRAM]

Always inspect before you take delivery. It’s the only way to insure they won’t take advantage of you in some way. I was anal about it they only visual defect I could find was the rear tire had a different cap on the nozzle so I made them take one off another truck and put it on mine.

 

[JDBob35a]

Always inspect before you take delivery. It’s the only way to insure they won’t take advantage of you in some way. I was anal about it they only visual defect I could find was the rear tire had a different cap on the nozzle so I made them take one off another truck and put it on mine.

I went over it pretty close but when the wind is howling and it's around freezing temp outside things get missed.

 

[djwdjw]

I went over it pretty close but when the wind is howling and it's around freezing temp outside things get missed.

To be honest, the only ones I have ever heard of pulling a vehicle for delivery and inspection is Tesla. They do it for every delivery as far as I am aware. Maybe others do too.

But then again a self-serving dealer would not find that pulling the truck into the lighted and heated service or sales building to be in their best pre-sale interest. They were quite happy to have me out in the rain, dark, cold

 

[stevj]

Think of dealerships as two parts: sales and service. Two separate businesses but both there to turn a profit, and rightly so. No profit, no business. They should try and make the most money they can, that’s capitalism. We as consumers try and get the best deals we can, that’s a market economy.

Manufacturers, like insurance companies, have standard rates they are willing to pay for labor and those rates are much less than you would pay your local mechanic. Additionally, each type of service: recall, service bulletin, warranty issue, is allotted a certain amount of time by FCA to “fix”. So for example, FCA might allot the pedal recall 1 hour @ $85/hr. The dealer might pay their mechanic $25/hr, plus misc dealership overhead. So at best they make $60 on the job. If it takes longer than that to fix, the dealer loses money. They have to go back to FCA and ask for an adjustment if there are special circumstances that would warrant them getting paid more. That’s the way the dance works. It’s a PITA for the dealer to deal with warranty and insurance work. They would much rather get paid a higher rate directly from the consumer. But this is their reality and there is a line that each of them will draw in the sand where certain work and certain customers, create an unprofitable situation for them. They would much prefer to be doing break jobs and not recall work. I can see both sides. Everyone needs to be able to earn a living. What “is” and “isnt’t” reasonable is subjective and gets blurry at times.

Well said.

Steve