Service Advisor's opinion

[Billy4202]

It's actually the other way around. Service advisors get a bad rep mostly due to the lack of knowledge on the customers part.

FWIW, it goes both ways. I've seen people deliberately reject sound, intelligent advice from good, no-nonsense service advisors (as with Honda so far ); on the other hand, at least with Ford allllllll they do is push BG products. Every. Single. Trip.

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[StevenK]

It's actually the other way around. Service advisors get a bad rep mostly due to the lack of knowledge on the customers part.

Nope. I've been driving cars and dealing with mechanics/advisors for 50 years. From your photo you look as if you have a personal interest in making dealership employees look good. You may be a dealership employee/advisor yourself? That may explain your skewed notion on this topic. I've dealt with different advisors from the same dealership where one will give an honest answer and others are just clueless. This may not be the case with you or your dealership, but I've seen it often. You can't say the bad rep car dealers have is not deserved. That's not to mention that advisors work for one of the more corrupt systems of business around. How many times have you heard of or experienced people taking their car to an advisor and being told that an oil change and tire rotation will cost around 170 dollars? More often than you'd believe if it was an honest business/profession. Then the advisors defend the prices/policies. Would you call that honest?

 

[Ma_deuce]

Nope. I've been driving cars and dealing with mechanics/advisors for 50 years.

Great, you are old. While you can trade youth for wisdom, not everyone does.

From your photo you look as if you have a personal interest in making dealership employees look good. You may be a dealership employee/advisor yourself? That may explain your skewed notion on this topic.

Please explain exactly how arguing with forum warriors on the interwebs benefits me.

I've dealt with different advisors from the same dealership where one will give an honest answer and others are just clueless. This may not be the case with you or your dealership, but I've seen it often.

Lets look at a couple of facts here.

Fact #1 Service advisors are pulled from the same group of people that include you and me. They aren't pulled from a special pool of people that have less integrity.

Fact #2 Unlike the customers that they serve, service advisors have several safeguards put in place to keep them honest. The manufacturer, the dealership, the service manager all take steps to keep their advisors honest. The advisor would also lose all credibility with the technicians if he was trying to get them to do work that wasn't kosher. Worst case scenario, they would lose their job.

The customer has none of those safeguards in place. As society tends to lend more liberal and socialist, I believe that more and more people think that it's OK to lie as long as it benefits them. I see it happen all of the time.

You can't say the bad rep car dealers have is not deserved. That's not to mention that advisors work for one of the more corrupt systems of business around.

I can say again that the people that work at dealerships are from the same stock of people that purchase cars there. You can start another thread and I will argue with you all day about corrupt systems of business but that is on other topic altogether.

How many times have you heard of or experienced people taking their car to an advisor and being told that an oil change and tire rotation will cost around 170 dollars? More often than you'd believe if it was an honest business/profession. Then the advisors defend the prices/policies. Would you call that honest?

The only time I have hear a number even close to $170 for an oil change and tire rotation is either at the highline dealerships like Land Rover or some of the diesel trucks. If that is the price that the dealership charges, of course the service advisor is going to defend it. Do you try to talk Walmart down on a pack of bananas?

I'm sure there are some dishonest people working as service advisors, but it's no more or less than the percentage of dishonest people in the general population.

 

[xjoshuax89]

Bottom line. Some people are honest and some people aren't. Service people aren't generally more dishonest or more honest than the regular person. You would think service advisors are more inclined to be honest because they might lose their job but that doesn't always hold true. Something that service people aren't more inclined to lie either. The times when people get ripped off are when they are clueless and misinformed.

Let me share my recent experience. My Civic was due for the first oil change it hit 15% about 2 weeks ago with about 6200 miles. I went to the dealership I purchased my car at and asked to get it changed. The service advisor told me that it would be about 79.99 for an oil change. I told him that my first oil change is free. Just in case I even brought the Honda mail that they sent to my house. The oil change coupon was well before the expiration date and it isn't like I brought the car at a super busy time. He said that the oil change is not valid and that I need to pay for it. I told him to shove off and I decided to speak to the service manager. I lodged a complaint with the manager and told him that this sort of bait and switch is unacceptable. I have a friend who runs an auto shop (its a bit further out since he moved his shop to a larger place) but I got it done for $58 for a full synthetic change + tire check, fluid top off, and basic interior cleaning for the front row.

Now is that dealership bad? I don't think so. I have bought 3 cars from them in the past 15 years and had friends and relatives buy another 8 from them in the past 10. I just think the person that was working was an absolute POS that tried to trick me.

 

[Schatzie]

Bottom line. Some people are honest and some people aren't. Service people aren't generally more dishonest or more honest than the regular person. You would think service advisors are more inclined to be honest because they might lose their job but that doesn't always hold true. Something that service people aren't more inclined to lie either. The times when people get ripped off are when they are clueless and misinformed.

Let me share my recent experience. My Civic was due for the first oil change it hit 15% about 2 weeks ago with about 6200 miles. I went to the dealership I purchased my car at and asked to get it changed. The service advisor told me that it would be about 79.99 for an oil change. I told him that my first oil change is free. Just in case I even brought the Honda mail that they sent to my house. The oil change coupon was well before the expiration date and it isn't like I brought the car at a super busy time. He said that the oil change is not valid and that I need to pay for it. I told him to shove off and I decided to speak to the service manager. I lodged a complaint with the manager and told him that this sort of bait and switch is unacceptable. I have a friend who runs an auto shop (its a bit further out since he moved his shop to a larger place) but I got it done for $58 for a full synthetic change + tire check, fluid top off, and basic interior cleaning for the front row.

Now is that dealership bad? I don't think so. I have bought 3 cars from them in the past 15 years and had friends and relatives buy another 8 from them in the past 10. I just think the person that was working was an absolute POS that tried to trick me.

I think that's lousy of your dealership! Your first oil change, etc. is FREE from Honda always! At least that's my dealership's policy. Thank God I have NEVER come across a dishonest service advisor at my dealership in the 18 years I've been dealing with them and another Honda dealership before that, for 7 years. I have had nothing but excellent things to say about my dealership and I trust them implicitly. Are they sometimes pricey, yes, but I know that my car is truly professionally serviced. I am fortunate to have a 17 time Honda awarded dealership in the NY metropolitan area. They truly live up to a higher standard.

 

[Ma_deuce]

Bottom line. Some people are honest and some people aren't. Service people aren't generally more dishonest or more honest than the regular person. You would think service advisors are more inclined to be honest because they might lose their job but that doesn't always hold true. Something that service people aren't more inclined to lie either. The times when people get ripped off are when they are clueless and misinformed.

I agree with most of that. Something to add though is that the people that are clueless and misinformed are more likely to THINK that they got ripped off when they didn't.

Let me share my recent experience. My Civic was due for the first oil change it hit 15% about 2 weeks ago with about 6200 miles. I went to the dealership I purchased my car at and asked to get it changed. The service advisor told me that it would be about 79.99 for an oil change. I told him that my first oil change is free. Just in case I even brought the Honda mail that they sent to my house. The oil change coupon was well before the expiration date and it isn't like I brought the car at a super busy time. He said that the oil change is not valid and that I need to pay for it.

Just curious, what was the reasoning behind the service advisor declining the coupon?

Your first oil change, etc. is FREE from Honda always!.

That is incorrect. That may be the policy at your dealership, but it is 100% not a Honda policy. Either way, it's a good bonus

 

[xjoshuax89]

I agree with most of that. Something to add though is that the people that are clueless and misinformed are more likely to THINK that they got ripped off when they didn't.



Just curious, what was the reasoning behind the service advisor declining the coupon?



That is incorrect. That may be the policy at your dealership, but it is 100% not a Honda policy. Either way, it's a good bonus

The reasoning never made much sense to me. He said that in order for them to honor the coupon was for the the oil change to be done within 3 months of purchasing the car. I argued how many people really put on enough miles to wear out the oil within the first 3 months to take advantage. He said that regardless of how many or how few that was the policy. I still made the point that the coupon expiration date was well before expiration and he said that Honda merely auto generates those without putting in "parameters" to check for the validity of the dates.

 

[Rockaday]

What y'all think?

I think: not the most thoughtful friend. =/

 

[Ma_deuce]

The reasoning never made much sense to me. He said that in order for them to honor the coupon was for the the oil change to be done within 3 months of purchasing the car. I argued how many people really put on enough miles to wear out the oil within the first 3 months to take advantage. He said that regardless of how many or how few that was the policy. I still made the point that the coupon expiration date was well before expiration and he said that Honda merely auto generates those without putting in "parameters" to check for the validity of the dates.

That really doesn't make any sense at all. Crappy that they played it that way. 10,000 mile oil changes in 3 months? Not many people going to make that policy

 

[BGsMom]

The AC went out the other day after having the car 3-1/2 weeks with 900 miles. Took it into Honda and as I dropped off my car, saw my 'friend' again and he asked what was going on. (Thank goodness he's not my service advisor.) Told him AC blowing hot air and then he said 'see I told you.' I smiled, said whatever, it's under warranty! I got the extended warranty so he will see my @ss for the next 8 years lol.

 

[Schatzie]

The reasoning never made much sense to me. He said that in order for them to honor the coupon was for the the oil change to be done within 3 months of purchasing the car. I argued how many people really put on enough miles to wear out the oil within the first 3 months to take advantage. He said that regardless of how many or how few that was the policy. I still made the point that the coupon expiration date was well before expiration and he said that Honda merely auto generates those without putting in "parameters" to check for the validity of the dates.

He is full of baloney! At my Honda dealership your first oil change is FREE no matter when you go in for it. Has been, is, and always will be! I am dismayed at the treatment some Honda dealerships around the country have shown to their customers! I've read here that this shoddy treatment is widespread. Thank God in the NYC metropolitan area such is not the case at least at two Honda dealerships I've had the pleasure to do business with. Curry Honda in Yorktown Heights, NY is the best and that's been my dealership for the last 18 years. At least I know if someone does eventually go wrong with my new Civic touring, they will not rip me off and they will fix it to my satisfaction! Good luck folks!

 

[StevenK]

The times when people get ripped off are when they are clueless and misinformed.

Let me share my recent experience. My Civic was due for the first oil change it hit 15% about 2 weeks ago with about 6200 miles. I went to the dealership I purchased my car at and asked to get it changed. The service advisor told me that it would be about 79.99 for an oil change. I told him that my first oil change is free. Just in case I even brought the Honda mail that they sent to my house. The oil change coupon was well before the expiration date and it isn't like I brought the car at a super busy time. He said that the oil change is not valid and that I need to pay for it. I told him to shove off and I decided to speak to the service manager. I lodged a complaint with the manager and told him that this sort of bait and switch is unacceptable. I have a friend who runs an auto shop (its a bit further out since he moved his shop to a larger place) but I got it done for $58 for a full synthetic change + tire check, fluid top off, and basic interior cleaning for the front row.

 

[StevenK]

xjoshuax89x proves my point exactly. Also, ripping people off because they are clueless is not an excuse

 

[Ma_deuce]

xjoshuax89x proves my point exactly. Also, ripping people off because they are clueless is not an excuse

Please explain how his post proves your point that "most service advisors are full of crap."

Who said that ripping people off because they are clueless is OK?

 

[DjinTonic]

I can't see how a Honda dealer who behaves like that isn't showing the worst business sense: dealers depend on relatively satisfied customers buying their cars with them and then having them serviced there for the lifetime of the ownership. Such small-mindedness will only drive folks to nearby dealers. They buy oil in huge quantities; the cost to them is low (my dealer's oil change is much lower than the local Jiffy Lube.)

My dealer not only offers your first oil change/tire rotation free, but also gives you a coupon for another free oil change if you attend the New Owner's Clinic (where they tout their service department). Their good servicing of my '96 Civic coupe and good service attitude was the reason I decided to buy my '16 coupe from them and have it serviced there.

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