Death, taxes and dealing with auto dealership service personnel are three of the unavoidable ugly parts of life. But unlike the first two, dealing with the service department can be made less stressful -- and certainly more productive.

 I know car dealerships have bad reputations, especially the service departments...But this stereotype needs to come to an end.  As someone who has over a decade in the auto industry let me tell you how things really are in the repair business.

    First of all the service writers in the dealership service department really do want to make you happy otherwise the Owner gets involved and the Owner only gets involved when there is a problem otherwise you don't see him...see him too many times and you'll be looking for a new Owner. Whether it's a manufacturers survey returned with bad ratings or an unhappy customer's phone call, the Owner will get involved.

    Then there is the ridiculous myth that dealerships are more expensive than independent shops are for repairs. With the technology in cars today the dealership is going to diagnose it faster more acurately and have the parts or the availability to get parts to fix your vehicle, the independent shop has to buy parts from the dealer and then mark them up to their customer in order to make a profit, often charging more for parts than the dealer and if they use aftermarket parts many times they are more expensive and have a lesser warranty. Most dealer parts have twelve month, twelve thousand mile warranty on parts and labor, most aftermarket parts have a six or twelve month warranty on parts only. The warranty on dealer parts is good at any dealer across the country so if you are travelin or move and have a problem with a part that was installed within the twelve month, twelve thousand mile timeframe just go right to your closest dealer and show them your receipt and get it fixed for free-parts and labor.

    The next thing most people don't know is that it really does pay to do your maintenance and repairs at the dealer because they will remember that when you have a problem at 80,000 miles and you have no warranty left. The loyal customers in the dealer are the ones that the dealer is willing to go the extra mile for and get some out of warranty goodwill assistance as a way to help out a loyal customer and show appreciation for their business. The dealer hates people who have 80,000 miles on their car, have a problem, didn't buy their car at the dealer, have never spent a dime in the service department and wants to get what's wrong with their car completely covered and expect not to pay anything...NOT HAPPENING!!! If the dealer says no and you call the manufacturer guess what happens...the manufacturer calls the dealer, discusses the customer's service history and what they should do, the manufacturer cannot make the dealer cover anything out of warranty the dealer does not want to cover, again the goodwill assistance is supposed to be for loyal customers. So calling the manufacturer does not generally do you any good, especially if you were rude and obnoxious at the dealer or on the phone.

   Ok so what did I miss, the dealer will almost always take 10% off a bill to make a sale, they will go above and beyond your independent repair shop, they care more about your satisfaction due evil Owners and manufaturer incentive for high CSI(customer satisfaction index) scores, they have a better warranty on their parts, they have better qualified technicians that realy do go to factory training(yes it's true that's not just a line, training is required throughout the year). So in the end I hope all you people who "Know" how it is reconsider your current repair situation and think about what I said, the dealer will try and sell you manufacturer recommended maintenance but just think of that as an investment in the future when your warranty runs out at 36k or 60k.