I've worked in car dealerships for 27 years. I get it, most people think it's a ripoff.
Are the labor rates high.....yes, Are the parts prices high....yes. Believe it or not there is some value in what you're getting from a dealer. Trained technicians that have been authorized to work on your brand. They're also required by the manufacturer to buy a minimum "special tool list". These consist of special tools designed to perform a specific task/tasks on the brand, or electronic tools that go in to great detail when it comes to diagnosis. The parts prices are high but they are original equipment unless you request otherwise. I'm not saying all dealers are created equal, but if they were all in the business of ripping people off, how long do you think they would stay in business? Most people don't know this, but the surveys you get from the manufacturer are worth their weight in gold to dealers. With most brands, if the score is anything less than 100% satisfaction for every question, the survey is counted as a failure. I hear ya.....what's the big deal? Actually, it's a huge deal. Most manufacturers offer rebates to dealers in the form of a financial incentive of some kind for maintaining excellent CSI (customer satisfaction index). Let's say the regional average for the market your dealer is in has an average score of......oh, say 96.4% CSI. If you fall below that score by a tenth of a percent for the time period specified by the manufacturer, it could cost the store thousands of dollars....literally. You see, dealerships are individually owned, and the manufacturer is the police agency for the dealers. Perform well, get rewarded. Perform poorly, get severely punished. I could go on and on. But just know that behind the scenes dealers worry VERY MUCH about customer satisfaction. With HD it's 2 fold. HD is a publicly traded company. Public Corporations are inherently much harder on their dealers than most manufacturers are. So, the next time you ride by a dealer and stick up your middle finger, just know that your satisfaction is their goal 110%. In the car world, I see what I call the 3% rule. Meaning that every 3 out of 100 customers won't be happy if you gave them the work for free, bought them a steak dinner, and kissed their asses from start to finish. Fact is, there are just some plain angry hateful people in the world. On average it's roughly 3%. And unless your vehicle is under warranty, there are customers in every town who get fired by their local dealers. They're only going to let you trash them and spread hate long enough to figure out that that person can't be pleased no matter what the dealer does. Sorry for the rant, but I think it's only fair you hear the story from the dealer's perspective.

 

Great post. I was a tech in a dealer for 15 years and you nailed it.

 

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NOW be nice,when did this site become an English course!/LOL!!!

Scott

 

Don't want to pay, buy the correct tools and learn to do the work yourself.
Problem Solved.......

 

OP, here's what you get for your $360 (supposedly)

If they do what they say they do, I don't think it's that bad of a deal. Sometimes I'd rather ride than wrench.

 

I read this all the time and this just seems strange to me. Why doesn't the dealer invest in the necessary tools? Is it they just don't want to spend the money? In all the various jobs and firms I've worked at, the company always seemed to invest in the tools to do the job. From what I've read, it appears that the auto/powersports industry doesn't do that for their mechanics/employees.

 

Even though I do most work myself, I get it why dealerships charge what they do.

I suspect that most who complain have not owned their own business.

And you are right, there are some who will never be satisfied no matter what.

 

Actually, it should be "your spelling and grammar suck" not "sucks".

 

Good point. The special tool requirements for most brands are EXTENSIVE......and can cost up in the tens of thousands of dollars. As for individual "common" tools used for daily work.....i.e.......wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, etc., these are tools techs prefer to own for many reasons. They may prefer a particular brand such as Snap-On or MAC. These techs have the option to buy the tools they like to perform a particular task. When a basic wrench might be okay, they prefer a deep well socket on a 3/8" ratchet with a pivoting head for example. The other crucial thing is changing employers. Technician's tools are their livelihood. If they want to go work for an independent, they need to hit the ground running from day one.

 

I know you guys take guesses as to how much dealers profit from their parts sales. Our average gross profit on retail parts sales is 40% give or take. Sounds like a lot, but after you deduct all of the expenses it takes to run an operation, the bottom line isn't a huge number like most would like to think. I don't know what HD's margins are. I can tell you that the manufacturer's are the one's making the majority of profit on a part in the car business. Manufacturers will put out bids to several other manufacturers/jobbers to make something like a water pump for example. The specs and engineering are obviously done by the manufacturer, but like anything else, the lowest bid generally gets the job. This can go horribly wrong at times. Let's say that this water pump for example is discovered later to have a critical flaw in workmanship or materials. The manufacturer will launch a campaign to fix the problem, and they send the bill back to the jobber who made the pump. The difference in a campaign and a recall is worth noting. Campaigns are usually problems the manufacturer finds and launches an internal effort to fix. In most cases, a recall means the federal government has gotten involved and usually dictates a timeline for the manufacturer to complete the fix. This is where you get in to potential fines and class action law suits, because recalls are usually very public and played up by the mainstream media.
Not making any point in particular here, just sharing info I'm sure most didn't know or understand.
Dealers do get a bad rap most of the time. From my experience, while dealers are in business to turn a profit, they do care about helping their customers.