A Rant on Dealer Service

[Davealan]

I received a coupon from my local Infiniti dealer for a $39.95 Oil & filter change, car wash and multi point checkup. Sounded great as this is a $55 cost normally. I scheduled the appointment agreed to be up sold on a tire rotation for $35 as I had no idea when the / if this was done by the previous owner.

All went well and at the end the service concierge advised that my rear brake pads were both at 3 mm and would need to be changed soon. The front are OK at 6 mm but I may start hearing the brake pad indicator sound...

No sound had been heard right up until I drove into Infiniti but directly after I drove off it started???

[walt1227]

Same thing happened with me about two weeks ago. They had been saying my brakes were at 3MM. I dropped my car off to have the rear axles greased at the tune of $130. Anyway now when I am driving the front shakes when I hit brakes and kind of nose dives a little. I was already planning to replace my brakes and rotors but now I wonder if they did something else to make it start doing like it is. Plus I hate to leave my car at the dealership with these 19-20 year old kids to work on it. They always want to rev it when I bring it in for oil changes because of the exhaust I have on it. I start thinking you don't rev any of the other M56's that come in so why are you reving mine.

[Ilya]

Luckily my dealer knows I generally do 99% of my own DIY so they never up sell me on anything but I feel for you guys who have shoddy dealers.

Same thing happened with me about two weeks ago. They had been saying my brakes were at 3MM. I dropped my car off to have the rear axles greased at the tune of $130. Anyway now when I am driving the front shakes when I hit brakes and kind of nose dives a little. I was already planning to replace my brakes and rotors but now I wonder if they did something else to make it start doing like it is. Plus I hate to leave my car at the dealership with these 19-20 year old kids to work on it. They always want to rev it when I bring it in for oil changes because of the exhaust I have on it. I start thinking you don't rev any of the other M56's that come in so why are you reving mine.

Off topic, what is this 're-grease rear axle' you speak of? Why is it done?

[EdBwoy]

I'm with you on suspecting the brakes were tampered with, but I might be on the extreme end of the cynicism spectrum when it comes to dealers.

I pay attention to my cars and I am under them so often that I rarely lack a comeback for any recommendations I get. Except my first time to this dealership where they told me I was missing 2 lug nuts on one wheel. They offered to replace them at 19 bucks total. For the sake of safety, I agreed but come on, not me! These days I decided to add lug nuts to my toolkit in case someone else tries to pull this on me.

Then, multipoint inspections are a joke. The same dealer said my M56 passed with flying colors and even checked the filter boxes as good yet I knew for a fact my engine air filters were turning black...but they'll be quick to tell me I need a coolant flush and 100-Dollar cabin filter replacement, 175-Dollar power steering flush and brake flush (well, that was when I first took my M45 there. These days we have a good understanding like Ilya that I'm here for ABC so just do ABC)
I wasn't a happy camper - My dealership experience

Anyway, I learned that most service advisers get paid on some form of commission. It is in their best interests to get as much money from you as they can.
And this dealership also has what they call an "environmental & shop supplies charge". I asked my adviser how that applies to a tire rotation and he told me the dealership set a percentage of every ticket to go to this charge. Seems like an unfair tax to me, but hey, until I learn to laser align my own wheels, I am at their mercy on some of these services.

[Davealan]

Thanks Guys,

EdBwoy I will read your dealership experience post when I get home with a cold beer :-)

I thought I was going to get grief for being a whiner so I did not mention they also tried to have me do their 60,000 maintenance for a measly $950!

[walt1227]

EdBwoy,

Yeah they did the same thing with me on the so called "multi-point inspection" at both dealerships. They were to dumb to realize I was sitting right in the waiting area watching the guys do my oil change. All they did was check the battery, tires, and brakes. I can do most of the work on my car myself but, because I have that extended warranty I am doing dealer services until it runs out. I don't let them touch my car outside of oil changes, nor do I let them rotate my tires or do alignments. I have another shop that I buy my tires from that do all of that and they do a better job with the alignment.

Ilya,

The rear axle grease is done when the car starts having a clicking noise when you put it in gear, park, or take off. This is very common on the Z/G with this "REAR AXLE CLICK TSB ITB08-018b" in google search. I rarely drive my M56S but I know it came from the salt water from hurricane Matthew last October when I got caught in the middle of it coming home. Once they greased my axles the clicking went away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipx1OWx3kk this is that axle click I was talking about

[Ilya]

Ilya,

The rear axle grease is done when the car starts having a clicking noise when you put it in gear, park, or take off. This is very common on the Z/G with this "REAR AXLE CLICK TSB ITB08-018b" in google search. I rarely drive my M56S but I know it came from the salt water from hurricane Matthew last October when I got caught in the middle of it coming home. Once they greased my axles the clicking went away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipx1OWx3kk this is that axle click I was talking about

Thanks. I have this happening right now. Wonder what my dealer would ask for this. Been annoying me like crazy lol.

[austin713]

no issues here with me at west houston infiniti. they do fully synthetic changes with a car wash for $45 as their standard price. cant beat that. they dont try and sell me stuff i dont need, although my service guy knows im a car guy so thats probably why.

[reggiebrown40]

Ilya,

The rear axle grease is done when the car starts having a clicking noise when you put it in gear, park, or take off. This is very common on the Z/G with this "REAR AXLE CLICK TSB ITB08-018b" in google search. I rarely drive my M56S but I know it came from the salt water from hurricane Matthew last October when I got caught in the middle of it coming home. Once they greased my axles the clicking went away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipx1OWx3kk this is that axle click I was talking about

Thanks. I have this happening right now. Wonder what my dealer would ask for this. Been annoying me like crazy lol.

Same here, Ilya. Thought it was my brakes. Annoying as hell. Thanks for the info Walt.

[walt1227]

Your welcome guys! Hope you get it fixed. I hated hearing that click. I do notice that it pulls harder now as well since having the axles greased.