DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING! You win the prize. You, sir, are 100% correct. I know a great dealership. It's great because it happens to have on staff (I'm including both sales and service here) a couple of great people--and it keeps them. But it also happens to have on staff some real losers. One guy on the service side is exactly what you describe above. I wouldn't let him put air in my bicycle tires. You can guarantee that for every repair order he picks up off the desk, he can immediately close his eyes and telepathically determine that it needs brakes, CV boots, a timing belt/water pump, and something else at least $500 worth. Guaranteed. Without even looking at the car. Every time. Amazing, isn't he. And he's tolerated--quite well--by this dealership.
Another data point: I too know of a dealer (non-Honda) that has two main technicians. One tech is razor sharp with few comebacks. He's stuffing his pockets with money because he's (1) really competent; (2) really fast; (3) a very upbeat guy who gets along well with everyone. Customers love him. The other main tech is fairly incompetent, slow and has many comebacks. He will say things belittling customers barely out of earshot and sometimes not out of earshot. The manager didn't care. Maybe because techs are in high demand? Then too when the service advisors work only on commission, the customer is facing, for all intents and purposes, a bona fide conspiracy. Caroline (still a ma'am)
Oops that's a err, madam... if that term is still acceptable?? Ahah - that's the guy who does the "safety check"... the one who puts your car up on a hoist when you need a distributor repair. And you'd better not argue or they'll tell you it's going to take a week to get that pesky (so hard to find:-^)) igniter. Rgds, George Macdonald "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
I think the point is being missed. Oil filter changes are done incorrectly every day in this imperfect world. However if one cars design is shown to turn this daily reality into catastrohic failure then it should be treated as a design problem. You wouldn't run a hot manufold directly below the gasoline filler port and say "Well it's only a problem if the gas station attendant is'nt careful and lets gas drip when he pulls the nozzle out" Given the realities, it would be a DESIGN problem.
I think the point is being missed. Oil filter changes are done incorrectly every day in this imperfect world. However if one cars design is shown to turn this daily reality into catastrohic failure then it should be treated as a design problem. You wouldn't run a hot manufold directly below the gasoline filler port and say "Well it's only a problem if the gas station attendant is'nt careful and lets gas drip when he pulls the nozzle out" Given the realities, it would be a DESIGN problem.
