Vault: Why The Dealer Doesn't Care If Your New Car Can't Be Fixed

They don't care because ultimately, the manufacturer is on the hook for it. (2018)

[GenXPertChannel]

I used to be a service manager and fixed ops director for three brands. I can't even tell you how many times I've told people to look into lemon law or get a lawyer. It was horrifying when people came in and couldn't rely on their car- it was very important to me to help those people. That sense of responsibility is also what had me clashing with the owners of the dealerships, because I wouldn't commit warranty fraud etc. Since I left the car industry, I got a law degree and considering getting into consumer advocacy. The car industry is SO full of layers of lies and manipulation, it's pure insanity.

[scofab]

So much different here in Japan... here the dealer is the "face" of the company and takes very seriously any problems with their product, and failure is not an option. Thirty-plus years here and I have never had a bad dealer experience.
Good one Steve, thanks.

[yaa]

Working for a car parts company in Australia, I was standing in a workshop when a brand new 2003 Commodore HSV GTS (GTS SS in North America) came in from a dealer running rough, the dealer couldn't diagnose the problem after 3 days of looking....the mechanic I was with, lifted the bonnet (hood), pulled off a spark plug wire and took out a spark plug, the plug's electrode was touching the centre of the plug...he reset the plug gap and sent them on their way... with a $400 bill...he quoted that over the phone when he diagnosed the problem....

[noydbwia]

Steve, this video was a special level of wholesome humor and I can't thank you enough for it!!!!

[hurcgtx]

I bought a 2000 new Saab 9-5 from one of the largest Volvo/Saab dealers on Long Island. In three months it developed a tic that turned out to be the timing belt fraying. The dealer replaced the belt and tensioner. I was told would be deadly to the engine if the belt failed. The bill was $1200 - under warranty. Three months later the same thing happened, same charge. Three months later, again, and I spoke to service manager and they knew of no known defect, just bring it in. They didn't care if they had to do this repair over and over, they got paid. On my own I spent fifteen minutes on the phone with Saab/GM service who noted that there was, in fact, a known defect in that V6 engine - the lower sprocket had a defect which slowly wore away the edge of the belt until it failed. And there was an upgrade kit. They contacted the dealer, sent them the parts, I brought the car in and the dealer did the upgrade and changed the belt and tensioner, again. The problem never returned. They tech guy said they do lots of these repairs but were not aware of this upgrade. However, sadly, now that GM had contacted them, they would have to do the upgrade from then on - that was end of that cash cow. Geez, what a business.

[warrenprice]

Here in Australia, all states have consumer protection against faulty products.
If one has a problem with a product,
You take it back to the retail outlet you bought it from.
Your " contract " so to speak is with the retailer,
NOT the manufacturer.
The retailer must then do the run around, NOT the consumer.

[northyland]

Some things the dealers can't fix For example I worked on a car that would stall in heavy traffic. I replaced the transmission and the Computer. Car still would stall once in a while in heavy traffic. About a year later the factory found the problem. It was a bug in the software. The dealer techs have no ability to examine coding for the cars computer. We did our job in letting the Engineers know. But unfortunately they don't let technicians re-write computer programs that run the car. Techs can't re-design parts or re-write bad code in your cars computer.

[peterking]

In the military if we couldn’t fix something “on site” it was deemed BLR - Beyond Local Repair, or it could be deemed BER Beyond Economic Repair. An example of BER is if say a gun barrel blows up.

[yaim]

Every time I see your website, I think about some kind of Finnish cabbage salad. Lehto Slaw.

[michaelb.]

I enjoyed hearing the evolution of your name. I grew up near Superior, Wisconsin. About half of my school mates were of Finnish descent. It wasn't until I moved away from the area for my first job that I realized most people don't have a wood fired sauna in the back yard!

[billcudd]

After waiting 7 months to have our VW repaired, ( part unavailable )VW dealership kept us in a loaner for 6 months and then VW OF America gave us $3500 for the inconvenience. The car was still in warranty with 120k miles on her.

[angelarthrasher]

This was such a fun video and how you put the dots (you said what they were in the vid but I forgot) over all of your "o" & "a" in the closing words after you explained the history and claimed how Finnish have dry sense of humor. Adorably well played!!!

[kennethburton]

This is my first time listening to your channel and I loved hearing your family name story. My father’s family is Danish and my mother’s family is Norwegian. My dads name is Möller and that’s all there is to name. My mom’s family names are much more complicated. If you know anything about old Norsk names you understand the complexity.
Vi ses, skål.

[thatjeff]

Loved the umlaut over the "A" in Lehtoslaw at the end.

[johngatsby]

My BRAND NEW 22 kia Sorento hybrid s AWD has been in the shop since may 25th with only 4512 miles on the odometer.
Hired an attorney months waiting on kia to respond. The dealership itself has actually been horrible as they don't respond to texts on their fancy text service ..hell the actual service advisor hasn't, NOT ONCE, communicated with me. What a suck ass experience.

[mags]

Thanks for explaining about the "H" in Lehto. My mother-in-law's last name was Kaare and yes, you have to pronounce both the "As". 🙂

[robertwinton]

Regardless of how the name is pronounced your program is very good so keep up the good work I'm proud of you

[indianasb]

Thank you Steve!! I love the Vault channel too!!

[paulsullivan]

Informative and and interesting video as usual sir. Also fascinating about your family name.
And may I add....you're rocking the beard Dude!. 😁

[MickeyMishra]

It still amazes me that when I Bought my PT cruiser? I had this Fog light Problem. THen the Alarm Problem. And So much more. And still to this day? You need a $4, 000 DRB Computer system to fix it.
You know the worst part? Its not the Factory Sucks. Its the Dealerships at the time that were my problem.

I know its a BEAR to work on. And it takes forever to do anything in the Engine Bay. Or even Bother fixing the Electrical problems. But I think that's where most of my problems came from.

Its weird how reliable things are that were never touched by a mechanic. It was after My car had Collision repair where almost everything went downhill.

But here I am. 21 years later, and I still have my Original Car I bought. And After changing the Head and gasket due to Crappy Aftermarket Tensioner and Belt installed by a Previous Mechanic? I am back on the horse again.

Its amazing how hard it is to work on this engine bay. And there is SO much you have to do in a 1, 2, 3, 4 order or you can't get the part back on.

After dealing with it for a few weeks? I am almost ready to give it a start. And sure! It would have been cheaper to just get a New car. But I just can't let this old girl go.