I have never owned a vehicle new enough to be under warranty until a few weeks ago.
Today as I was driving, the check engine light came on. At the next intersection, the truck stalled out. It re-started, but shifted very rough for a few blocks then seemed to go back to normal. Engine light still on.
I called our local dealership. They are booking appointments 3 weeks from now. They said to bring my truck in and “they might be able to address it in a few days”. They have a 4 week waiting list for courtesy vehicles. They offered me a day pass for the bus.
My business is way too busy for me to be truckless for at least a few days. I’m going camping next week. I’m tempted to just pay the local shop I used to deal with for the repair privately. Is this typical of dealership service? What the hell is the point of a vehicle warranty if it is this big of a hassle to deal with?
Let me guess… The salesperson told you you’d have a courtesy car every time you came in?
A good dealership should only be booking 70% of his capacity (or so) for appointments - the rest should be kept for additional work, walk-ins, VORs (vehicle off road - tow truck). If the car is 3 weeks old, I’d have it towed in (call roadside assistance, free) and tell them that I’m happy to accept a rental car while they fix it…
New car warranties are amazing, finding a good dealer is priceless… and about as common as finding a unicorn that poops skittles…lol
I’ve had to take my car in on a handful of occasions over the ten+ years I have owned it. More than half of those times were for items that turned out to be warranty covered or covered by a recall (i.e. supposed to be no charge to the customer). Each time I was able to get in to the service shop at the local BMW dealership the same day or within the week if it was non-emergent. Each time I was able to get a courtesy car with no questions asked.
Not sure what make of car you drive. I’m sure there are dealerships that wouldn’t have been as good as mine were.
Are you talking with the dealership or some central scheduling department. Even the phone number they give you and lead you to believe you are talking to the dealership may just be a scheduling department. They are always going to push you out as far as they can. When I schedule a simple oil change and they tell me a week I always ask who I am speaking to and then tell them I want to speak with the dealership directly and lo and behold, they have appointments whenever I want.
If I remember correctly, he drives a Nissan. And there’s only one Nissan dealership in Victoria.
I’d pull the code to see what the problem is before I’d drive it further.
Correct. The closest alternate dealership is an hour away.
I’m going to try to find a can tire where at least I can get the code read tomorrow.
Of course, the check engine light didn’t come on for the drove home from work, so, who knows…
An hour away might be why but it’s that’s still pretty busy. I could get into our Jeep dealership next day. I had to get mine in last week actually. They had no problem. Warranty work shouldn’t be any different than regular work.
If I remember correctly, he drives a Nissan. And there’s only one Nissan dealership in Victoria.
I’d pull the code to see what the problem is before I’d drive it further.
Correct. The closest alternate dealership is an hour away.
I’m going to try to find a can tire where at least I can get the code read tomorrow.
Of course, the check engine light didn’t come on for the drove home from work, so, who knows…
Thought so. I also drove a Nissan truck when I lived in Vic.
You can always buy your own code reader from can tire or princess auto. They’re only ~ $70. The access port for older titans is under the dash, near your right knee. Super simple, takes a minute or two. And you can use the reader on almost any new car since 96.
If I remember correctly, he drives a Nissan. And there’s only one Nissan dealership in Victoria.
I’d pull the code to see what the problem is before I’d drive it further.
Correct. The closest alternate dealership is an hour away.
I’m going to try to find a can tire where at least I can get the code read tomorrow.
Of course, the check engine light didn’t come on for the drove home from work, so, who knows…
Thought so. I also drove a Nissan truck when I lived in Vic.
You can always buy your own code reader from can tire or princess auto. They’re only ~ $70. The access port for older titans is under the dash, near your right knee. Super simple, takes a minute or two. And you can use the reader on almost any new car since 96.
Interesting, I thought the readings on the $70 machines all just read “service vehicle” regardless oh what the code was
If I remember correctly, he drives a Nissan. And there’s only one Nissan dealership in Victoria.
I’d pull the code to see what the problem is before I’d drive it further.
Correct. The closest alternate dealership is an hour away.
I’m going to try to find a can tire where at least I can get the code read tomorrow.
Of course, the check engine light didn’t come on for the drove home from work, so, who knows…
Thought so. I also drove a Nissan truck when I lived in Vic.
You can always buy your own code reader from can tire or princess auto. They’re only ~ $70. The access port for older titans is under the dash, near your right knee. Super simple, takes a minute or two. And you can use the reader on almost any new car since 96.
Interesting, I thought the readings on the $70 machines all just read “service vehicle” regardless oh what the code was
Nope. Even my cheapie reads and clears the code (you’ll have to Google what the code means).
