Dealer or Indy Which is better??

Mr.Diagnostic

Something that crosstownk posted about about having a car in with a dealer who was unable to fix it promped me to ask this --

dealer or Indy, Which is better and ......why??

gyppo

A good independant would always get my vote.

A friend of mine bought a bora tdi (04, 18k miles) from a non-vw dealer (the dealer had a franchise for renault) some time back. Got a 12 month warranty on it, and it was still well within the manufacturers warranty as well.
About 3 weeks later, he returned with the car, complaining of a stutter/misfire between 1500-2000 rpm. Seller acknowledged the fault, but said as it was within manufacturers warranty, they would arrange for it to be brought to a vw dealer.
MAF was changed, and car returned, with the original fault still present.
EGR was changed, car returned, still the same behaviour.

So, the car was brought back to the original seller. At this stage, VW garage said there was no faults being logged onto the cars ECU, therefore as far as they were concerned the car was perfect, and started blaming the owners driving style.

The original sellers garage suggested an independant assessor, but could not offer any more help.

Out of sheer frustration, he brought the car to an independant mechanic, who drove it half a mile, and diagnosed a sticking turbo.

Owner then contacted someone in VW Ireland, who came, inspected the car, and thought it unlikely to be turbo related. After some persuasion, this guy arranged for the car to go to another VW dealer.
Suprise, Suprise, it was a faulty turbocharger, which was replaced after a struggle (VW wanted to dis-assemble and clean out).

Timeline for the above fiasco - 8 months:rolleyes:

Guess where he went to get it serviced after this.......

crosstownk

Mr.Diagnostic wrote:

Something that crosstownk posted about about having a car in with a dealer who was unable to fix it

Unable to fix is a bit strong - it's just taking an eternity to diagnose it;)

But to answer your question, I'd go for an independent for lots of reasons.

1. Better service - independents leave you with the sense that they appreciate your business a lot more.

2. Cheaper.

3. Friendlier & more honest.

4. Equally as competent (if not better) - especially if the indy is willing to invest in good diagnostic equipment and keep it up to date. Most will have good contacts with local main dealers and will get advice if they feel they need it.

5. An independent is usually a smaller set up, where people work in closer proximity - this can help with 'passing on' information & techniques and generally leads to better communication with issues/problems which usually benefits the customer. Main dealers are too impersonal and procedure driven that they miss the whole customer service point even though they will swear blind that all these procedures are for the good of customer service.

Personally, I don't see what a main dealer has to offer above a good indy (except warranty). The ironic thing is that most main dealers were once independents at at some stage - go figure..........

cantdecide

My experience of main dealers is that even with all the gear and labour pool they have, they only ever get servicing. Those nasty, down and dirty type problems that only older cars have (we've all had our share), are usually diagnosed by the guy who gets all the down and dirty old cars.

New car- main dealer for the service stamp. Problematic older car- a proven indy every time.

Mr.Diagnostic

crosstownk wrote:

Unable to fix is a bit strong - it's just taking an eternity to diagnose it;)

Sorry about that. When you said they had it 2 weeks and they had no idea what was wrong with it I assumed they were a bit lost.

Owen

Great idea for a thread Mr D. Personally I use an Indy for work on my bikes when they exceed my mechanical ability, and on the smaller car jobs I'm too lazy to do like inspection services, etc. If I had to retrofit anything complex, I'd use a Dealer though.

DublinDilbert

I'd go for a good Independent guy as apposed to a dealer any day..

When you drop your car off at the dealer you've no idea who is going to be working on it, you might even be getting one of their apprentices ( at their full hourly rate), depending on the job....

JHMEG

Main dealer for servicing if only for the stamp in the book.

Anan1

I would only ever use a main dealer if the car is still under factory warranty.

Darragh29

I know for a fact that the biggest main dealer in town where I am based has 1 qualified mechanic and 4 apprentices. All the independent garages in town have no apprentices and all staff working on cars are fully qualified mechanics.

Can't really understand the mentality of, "I'm going to the main dealer for the stamp!" I've never actually encountered someone making a distinction between an authorised dealer service dept stamp and and an independent garage service stamp. I'm sure there are people out there with more money than sense that won't look at a car unless it has a BMWFSH, but I've never met anybody who has said that they would reject a car they were looking to buy if the service history was carried out by an independent garage as distinct from a main dealer.

On the mechanical experience side of things though, I think there is definitely a benefit in going with an independent garage. Staff turnover is nothing like what you see in main dealers, labour charges are much less and your business is definitely more appreciated. I think the day where independent garages "didn't have the computer thingy" are long gone thank God.

gyppo

Anan1 wrote:

I would only ever use a main dealer if the car is still under factory warranty.

Likewise, although I'd also use a main dealer for vital work like a cambelt change - just in case things went wrong, you might have better comeback as opposed to an independant mechanic.

maidhc

Indy for anything important. Less important stuff I do myself.

I wouldn't trust a main dealer near my pride and joy or near my wallet!

crosstownk

Having the magic 'main dealer stamp' may help in making the car more saleable - especially with premium brands, but in reality it wont add a whole lot to the resale value. A well serviced BMW is a well serviced BMW - main dealer or not. If someone is adamant on a main dealer FSH then let them buy the car from the main dealer. There are plenty of potential buyers out there who will be satisfied an FSH that is not main dealer.

Altreab

cantdecide wrote:

My experience of main dealers is that even with all the gear and labour pool they have, they only ever get servicing. Those nasty, down and dirty type problems that only older cars have (we've all had our share), are usually diagnosed by the guy who gets all the down and dirty old cars.

New car- main dealer for the service stamp. Problematic older car- a proven indy every time.

yeah and very often you will find that a main dealer is giving out the down and dirty work to a good indy dealer that they know.

Seth Brundle

I don't recall ever having a fully positive experience with the quality of work carried out by a main dealer over the years.
Indy FTW!

old boy

indy will know whats wrong, steeler will have to check the p.c, download files, apprentice will try to deciper them, need help, all the while the full rate is ticking along, until the job card is clocked out, maby even give some one a hand at a diff job at your expense,

Darragh29

crosstownk wrote:

If someone is adamant on a main dealer FSH then let them buy the car from the main dealer.

This is the most intelligent statement I've ever read on this forum.