To make a long story short, a chevy dealer who I won't name
yet tried to rip me off big time today. I took my 4 door cabover
Iszuzu npr truck in for overheating friday and today they told me
I had a cracked block and a new motor would cost me 12,000 dollars
to fix the problem. I called a Iszuzu mech who used to work there
and he said he would meet me there to look at it. After our inspection
it turned out to be a damaged head gasket. It may have a warped
head they said, but isn't that hard to tell when head is hanging from
a chain in the air? This is why people don't want to go dealerships
anymore. The whole thing could be repaired for a couple thousand
dollars. Thanks you guys, just had to vent.

Not just Chevy dealers! The Chief Spender has an Audi A4 sedan, it was in for routine service at the Audi dealer, and I got a call saying there was a fault light on the dash, and they determined the ABS braking system was not working and the main controller needed to be replaced. They quoted me $3500 all up (supply and fit new bosch control module). Decided to go elsewhere for a second opinion, picked car up and when I got home I checked the main fuse panel. Found a 10Amp blade fuse blown, replaced it and all good once again - no warning light.
Called Audi to advise a 20cent part had corrected the $3500 "fault", I asked how they diagnosed the problem and their "technician" used a hand-held scanner to read the on-board diagnostics. Seems that nobody bothers to question anything any more, no attempt to look at basics (like fuses) or to rebuild parts - just sell the customer a new one at top $$.
At modern car dealerships nowadays, you can never seem to find a real Mechanic with greasy overalls and oil on his hands anymore; they're all kids ("Technicians") with a laptop and USB scanner. I know the young guys need to be given a fair go, but we've missed out on the fundamentals of being a true wrench-turner along the way.

Take a deep breath. Be happy if the dealer can get parts to fix it. Since the Tsunami hit Japan, diesel parts have been in short supply. Most Isuzu/W Series Dealers are lucky to have a certified diesel mechanic. Count your blessings if the dealer has the parts and tech to properly fix it. Are you the owner/operator. I've been in the Isuzu Truck business and found driver error was the main cause for most diesel engine replacements. BTW, there are no more "W" Series trucks being sold....it's all Isuzu now, until Internation'l buys them out. Then, Isuzu trucks will appear under a different name. Still, the best Medium Duty Truck built!!!

I have had nprs for 10 yrs and find them very reliable. I just purchased this truck
after a 4 yr lease with only 48,000 miles on it. The chevy dealer inspected it
2 weeks ago and told me it was in good shape. They said they found a small coolant
leak but didnt know where it was coming from it kinda disappered. Well we found
it to be puking it out the overflow bottle a week later. My foreman told me the temp
guage was all over the place, so we took it to the dealer. A ex-mechanic for the
dealer met me there and things changed quickly. If the head is warped Iszuzu says you
can't mill it at all. I am now searching for one with no luck. With the damage in Japan
this may take awhile. What really bothers me is that I caught the service mgr lying to
me after years loyalty to GM and Iszuzu. We will know what direction to go tomorrow
when everyone calms down. It got pretty heated when all concerned had their imput
on this. If I lied to my customers like this I'd soon be out of business. This dealer is
getting a pretty bad rap lately.

i was a heavy line tech at a G M dealership for 10 yrs--since then i had a new truck that had a front caliper sticking w 10.000 miles -took it in and they told me yep its a bad caliper and we will replace it but you need to buy a front brake job for 200-i told them giv me a break -i used to work here-you got a car with 10 grand miles -you got the tires off and replacing caliper that caused problem and you gonna charge me 200 to set on brake pads that you got already off-they didnt know what to say and did it for free--techs get paid more for add ons and they try to sell all they can to get there labor hours up-i should know

Not all dealerships are bad. But...here is a similar story.

Took previous pickup in about 6 years ago for an oil change and tire rotate. Truck had about 50,000 miles on it. I had bought it new at the dealership and that is where I always had it serviced. Service Rep (not a vehicle sales rep) says "You need new rear brakes. Pads and rotors are shot. We can have it done in about an hour and it will be $450." Well I had a long trip planned the week after this, so I thought I better get them fixed. I asked to have the od removed parts returned to me.

When it was finished, I looked at the bill. They also charged me for "parts disposal". I asked what that was about and they said that was "to dispose of your old parts". I said "well I had asked for those old parts back". Well turns out those parts were out back in a pile with other junk. They said if I wanted them I would have to go get them. I said no thanks, paid the bill and have never gone back to that dealership.

My driving habits are such that I get great life out of brakes. When I sold that truck last year (with 145,000 miles) I had it inspected by my regular mechanic. He said the original front brakes and rotors were in very good condition and probably had at least another 50,000 miles of life left on them. Rears were fine too.

Always ask for your old parts back. That way you can actually look at them to see if they are bad, and you won't have to pay to "dispose" of them.

Make sure you get YOUR parts back.

I had a dealer show me some worn out brake pads that he claimed were off my truck. They were not. The tech had some junk pads laying around, not even OE pads. He figured I wouldnt know the difference. When I called him on it the tap dance started. I called GM, and mailed the pads to them with a strong but polite letter but nothing ever came out of it. I'm done with that dealer after many years of service....Jb

I always ask to see the "bad parts" before work is done.

Ever have drum shoes showed as bad and they worked on the disc's

Ford service isn't much better... I dropped my f350 off to fix the esof for my 4x4..first time they said the hubs needed complete rebuild... 1600 billed to ford warranty... Got it back still didn't work right... They took it back and told me they were going to order a complete esof hub assembly at over 3k a side.. That's 6k total... They ordered the part took them over two month to get parts.. Wife dropped truck off since I had just had surgery.. They kept it for 5 days... Got it back.. Drove it a month later.. Guess what still doesn't work.. So asked them to send me a copy of my bill since they failed to give it to my wife.. Bill total to warranty company was over 7k dollars... And included in the bill was a rental which I never got for 5 days.... Called the dealership.. They tell me bring the truck back well look at it again.. When questioned about the rental they said it was a mistake...

Insurance company billed almost 10k and the. 4x4 still doesn't shift on the fly..

It isn't just dealerships trying to get over folks in this economy. My local shop also tried to pull the same stunt. I took it to another place and it was a crack in the manifold. Just goes to show, lots of crooks out here.

I had my wife bring our 07 Tahoe in for front brakes only, nothing else, nothing. I already prepped her for what she might expect. Sure enough, the service manager comes back and tells her the rotors need to be cut , 279.00 later! She stated "I never told you to perform that work". The SM then said oh, "Let me tell the mechanic then". When she gets home and tells me what happened, I inspect the truck. Guess what??? They already cut one rotor and did not cut the second rotor. NEVER said anything to her about it. Most people would of never noticed!!

Dealerships have huge overhead which translates into pressure to sell jobs. Big jobs. I don't mean to disrespect any members here who toil at dealerships but unfortunately, when you start telling stories like this at a party, it doesn't take too long before everyone chimes in with a similar story. For myself, I am on the same page with the rest of you guys. The only advantage we have is we have actually gotten our hands dirty fixing our cars so we have a pretty good working knowledge of what goes on.

The more I think about it, selling someone something they don't need at the dealship is pretty crappy. You go in blind, trusting the mechanic and the service writer. It's kinda like going to the dentist and being told you have 5 cavities when you really have none. It is a trust relationship.

alan

The shifter cable popped off the ball stud on the wife’s car once while she was on lunch break. She had a dealer-contracted wrecker tow the car in. The dealer called here and told her that there was considerable damage to the car. She called me to go check it. It was obvious where the wrecker lifted the car; the yellow paint from the bar went from frame rail to frame rail and smashed the oil and transmission pans causing them to leak badly. I couldn’t get the service manager to see the obvious but I told the wife what apparently had happened because they didn’t pick her car up with a roll back. The dealer wanted $700 for the repair. Then my wife came in and I showed her what they were claming she did to the car. I was standing next my sweetheart when the manager came up to her and told her that she wrecked her car… Well,.. I took two steps back and the manager looked at me kinda funny. I don’t think he realized that he would have gotten a milder response from sweetie if he would have called her a skanky old two bit cat house reject….. Anyway… she demanded the immediate presence of dealership’s owner, the wrecker company’s owner, a camera and the police because someone did some major damage to her car and she was filing a police report. They even gave her a free rental car while they were repairing her car for free.