I have some constructive criticism for Chrysler dealers selling and servicing the Crossfirec

Get into the books an become familiar with it!!! If nothing else, have your service writers and sales people look through the owners manual and get an idea what this car is about.

I took AZXFIRE in for itfs first oil change todayc I gave the service guy a heads up I was coming. Asked if theyfve done one yetc answer was no. I advised them about the car taking 8.5 qts of oil instead of the 6.5 etc.

It took over an hour for them to do the oil change (I watched from the doorway like a nervous expecting father). They had the young kid doing it with supervision??? When they pulled the car out the first thing I did was to check the dipstick and the FSS meter. Oil was good but the FSS was not reset. Told the service writer about it. His reply was, gDonft think you have to reset themh. Thatfs were I lost it. After a long five minutes he came back out still in the dark. I showed him the owners manual. He asked if I wanted him to reset itc duh, isnft that part of the service???

By then I asked to see the dealerships owner and explained what had happen. Told him his people need to learn the car and stop looking at their customers like wefre idiots when we try to tell them something they should already know. Bottom line, he agreed and apologized.

The End... of the story about my first dealer oil changec

BTW: My dealer looks at this forum and I'm sure others do too... don't mean to embrass anyone with this post, only educate them... it's my time, my car and my money that's involved here.

 

Bravo Outlaws, Bravo.

 

:shock: Oh boy - not looking forward to our first oil change.

It took them 2 hours to change our radio :!: I hope our dealer takes your advice and has their technicians do a little reading before we show up!!!

 

Yep, thats what im worrying about in my smaller city :shock: its sad to see such a nice car be over looked in the service dept. Ive heard some dealers use the "Viper guy" to be the "Crossfire guy" which is cool, but my dealer here has no "Viper guy" so I worry about 'some kid' being thrown into the job of where a top-tech should be. Maybe it will work out when I finally get the first oil change, im just wary of the typical ignorance that can go with servicing such a wonderful and unique vehicle. Almost makes me want Mercedes to service it instead. Anyone had luck here?

 

It's hard to find good sales and service people.90% of them have no interest in cars... its just a job that pays the bills.It's not just the crossfire it's all the new models coming out that they have to learn.It cost's the dealer's alot of money to send techs out for training so few get it.The quality of the people coming into the business has gone down.You need to have an interest in cars to be good at sales or service....few people do anymore.If you can find a good sales guy or tech stick with him.I spent 15 minutes reading about the new 300c that just came out and I learned alot.I'm one of the very few that has an interest.

 

Oooops....did you REALLY check if they use SAE 0W-40 not a 10w-40 ????

 

dealers suck. i change my own oil because te last time i went, the dealer forgot to put the dipstick in. left it in the engine bay and when he clsoed the engine, bent the dipstick. i got a new one from them, but it showed me that they truly have short attention spans.

 

Why wouldn't a M/B dealer service your car? It's JUST an SLK-320 underneath afterall. 8)

Of course, all reports here have been that no M/B dealers will do WARRANTY service... hafta go to a Chrysler dealer for that. But routine maintenance service, I think I'd actually PREFER going to an M/B dealership where I'm more sure they'll a) have seen this engine before, b) will have the parts and know how much fluids to use, and c) have techs that have worked on the 3.2L.

 

Anyway, I bought a Pacifica last year and when I took it back to the dealer for an oil change they didn't even have a filter for it. Took them a week to get it???? Come on Chrysler...get with it. My experience shows that the new cars get out before the technicians at the dealerships become trained. I had a problem with a seat, in the Pacifica, and they said it would take two weeks to get a part to fix it. Since I couldn't drive it (wife had the seat all the way forward) I said...well, why don't you take one out of a car on the lot??? They did and I was on my way

I haven't had to take my Crossfire in yet. *Knocks on wood*

 

While we may look at our cars as SLK 320's with nicer skin, DC certainly does not. MB dealers do not want to work on our cars for the same reasons that Lincoln dealers are not interested in working on Ford Explorers. From the MB viewpoint it is enough that we have SLK's that were discounted 15K without expecting to be serviced like one.

Having said that, I am not afraid of my dealer. I expected some growing pains when I bought in. It took the service driver several minutes just to get the key to open when I brought it in the first time. The service people do take pride in their work. They would rather have happy customers than grumpy ones. They will learn.

 

You're way ahed of me... it took my dealer 1.5 hours of dicking around with the radio to tell me they couldn't pull it off. Nothing I'd rather do on a sunny Saturday morning than hang around in the waiting area of a Five Star Dealer.

 

Have you ever thought about opening up your own shop? It sounds to me like you have the work ethic and the desire to earn a lot of repeat customer business.

 

hmmmm just got mine back form the dealer will post the story on the UK service thread

 

I have to agree that most sales people don't know much about the product they are trying to sell. I was the one that was telling him about the car. :? I was very pleasantly surpised, when I got into the serivce dept., to find that my CF tech. actually had his stuff together. So at least they have a knowledgeable person where they need it most. The cashier could have sold me this car! :lol: I was already sold when I stepped into their showroom. I just needed someone to take my money and give me the keys. :lol:

 

AZc Your experience mirrors a concern I have: Because it's free I'm about to take mine in for its first oil change. I really don't trust the dealer to do it right.

 

AZ... Your experience mirrors mine in the length of time it took (1 h 5 m) and my tab was close to $140. I even provided the oil. Was told this was the first so it took longer and should be faster the next time.

As far as I can tell, they have not sold ANY since mine (11/03) since they still have 4 - 5 on the lot. Until someone else goes in before me, I assume they will learn on mine again. Don't see why I need to be training ground for a tech who I am told was sent off for 2 days to get trained.

May consider another dealer who is quoting a flat price for the job, not the time it takes to learn the job. What is the incentive to learn & get it done quickly if you don't make $$ for the dealer?

I posted a thread a couple months ago and was surprised at how low others were paying for their changes.

 

I bought the oil and filter on sale and did the oil change for under 50 bucks.I wouldn't pay more than 80 bucks to have some one do it.I'm not sure what they charge at the dealer for mobil one but the oil does come in a nice box with a picture of the crossfire on the side.I have a lift in my home garage,I should open up a crossfire shop.Oil changes 75 bucks.. rotation 25 bucks..front brake job 100 bucks etc.A girl around the block just bought a black crossfire,I probably could start with her.

As far as going to a Benz dealer for service....Their not going to do warranty work and benz. owners complain about dealer service and pricing also.There might be an independent benz shop in your area that does good work or try and find a bigger dealer with more crossfire experiance.Chrysler does care somewhat...they started putting quality control engineers at some of the bigger dealers around the country.They help solve problems and report quality issues back to chrysler.

 

My local Chrysler/Dodge dealer frequently sends out coupons for $20 oil changes.

 

oh oh, todo...i don't think we're in kansas anymore :shock: :shock:



dan...got a screwdriver....someplace, i think.

 

[Stepping on my soapbox]
This isn't limited to Chrysler. You could replace "Chrysler dealer" with almost anything in these posts and it would apply. And it's not just automobiles. I try to do some research on anything I purchase of significance. It's really easy with the Internet. But it's been my experience that no matter what I've purchased lately, I know more than the sales person. Whether it be cars, appliances, RV's, whatever. It's a shame that people don't have more pride in their work and in what they're doing.
It must be all of those damned money hungry Republicans fault! No, wait, it's those sleasy socialist Democrats! :evil:
[Stepping off my soapbox]

Ok, continue. :P