Rip-off?

[Explo01]

I took my car into the dealership on Friday morning, and let me include that it is now ready to pick up today (4 business days later). My car was making a clicking noise so they went ahead and performed a "diagnostic" finding out that the problem that I had is not covered under my warranty... and the charge for the "diagnostic" comes to: $83. Not only that, they're charging me a $50 deductible on top of that.

Does that not sound right? I mean, they took 4 frickin' days to service it! And what's this "diagnostic" charge for? $83 to put an ear to the clicking noise? I mean come on! Is this not a rip off? Am I being played here? Have you guys ever heard of a deductible on this warranty service?

 

[bluevolume]

Totally to be expected. The "diagnostic" has become the token rip that dealers use lately. You can take your car in for a new headlight and they'll still charge you $85 for diagnostics.

The deductable should be listed in your warranty agreement. If you have the extended warranty, you are lucky that its $50 and not $100.

 

[Explo01]

Is there any way around this BS "diagnostic" fee? The reason I dropped it off was b/c of the confidence I had as far as the car still being under warranty. What do you guys think?

 

[davidmmm69]

every one has to get paid it is called doing business. the dealer has to keep running like any other buisness.they have many things to pay for incluing an expensive mechanic who can spend a couple of hours looking at your car and he has to expect not to work for free..
in your job would you like to spend a couple of hours if not longer on something and not get paid for it.
or better yet you get paid for it but your company not. not relly not a good way to keep it going ..

 

[etc]

They have all the right to charge your for a diagnostice fee. If you knew what the problem was you wouldn't need to take it to the dealer and be told what the problem is.

This seems fitting:

A repairman came to fix the new supercomputer. After studying it for a few minutes, he took out a screwdriver and turned a small screw an eighth of an inch counterclockwise. An instant later, the computer started to hum. The repairman filled out a bill for $300.00 and handed it to the company accountant. The accountant considered the amount a bit much for such a simple repair, so he demanded the bill be itemized. Taking the invoice back from the accountant, the repairman wrote:

1. Turning screw one-eighth of an inch- $.50:
2. Knowing which screw to turn and how much : $299.50.

 

[bluevolume]

Is there any way around this BS "diagnostic" fee? The reason I dropped it off was b/c of the confidence I had as far as the car still being under warranty. What do you guys think?

You have to be really careful with car warranties -- ask lots of specific questions before you have the dealer do any work. The only time you'll ever take your car in for work and not have to pay anything will be for factory recalls.

In this case, you should probably just pay the bill and move on. Getting a car back from the dealer for less than $500 is a lucky thing.

 

[Explo01]

This seems fitting:

A repairman came to fix the new supercomputer. After studying it for a few minutes, he took out a screwdriver and turned a small screw an eighth of an inch counterclockwise. An instant later, the computer started to hum. The repairman filled out a bill for $300.00 and handed it to the company accountant. The accountant considered the amount a bit much for such a simple repair, so he demanded the bill be itemized. Taking the invoice back from the accountant, the repairman wrote:
1. Turning screw one-eighth of an inch- $.50:
2. Knowing which screw to turn and how much : $299.50

That story of yours kinda slapped me in the face, but in a good way... chuckle.

I guess my only option is to just pay it and move on. Somebody does need to get paid. But 4 days!? That's rediculous. I'll be more careful in the future. Thanks for the insight fellas

 

[TSTONE]

every one has to get paid it is called doing business. the dealer has to keep running like any other buisness.they have many things to pay for incluing an expensive mechanic who can spend a couple of hours looking at your car and he has to expect not to work for free..
in your job would you like to spend a couple of hours if not longer on something and not get paid for it.
or better yet you get paid for it but your company not. not relly not a good way to keep it going ..

Gawd - I must feel this way 50 times a day,


When it comes to extended warranties you (the owner) are always responsible for "check out"(diagnosis), we charge $80.00hr on a sliding scale for type of diag required here at my shop. If it comes back as a "no problem found" or "non-warranty covered" you are responsible for the diag. If there are multiple concerns on the work order and some are covered while others are not you will still be responsible for check out on the non-covered items, and seperatley be responsible for any deductible on the covered items.

That being said - they may or may not have overcharged you. If there wasn't any warranty work performed they should not have charged the deductible.

 

[LOGJOCKY]

dealers will screw you in any way possible

 

[etc]

That story of yours kinda slapped me in the face, but in a good way... chuckle.

Glad you took it in a good way.

 

[aldive]

Is there any way around this BS "diagnostic" fee? The reason I dropped it off was b/c of the confidence I had as far as the car still being under warranty. What do you guys think?

Yes there is. (1) Never go to a dealership (2) find a good local independent repair facility ( 3) DIY.

Good luck ....

 

[Eneurb]

If the warranty that you have purchased is not from Ford, that could be part of the problem. Most aftermarket warranty companies do not pay for diagnosis, but that doesn't change the fact that the car had to be diagnosed. So I would call that being ripped off by your warranty company, not the dealer.
The diagnostic fee is by no means a rip off, and I'd be really surprised if someone can show me an invoice where they have been charged $85 to diagnose a burnt out headlamp bulb.
Working for a dealer, I am often offended by the views alot of folks here have against dealers, but I can tell you of a number of situations where people have spent thousands of dollars on repairs at other garages, that would only have cost a few hundred bucks from us.

 

[Critical_Level2]

I have never paid a diagnostic fee at my dealer. When it was under warranty, had the Ford extended warranty, I only paid the $50 deductible, even if it was multiple things. When I take it in now, since I bought it from them, they only charge a max of $40 diagnostics if I have them do the repair. The only reason I go to the dealer, is that they take very very good care of their customers, especially if you bought the vehicle from them.

 

[TSTONE]

Working for a dealer,.... , but I can tell you of a number of situations where people have spent thousands of dollars on repairs at other garages, that would only have cost a few hundred bucks from us.

Ditto

 

[Brock94]

A few years back I had a Ford Taurus with a leaking head gasket-- coolant was leaking into the cylinders and it was obvious what the problem was (Ok, it could have been a cracked head, but these vehicles were famous for leaky gaskets). I took it to the dealer and said I wanted them to replace the head gaskets. They told me they would have to charge a $70 "diagnostic" fee despite the fact that I already knew the problem and told them that I was willing to accept the risk that it would not be fixed by replacing the head gaskets. The guy said it was just their policy that anytime a car comes in they charge the $70.

I think the real issue here is more of a customer relations issue. I have not been to the dealer since my last new car's warranty ran out because of the psychological effect of knowing that whether they find the problem or not or whether they fix it or not, it's going to cost me the "diagnosis" fee. I think it would be a better move on the part of dealers to roll the actual diagnosis time into the total time to do the job if the customer elects to have them do it, but if the customer chooses to hold off on the repair, they should let it go. I think 90% of business is getting someone in the door and there are probably a lot of people who are turned away by a $70 or $90 door charge.

As for my Taurus, I had the dealer do it because I needed it right away. Happily for me Ford later decided to "extend" the warranty for that repair and refunded the $1260 that the dealer charged.

 

[gijoecam]

First things first: Is it a Ford extended warranty, or an aftermarket warranty? I've heard too many horror stories about the non-Ford extended warranties. With the Ford warranty, you pay your deductible on a per-incident basis and that's it. No diagnostic fees, no additional fees of any sort, and whatever's broke gets fixed.

What was broke and what did they fix?

Now, should the dealer be unable to diagnose the problem, they shouldn't charge you for anything. Some may try to, but I'd go through hell and back before I paid for them to throw their arms up and say, "I dunno." If no work was performed, they definately can't charge you the deductible, and the diagnostic fee is iffy... if they found something and refused to let them fix it, I'd say you owe them. If they didn't find anything in the first place, I'd say that they shouldn't be able to charge you for looking in the windows.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Eneurb]

I agree with that... as we do not charge a diagnostic fee if we can't/don't find a problem. About not charging diagnosis, that would create a problem of do-it-yourselfers coming in for a free diagnosis and then not doing the repair.
If someone were to come to our place requesting us to replace head gaskets, we would also recommend diagnosing the vehicle ourselves, or leave the customer on the hook for the price of the repair even if it did not fix the original problem.
But, you get what you pay for.

 

[BigDakota]

Heres my 2 cents opinion on the Rip Off..We all expect to get something in return for what we think our hard earned $$dollars are worth. I think most of us have just enough money to survive in todays money based climate. Inflation grows and our paychecks stay the same. It is our wallets screaming our opinions, not our minds.
I have respect for the skilled Techs in the mechanics realm.
Yes, there are Integrity problems sometimes, but hey, you can get Ripped Off almost any where if your not somewhat alert, and sometimes that does not help.
To keep my opinion with this thread....your deductible should be first, then the rest of the charges should be adjusted accordingly.."Less the $50 bucks"

 

[TSTONE]

The following applies to vehicles that are outside the original bumper2bumper warranty period:

With us the diag fee is applied to the cost of the repair if you choose to fix it, if you choose not to fix it you still owe the diag. As for charging diag time on "No problem found" issues, it can vary. If you come in telling me there is an intermittant condition & you can't not reproduce the condition during the check-in test drive you can choose to leave the vehicle. My tech will look at it, but if the condition still can't be duplicated you will be charged the time it took to attempt to reproduce the condition. If you don't want to be charged under those guidelines then wait to bring it in until you can demonstrate the condition to an advisor.

 

[davidmmm69]

my wifes ford Windstar van.
had a huge transmission problem. took it to them and 3 hours waiting and they finally said all tested good we have to drop the trasmission and rebuild...
it cost me $95.00

at the end thanks to another forum i replaced the transaxle range sensor $22.99 at Autozone and the problem was fixed.. I felt like going down there and yelling but can not waste my time what bugged me is that is a huge problem in the Windstar van and you would think that is one of the first things they check right??? Just pay the money and get going...