Tales From the Service Desk: Survey Says

If you’ve ever had your car serviced at a dealership, you’ve probably received a survey about the experience, either via snail mail or phone. Or perhaps online. This is especially likely if the work was done under warranty.

You’ve probably thrown out/ignored this survey. What you probably don’t know is that doing so may have cost your service advisor money and/or got him in hot water with the boss.

I certainly learned that one the hard way during my time as a service writer.

Read more
Tales From the Service Desk: The Buick That Had a Secret

Hi there! You’ve probably learned a bit about your author during my time at TTAC, but you might not know I toiled in the service department of various car dealerships early in my career.

I started as a porter in high school, then eventually worked as a greeter in the service bay (basically, managing the flow of cars and customers in the service drive), before finally working as a service writer (aka service advisor). I did that final job both in an express-service lane at a dealer (think oil changes and basic maintenance) as well as in a capacity as a “regular” advisor (not just oil changes, but all types of repair).

Read more
  • FreedMike Glad that one worked out for you!
  • Urlik My issue with gigacasting is future repairabilty. It may save in manufacturing but all the savings will get eaten up by the consumers in increased insurance costs.
  • Wjtinfwb Ford can produce all the training and instructional videos they want, and issue whatever mandates they can pursuant to state Franchise laws. The dealer principal and staff are the tip of the spear and if they don't give a damn, the training is a waste of time. Where legal, link CSI and feedback scores to allocations and financial incentives (or penalties). I'm very happy with my Ford products (3 at current) as I was with my Jeeps. But the dealer experience is as maddening and off-putting as possible. I refuse now to spend my money at a retailer who treats me and my investment like trash so I now shop for a dealer who does provide professional and courteous service. That led to the Jeep giving way to an Acura, which has not been trouble free but the dealer is at least courteous and responsive. It's the same owner group as the local Ford dealer so it's not the owners DNA, it's how American Honda manages the dealer interface with American Honda's customer. Ford would do well to adopt the same posture. It's their big, blue oval sign that's out front.
  • ToolGuy Nice car."I’m still on the fill-up from prior to Christmas 2023."• This is how you save the planet (and teach the oil companies a lesson) with an ICE.
  • Scrotie about 4 years ago there was a 1992 oldsmobile toronado which was a travtech-avis pilot car that had the prototype nav system and had a big antenna on the back. it sold quick and id never seen another ever again. i think they wanted like 13500 for it which was steep for an early 90s gm car.