Dealer Service defensive measures.....

[ReaperHWK]

Got a new 6.2, getting extended warranty, and I've decided the least of the 2 evils is to service the vehicle (oil changes/tire rotations) at the dealer due to warranty proof.

I always do my own service because it's more convenient for me and mainly because I don't want anyone else touching or F'n up my car/truck.

So besides removing my catch can prior to bringing it in I'm going to:

1)If getting tire rotation Remove all wheel center caps myself because the dealer has been known to pry them off and scratch crap all the time. Take pictures of each wheel prior to service.
2)State to service manager the truck has PPF and is fully ceramic coated and to be careful with it because I'd notice
3)Do most dealers plastic the seats and steering wheel? Those guys grease crap up I've seen on past vehicles and reading online.
4)Anyone take 360 pictures around the truck before drop off?
5)Any other best practices?

My truck was at the dealer for about 1 month prior to me getting and they happened to in that time put a gash in the tailgate plastic trim, scratch the piano black trim, scratch the wheels, and of course intall dealer swirls!

Anyway thats my Monday rant.

 

[imfrogman]

Sounds like you should just wrap in bubble wrap and never take out of the garage

 

[ReaperHWK]

Sounds like you should just wrap in bubble wrap and never take out of the garage

Yes when I drive my cars I wear a full velvet jumpsuit and driving gloves, also take a shower before each ride and wear a hair net.

My garage has air filters so it's like a clean room in there.

 

[martinajm]

Why not just keep proof of doing the service yourself? With reasonable documentation you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[ReaperHWK]

Why not just keep proof of doing the service yourself? With reasonable documentation you shouldn't have any issues.

Yes I do that on all my other vehicles.

It’s just that this one has the 6.2 and has a high chance of failure due to bearing and oiling issues. I don’t want to give GM one reason to deny a warranty. I seen people get denied warranty coverage for any reason they can find. I lose one receipt…. Denied. I went over by 100 miles… denied. I used Mobil 1 oil filter one time…. Denied. Tech says looks like the oil ran low and was underfilled… denied.

FYI my 2022 redeye hasn’t seen the dealer for one service. Dodge is known to F these cars up. The 20” wheels barely clear the wheel barrels and I’ve seen dealer serviced hellcats with the wheel barrels and calipers all scraped up from dealer techs banging then around. I use wheel extenders and wheel protector sockets and never have touched my wheels to the calipers ONCE. Dealers don’t give 2 *****.

Actually I lied I had to bring the redeye in one time for a software update.

 

[tsuintx]

While I do agree that a lot of dealer oil/lube/tire "techs" often are slobs, I'd say there's also a bit of paranoia going on there. I'm sorry you feel the need to do all that, but guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

Also, tire rotations have nothing to do with the engine warranty, so tell them not to do it. Leaves you one less thing to worry about.

 

[ReaperHWK]

Yeah I'm going to skip the rotations, just let them do the oil for sure. I'll rotate those bitches.

I have never had a service I was 100% satisfied with, if I get 90% I'll leave it and won't complain, that's the rule for me. My wife is asking me why I didn't hire contractors to redo the basement and the bathroom, my response is that they would F it all up! So I did that all myself too. I notice in 80% of tile jobs they aren’t to my standard, I stare at shit like that all the time lol.

 

[BacDoc]

My dealership has a full camera system that takes pictures of the truck from every angle even under carriage and all 4 wheels when you check in.

It’s using an AI analysis that’s pretty good except that it over calls some of the images-such as reading some fine dirt on the paint as a scratch.

It even analyzes tire tread
This dealership also does complimentary car wash and if you don’t want them to do it manually they give you a coupon for a local car wash facility.

 

[FatBob]

If you have rain sense wipers, and will be getting a free car wash, turn them off.
A friend took his Suburban in for an oil change and they ran it through their on site car wash. His wipers were messed up. The dealer denied responsibility, until he showed them his dash cam video.

 

[adventurenali92]

As a professional detailer, I recommend to all my clients that have ceramic coated vehicles, to NOT let the dealers wash their cars during a service. You just don’t know what products they’re using or if they send it through an automated car wash. Automated car washes with rotating brushes will absolutely destroy and strip your ceramic coating off the vehicle.

 

[ReaperHWK]

So I just had the dealer do the first complimentary oil change he and told them not to rotate the tires or wash the car. So all they did was change the oil.

Had the hood popped when I was installing a catch can and noticed the dealer already damage my truck!

Some clown either dropped some oil or left a tool on the clear lid for the performance airbox. There are scratches all over it from either a tool laying there or then using a dirty rag to wipe up oil drips! This seals my gate all self service from now on.

I’ll try and use some plastic X to buff it out but I can feel some marks with my fingernail so I maybe SOL. F these guys.

 

[2024 White Tahoe]

The Chevrolet dealer that I use has a free car wash with any service. It is a poor quality drive-through wash that does a poor job of cleaning the car.

I always tape a large note on the dash stating, “Do Not Wash”, as well as tell the service advisor. I have never had the dealership wash the car after using my note.

 

[ReaperHWK]

I was walking around the lot and saw a brand new Tahoe (black) that the dealer already destroyed by washing it improperly. Covered in swirls and actual scratches in the black grill from wiping it down with dirty rags. Wow.
My black 2022 challenger looks better and is in better shape than a dealer abused 2026 Tahoe.

The dealer has a sign in the service area that says “not responsible for any damage to cars” so they get out of any liability.

I wouldn’t trust a dealer to fill my tires with air.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I also have had bad experiences with car dealers. Back in 1994 I bought a brand new Explorer. Had 7 miles on it. Brought it in for some warranty work. Every time I picked it up they did something worse to it. By the time they were done fking it up they had to repaint the entire truck and it looked like shit. Dealer said once it was painted they were no longer going to warranty the paint job. Dealers suck.

 

[Johnny Fr]

We bought a brand new 2011 Enclave in June 2011, and so from 2011 to about 2018, we frequented GMC dealerships. In a 50 mile radius, they were all TERRIBLE. I know this is not the place to discuss an Enclave, but GMC is very much related to Tahoe and this is a Yukon forum as well. Right off the bat I think OP has reasonable expectations that cannot be met by a GM dealership. So the best thing is to avoid imho. After getting ripped off for an oil change in 2012, our Enclave never saw a dealer again in its life for an oil change. It mattered not. We had the vehicle until May 2025. Anyone see the short where the guy running a shop went to GMC to get parts, and he filmed? There were all aftermarket parts laying around--that was something I was not aware of, but my buddy was, as he has a tech friend at a dealership

 

[ReaperHWK]

I also have had bad experiences with car dealers. Back in 1994 I bought a brand new Explorer. Had 7 miles on it. Brought it in for some warranty work. Every time I picked it up they did something worse to it. By the time they were done fking it up they had to repaint the entire truck and it looked like shit. Dealer said once it was painted they were no longer going to warranty the paint job. Dealers suck.

Wow that’s horrible, makes my problems seem trivial!

I showed my wife the scratched air box cover she saw it immediately and was like WTF. And she doesn’t have an eye like me.

Fortunately looks like since it’s clear plastic I can wet sand and polish it out.

The more I look at it I really think they tech placed the oil bottles there as he was filling the oil and dragged them across the top of the lid…..

 

[Johnny Fr]

I also have had bad experiences with car dealers. Back in 1994 I bought a brand new Explorer. Had 7 miles on it. Brought it in for some warranty work. Every time I picked it up they did something worse to it. By the time they were done fking it up they had to repaint the entire truck and it looked like shit. Dealer said once it was painted they were no longer going to warranty the paint job. Dealers suck.

The thing that seemed to happen during the pandemic, is in addition to labor rates going way up, parts are routinely over list at both new car dealers and private garages. Sorta like how many restaurants now charge extra if you use a CC. When it's widespread, we the consumer can't do much about it....on top of all that, you may not even being getting genuine parts, as a YouTube short showed at a GMC dealer

 

[2024 White Tahoe]

The thing that seemed to happen during the pandemic, is in addition to labor rates going way up, parts are routinely over list at both new car dealers and private garages. Sorta like how many restaurants now charge extra if you use a CC. When it's widespread, we the consumer can't do much about it....on top of all that, you may not even being getting genuine parts, as a YouTube short showed at a GMC dealer

The Chevrolet and Dodge dealerships that I have used for many years began charging an extra 3% for credit card use in 2025.

A close friend was the parts manager at the Dodge dealership. He told me the company they used to manage all of their software, invoices, service records, etc., had a process so they could increase the manufacturer’s list price for parts.

The dealership added an extra 3% on the manufacturer’s list price of all their parts, but when you saw the invoice the increased price was shown as “list” with no surcharge. It was another sneaky way to gouge the customers.

The Dodge dealership also added a “hazardous waste removal fee” for their oil change service - but collected and sold the used oil to another company.

 

[ReaperHWK]

That’s after 2500 grit, 3000 grit wet sand and a machine polish with meguirs plastic x. 95% of it came out I think it looks good.

F the dealer now!!!

Also I hope there wasn’t any type of coating on it becuase if there was it’s long polished off, probably took off a half mil to a mil of plastic. I think I’m ok though since it doesn’t get UV.

 

[tsuintx]

The more I look at it I really think they tech placed the oil bottles there as he was filling the oil and dragged them across the top of the lid…..

I’d imagine dealers use hoses from larger containers somewhere in the back to fill the oil, not bottles.