Wednesday I booked a appointment at an auto dealer to get a safety recall repair. I got there a little early and was told they needed to keep the car overnight.
Multiple notices stated the work would take one hour. It was 2pm.
I asked "Where will I sleep?". Only then did the manager learn that I have driven one hour and forty minutes to get there. It soon became clear the man was working far above his level of competence.
Told him goodbye and started for my car.
That got him moving.
The work was finished by four thirty.
This sort of carp seems to happen with every auto service department I have ever dealt with except when getting my Toyota truck serviced.
I know people that will never own another Mercedes because of the was they were treated by the service departments.
How universal is incompetence in auto service departments?

I hate when carp like that happens.

We've owned mostly Toyotas during the last 20 plus years with our 99 Lexus and the 03 Sienna minivan. The Toyota dealers have been ok, though some of them try to sell you those useless and expensive services. You know, they bring a sample of your oil out and compare it to the display on the counter for the engine cleaning service. OMG!!! Is that what my oil looks like??? We just politely refused those and they would drop it.

The Subie is a 2016 with 12K miles. All we've had done are oil changes.

Best of all, though, we started taking our cars to our neighbor's nephew. He's a mechanic at a Lexus dealer and he has a setup at his house that rivals the dealer's faciilty. Dan has a brain that he knows how to use. And he's way less expensive.

We've actually had pretty good luck with our Subaru/VW dealer. Toyota was good back when I had my Scion. I haven't had to do much with the Kia dealer yet.

I had a car that was new until a routine 30k mile service messed it up. "That's the way it was when we got it." It settled down but was never the same again.

No. Some auto dealerships are better than others. The dealer that’s closest to where you live or work may not be the best one in your area. There might be better dealer service departments but they’re located further away and it’ll take more driving for you to get there.

It’s going to take some research and trial and error on your part to find one. Ask around. Dealership service departments are set up to do mostly warranty work on newer cars. If you have an older car like I do, they may not have mechanics skilled to work on it. Mechanics get training on the newer technology. The Nissan dealership I go to has techs who’ve been there a long time and they get assigned to my car whenever I bring it in. I’d say that most dealership mechanics are ages 25-40 and my car is probably older than most of their mechanics. I asked the service dept. at what one point will I get turned away because my car is too old for them to work on. He said he didn’t thing that will happen as they work on cars even older than mine.

This dealer’s service dept. always seems to be busy and I have to make an appointment. Monday is their busiest day so I avoid going there on Mondays because everyone who had a problem with their car over the previous week end wants to have their car looked at. And the dealership can only handle a certain no. of cars per hour to work on. Tuesdays, they’re catching up with all the work from Monday. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are easier to make an appointment for.

Whether it’s a dealership or an independent auto repair shop, mistakes can happen. How well they handle the mistake is a sign of how good their facility is.