Auto Repair Fraud at University Cadillac in Pembroke Pines, FL * Car Buyers Advocate
Greetings once again from The Car Inspector. A few months back I was dispatched to University Cadillac in Pembroke Pines, Florida to inspect a 1995 Cadillac Seville. The dealership had reported that the water pump and transmission side cover gasket were leaking.
I first verified that the water pump was indeed leaking. Next I noted that there was clean pink transmission fluid dripping off of the transmission side cover. I noted that there was no road debris in the fluid stains and no blow back onto the crossmember or undercarraige. I also noted that there was pink transmission fluid on top of the transmission and brake lines.
When I checked the level and condition of the actual fluid inside the transmission, I noted that the fluid was full and it was light brown in color from age.
Before making any accusations, I asked the technician what was leaking. He pointed to the fresh clean pink transmission fluid dripping from the side cover and stated that the side cover gasket is leaking. Basically, he was proclaiming that this dirty transmission was leaking clean transmission fluid. As I think we can all agree, this is not possible. The technician was trying to get paid for work he was not going to do. The scam works like this: The technician tells the service advisor that the gasket is leaking. The service advisor, taking the word of the technician, tells the customer or warranty company that there is a leak.
In this case, replacement of this gasket requires about 11 hours in labor and $25.00 for the gasket. At $75.00 per hour, this works out to $850.00 in parts and labor. Once the owner or the warranty company authorizes the repair, the technician simply cleans the transmission fluid off of the transmission and puts the brand new gasket in the garbage or in his tool box. The technician spents 15 minutes cleaning off the transmission fluid and then gets paid for 11 hours of work.
Please understand, most dealerships pay the mechanics a flat rate. That means that the mechanic gets paid for the number of hours he turns in, regardless of how many hours he actually works. In the case above, the mechanic turns in a ticket for 11 hours but only spent 15 minutes on the "repair". It is this method of pay that allows many technicians to clock in 70-100 hours or more of work in a single week while actually only putting in about 40 hours of real time.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Auto Buyer's Advocate: Stick Bogart ..Car dealers are not regulated
#20
Thu, March 01, 2001
From the badbusinessbureau.com Auto Buyer's Advocate:
Stick Bogart@badbusinessbureau.com
I feel for the above victim. So I took the time to contact Cadillac to inform them how the above Victim was treated. They tell me that they have sent my email to the mentioned car dealer.
You as the car owner or car buyer can call Cadillac at !-800-458-8006 ant tell them how you feel about the car dealer that you have gone to. It is high time the makers understand that we the car buyers are not happy in most cases when going to the dealer.
Car dealers are not regulated like the banking industry or the Real-estate industry. They have access to companies that go from dealer to dealer across the country and teach their sales staff and the service department how to take your money, Don't believe me go to your local library and ask the librarian to get you the latest copy of Automotive news and look for yourself. This is where these companies advertise.
I did get a response from Cadillac. Here is part of it. I want you the consumer to contact the maker anytime you feel that you have been taken.
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Dear badbusinessbureau.com
You may be interested to know that University Cadillac is an independent businesses that are privately owned and operated. Cadillac, as the manufacturer, is not normally involved in the day-to-day business operations of the dealership. To ensure that the dealer is aware of your clients concerns, we will be providing them a copy of your email and will be contacting them later to day when they open for business.
We have documented your client's dealership concerns with the Cadillac Customer and Relationship Services (CARS) Center under file number C03327333. If you desire to include any additional comments in that file, we would ask that you send us a follow up e-mail. As an alternative, you may want to call the CARS Center directly. Advisors there can be reached at 1-800-458-8006 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please refer to that file number in any communication.
Thank you for taking the time out from getting your own pole from being smoked to share your thoughts with us at Cadillac.
Sincerely,
Peter Koenig
Customer Relationship Manager
GM Internet Response Center