Main dealers fail to find vehicle faults, Auto Express survey shows

More than a third of respondents complain that main dealers couldn’t diagnose a problem

Main dealers fail to find vehicle faults, Auto Express survey shows
The biggest gripe that motorists have with main dealers is that they often fail to identify the fault.

The biggest complaint main dealers are facing is being unable to diagnose a vehicle fault, according to a survey of 50,000 motorists.

The Auto Express Driver Power survey has revealed that 34 per cent of main dealers fail to identify a vehicle fault and of those that do manage to find out what’s wrong, 14 per cent of respondents say they don’t explain it well enough.

More than 40 per cent of drivers had cause to complain to their dealer over a repair or service issue.

Other complaints against main dealers include unanswered phone calls, discourteous staff and unexplained bills.

Auto Express said: “The biggest complaint dealers face is mechanics being unable to diagnose a fault.

“As cars become more advanced, the number of potential problems grows.

Growing problem

“Our watchdog team deals with such cases every day and this is only set to increase.

“Electrical gremlins remain the single biggest problem owners face and with more kit than ever fitted to modern cars, there’s a high chance you’ll be left heading back to your local dealer for a system reset or update.

“Combine the number of complaints reports for engines, gearboxes, brakes and suspension and they only come to a fraction more than the total number of grips concerning electronic glitches.”

The data shows that electrical issues account for 30 per cent of problems while engine issues are the cause just 12 per cent or problems, the gearbox eight per cent, brakes eight per cent and the suspension six per cent.

Pre-paid servicing

Auto Express say attractive finance packages with pre-paid servicing help entice drivers to the main dealers, with more than one-third of owners claiming this to be the main reason for using a dealer for maintenance.

Are you surprised by the survey results? Do you have concerns that the only reason one third of the respondents use the main dealer is because of pre-paid servicing? Share your comments below.

32 Comments

  1. A percentage is do with the customer too not given the right information to diagnose the car. The automotive industries is getting harder as more tech is getting adding to vehicles. Than you got the garages main dealers which don’t give the time to find the fault on vehicles as want there technician to 100% productively.

    Reply
  2. A percentage is do with the customer too not given the right information to diagnose the car. The automotive industries is getting harder as more tech is getting adding to vehicles. Than you got the garages main dealers which don’t give the time to find the fault on vehicles as want there technician to 100% productively.

    Reply
  3. The dealer keep some technical informations for his customers not giving to other persons to let you in touch with him not for other workshops

    Reply
  4. The dealer keep some technical informations for his customers not giving to other persons to let you in touch with him not for other workshops

    Reply
  5. After nearly 18 months of humbug with electronic handbrake issues on 13 reg mk7 golf manufacturer agreed to replace vehicle with later car or buy gold back. The replacement was far better and did not suffer the same issue.

    Reply
  6. After nearly 18 months of humbug with electronic handbrake issues on 13 reg mk7 golf manufacturer agreed to replace vehicle with later car or buy gold back. The replacement was far better and did not suffer the same issue.

    Reply
  7. Whether the customer gives full information or not we are the professionals and should be able to diagnose any fault, if you have in a car with a fault, sort it or change jobs, we are technicians not exhaust fitters.

    Reply
    • And I suppose you cure every car every time with not the correct information your awesome

      Reply
  8. Whether the customer gives full information or not we are the professionals and should be able to diagnose any fault, if you have in a car with a fault, sort it or change jobs, we are technicians not exhaust fitters.

    Reply
    • And I suppose you cure every car every time with not the correct information your awesome

      Reply
  9. In my experience a lot (note, I’m not saying all!) main dealers seem to work on the “let’s try replacing this part and see if works” basis. As an independent I never, ever take that approach. To do that is just making the customer pay for your incompetence. It’s surprising how many electronic components I order from dealers which are supplied with strict instructions that it cannot be returned if the box/bag has been opened, which is fair enough except that in around 50% of cases the box has already been opened! I take this to mean someone else has already tried it as a “cure”.

    Reply
  10. In my experience a lot (note, I’m not saying all!) main dealers seem to work on the “let’s try replacing this part and see if works” basis. As an independent I never, ever take that approach. To do that is just making the customer pay for your incompetence. It’s surprising how many electronic components I order from dealers which are supplied with strict instructions that it cannot be returned if the box/bag has been opened, which is fair enough except that in around 50% of cases the box has already been opened! I take this to mean someone else has already tried it as a “cure”.

    Reply
  11. Having worked in various dealerships the only conclusion i can make of this survey is that the dealers do not treat their technicians well and subsequently these skilled people leave the dealers and join the independent sector not for the money but for the respect.

    Reply
    • Spot on, how very true.

      Reply
  12. Having worked in various dealerships the only conclusion i can make of this survey is that the dealers do not treat their technicians well and subsequently these skilled people leave the dealers and join the independent sector not for the money but for the respect.

    Reply
    • Spot on, how very true.

      Reply
  13. most of us indie techs have come out of dealers to seek to build a great business, your mindset morphs the minute you become self employed, which i did 27yrs ago, having done 10yrs from 16 in a dealer. We are proud to say our diagnostic success rates are high, its taken a complete change of thought process, clarity and openess to the customer, value for money without being so cheap you struggle. My approach these days on apro tech level is way higher than back then, a self employed tech faced with there first look at a fault via the fault codes to us is actually the SECOND step in the diag process! I will quiz the client extensively about when there problem happened, how many times, what speed, time of day, was it a damp day, were you trundling along or flooring it, noticed and strong whistling noise when accelerating? Radical economy change? Even a basic, had you put fuel in recently? gives many a clue! And so into the system with one or more expensive pieces of kit, in my case pretty much knowing either whats going to pop up in the diag, and then the tech process begins of going deeper, checking values, running balance tests etc etc. This way we will not be blanket fixing as we’ve seen time and time again,yawn! Sorry folks if i’m blabbing on, in my experience to cap it off, in the independent side of what is bordering on stratospheric knowledge of everything from a fabulously done weld to tuning a tdi vehicle so well that the client smiles every time he/she drives it. If you don’t have this, or the ability to think laterally, out of your dealer box, you’ll fail eventually i’m sorry to say! One last example of a classic case in point/scenario…John takes his Corsa to the dealer, describes his problem to front desk, job card is written up by front desk mans pal, off info relayed to him via front desk man, so now desk man’s pal has the full sp in his shell like to accurately relay to the tech, verbally or otherwise, so now tech is totally on the case knowing what to do, or is he? Not a chance, the story has changed down the line! That’s where i actually do feel for the dealer tech sometimes, anyways that’s life, we will commence the way we are and move forward.

    Reply
  14. most of us indie techs have come out of dealers to seek to build a great business, your mindset morphs the minute you become self employed, which i did 27yrs ago, having done 10yrs from 16 in a dealer. We are proud to say our diagnostic success rates are high, its taken a complete change of thought process, clarity and openess to the customer, value for money without being so cheap you struggle. My approach these days on apro tech level is way higher than back then, a self employed tech faced with there first look at a fault via the fault codes to us is actually the SECOND step in the diag process! I will quiz the client extensively about when there problem happened, how many times, what speed, time of day, was it a damp day, were you trundling along or flooring it, noticed and strong whistling noise when accelerating? Radical economy change? Even a basic, had you put fuel in recently? gives many a clue! And so into the system with one or more expensive pieces of kit, in my case pretty much knowing either whats going to pop up in the diag, and then the tech process begins of going deeper, checking values, running balance tests etc etc. This way we will not be blanket fixing as we’ve seen time and time again,yawn! Sorry folks if i’m blabbing on, in my experience to cap it off, in the independent side of what is bordering on stratospheric knowledge of everything from a fabulously done weld to tuning a tdi vehicle so well that the client smiles every time he/she drives it. If you don’t have this, or the ability to think laterally, out of your dealer box, you’ll fail eventually i’m sorry to say! One last example of a classic case in point/scenario…John takes his Corsa to the dealer, describes his problem to front desk, job card is written up by front desk mans pal, off info relayed to him via front desk man, so now desk man’s pal has the full sp in his shell like to accurately relay to the tech, verbally or otherwise, so now tech is totally on the case knowing what to do, or is he? Not a chance, the story has changed down the line! That’s where i actually do feel for the dealer tech sometimes, anyways that’s life, we will commence the way we are and move forward.

    Reply
  15. ps,excuse all the smelling pistakes,it was early,lol!

    Reply
  16. ps,excuse all the smelling pistakes,it was early,lol!

    Reply
  17. Whilst manufacturer technicians are trained to fault find and repair franchised makes they also fault find, service and repair other car makes which they are less likely to have been trained to do. As per the IMI ATA training model. This might be relevant in some cases here (but not the Golf instance). But the main concern for me is safety re electrics. We are talking about unqualified individuals being allowed to carry out/tinker with electrical jobs that professional electricians would be licensed to do. That’s dangerous. As things stand, there are many good garages, dealerships and fastfit repairers that take all this, including training courses, very seriously but others that don’t give a toss because they don’t have to. This is what you get after 60+ years of Governments failing to understand this risky area, putting their hand in their pocket and/or worrying about telling us what to do. Until identifiable lives are lost I’m afraid?

    Reply
  18. Whilst manufacturer technicians are trained to fault find and repair franchised makes they also fault find, service and repair other car makes which they are less likely to have been trained to do. As per the IMI ATA training model. This might be relevant in some cases here (but not the Golf instance). But the main concern for me is safety re electrics. We are talking about unqualified individuals being allowed to carry out/tinker with electrical jobs that professional electricians would be licensed to do. That’s dangerous. As things stand, there are many good garages, dealerships and fastfit repairers that take all this, including training courses, very seriously but others that don’t give a toss because they don’t have to. This is what you get after 60+ years of Governments failing to understand this risky area, putting their hand in their pocket and/or worrying about telling us what to do. Until identifiable lives are lost I’m afraid?

    Reply
  19. Many of todays problems with cars, involve the use of a “scope” to fully understand what is going on. I dont think the “Dealer Training” goes anywhere near this type of training so for once us “Aftermarket boys” might just be ahead?

    Reply
  20. Many of todays problems with cars, involve the use of a “scope” to fully understand what is going on. I dont think the “Dealer Training” goes anywhere near this type of training so for once us “Aftermarket boys” might just be ahead?

    Reply
  21. I think the problem is dealers are to gready and just cant see past money iv worked for dealers and independents and now have my own garage but i remember working for the dealers and they dont want you to spend time on fault finding they would rather make an educated guess because they just want to get the money in and theres no money in fault finding only in fault rectification . they can afford to play that game because they have warrenty to fall back on if it goes wrong but as the rest of us who dont value money as much as reputation know this game is false economy. And on a second note i think its their own fault lets be honest the manufactures deliberately make their cars as difficult to repair as possable to keep the after market trade away from them but they are so good at it now their own techs cant even fix the cars i think the manufactures would do well to remember a mechanic unfriendly car is a user unfriendly car

    Reply
  22. I think the problem is dealers are to gready and just cant see past money iv worked for dealers and independents and now have my own garage but i remember working for the dealers and they dont want you to spend time on fault finding they would rather make an educated guess because they just want to get the money in and theres no money in fault finding only in fault rectification . they can afford to play that game because they have warrenty to fall back on if it goes wrong but as the rest of us who dont value money as much as reputation know this game is false economy. And on a second note i think its their own fault lets be honest the manufactures deliberately make their cars as difficult to repair as possable to keep the after market trade away from them but they are so good at it now their own techs cant even fix the cars i think the manufactures would do well to remember a mechanic unfriendly car is a user unfriendly car

    Reply
  23. I think what it boils down to is that the most skilled guys like myself come out of the dealerships an go self employed!!!

    Reply
  24. I think what it boils down to is that the most skilled guys like myself come out of the dealerships an go self employed!!!

    Reply
  25. In all the main dealers i worked in, we were never given enough time to diagnose faults. Whilst the pressure to be efficient is always on our backs, proper pay and training is the way forward not just the pound of flesh for the greedy guy at the top.

    Reply
  26. In all the main dealers i worked in, we were never given enough time to diagnose faults. Whilst the pressure to be efficient is always on our backs, proper pay and training is the way forward not just the pound of flesh for the greedy guy at the top.

    Reply
  27. Much of the problem comes with The plug in software throwing up a number of causes of the fault. A bad technician will go for either the wrong one, most expensive one, or a scattergun approach. So the chances are the wrong sensor/part will be replaced. This all comes from not actually understanding the fault or the symptoms and by just looking at the options the screen gives without really having the insight as to which it is likely to be.

    Reply
  28. Much of the problem comes with The plug in software throwing up a number of causes of the fault. A bad technician will go for either the wrong one, most expensive one, or a scattergun approach. So the chances are the wrong sensor/part will be replaced. This all comes from not actually understanding the fault or the symptoms and by just looking at the options the screen gives without really having the insight as to which it is likely to be.

    Reply

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