Auto Dealers

[Paystar]

Just further proof what thieving criminals the auto industry is.
The pinion seal on the rear diff of my 2020 F150 is just starting to get damp. So I booked appointment to have it done at dealer because I remembered I still have extended warranty.
So gunna be two weeks before they get me in, so I stopped in today to get 2 litres of gear oil to carry with me in case I need to top up of it gets worse. I went to dealer because I didn't know off hand what type of oil for those locking rear diffs.
Turns out it is the same 75W-140 I just got for the Rockwell rear axle in my L9000.

Two litres....$105!!!!!! For comparison I got two pails to change out my L9000's Rockwell from my heavy truck parts supplier for $145 each. That's 20 litres per pail.

So by Ford dealer math that pail is worth $1000 and it would have cost me $2000 to do my big truck.
That is downright criminal. No doubt I'll be returning those now that I saw it's the same oil I have at home for the big truck.

 

[RayIN]

But, But, those jugs say Ford on them.

 

[Paystar]

But, But, those jugs say Ford on them.

LOL no doubt. I only wanted oil, I didn't want to buy shares in the company.

 

[not2old]

I went to the dealer today for one litre of each oil for the transmission, the transfer case, the front dif, and the rear dif, all different for a 2018 Grand Cherokee. with tax it totaled $196.48. The owner`s manual says to take it to the dealer when something acts up as there is no dip stick for the transmission. No specs given for any of the others and you need to give the parts guy the VIN for him to determine which fluids you need. Another reason why my next car won`t be a Jeep, but I`m guessing others might be similar.

 

[Thomas]

Gut feeling it's not going to get better out there.

 

[D&D]

Gut feeling it's not going to get better out there.

Consumers have pretty well painted themselves into this corner. Even here, on a tractor forum, lots of comments about buying parts and supplies only from the dealer. Society wants to “just pay somebody” to fix their problems (car, truck, tractor, house, spouse, kids). They are getting exactly what they’ve asked for and don’t like the results.

 

[mrmikey]

Same deal for the ZF transmission fluid in my Ram, over $25 a liter not to mention you have to change the pan (which is plastic) for over $150 in order to change the filter and again, no dipstick.

 

[mikester]

Ultimately we vote with our wallets. Unfortunately our politicians keep handing out corporate welfare cheques to support an industry making sub-par vehicles and parts. The automotive industry deadwood needs to be allowed to die a natural death.

 

[dodge man]

I try not to buy anything from a car dealer than absolutely necessary. I just changed the hydraulic fluid in my JD tractor, I do use the JD super duper gold flecked low viscosity fluid but it is costly.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

I call them "Steelerships"!

But when you need a part, that's specific to a machine, what other options are there?

Pulled this drive motor idler pulley off my JD ZTrak yesterday ... The cast shaft the pulley bearing rides on is WORE OUT!

A dabbed some grease on it, after I 1st heard it squealing, but it was too late! Only way I heard it was I forgot to put my ear plugs in before starting it!

 

[ultrarunner]

Not in defense of Dealers but here small family operations spanning back as much as a 100 years are no more…

The mega dealers placed/located between population centers seem to be the future.

Growing up I knew the parts guys at both Ford and Chevrolet and our neighbor was Chrysler Plymouth… these were career guys…

I have not been to a dealer counter in over 15 years… my stuff is old and getting older.

The more I read the more I’m happy with what I have…

It’s kind of like hospitals here… merge with a titan or turn out the lights…

Between regulation and market share the little guys simply fade away…

The future is best suited for thinking individuals that put in the work instead of those holding platinum credit cards…

As a side note I’m seeing a shift to leasing as a strategy to avoid complexities of longterm ownership.

 

[RayIN]

I went to the dealer today for one litre of each oil for the transmission, the transfer case, the front dif, and the rear dif, all different for a 2018 Grand Cherokee. with tax it totaled $196.48. The owner`s manual says to take it to the dealer when something acts up as there is no dip stick for the transmission. No specs given for any of the others and you need to give the parts guy the VIN for him to determine which fluids you need. Another reason why my next car won`t be a Jeep, but I`m guessing others might be similar.

Wow! My 2017 Jeep JC limited has all that stuff; tranny dipstick, etc.
Every vehicle mfgr. publishes their specification number in the owners manual. That same number is found on compatible fluid containers; normally on the back label.

Since John Deere lost the right-to-repair lawsuit, that might carry-over to on-road vehicles too.

 

[Paystar]

Ultimately we vote with our wallets. Unfortunately our politicians keep handing out corporate welfare cheques to support an industry making sub-par vehicles and parts. The automotive industry deadwood needs to be allowed to die a natural death.

I'm not a fan of China (though I do love my CF Moto atv's, they have been trouble free) but I sure hope these cheap Chinese automobiles that are about to flood the market put a hurting on the North American auto makers. They been ripping us off for so long. Time for a reset.

 

[Paystar]

Not in defense of Dealers but here small family operations spanning back as much as a 100 years are no more…

The mega dealers placed/located between population centers seem to be the future.

Growing up I knew the parts guys at both Ford and Chevrolet and our neighbor was Chrysler Plymouth… these were career guys…

I have not been to a dealer counter in over 15 years… my stuff is old and getting older.

The more I read the more I’m happy with what I have…

It’s kind of like hospitals here… merge with a titan or turn out the lights…

Between regulation and market share the little guys simply fade away…

The future is best suited for thinking individuals that put in the work instead of those holding platinum credit cards…

As a side note I’m seeing a shift to leasing as a strategy to avoid complexities of longterm ownership.

That's another big problem. I used to have two Ford dealers in my town. They both sucked, but at least when one pi$$ed you off, you could go to the other for a while and they would both try and lure you back until they ripped you off again. But now they are both owned by Auto IQ group, merged in to one. And Auto IQ owns just about every Ford and Dodge dealer within an 8 hour radius of me. So guess what? now they can do whatever they want and charge whatever they want. I don't agree with that....one conglomerate owning ALL the dealerships.

 

[nisaacs]

Just further proof what thieving criminals the auto industry is.
The pinion seal on the rear diff of my 2020 F150 is just starting to get damp. So I booked appointment to have it done at dealer because I remembered I still have extended warranty.
So gunna be two weeks before they get me in, so I stopped in today to get 2 litres of gear oil to carry with me in case I need to top up of it gets worse. I went to dealer because I didn't know off hand what type of oil for those locking rear diffs.
Turns out it is the same 75W-140 I just got for the Rockwell rear axle in my L9000.

Two litres....$105!!!!!! For comparison I got two pails to change out my L9000's Rockwell from my heavy truck parts supplier for $145 each. That's 20 litres per pail.

So by Ford dealer math that pail is worth $1000 and it would have cost me $2000 to do my big truck.
That is downright criminal. No doubt I'll be returning those now that I saw it's the same oil I have at home for the big truck.

I made the same mistake. I bought two quarts of Mopar T-case oil for my '21 Ram, B/W approved, $44.75 each

Not doing that on my '25 Ram when the time comes.

 

[mikester]

I'm not a fan of China (though I do love my CF Moto atv's, they have been trouble free) but I sure hope these cheap Chinese automobiles that are about to flood the market put a hurting on the North American auto makers. They been ripping us off for so long. Time for a reset.

Agreed. We need competition if we want to see better markets. When the government starts acting protectionistic then we all suffer. Bureaucracy does not make things better. When the government sells monopolies to the highest bidder we all lose.

 

[Paystar]

I made the same mistake. I bought two quarts of Mopar T-case oil for my '21 Ram, B/W approved, $44.75 each

Not doing that on my '25 Ram when the time comes.

View attachment 5766702

A while back I called local Ford dealer just to get a quote on replacing both front and rear diff oils, transfer case and the 10 speeds transmission.
They told me $1200.00
I'll do it myself....other than the transmission. I'm on the fence about even touching that. I see all kinds of reports of people having the oil changed in these new 10 speeds and they blow up right after that. Some even on the drive home from dealership.

 

[bdhsfz6]

It seems like auto dealerships are inventing new ways to generate revenue.

The nav system failed on my 2022 GMC pickup and took out the cruise control as well. Dealer says it needs a $400 firmware update only they can do. No parts involved. They told me the firmware is normally done along with the $450 nav system map update. I don't use the nav system so I don't pay for the map updates.

I do use the cruise control though and have to pay $400 to get it working again? Why are the two systems tied together?
Seems like just another way to extract $$ from my wallet.