I bought a Jeep in Dallas and moved to St. Louis, then to Corpus Christi. Dealer Service in Dallas was great, in St. Louis it was awful, but in Corpus Christi it was it was a horrifying experience.
Nationally speaking do some manufactures have better service reputations than others. Is Ford better than GM, or is Chrylser the average experience I can expect?
I’m 71 and looking to purchase my “Last Car” and don’t want to go through what I’ve experienced in the past.
Michael Blackwell
Rockport, Texas
This question does not really have an answer. The way dealerships change hands and the management turnover that they have means one that was good one week can be not so good the next week. That is why the owners manual has contact numbers to raise your complaints to a higher level . And no the service is not relative to the brand.
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I have not used this site before, nor do I know its reputation, but you may wish to try it. Dealer Rater. I do know that dealers take their post-visit surveys very seriously.
Ask anyone you meet where they have their Jeep serviced. Eventually, you will have a couple names percolate to the top. Try them.
Our experience has been that all three US manufacturers have equally bad service. However the individual local dealer may be good.
Our best experience has been with Toyota who trains their mechanics well. Mazda has been good as well but somewhat more expensive.
It’s really a crapshoot but Chrysler dealers here have a universally crappy reputation.
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Had one Jeep. Bad experience with both local dealer (one of the nation wide corporate ones) and FCA corporate. FCA cars are off my buy list for a long time. Just one man’s opinion.
Volvo_V70 is correct. There is no one size fits all.
Just curious, but generally speaking how are you defining shoddy dealer service?
Odd, most dealership complaints on this forum is ‘upsells’ for unnecessary service at Toyota dealerships.
Have always wanted a Miata but had such a horrible experience with local Dodge/Mazda dealership that once kept a vehicle FIVE days for a relatively simple recall.
But, let’s face it, that depends on the ownership/management.
I used to live in a “GM Town” with many GM employees. The GM dealers, Chevy particularly, were absolutely awful because a lots of their business was with employees. Both Ford and Chrysler dealers were better. The Japanese makes were far better but they were working hard to sell into that captive GM, import unfriendly market.
Where I live now, it is hit-and-miss for brands. Far more dealer specific than brand.
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Ironically, my Toyota dealership which gives good service is owned by the same family which owns a Chevy dealership an gives awful service.
I believe that is due to GM only pushing sales whereas Toyota wants dealers to sell cars and have happy customers by giving good service. Some Toyota dealers push extra stuff, but most dealerships do that as well.
Loved our Chevy dealer for service, dumped our Lexus dealer. I found a good independent shop for my maintenance, dealer only for warranty.
The dealership experience you get is sort of a crap shoot. Varies dealership to dealership. You’ve already discovered that, w/your Jeep experience. I doubt it has much to do w/whether it is a GM, Ford, or Chrysler. Your best bet imo is to focus on finding your “last vehicle” from a list of new models that are rated" high predicted reliability". Then you won’t need the dealership as much. That sort of information is contained for example in the Consumer Reports new car guides.