Wow. Just wow. Five out of nine shops. It confirms what many of us suspected.
The only way this’ll ever end is if the attorney generals of the various states get involved, perhaps even the U.S. attorney general, and criminal fraud charges are filed. People have to go to jail. Crooks will not go straight if there are no consequences when they’re caught. As to the manager who’s “no longer there”, my guess is that he’s now at the JL on the other side of town.
“As to the manager who’s “no longer there”, my guess is that he’s now at the JL on the other side of town.”
They might have sent him to the JL in my town, in order to replace the manager (and an employee) who were both caught by the PD while in the act of sharing some “nose candy” in back of the shop. That particular JL was actually closed for a few days in the aftermath of the arrests, so perhaps they were waiting for that other manager from California to arrive.
I agree with TSM, you need jail time to fix this. Otherwise they will just shift people around, perhaps clean up their act for a few months, and then back to business as usual.
And, while JL may be the bottom of the barrel, there are lots of dealers in there also.
Ed Frugal wrote - “…Let me guess, does the owners manual state that the transmission fluid is “lifetime” i.e. should never need to be changed?”
Actually, the owner’s manual says that the “Maintenance Minder” will tell you when a transmission fluid change is due. It doesn’t mention how many miles or how much time must pass for that maintenance to be required.
I guess that’s just the way things are going to be nowadays and into the future. Our cars are supposed to let us know when they need something. I complained about that in another thread. The “Maintenance Minder” will let me know and I shouldn’t waste my time thinking… 
The term dealer mechanics used to use was “the fresh air and sunshine treatment”. I think this was more common in the past than it is today. I rarely use a dealer but when I do, I check their work after and haven’t yet found a case where they didn’t do what was promised.
But my mother had issues with a dealer back in the 70’s. She bought a 71 Capri and every time she took it to the dealer, it came back running badly, idling badly mostly. Every time I found they had adjusted the carburetor, I would readjust it for her. I knew they did this because they had to remove the plug the first time they did it.
When it had about 20k on it, she called me and asked me to look at it. The dealer told her is had a bad spark plug wire and she needed a new set. I checked and sure enough it had a bad wire, they didn’t even bother to match the boot color on the bad wire they installed. She worked for the company that held their insurance policy, so she told her boss. She got special treatment after that.
Fast forward, she buys a 78 Zepher Z7 from them. She takes it in regularly for service, but they haven’t put the new car to her so she is no longer getting the special treatment that she thinks she is getting. I’ve been stationed far form home for several years and eventually I get in a visit. She is complaining about how hot the shift stick (automatic) is getting. I check, the ATF is clear as water. The manual calls for a change every 20k miles, it has 40k on it and the last service receipt show that the ATF has been changed. She gets it changed by a mechanic we know that has a good reputation and no more problems, and no more business with this dealer.
So other than the lack of a transmission fluid dipstick, how are you liking that Fit @“Joe Guy” ? Is it a really nice car? Would you recommend it for purchase by others?
So far, I do like the Fit and would recommend it to others. It’s fun to drive and easy to park so it is good if you drive much in any city.
Consumer Reports says it is too noisy on the freeway but you would have to compare it to something larger and more expensive to come to that conclusion. There’s nothing abnormally loud about it. You can hardly hear it running at idle unless you get out and put your head in the engine compartment.
Of course, others needs will vary and their opinions will be based on those needs and expectations.
The Fit is a very good car with a very high reliability history so far.
Compared to foreign econoboxes like the Mirage, it is very quiet, but it’s noisier than a Corolla or Honda Civic.
In short, there is really no comparison between a Fit and a Mirage; that’s why Consumer Reports called the Mirage “not acceptable” for US customers.
We have Civics in our fleet with CVT
They have a dipstick, and the maintenance reminder does tell you when it supposedly needs a fluid service
Needless to say, we don’t wait for the service message to pop up. We change the fluid much earlier
The owner’s manual clearly states that in order to get all of the fluid out, 3 drain and refills are needed
When service is needed, a number and letter pop up, and you look in the book to decipher what is being called for. Here’s where it gets stupid . . . the cabin air filter and engine air filter get dirty LONG before it’s supposedly called for. As we’ve been saying all along, the factory maintenance schedule is merely a guideline, and everybody has to use their own judgement.
the cabin air filter and engine air filter get dirty LONG before it's supposedly called for. As we've been saying all along, the factory maintenance schedule is merely a guideline, and everybody has to use their own judgement.
I replace all our air filters 3 times during the scheduled period. We have a lot of construction around here…and dust all over the place…so I chalk it up to that.