I feel like it can depend on the car. Some have the light come on after a certain amount of miles to let you know when to change it (like my Jeep in my picture). Though the light is reset manually and changing the oil doesn't make it turn off, but I think you get my point.
Dealerships are there to sell you a new car and the mechanics are there to do the basic warranty work- that's all. They're not interested in fixing used cars, even ones that sport the same brands they're selling. Find a good REAL mechanic who actually knows how to repair cars, like Omega and use them (I had owned a 1971 Nova - rebuilt, track car)...
@@hannahpumpkins4359 Dealerships actually make the majority of their profit from used car sales and service. There's very little profit in new car sales or warranty work.
Changing the oil may fix a check engine light in very rare cases like if you had a p0172, p0175 rich engine codes and the oil has gas in it after a different repair was done like a MAF sensor or a stuck injector and no one changed the oil. That's the only way I can think that type of repair is ok.
This is why when you find a good mechanic, you let him buy the parts for the markup and don't give him a hard time on prices. A good mechanic is worth their weight in gold.
If I'm going with really high quality parts, I usually order them. But I throw my mechanic a decent amount extra to make up for the difference on mark up.
I'm reeeeally scared to move away when I finally do bc I don't wanna lose my mechanic lmao. Been a family friend since I was a *baby* and he fixes the car, first time, every time
8:24 , no Wizard, it's not just mechanic shops, it's EVERY manufacturer in EVERY industry. Apple pulls the same exact nonsense with my customers, and I've made a few videos about it as well. Repair shops like us are a dying breed, but a necessity for consumers that actually want to repair instead of replace. Keep fighting the good fight!
Man you speak absolute facts I don’t like what apple is doing I love to repair electronics and the right to repair should stand.we take pride in repairing wether electronics or cars.
@@nickmalone3143 Yo Nick, I just heard the gas prices on the news...and ck it out on the web.... Beverly Hills is paying $5.25+ per...Gas Buddy will tell you...what ,where & when... ok, so I live Arizona, and gas went up a a quarter in the last few weeks to...$2.99 at Sam's club. pls don't include me with the DemoRats, ...bc I am not one. Trump in 2024...and lower gas prices, and everything else...bc of shipping costs Finish the Keystone pipeline and the Border Wall.
Stealerships don't pay their "techs" much, so they don't exactly hire the best and brightest. I generally only use them for warranty work or during the service contract period. After that it's independent mechanics for stuff I can't fix on my own. Still, this has to be one of the worst examples I've seen, considering the scan tool literally told them what needed to be replaced for the over/under temp issues, and a basic battery tester would have pointed out the other one.
As much as I'm a diehard Ford guy, I'm not returning to one of my local Ford dealerships. They charged me $850 for replacing some control arms on one of my cars. Well, the problem not only came back but it was a LOT worse than before their fix so I return a week later. Turns out even more control arms needed to be replaced and they wanted yet another $850. They even had the nerve to charge me about $60 for them to look at my car AGAIN for the problem that should've been fixed already. Man I was pissed.
When Long Beach realizes in January that his old friends are wearing t-shirts and shorts while he's unable to go outside because of the ice and snow, he'll be back.
"There was one code. For a faulty thermostat." I am RAGING. Listening to all these horror stories makes me feel like I was the last dealership tech that ever used the word "diagnostic".
Its truly sad when i myself worked at a dealership and the master tech says “it’s a slow day I’m not making any money i could repair this problem but I’m going to tell them they need a new part” instead of just fixing the issue and thats what made me quit working in shops and started my own mobile mechanic business i refuse to put my integrity on the back burner to make a quick buck also i love seeing other technicians in the comments that are genuine and take offense to shitty Mechanics making us ALL sound bad
@@timmothyking7102 If I could come to your shop based on your comment and give you business I would you are exactly the type of mechanic we need in the world
I just bought a 2019 Buick Encore, I’m a 65 year old on SSI so I RUclips a lot. I had a Toyota Camry that I put a thermostat on last year by watching RUclips. Ran great. I enjoy watching you on RUclips. I can learn a lot from you. Thanks for all you do, 🥰
Hello... I just bought a 2019 Buick encore sport as well and it's ticking consistently... can u tell me perhaps whts causing this annoying sound and do ur vehicle perform the same way?!!
@@tweettweet9977 Does it run fine otherwise? Perhaps it is the engine with direct injection. Those are typically a little louder than "traditional" port fuel injection. Does your Encore have the auto-shutoff when the car is stopped? That's the direct injected engine.
I had a dealer tell me when my car was there for an air bag recall that I needed a new clutch; $2800. It wasn't because the clutch was bad. It was because of the age of the car and mileage. Needless to say, I left without getting my clutch replaced and it is still fine to this day, several years later.
Service advisors are like commission-paid sales reps. Their job is to convince you that your car either needs repairs...or it's time to do something before it becomes an expensive repair.
a friend picked up a sweet volvo wagon with sweet rims and tires for $1k, a mechanic told the seller the transmission was going bad, it never did go bad.
Im 23 and I just graduated from my local college in may this year. I studied to be a technician. I haven't worked anywhere that is automotive related or gotten real world experience other than a school environment but when I do, i'll take this lesson with every grain of salt. Thank you Mr. Wizard.
@@johnengland8619 Or he can buy a beater car and use it as a part of his education. I know a young man who started with former police Crown Vic for $500 and ended up with a nice car and an ASE cert after a couple of years.
Started my apprenticeship at the dealership and finished there 47 years later. Yes I have heard alot of negative stories about the stealership. It is about the management and staff that is hired. I’m sure that car would have been scanned for a DTC, you would think a forman or service manager would know that a oil change was not the concern. Dealership’s like that give a good dealer a bad name. Now I had a car that was brought to us from a very good independent shop that could not be fixed, had been there for two weeks, I fixed the car in two hours and wanted the car to stay for another day to make sure it was good after multiple road tests. Customer phoned after and complained that it too long for our repair. You just can’t win. Please don’t tar everyone with the same feather.
I work at a Honda dealership and I see this all the time with the tech's doing this to customers vehicles. While I used to be a mechanic, i'm not longer one due to issues, it angers me so that they do this to customers. Some dealerships do this to even their employee's. I live in Canada, so it's just not the US that dealerships do this to.
I wish SAE could revoke certifications for mechanics (or entire shops) that aren't able to figure out that the best way to fix a faulty thermostat is a new thermostat.
You could have 5 uncertified mechanics working at one shop.As long as one of them is a master ASE certified and it don't even have to be current The shop can put a sign on the window saying master ASE mechanics work here
“What was so hard about that?” Answer: letting go of all that moolah, that’s what! At about $300-$400 a pop per trip, that adds up… to someone at the dealership getting a extra bonus, methinks!
I have no words! The dealership is supposed to know every inch of THEIR vehicles. That is why you pay a premium for dealer techs. It wasn't like they got 10 codes and couldn't figure out what was causing them all to go off at once. This code pointed directly to the problem. Anyone that can plug a code reader in could have figured this one out. Very sad indeed, Mr. Wizard!
I had a 1993 Pontiac Bonneville that had an issue with the fueling system. I took it to the dealership, where they diagnosed it as a faulty fuel rail. A couple days later, I still had the same issue. I then asked the dealership if they took a look at the fuel filter. The answer was no. I then took the vehicle home, and bought the necessary fuel filter. My thought was if it wasn't the fuel filter, then at least I know it was replaced. Guess what? The fuel filter was the issue. Yes, I did let the dealership know they made a mistake by not checking everything. I never took a car back to them to work on.
Your intro is spot-on, Car Wizard. When I was a teenager I knew nothing about my cars and I got taken advantage of a lot by shops. I learned more as I got older but I really started getting an education when the pandemic hit, I discovered car RUclips, and I bought my first project car. I'm getting more and more confident with repairs and maintenance thanks to you and to others, but more importantly even when it's a major service that I know I can't tackle on my own I know enough to find a good mechanic and have an reasonably intelligent conversation with them. Thanks for that.
I’ve always thought that the only reason anyone bought a Mokka is that they cared so little about cars they didn’t bother to look at any other alternatives. This is often proved right by the driving style of most Mokka drivers.
Dealer wanted the people to buy a new car. Simple as that. They wanted the owner to think whatever was wrong with the car, was terminal, and they needed a new one.
@Heavy Tanker 1945 I don't think that's the case here. They just do stuff to it,get $ & tells customer that should fix it. Of course it doesn't, so the trusting customer comes back & keeps getting ripped off! If more people would watch videos like this,maybe they'd learn their lesson & not go back! Keep spreading the word about the inept & crooked dealerships & pretty soon they won't have any business but warranty work!
@@Mike583 could be used cars are crazy high price - if she traded in out od desperation and bought a new car they could throw on a t stat and make big $$
My wife & I have taken our cars to the same guy for as long as we can remember. He was a mechanic at a local shop and he was even frustrated at the stupidity that happens at the shop he worked at so he left and eventually started his own shop. He no longer works at his shop but his son does, as well as his work ethic. Those are rare.
Car Wizard! Youre a gem on RUclips! You need to have over 1 million subs! I dont know if youre inherently too humble, but you need to tell people to subscribe for notifications and to press 'like' if they like the video....You and your team are the best mechanics on RUclips!!
Car Wizard, you, sir, are a class act. I admire your not mentioning the particular guilty party. How easy it would have been to warn everyone about what dealership did (didn't do) this, and where NOT to go. Very cool, man.👍 Much Respect from Texas.
Ultimate tip for everyone: Advance Auto, O'Reilly's, and AutoZone will all read your engine codes for free. And test your battery for free. Hell if you can remove your alternator they'll test that too. You still might have to pay a diagnostic fee to a mechanic, but at least you can go in and tell them what the actual problem is instead of letting them guess
AND...if you a cute woman, park near the front door of any of these fine establishments, open the hood of your car and 12 men will fix your car for almost nothing
FYI my car was having issues with ignition. Took to to Advance Auto and they tested the battery; they told me it was a bad battery. Car still had trouble starting after a brand new battery. Took it to a reliable mechanic and he replaced the started. After the repair it fired up quicker than ever before... Just reading the codes sometimes doesn't do anything.
Everyone should have a cheap scan tool at home so you don't even have to drive anywhere, but the charging system testing is nice. Those systems will tell you of a failed cell in a battery even if the thing will keep you rolling for 2 more years.
the problem with telling a good mechanic where to look is it will double the bill as any good mechanic should be contentious enough to diagnose the problem without the helpful non tech code reading parts store clerk that just gives you the generic code the screen spits at them without the context of other issues
Do your own code read, and remember what circumstances occurred. Then schedule with your friendly neighbourhood mechanic and explain what area of the car is causing problems. They will probably find it and just go to town fixing it, no big deal.
Your shop specializes in something that is very rare in the dealership world and many chain operations: analytical troubleshooting. Its detective work, eliminating every suspect until one remains. Having common sense and a plan of attack goes a long way here. Most so-called repair shops fall short. Dealers don't pay well but the work is steady due to shady practices.
I spent about $800 trying to get my jeep to run right. It would run fine for weeks and then you could keep it running without holding the gas down a bit to keep it from stalling. Finally I spent some time on line investigating it myself and someone said battery. But I never had any regular bad battery symptoms I was used to. I guess my mechanics are to proud to look online. $70 battery and It was a champ.
Had a similar issue with my 97 Merc Topaz 20 years ago. Check engine light came on, then it wouldn't start. The dealer mechanic changed the starter and flywheel 3 times, and still not fixed. Finally, after I went ballistic in the service manager's office and insisted loud enough for everyone in the building to hear that I wanted them to actually do some diagnostic work, rather than look in the shop book to see what pays the mechanic the most money. They replaced a relay switch under the dashboard, and I had no more problems. Nothing has changed. Dealer mechanics would rather look in the book to see how they can get paid more than actually do the things they've been "trained" to do.
I myself work at a dealership for the past 5 years, I see this all the time. Techs “certified” on paper but in reality can’t diagnose or fix easy problems. Dealerships don’t care about customer retention, they care about money. Car wizard is speaking the truth!! Not all dealerships are bad but I’d say 90% just care about money, its a dirty business, I’d love to work somewhere like Omega, honest days work, honest days pay the way i like to work.
Once we were told we had to wait for the "special tool" to come up from interstate. I remarked that I think there were quite enough special tools in the workshop already...
David, you are an indepenent shop owner and decent human being. your reputation which you have worked so hard to build is everything to you and this is your DNA, so of course you cannot understand a dealership that only cares about the next quarterly treats customers the way it does. keep up the good work, love your videos. best wishes from manitoba, canada
I had a GM service department manager say exactly this after asking him why they didn't check the fuel pressure as I had asked, instead recommending a $2100 catalytic converter on a van I paid $2800 for, because of a code P0420 that was there a year before the symptoms started. 1998 4.3 Vortec, known for faulty fuel injection systems leaking. MPG cut in half, the vehicle stalled and was hard to start. Cats don't do that. When I bought a fuel pressure tester and checked it myself, I was losing 1 to 2 PSI every other minute. Common sense, my ass. Most dealers "techs" couldn't fix an election if their brother was the governor.
Nice to see the Wizard taking on some more "every day " vehicles in his videos. The Encore is entry level Korean built Buick. I'm surprised that it was the front drive model as a lot of them were marketed with their awd capability. Its also great to show that going to an independent shop with a honest and straightforward mechanic can save you $$ vs going to the dealership or a chain of auto repair shops. Keep up the good work encourage your viewers to seek out their local "Car Wizards"
Made in South Korea. The thermostat is a frequent failure point or the plastic elbow to it cracks. I believe Buick might have been forced to recall it. The turbocharger also frequently fails on the Ecotec 1.4 too.
From 2004 to 2006 I was an apprentice car repair technician at an independent car repair shop. We had TONS of customers that had been to the dealership and they couldn't or wouldn't fix the customers cars. And it was usually easy fixes.
We have a 2011 Chevy Equinox, we were on a road trip and while taking a bathroom break the car wouldn't start back up and we had all sorts of errors pop up. It said fuel system was bad, we made it to dodge city and stop at oreilys and the guy checked the codes and it had 12 different codes, he then checked the alternator it was good but the battery was dead, he repleaced it for us and all the codes went away. All those codes for a faulty battery.... newer cars suck lol
Someone told me dealer shops are increasingly being pressured to push customers to buy a new vehicle once the loan/lease is up. If the service writers don't have so many each month they risk getting written up and firered. It's part of their job description now. . . . . Really sick crap, isn't it?
it's all about the money..., I knew people that sold cars and dealerships make money on maintenance, selling you their finance and extended warranties...sad but this is why the Japanese have beat the quality dept. and now the moral dept.
Love the channel, I’m an enthusiastic amateur mechanic, I have occasionally used the main dealership for work I couldn’t be bothered doing, I tell them exactly what I want done, they always try to tell me that more work is required, I know it isn’t required. Thermostat and battery, this is simple stuff. Easy fix, well done. Here in the UK I have a female friend who always asks me to take her car to the garage because she constantly gets ripped of by mechanics who see her as an easy target. She doesn’t know a crankshaft from a spark plug, is this what was possibly happening here, “Hey we fixed it” just $300….. but we know you’ll be back later because we know we didn’t really “Fix it”…….
Dealerships can really mess up simple issues. My mother bought a first year, top end Chrysler Sebring that started darting to the left when she hit bumps, and every time she brought it into the shop it would do something different. After 9 trips to the dealership, it got lemon law'd. They "replaced everything in the steering system twice." Apparently they never aligned the front end. Ever.
I work at a shop that does the odd frame repair, and we had an Equinox that came in last week for a quote, and the frame was shot, and the rockers were completely gone. Not worth it to repair. The sad part is that they just spent over $4000 on a new transmission, and that shop didn't say anything to them about the state of the frame, and that they shouldn't waste their money. The customer didn't find out until they went to a muffler shop, and that guy was honest and told them about it. We felt so bad for them
6:14 So we got a Cali-boy in the Wizards shop? Very cool! I hope he has a successful and fulfilling experience at the wizards shop! Bring him on camera more!
Even some independent garages suck: my old mechanic charged 7 hours for a 4 hour (by the book) job. His reason: “It took longer.” Yeah, okay, but if you charge more when you go over book rate, will you charge less when under book? Not that guy
I know some shops who do that too, depending on what type of job and only if it allways takes longer than what the "book" says. Still, their €60 per hour or the dealer €160 per per hour... Also, they set fixed labour hour rates, and it rarely goes over 1 hour from what te book says. 7 hours in stead of 4 is worth running away from.
I remember a guy who owned a shop back in the mid '90s. Once he was so pleased with himself that he charged a poor woman $800 to change the radiator in her '80s Dodge Caravan. The Radiator was $100 shop cost. It was a 20 minute job for an experienced mechanic. If you've never seen one of these vans before and are half way competent, you could change it in half an hour. So maybe $250 would have been fair back then. $800??? That was so dirty. And who knows how often he did it to others.
That's justifiable, for example might be changing a suspension arm or similar and everything is rusted to hell, takes an extra 30-60minutes, well the customer is probably getting charged for that time. On the other hand, if a job takes longer because the mechanic in unfamiliar with the repair or breaks something etc that shouldn't be charged to the customer. That said, no mechanic is likely to give up money just because they can complete a job under book hours, in that case the good news is going to be the car ready sooner not the bill being smaller. Completing jobs at or faster than book rate is the main way a mechanic can make good money so workshops certainly aren't giving out discounts just because an individual tech is more skilled than average. When I do repairs for friends of friends etc I just quote a labor cost + parts, avoids the whole potential argument about quoted hours vs actual time taken.
Lol I didn’t know that changing oil would turn off the check engine light.... that’s a horrible dealership and charging $227 or whatever every time, wow were they soaking her.
In certain cases, as others have pointed out elsewhere, poor oil conditions can cause problems with variable valve timing systems, as they operate off oil pressure. There's one Vtec related code in Hondas that pretty much means 'you need an oil change' and on some of the larger GM Ecotec motors, the VVT solenoids can fail over time due to poor oil conditions. In the latter case it would be a case of 'we'll change the oil, if it comes back we're replacing the solenoid/actuator'. But that's not really an appropriate method for a dealership , or any other "professional" to use for a paying customer. That's more something you do with your won car because you're being cheap. In the end, a shit battery and a failing thermostat are like day 1 diags that nobody should miss. Especially missing a bad battery on a 6 year old car.
@@dafirnz thanks for explaining, I totally get that and should of explained more but my point was it seems like a the dealership was just trying to get a oil change done to make the cash and use it as a excuse
I really do enjoy working on those 1.4 turbos, a very good engine in my opinion. Some people go on about turbo failures and such but everytime I've seen that it was a result of neglected oil changes.
Took my truck to get power steering pump changed out. When I got my truck back they said the pump is no good. Went to the parts store and salesman detected that the timing belt tensioner was going out. Last time I go get repairs at that stupid shop. Also the power steering reservoir needed cleaning. Enjoyed your video.
You’re so wrong. There’s good and and bad private shop techs and there’s good and bad dealership techs. I’m a foreman at a dealer and I train my techs and apprentices to go through proper diagnosis processes. I don’t just hand them answers from my experience. I make them figure it out so that they learn. Making a generalization like that is such garbage.
I guess it’s not profitable for the stealership shop to pinpoint the problem at first shot, their mission is to milk the customer slowly before they get to the root of the problem.
The sad thing is with new dealership technicians is that they don’t teach actual diagnostics anymore; it’s why both your channel and Eric O’s of South Main Automotive are so popular. (I bet the DTC was P0599 or P0597 it’s actually a common failure on both the Family 1 and Family 0 engines)
@@apprenticefelix7740 Depends on the jurisdiction - some have removed those two topics in particular. Whether they learn it later is student dependant I guess
Because the WIZARD is a real mechanic, dealers have “techs” and they are not the same thing. If the scan tool doesn’t show them what’s specifically wrong they can’t find it.
And to think some of them charge upwards at of $160/hr for labor and their ridiculous markup on parts for this kind of service. But I also think this dealership did that on purpose...
Totally agree with you! I’m a Gm tech and multiple times I’ve found the issue with a vehicle and the adviser would also sell xyz when in fact the vehicle didn’t need those things. We also have adviser technicians here haha, I’m pretty close to walking out honestly.
I've been done bad by 3 different stealerships on 3 different new cars and of 3 different brands. I'm done with NEW cars. My 1995 Ford F-150 5.0L has been the best vehicle I have EVER owned and it's just now getting a pair of head gaskets. Not sure yet if anything else needs attention but my mechanic will check everything while it's opened up. I may even just rebuild the entire engine while most of it's already unbolted. Fortunately, this mechanic is someone I trust and he knows that I know how to work on cars too. I've brought my truck to him a few times for a general shakedown and he just sent my truck and I home. No Bogus Work! Truly an honest mechanic. It seems there are only a few left out there.
Here, in the UK, we have the same problem with a LOT of so called "professionals." They think that they are 'special people' and they are really skilled when it comes to lying and cheating. You just CANNOT trust anybody nowadays.
Two years ago, my 90 year-old aunt took her well-preserved, low mileage 2006 Buick Lucerne into a local dealership for service (to get some "things," take care of, as she related to me), and to the utter astonishment of her children, she drove home in a 2019 Buick Encore. The sly WEASELS at the dealership, had convinced her she needed to buy a new car. For starters, compared to what she was driving, the Encore is a huge step downwards in terms of comfort and ride. She went from a semi-luxury car, to a cheap, throwaway econobox. My aunt & her daughter drove the Encore down to Oklahoma City to visit family, and by the time they arrived back home, my aunt was complaining that the choppy ride and the poorly designed seats had caused her back to ache. In my consideration, the Encore is awkward looking, top-heavy vehicle that is not going to hold its value and was certainly not a good fit for the needs of my aunt.
My 02' Ford Escape with a manual transmission would rev up to 2000 rpm in neutral when I would come to a stop. Ford dealer in Scottsdale told me I needed a clutch. B.S. Clutch has 17,000 miles on it. Majority long distance interstate driving. Took it to Sun Devil auto in Scottsdale. Diagnosed as a bad throttle body.
The fact that this bothers you so much proves what a dedicated and trustworthy mechanic that you are. Not all automotive dealership service departments are this thoughtless and blase' about customer satisfaction and performing the proper repairs on a vehicle that is no longer under warranty. The lady that owns that Buick owes u a debt of gratitude because u didn't fleece her like her dealership has been doing. Those kinds of repair shops give dealership service departments a bad name. Mechanics in today's world of aluminum and plastic automobiles have a tough time already without bad managers and service techs making even more problems for them and giving all mechanics a bad reputation. Keep up the good work.👍
I’ve been taking my volvos to a dealership last 7 years of which the same mechanic has been working on them for 6. Now that’s a relationship with him where he says you don’t need this or that but this needs to be fixed. Great for me, propably not for them as they could’ve changed alot of stuff for hundreds or thousands at a visit. So as Wizard says, find a mechanic you can trust!
I’m a gear head. Work on my own stuff and rarely on friends vehicles. Bought a ‘92 Maxima from a friend. It had electrical gremlins that no shop could fix. I’m like “Hold my beer!” Put fuses in where they were missing and got to work. Crazy stuff going on. Push the brake pedal and the dash lights come on. Turn the lights on and the gear shift interlock would click. Checked taillights and one was out. Some of you have figured it out, right? The lead terminals on the twin-filament bulb had melted together and shorted the running lights to the brake lights. Put a new socket in the taillight fixture and it was fixed. Previous owner had spent thousands of dollars and years trying to get their car to work. Taken it to about a dozen different shops. I saw all the receipts. Not one of them looked at a non-functioning taillight and thought to investigate further. Not. One. Again, this is multiple different shops! I had it nailed in literally, five minutes. In my driveway. Didn’t even need a multimeter. Melted light socket. Three dollar parts bill. Unbelievable.
It can happen to any older car with twin filaments and incandescent bulbs. Those lead terminals can melt and fuse together. You can get the same effect if the upper filament breaks and touches the lower filament. Had that happen in an old truck once. Cruise control didn’t work with the headlights on. During the day I flashed my headlights at a truck and my cruise control immediately disengaged. That was my clue. Fixed that too.
The Car Wizards has the coolest walk on RUclips! I'd love to see a continuous loop video of him just walking around, with Pantera's "WALK" as the background song. Maybe if this post gets enough thumbs up The Car Wizards will make such a video!
In the UK it was a Vauxhall Mokka..... not anymore a GM/Opel product here as PSA (Citroen, Peugeot, DS) now own the Vauxhall name and the Mokka is now a PSA based platform... I am a Citroen Peugeot specialist technician but work on other Makes too.... and have been in the trade 19 years now.... I love it when there is plenty of space to work on an engine.
Hi mr. Wizard, my name is Dominick. I am new to your Channel and I really enjoy your content. I have been working on cars for 42 years, although it is not my profession it is something that I've enjoyed ever since I was a little kid. I recently purchased a 2012 Honda Accord for my daughter from a supposedly reputable Honda dealership in my area. I live in Connecticut. It is a beautiful 1ownercar but upon my inspection I found that it had a ripped CV boot on the right side. The dealership installed a new axle free of charge but when I got the car home I inspected the technicians work and he installed the axle but he didn't clean the Globs of CV grease that the old Axel puked out all over the control control arm and the lower engine cradle. It really amazes me as to what is considered a master technician.
@Self Made Auto how am I jealous? If I pay someone to repair a vehicle I want it done by someone actually knows what they are doing. My experience with dealers shows they don't have any clue.
Thank you! This is why I am hesitant to take my car to a dealer, or any repair shop really. There are not interested in taking the time to identify and solve the problem. Just do something to get the car out the door and bill as many flat rate hours as possible. "Check engine light? Let's change the oil and belt and move on to the next". The issue is not only the cost, but the lack of skill and professionalism disturbs me. I would rather do basic maintenance myself, run it untiil it has a serious problem, and then dump it. Like BMW owners do! And it's not just mechanics shops. Service is pretty much dead in America.
As a former GM tech, this should have been fixed immediately, and with ease. Every, and I mean every single one of those 1.4s will leak coolant from the water outlet/thermostat, or they will set a CEL. The PCV/valve cover will also fall on every single one, and either leak from around the valve covers, or the cam seals.
Tell me about it...I work in an independant shop in Montreal, and if I had kept all the valve covers I have changed, I could pave my driveway with them! Then there's the failing check valves in the intake manifolds, not to mention the oil filter housing leaking like Niagara Falls, and the water pumps...
Buick Encore ... Our 2017 and 2018 Buick Encores have been a great buy. Turbo went out on the 2018, but it was replaced by warranty. That 1.4 liter engine gets up and goes. Never a problem on the freeway or in the mountains. Getting a combined 32 mpg.
They either knew what was wrong and deliberately wanted to scam the customer, or they are incompetent to use a scan tool. I will say it's the former. And if more shops and dealerships are willing to do the former, this will just breed more weekend warriors, which means less customers for them. You know, back in the days, dealerships were the same when selling vehicles. It used to be about the long term. It's been the short term for decades now. If I was in your position, I would also prefer long term customers. And I bet the next time that customer has a problem with that Buick Encore, they are going straight to you and not thinking twice about going to the dealership.
All any business cares about now is the quarterly earning reports. They don't care about ANYTHING beyond the next 3 months. And that short-sightedness will be the death of them.
And her Referring other friends to the Wizard, thru word of mouth...just sharing and bragging on how great he is...fixing your car problems. She can now go back to the dealership and some of her money back ...not...unless she has a great lawyer...lol. She can at least spit in their face....oh my.
We need more shops like your’s around wizard. It’s insane that dealerships and even independent shops are becoming more and more greedy instead of actually trying to fix the problem. Or they do fix the problem miraculously and charge you way over a reasonable amount for parts and labor. It’s truly a rare sight to see places like yours around at this point. Nobody really seems to care
This is why when i had bought my 07 F150 new , i never took it back to the dealership, not even for an oil change. An after 15yrs the very time i did take it. They deliberately Sabotage my truck , so i bought a new chevy z71 an i will try not never take it back to the dealership ✌🏾
Rented a “mid-size suv” from hertz once. This is what they gave me the keys to. I was immediately repulsed and asked for something different. Request denied! Each mile I drove that ugly roller skate, my hatred grew more and more. I’ve rented many cars and never had such a reaction before or since. To me, it’s a car designed by and for people who hate cars.
That’s most crossovers in GM & Ford’s lineup in general. Hell, the average Equinox/Traverse drivers drive almost as suipidly as a good share of European car owners. Aggressive tailgating in the right lane, causing a line in the far left lane, never signaling, potentially slamming the brakes at gradual highway curves in good weather, you name it…
But those subcompact crossovers have to be the absolute most USELESS class of cars ever conceived. About the same MPGs as a V6/full side sedan/coupe but with only an 8 gallon tank. If you’re renting to go out of town/state in for the weekend or longer, these cars are hands down the absolute WORST company for such endeavors. At least based on my experiences with the Nissan Kicks & Ford whichever is their version of the Trax/Encore….
Actually, it’s a Suzuki, based on the SX4. Looks like they did a joint design on the engine, because that ecotec looks a lot like my 2007 2 liter in my SX4. At any rate, it’s still a decent mini suv, meant to get you from A to B safely, although mine has the all wheel drive option, and is very capable in rain, mud and snow with the right tires. It also gets 40 mpg on the highway. That “Buick” should get better than that since if front wheel drive.
@@cubbysrig Definitely not....It is based on a Korean design, if I am not mistaken. I also used to own a Suzuki SX4, an '09, and that car was 2.0 liter with no turbo, not a 1.4 turbo like this Buick. Overseas version was a 1.6 and also a diesel option.
Here in the UK 🇬🇧 I use a small independent garage, have done for years, to maintain/repair my cars. They are proper old school mechanics and they are great…never rip me off, no drama and they are a pleasure to deal with. No main dealers for me…put money into a small family business 🇬🇧👍
I'm guessing that Thermostats were out of stock at the Dealerships, so they just did some unnecessary work to pay their garage overhead, especially as their scan machine would have told them it was the thermostat ...
I do my own work car wizard but occasionally it's not convenient for me to do it myself. I always explain my position and show them work that I've completed myself successfully. I've even done a few RUclips videos on cars. I live on the Front Range and Kansas City and I'm telling you it's a nightmare to try to get service work done to your car. No matter who you are. I just recently had to come back to Kansas City where my family is to do serious work to my car. I could not get it done on the Front Range. I tried to have a flex pipe replaced on my custom exhaust and they had it tapping my crossmember. When the guy was holding my down pipe in his hand and asking me questions and had not tack weld things into place. I knew I was screwed. Thank you for teaching me a bunch of tricks I did not know. You really can't rely on anybody around these parts.
Amen Wiz! Many wrench turners turn 60 and can't or not willing to do universal joints, but dead on regarding these repairs. Finding a good mechanic is paramount. You even give this car a thumbs up, but you called it from the start. We need more like you. Amen. Adam
From my experience, dealership techs are generally kids. Anyone who is decent either opens their own shop or goes and works for an independent shop after getting experience at the dealership. Check engine light on? Oil change should fix it. Lol
Buick Encores 2013 -16 are Beautiful Cars! Great lines! I have one its been very reliable! the later Encores had a updated front end that made it look frumpy
I saw the Studebaker episode, but it is so sweet to see something like that in the background. I have a 53 Studebaker Coupe I wish was in similar condition.
I slowly begin to understand why reliability is so important for car owners in America: Because repair shops are either incompetent or fraudulent.
That's why when we find a reliable shop we keep going to them for years at a time.
Illegals run fraudulent car repair businesses along side taco truck
@@nickmalone3143 even the legals run sketchy businesses too
And that's why reliability means nothing to me because all I need to do is break out the wrenches and ratchets and BOOM my car is fixed.
@@brayannexon4613 Even if you know what you are doing, unreliable cars can take hours to fix, every time they break. Time is money.
Wouldnt the dealership telling you an oil change will fix your engine light raise alarm bells anyways?
I feel like it can depend on the car. Some have the light come on after a certain amount of miles to let you know when to change it (like my Jeep in my picture). Though the light is reset manually and changing the oil doesn't make it turn off, but I think you get my point.
Dealerships are there to sell you a new car and the mechanics are there to do the basic warranty work- that's all. They're not interested in fixing used cars, even ones that sport the same brands they're selling. Find a good REAL mechanic who actually knows how to repair cars, like Omega and use them (I had owned a 1971 Nova - rebuilt, track car)...
@@hannahpumpkins4359 Dealerships actually make the majority of their profit from used car sales and service. There's very little profit in new car sales or warranty work.
Changing the oil may fix a check engine light in very rare cases like if you had a p0172, p0175 rich engine codes and the oil has gas in it after a different repair was done like a MAF sensor or a stuck injector and no one changed the oil. That's the only way I can think that type of repair is ok.
Also coded dealing with variable vavle timing can be fixed with oil changes
"Trained technicians" = parts replacement specialist
So true.
Random parts replacement specialist to be precise.
"Specialist" used loosely
A "service advisor" bossing around minimum-wage parts replacers. It's sad.
Or = "Parts Cannon Operator"
This is why when you find a good mechanic, you let him buy the parts for the markup and don't give him a hard time on prices. A good mechanic is worth their weight in gold.
Say it for the people in the back
If I'm going with really high quality parts, I usually order them. But I throw my mechanic a decent amount extra to make up for the difference on mark up.
👍👍👍👍👍
Totally agree 👍
I'm reeeeally scared to move away when I finally do bc I don't wanna lose my mechanic lmao. Been a family friend since I was a *baby* and he fixes the car, first time, every time
8:24 , no Wizard, it's not just mechanic shops, it's EVERY manufacturer in EVERY industry. Apple pulls the same exact nonsense with my customers, and I've made a few videos about it as well. Repair shops like us are a dying breed, but a necessity for consumers that actually want to repair instead of replace. Keep fighting the good fight!
Man you speak absolute facts I don’t like what apple is doing I love to repair electronics and the right to repair should stand.we take pride in repairing wether electronics or cars.
Long Beach seems like the type of guy that listens and is ready to learn. He has a bright future learning from the Wizard.
Yes Sir.
Old school respect👍
Another Cali resident, that woke up, and wanted to quit paying high prices on everything...gas is $4.50 ...per gallon....today.
@@maxfly7079 ...blame biden gfor $5/gallon gas .... you dem voters got inflation and high energy costs as result
@@nickmalone3143 Yo Nick, I just heard the gas prices on the news...and ck it out on the web.... Beverly Hills is paying $5.25+ per...Gas Buddy will tell you...what ,where & when...
ok, so I live Arizona, and gas went up a a quarter in the last few weeks to...$2.99 at Sam's club.
pls don't include me with the DemoRats, ...bc I am not one.
Trump in 2024...and lower gas prices, and everything else...bc of shipping costs
Finish the Keystone pipeline and the Border Wall.
@@maxfly7079 hopefully they don't steal the election again. I think everybody knows what happened in 2020.
Stealerships don't pay their "techs" much, so they don't exactly hire the best and brightest. I generally only use them for warranty work or during the service contract period. After that it's independent mechanics for stuff I can't fix on my own. Still, this has to be one of the worst examples I've seen, considering the scan tool literally told them what needed to be replaced for the over/under temp issues, and a basic battery tester would have pointed out the other one.
As much as I'm a diehard Ford guy, I'm not returning to one of my local Ford dealerships. They charged me $850 for replacing some control arms on one of my cars. Well, the problem not only came back but it was a LOT worse than before their fix so I return a week later. Turns out even more control arms needed to be replaced and they wanted yet another $850. They even had the nerve to charge me about $60 for them to look at my car AGAIN for the problem that should've been fixed already. Man I was pissed.
@@JimHalpertFromTheOffice Ford charge me $200 for trasmission flush and they never added new trasmission fluid.
I work at a Dealership and won't let them touch my truck
That's BS
I have only visited the Toyota dealer twice. Once for recall and the other for a minor warranty issue.
Long Beach seems like a great addition to the shop.
Agree
Yup, looks like a great mechanic. Little Camera Shy and it's adorable how respectfully he responds to his boss.
When Long Beach realizes in January that his old friends are wearing t-shirts and shorts while he's unable to go outside because of the ice and snow, he'll be back.
His name isnt Long Beach lmao.
Calling yourself long beach though?! He must NEVER have been there cause it's a 💩 ⛳
"There was one code. For a faulty thermostat."
I am RAGING. Listening to all these horror stories makes me feel like I was the last dealership tech that ever used the word "diagnostic".
Its truly sad when i myself worked at a dealership and the master tech says “it’s a slow day I’m not making any money i could repair this problem but I’m going to tell them they need a new part” instead of just fixing the issue and thats what made me quit working in shops and started my own mobile mechanic business i refuse to put my integrity on the back burner to make a quick buck also i love seeing other technicians in the comments that are genuine and take offense to shitty Mechanics making us ALL sound bad
@@timmothyking7102 If I could come to your shop based on your comment and give you business I would you are exactly the type of mechanic we need in the world
I just bought a 2019 Buick Encore, I’m a 65 year old on SSI so I RUclips a lot. I had a Toyota Camry that I put a thermostat on last year by watching RUclips. Ran great. I enjoy watching you on RUclips. I can learn a lot from you. Thanks for all you do, 🥰
Hi I know this video is old. I have a 2019 Encore which today says “engine overheating idle vehicle “ have you experienced this?
@@lorrainecanady5902 You may want to look into doing the same thing they did in the first half of this video...
@@ItchyKneeSon hi it was my water pump and thermostat got it fixed. Thank you 😊
Hello... I just bought a 2019 Buick encore sport as well and it's ticking consistently... can u tell me perhaps whts causing this annoying sound and do ur vehicle perform the same way?!!
@@tweettweet9977 Does it run fine otherwise? Perhaps it is the engine with direct injection. Those are typically a little louder than "traditional" port fuel injection. Does your Encore have the auto-shutoff when the car is stopped? That's the direct injected engine.
I had a dealer tell me when my car was there for an air bag recall that I needed a new clutch; $2800. It wasn't because the clutch was bad. It was because of the age of the car and mileage. Needless to say, I left without getting my clutch replaced and it is still fine to this day, several years later.
Next time tell them they need new service advisors
Did it need a new clutch because the tech couldn't drive it? Lol
Service advisors are like commission-paid sales reps. Their job is to convince you that your car either needs repairs...or it's time to do something before it becomes an expensive repair.
a friend picked up a sweet volvo wagon with sweet rims and tires for $1k, a mechanic told the seller the transmission was going bad, it never did go bad.
Yes, every time they want to sell you something else so it's not free.
Long Beach seema like a cool and respectful guy. I like him! Great addition
Must be ex military
I can see that’s an Opel Mokka, you can’t fool me with that Buick badge
Vauxhall Mokka in UK but yep
Not even a decent vauxhall either
See; encycarpedia Suzuki SX4 S-Cross 1.4 boosterjet specifications (2016). It’s even the same color.
A turd by any other name ...
Im 23 and I just graduated from my local college in may this year. I studied to be a technician. I haven't worked anywhere that is automotive related or gotten real world experience other than a school environment but when I do, i'll take this lesson with every grain of salt. Thank you Mr. Wizard.
Buy a scooter and a motorcycle and you will never have a car loan. Most of my friends stay poor buying cars they cannot afford
@@johnengland8619 Or he can buy a beater car and use it as a part of his education. I know a young man who started with former police Crown Vic for $500 and ended up with a nice car and an ASE cert after a couple of years.
Started my apprenticeship at the dealership and finished there 47 years later. Yes I have heard alot of negative stories about the stealership. It is about the management and staff that is hired. I’m sure that car would have been scanned for a DTC, you would think a forman or service manager would know that a oil change was not the concern. Dealership’s like that give a good dealer a bad name. Now I had a car that was brought to us from a very good independent shop that could not be fixed, had been there for two weeks, I fixed the car in two hours and wanted the car to stay for another day to make sure it was good after multiple road tests. Customer phoned after and complained that it too long for our repair. You just can’t win. Please don’t tar everyone with the same feather.
I work at a Honda dealership and I see this all the time with the tech's doing this to customers vehicles. While I used to be a mechanic, i'm not longer one due to issues, it angers me so that they do this to customers. Some dealerships do this to even their employee's. I live in Canada, so it's just not the US that dealerships do this to.
I wish SAE could revoke certifications for mechanics (or entire shops) that aren't able to figure out that the best way to fix a faulty thermostat is a new thermostat.
Or use a cheap scan tool properly that gives them the answer
sadly, there's no Bar association for techs.
You could have 5 uncertified mechanics working at one shop.As long as one of them is a master ASE certified and it don't even have to be current The shop can put a sign on the window saying master ASE mechanics work here
its Opel Mokka here in Europe but you do see buicks as well.
Opel?
@@kgthegreatone943 Never heard of Opel Kadett,Opel Senator,Opel/Lotus Omega?
Vauxhall in UK. Mokka was Mokka but kadett is astra. Nova was corsa in rest of Europe I believe.
“What was so hard about that?” Answer: letting go of all that moolah, that’s what! At about $300-$400 a pop per trip, that adds up… to someone at the dealership getting a extra bonus, methinks!
I have no words! The dealership is supposed to know every inch of THEIR vehicles. That is why you pay a premium for dealer techs. It wasn't like they got 10 codes and couldn't figure out what was causing them all to go off at once. This code pointed directly to the problem. Anyone that can plug a code reader in could have figured this one out. Very sad indeed, Mr. Wizard!
Thank you, Wizard, for just being an honest, fair person. We need more like you!
100%
I had a 1993 Pontiac Bonneville that had an issue with the fueling system.
I took it to the dealership, where they diagnosed it as a faulty fuel rail.
A couple days later, I still had the same issue. I then asked the dealership if they took a look at the fuel filter. The answer was no.
I then took the vehicle home, and bought the necessary fuel filter. My thought was if it wasn't the fuel filter, then at least I know it was replaced.
Guess what? The fuel filter was the issue. Yes, I did let the dealership know they made a mistake by not checking everything.
I never took a car back to them to work on.
Blows my mind how some dealerships somehow operate. Great video.
Too bad this won’t make it on the channel of a weird over heating car
Love your channel brother!
Your intro is spot-on, Car Wizard. When I was a teenager I knew nothing about my cars and I got taken advantage of a lot by shops. I learned more as I got older but I really started getting an education when the pandemic hit, I discovered car RUclips, and I bought my first project car. I'm getting more and more confident with repairs and maintenance thanks to you and to others, but more importantly even when it's a major service that I know I can't tackle on my own I know enough to find a good mechanic and have an reasonably intelligent conversation with them. Thanks for that.
Car Wizard! A very fair look at this car. Comments were right on
The fact that long beach show you respect by saying "yes sir" shows he's a valuable member to your team
In the UK, this car was sold as a Vauxhall Mokka and is extremely popular despite being pretty bland with questionable reliability and build quality.
I’ve always thought that the only reason anyone bought a Mokka is that they cared so little about cars they didn’t bother to look at any other alternatives. This is often proved right by the driving style of most Mokka drivers.
This particular version is made in China so that explains the reliability and build quality issues.
@@CS-oo6hs Basically the same people who 10 years ago bought Kias, and 20 years ago bought Rovers.
@@99Vood99 No, it's made in South Korea.
Also terrible to drive by all accounts.
Dealer wanted the people to buy a new car. Simple as that. They wanted the owner to think whatever was wrong with the car, was terminal, and they needed a new one.
Thats dumb. All it did was make their technicians look incompetent
@Heavy Tanker 1945 I don't think that's the case here. They just do stuff to it,get $ & tells customer that should fix it. Of course it doesn't, so the trusting customer comes back & keeps getting ripped off! If more people would watch videos like this,maybe they'd learn their lesson & not go back! Keep spreading the word about the inept & crooked dealerships & pretty soon they won't have any business but warranty work!
@@Mike583 Yup. Bad dealers don’t fix issues. They just cover them up.
@@Mike583 could be used cars are crazy high price - if she traded in out od desperation and bought a new car they could throw on a t stat and make big $$
My wife & I have taken our cars to the same guy for as long as we can remember. He was a mechanic at a local shop and he was even frustrated at the stupidity that happens at the shop he worked at so he left and eventually started his own shop. He no longer works at his shop but his son does, as well as his work ethic. Those are rare.
Car Wizard! Youre a gem on RUclips! You need to have over 1 million subs! I dont know if youre inherently too humble, but you need to tell people to subscribe for notifications and to press 'like' if they like the video....You and your team are the best mechanics on RUclips!!
Car Wizard, you, sir, are a class act. I admire your not mentioning the particular guilty party. How easy it would have been to warn everyone about what dealership did (didn't do) this, and where NOT to go. Very cool, man.👍 Much Respect from Texas.
Ultimate tip for everyone: Advance Auto, O'Reilly's, and AutoZone will all read your engine codes for free. And test your battery for free. Hell if you can remove your alternator they'll test that too. You still might have to pay a diagnostic fee to a mechanic, but at least you can go in and tell them what the actual problem is instead of letting them guess
AND...if you a cute woman, park near the front door of any of these fine establishments, open the hood of your car and 12 men will fix your car for almost nothing
FYI my car was having issues with ignition. Took to to Advance Auto and they tested the battery; they told me it was a bad battery. Car still had trouble starting after a brand new battery. Took it to a reliable mechanic and he replaced the started. After the repair it fired up quicker than ever before...
Just reading the codes sometimes doesn't do anything.
Everyone should have a cheap scan tool at home so you don't even have to drive anywhere, but the charging system testing is nice. Those systems will tell you of a failed cell in a battery even if the thing will keep you rolling for 2 more years.
the problem with telling a good mechanic where to look is it will double the bill as any good mechanic should be contentious enough to diagnose the problem without the helpful non tech code reading parts store clerk that just gives you the generic code the screen spits at them without the context of other issues
Do your own code read, and remember what circumstances occurred. Then schedule with your friendly neighbourhood mechanic and explain what area of the car is causing problems. They will probably find it and just go to town fixing it, no big deal.
Your shop specializes in something that is very rare in the dealership world and many chain operations: analytical troubleshooting. Its detective work, eliminating every suspect until one remains. Having common sense and a plan of attack goes a long way here. Most so-called repair shops fall short. Dealers don't pay well but the work is steady due to shady practices.
I spent about $800 trying to get my jeep to run right. It would run fine for weeks and then you could keep it running without holding the gas down a bit to keep it from stalling. Finally I spent some time on line investigating it myself and someone said battery. But I never had any regular bad battery symptoms I was used to. I guess my mechanics are to proud to look online. $70 battery and It was a champ.
Had a similar issue with my 97 Merc Topaz 20 years ago. Check engine light came on, then it wouldn't start. The dealer mechanic changed the starter and flywheel 3 times, and still not fixed. Finally, after I went ballistic in the service manager's office and insisted loud enough for everyone in the building to hear that I wanted them to actually do some diagnostic work, rather than look in the shop book to see what pays the mechanic the most money. They replaced a relay switch under the dashboard, and I had no more problems. Nothing has changed. Dealer mechanics would rather look in the book to see how they can get paid more than actually do the things they've been "trained" to do.
Love Wizard's rants over Dealerships shops, so true
I myself work at a dealership for the past 5 years, I see this all the time. Techs “certified” on paper but in reality can’t diagnose or fix easy problems. Dealerships don’t care about customer retention, they care about money. Car wizard is speaking the truth!! Not all dealerships are bad but I’d say 90% just care about money, its a dirty business, I’d love to work somewhere like Omega, honest days work, honest days pay the way i like to work.
Long Beach is a class act.
YES HE IS!
Once we were told we had to wait for the "special tool" to come up from interstate. I remarked that I think there were quite enough special tools in the workshop already...
😂👌
David, you are an indepenent shop owner and decent human being. your reputation which you have worked so hard to build is everything to you and this is your DNA, so of course you cannot understand a dealership that only cares about the next quarterly treats customers the way it does. keep up the good work, love your videos. best wishes from manitoba, canada
I used to own a 2016 Encore, I absolutely loved it, didn’t think I would, Wizard you said I correctly : Most dealers don’t love cars they love money.
How did the car treat you? Any notable issues during your time with the car?
"We just used common sense". Allways be aware that common sense is the least common of all the senses.
In today's day and age is called uncommon sense.
I had a GM service department manager say exactly this after asking him why they didn't check the fuel pressure as I had asked, instead recommending a $2100 catalytic converter on a van I paid $2800 for, because of a code P0420 that was there a year before the symptoms started.
1998 4.3 Vortec, known for faulty fuel injection systems leaking. MPG cut in half, the vehicle stalled and was hard to start. Cats don't do that. When I bought a fuel pressure tester and checked it myself, I was losing 1 to 2 PSI every other minute. Common sense, my ass. Most dealers "techs" couldn't fix an election if their brother was the governor.
Nice to see the Wizard taking on some more "every day " vehicles in his videos. The Encore is entry level Korean built Buick. I'm surprised that it was the front drive model as a lot of them were marketed with their awd capability.
Its also great to show that going to an independent shop with a honest and straightforward mechanic can save you $$ vs going to the dealership or a chain of auto repair shops. Keep up the good work encourage your viewers to seek out their local "Car Wizards"
Look like euro GM - Opel mokka
@@altergreenhorn Opel sucks. Korean cars are definitely higher quality than they used to be in the 90s
@@robmalcolm8042 It is a rebadged Opel Mokka. Designed in Germany with a German engine.
Made in South Korea. The thermostat is a frequent failure point or the plastic elbow to it cracks. I believe Buick might have been forced to recall it. The turbocharger also frequently fails on the Ecotec 1.4 too.
And the valve cover....and the intake manifold...and the water pump...and the oil filter housing...and...and...and...
It’s not only in the US, Car Wizard. I’ve experienced the same thing at dealerships here in Australia too, from pedestrian to luxury brands.
From 2004 to 2006 I was an apprentice car repair technician at an independent car repair shop. We had TONS of customers that had been to the dealership and they couldn't or wouldn't fix the customers cars. And it was usually easy fixes.
We have a 2011 Chevy Equinox, we were on a road trip and while taking a bathroom break the car wouldn't start back up and we had all sorts of errors pop up. It said fuel system was bad, we made it to dodge city and stop at oreilys and the guy checked the codes and it had 12 different codes, he then checked the alternator it was good but the battery was dead, he repleaced it for us and all the codes went away. All those codes for a faulty battery.... newer cars suck lol
Cameron is better on camera than the Wizard when he first appeared on Hoovies channel.😁
I wonder if he drives a C4 Corvette lmao
Yeah, no "Death Stare" 😳
🤣
To be fair, so is the Buick.
Someone told me dealer shops are increasingly being pressured to push customers to buy a new vehicle once the loan/lease is up. If the service writers don't have so many each month they risk getting written up and firered. It's part of their job description now. . . . . Really sick crap, isn't it?
Nope. Dealerships get most of their money from the service department, not on used cars.
@@BigPuffyNipples They actually make most of their profits from the finance department. The service department is second.
it's all about the money..., I knew people that sold cars and dealerships make money on maintenance, selling you their finance and extended warranties...sad but this is why the Japanese have beat the quality dept. and now the moral dept.
Love the channel, I’m an enthusiastic amateur mechanic, I have occasionally used the main dealership for work I couldn’t be bothered doing, I tell them exactly what I want done, they always try to tell me that more work is required, I know it isn’t required. Thermostat and battery, this is simple stuff. Easy fix, well done. Here in the UK I have a female friend who always asks me to take her car to the garage because she constantly gets ripped of by mechanics who see her as an easy target. She doesn’t know a crankshaft from a spark plug, is this what was possibly happening here, “Hey we fixed it” just $300….. but we know you’ll be back later because we know we didn’t really “Fix it”…….
Dealerships can really mess up simple issues. My mother bought a first year, top end Chrysler Sebring that started darting to the left when she hit bumps, and every time she brought it into the shop it would do something different. After 9 trips to the dealership, it got lemon law'd. They "replaced everything in the steering system twice."
Apparently they never aligned the front end. Ever.
"Remember the days of Grand Prixs where you had to loosen the motor mounts to do spark plugs?"
Pepperidge Farm and my 1999 Buick Regal GS remember.
That is such a known problem on those engines. The thermostat. Amazing dealer techs could not fix it.
I work at a shop that does the odd frame repair, and we had an Equinox that came in last week for a quote, and the frame was shot, and the rockers were completely gone. Not worth it to repair. The sad part is that they just spent over $4000 on a new transmission, and that shop didn't say anything to them about the state of the frame, and that they shouldn't waste their money. The customer didn't find out until they went to a muffler shop, and that guy was honest and told them about it. We felt so bad for them
6:14 So we got a Cali-boy in the Wizards shop? Very cool! I hope he has a successful and fulfilling experience at the wizards shop! Bring him on camera more!
Even some independent garages suck: my old mechanic charged 7 hours for a 4 hour (by the book) job. His reason: “It took longer.” Yeah, okay, but if you charge more when you go over book rate, will you charge less when under book? Not that guy
I know some shops who do that too, depending on what type of job and only if it allways takes longer than what the "book" says. Still, their €60 per hour or the dealer €160 per per hour... Also, they set fixed labour hour rates, and it rarely goes over 1 hour from what te book says. 7 hours in stead of 4 is worth running away from.
Yeah. There's shitty independent shops too. Do your homework, ask people you know, put in some effort and find a good shop. I did. You can too.
@@whatareyoudoingyouidiot342 thanks- been to 3 shops here- all were dishonest- luckily a new guy opened down the road- fingers crossed
I remember a guy who owned a shop back in the mid '90s. Once he was so pleased with himself that he charged a poor woman $800 to change the radiator in her '80s Dodge Caravan.
The Radiator was $100 shop cost.
It was a 20 minute job for an experienced mechanic. If you've never seen one of these vans before and are half way competent, you could change it in half an hour. So maybe $250 would have been fair back then.
$800??? That was so dirty. And who knows how often he did it to others.
That's justifiable, for example might be changing a suspension arm or similar and everything is rusted to hell, takes an extra 30-60minutes, well the customer is probably getting charged for that time. On the other hand, if a job takes longer because the mechanic in unfamiliar with the repair or breaks something etc that shouldn't be charged to the customer.
That said, no mechanic is likely to give up money just because they can complete a job under book hours, in that case the good news is going to be the car ready sooner not the bill being smaller. Completing jobs at or faster than book rate is the main way a mechanic can make good money so workshops certainly aren't giving out discounts just because an individual tech is more skilled than average.
When I do repairs for friends of friends etc I just quote a labor cost + parts, avoids the whole potential argument about quoted hours vs actual time taken.
Lol I didn’t know that changing oil would turn off the check engine light.... that’s a horrible dealership and charging $227 or whatever every time, wow were they soaking her.
I’ve NEVER seen A check engine light because it was due for a oil change. They were just hosing her
In certain cases, as others have pointed out elsewhere, poor oil conditions can cause problems with variable valve timing systems, as they operate off oil pressure. There's one Vtec related code in Hondas that pretty much means 'you need an oil change' and on some of the larger GM Ecotec motors, the VVT solenoids can fail over time due to poor oil conditions. In the latter case it would be a case of 'we'll change the oil, if it comes back we're replacing the solenoid/actuator'. But that's not really an appropriate method for a dealership , or any other "professional" to use for a paying customer. That's more something you do with your won car because you're being cheap.
In the end, a shit battery and a failing thermostat are like day 1 diags that nobody should miss. Especially missing a bad battery on a 6 year old car.
@@dafirnz thanks for explaining, I totally get that and should of explained more but my point was it seems like a the dealership was just trying to get a oil change done to make the cash and use it as a excuse
I really do enjoy working on those 1.4 turbos, a very good engine in my opinion. Some people go on about turbo failures and such but everytime I've seen that it was a result of neglected oil changes.
Well at least this one won't suffer from neglected oil changes.
So glad to see Long Beach still employed and doing well. Congrats!
Took my truck to get power steering pump changed out. When I got my truck back they said the pump is no good. Went to the parts store and salesman detected that the timing belt tensioner was going out. Last time I go get repairs at that stupid shop. Also the power steering reservoir needed cleaning. Enjoyed your video.
Because dealer techs are script monkeys: if it’s not on the script, they don’t know what to do.
And usually that script will end with replacing a REALLY expensive part like the PCM or or catalyst.
I thought the code reader writes the script, lol
You’re so wrong. There’s good and and bad private shop techs and there’s good and bad dealership techs. I’m a foreman at a dealer and I train my techs and apprentices to go through proper diagnosis processes. I don’t just hand them answers from my experience. I make them figure it out so that they learn. Making a generalization like that is such garbage.
I can't believe the battery wasn't on the script.
I guess it’s not profitable for the stealership shop to pinpoint the problem at first shot, their mission is to milk the customer slowly before they get to the root of the problem.
The sad thing is with new dealership technicians is that they don’t teach actual diagnostics anymore; it’s why both your channel and Eric O’s of South Main Automotive are so popular. (I bet the DTC was P0599 or P0597 it’s actually a common failure on both the Family 1 and Family 0 engines)
Eric o and ivan
And public schools don't teach analogue clocks or cursive writing ...wtf are they doing all day ?
@@robtheslob3940 depends on the student
@@apprenticefelix7740 Depends on the jurisdiction - some have removed those two topics in particular. Whether they learn it later is student dependant I guess
Because the WIZARD is a real mechanic, dealers have “techs” and they are not the same thing.
If the scan tool doesn’t show them what’s specifically wrong they can’t find it.
And to think some of them charge upwards at of $160/hr for labor and their ridiculous markup on parts for this kind of service. But I also think this dealership did that on purpose...
Yep...At dealerships they teach you how to use Equipment. Mechanics are born...not made. ✌
sometimes shops give bonuses to the "techs"/( sales)
The problem here is the scan tool DID SAY WHATS WRONG!
The real problem is the flat rate pay system.
Totally agree with you! I’m a Gm tech and multiple times I’ve found the issue with a vehicle and the adviser would also sell xyz when in fact the vehicle didn’t need those things. We also have adviser technicians here haha, I’m pretty close to walking out honestly.
I've been done bad by 3 different stealerships on 3 different new cars and of 3 different brands. I'm done with NEW cars. My 1995 Ford F-150 5.0L has been the best vehicle I have EVER owned and it's just now getting a pair of head gaskets. Not sure yet if anything else needs attention but my mechanic will check everything while it's opened up. I may even just rebuild the entire engine while most of it's already unbolted. Fortunately, this mechanic is someone I trust and he knows that I know how to work on cars too. I've brought my truck to him a few times for a general shakedown and he just sent my truck and I home. No Bogus Work! Truly an honest mechanic. It seems there are only a few left out there.
Patient: Hey Doctor, my arm is broken!
Doctor: Let's git you a cup of coffee and that will fix it.
"put a little tussen on it"
“What you need is a knee replacement!”
@@johnlandacre767 ..colanoscopy b/c dealer gives it to you up the a$$
Here, in the UK, we have the same problem with a LOT of so called "professionals."
They think that they are 'special people' and they are really skilled when it comes to lying and cheating.
You just CANNOT trust anybody nowadays.
Two years ago, my 90 year-old aunt took her well-preserved, low mileage 2006 Buick Lucerne into a local dealership for service (to get some "things," take care of, as she related to me), and to the utter astonishment of her children, she drove home in a 2019 Buick Encore. The sly WEASELS at the dealership, had convinced her she needed to buy a new car. For starters, compared to what she was driving, the Encore is a huge step downwards in terms of comfort and ride. She went from a semi-luxury car, to a cheap, throwaway econobox. My aunt & her daughter drove the Encore down to Oklahoma City to visit family, and by the time they arrived back home, my aunt was complaining that the choppy ride and the poorly designed seats had caused her back to ache. In my consideration, the Encore is awkward looking, top-heavy vehicle that is not going to hold its value and was certainly not a good fit for the needs of my aunt.
My 02' Ford Escape with a manual transmission would rev up to 2000 rpm in neutral when I would come to a stop. Ford dealer in Scottsdale told me I needed a clutch. B.S.
Clutch has 17,000 miles on it. Majority long distance interstate driving.
Took it to Sun Devil auto in Scottsdale. Diagnosed as a bad throttle body.
The fact that this bothers you so much proves what a dedicated and trustworthy mechanic that you are. Not all automotive dealership service departments are this thoughtless and blase' about customer satisfaction and performing the proper repairs on a vehicle that is no longer under warranty. The lady that owns that Buick owes u a debt of gratitude because u didn't fleece her like her dealership has been doing. Those kinds of repair shops give dealership service departments a bad name. Mechanics in today's world of aluminum and plastic automobiles have a tough time already without bad managers and service techs making even more problems for them and giving all mechanics a bad reputation. Keep up the good work.👍
I’ve been taking my volvos to a dealership last 7 years of which the same mechanic has been working on them for 6. Now that’s a relationship with him where he says you don’t need this or that but this needs to be fixed. Great for me, propably not for them as they could’ve changed alot of stuff for hundreds or thousands at a visit. So as Wizard says, find a mechanic you can trust!
I’m a gear head. Work on my own stuff and rarely on friends vehicles. Bought a ‘92 Maxima from a friend. It had electrical gremlins that no shop could fix. I’m like “Hold my beer!” Put fuses in where they were missing and got to work. Crazy stuff going on. Push the brake pedal and the dash lights come on. Turn the lights on and the gear shift interlock would click. Checked taillights and one was out. Some of you have figured it out, right? The lead terminals on the twin-filament bulb had melted together and shorted the running lights to the brake lights. Put a new socket in the taillight fixture and it was fixed. Previous owner had spent thousands of dollars and years trying to get their car to work. Taken it to about a dozen different shops. I saw all the receipts. Not one of them looked at a non-functioning taillight and thought to investigate further. Not. One. Again, this is multiple different shops! I had it nailed in literally, five minutes. In my driveway. Didn’t even need a multimeter. Melted light socket. Three dollar parts bill. Unbelievable.
It can happen to any older car with twin filaments and incandescent bulbs. Those lead terminals can melt and fuse together. You can get the same effect if the upper filament breaks and touches the lower filament. Had that happen in an old truck once. Cruise control didn’t work with the headlights on. During the day I flashed my headlights at a truck and my cruise control immediately disengaged. That was my clue. Fixed that too.
The Car Wizards has the coolest walk on RUclips! I'd love to see a continuous loop video of him just walking around, with Pantera's "WALK" as the background song. Maybe if this post gets enough thumbs up The Car Wizards will make such a video!
Add his favorite drink with the pinky finger at a 45 degree angle
In the UK it was a Vauxhall Mokka..... not anymore a GM/Opel product here as PSA (Citroen, Peugeot, DS) now own the Vauxhall name and the Mokka is now a PSA based platform... I am a Citroen Peugeot specialist technician but work on other Makes too.... and have been in the trade 19 years now.... I love it when there is plenty of space to work on an engine.
Hi mr. Wizard, my name is Dominick. I am new to your Channel and I really enjoy your content. I have been working on cars for 42 years, although it is not my profession it is something that I've enjoyed ever since I was a little kid. I recently purchased a 2012 Honda Accord for my daughter from a supposedly reputable Honda dealership in my area. I live in Connecticut. It is a beautiful 1ownercar but upon my inspection I found that it had a ripped CV boot on the right side. The dealership installed a new axle free of charge but when I got the car home I inspected the technicians work and he installed the axle but he didn't clean the Globs of CV grease that the old Axel puked out all over the control control arm and the lower engine cradle. It really amazes me as to what is considered a master technician.
The Buick Encore is called Opel/Vauxhall Mokka in Europe 😁
And it's like a bigger Opel/Vauxhall Corsa 🤣 but it's nice
It's also a Holden Trax in Australia.
Yip, also called Opel Mokka in South Africa
Nice is not what I'd call it
Lol yours sounds funny/cool it's like gta5 with silly names 🤣
Dealers are usually the last place you want to get your car worked on.
There are not enough independent shops, even service stations have been turned into minimarts.
@Self Made Auto lol there isn't a dealership by me to work on my vehicle
@Self Made Auto you must work at a dealer given how triggered all these comments have you 😂
@Self Made Auto how am I jealous? If I pay someone to repair a vehicle I want it done by someone actually knows what they are doing. My experience with dealers shows they don't have any clue.
@Self Made Auto you just described yourself, dude.
Thank you! This is why I am hesitant to take my car to a dealer, or any repair shop really. There are not interested in taking the time to identify and solve the problem. Just do something to get the car out the door and bill as many flat rate hours as possible. "Check engine light? Let's change the oil and belt and move on to the next". The issue is not only the cost, but the lack of skill and professionalism disturbs me.
I would rather do basic maintenance myself, run it untiil it has a serious problem, and then dump it. Like BMW owners do!
And it's not just mechanics shops. Service is pretty much dead in America.
As a former GM tech, this should have been fixed immediately, and with ease. Every, and I mean every single one of those 1.4s will leak coolant from the water outlet/thermostat, or they will set a CEL. The PCV/valve cover will also fall on every single one, and either leak from around the valve covers, or the cam seals.
Tell me about it...I work in an independant shop in Montreal, and if I had kept all the valve covers I have changed, I could pave my driveway with them! Then there's the failing check valves in the intake manifolds, not to mention the oil filter housing leaking like Niagara Falls, and the water pumps...
Buick Encore ... Our 2017 and 2018 Buick Encores have been a great buy. Turbo went out on the 2018, but it was replaced by warranty. That 1.4 liter engine gets up and goes. Never a problem on the freeway or in the mountains. Getting a combined 32 mpg.
They either knew what was wrong and deliberately wanted to scam the customer, or they are incompetent to use a scan tool. I will say it's the former. And if more shops and dealerships are willing to do the former, this will just breed more weekend warriors, which means less customers for them. You know, back in the days, dealerships were the same when selling vehicles. It used to be about the long term. It's been the short term for decades now. If I was in your position, I would also prefer long term customers. And I bet the next time that customer has a problem with that Buick Encore, they are going straight to you and not thinking twice about going to the dealership.
All any business cares about now is the quarterly earning reports. They don't care about ANYTHING beyond the next 3 months. And that short-sightedness will be the death of them.
And her Referring other friends to the Wizard, thru word of mouth...just sharing and bragging on how great he is...fixing your car problems.
She can now go back to the dealership and some of her money back ...not...unless she has a great lawyer...lol.
She can at least spit in their face....oh my.
Illegals hiring illegals in shop...dealerships just dont care
You guys need to make a t-shirt that says no muffler Newton and I bet all of us wizard followers would buy em up !
But of course you solved it!!! You’re the Car Wizard! I’d expect no less!!! Great job as always!!
We need more shops like your’s around wizard. It’s insane that dealerships and even independent shops are becoming more and more greedy instead of actually trying to fix the problem. Or they do fix the problem miraculously and charge you way over a reasonable amount for parts and labor. It’s truly a rare sight to see places like yours around at this point. Nobody really seems to care
This is why when i had bought my 07 F150 new , i never took it back to the dealership, not even for an oil change. An after 15yrs the very time i did take it. They deliberately Sabotage my truck , so i bought a new chevy z71 an i will try not never take it back to the dealership ✌🏾
Rented a “mid-size suv” from hertz once. This is what they gave me the keys to. I was immediately repulsed and asked for something different. Request denied! Each mile I drove that ugly roller skate, my hatred grew more and more. I’ve rented many cars and never had such a reaction before or since. To me, it’s a car designed by and for people who hate cars.
That’s most crossovers in GM & Ford’s lineup in general. Hell, the average Equinox/Traverse drivers drive almost as suipidly as a good share of European car owners. Aggressive tailgating in the right lane, causing a line in the far left lane, never signaling, potentially slamming the brakes at gradual highway curves in good weather, you name it…
But those subcompact crossovers have to be the absolute most USELESS class of cars ever conceived. About the same MPGs as a V6/full side sedan/coupe but with only an 8 gallon tank. If you’re renting to go out of town/state in for the weekend or longer, these cars are hands down the absolute WORST company for such endeavors. At least based on my experiences with the Nissan Kicks & Ford whichever is their version of the Trax/Encore….
@@schwenda3727 The encore itself is a 14 gallon tank at 33mpg, you might be thinking of the enclave in terms of poor mpg and small tank.
Maybe the engine light or that code never came on for the dealer. Hard to believe 3 dealers missed something so easy.
It’s a Buick Encore, the techs were probably amazed that it ran and drove.
Actually, it’s a Suzuki, based on the SX4. Looks like they did a joint design on the engine, because that ecotec looks a lot like my 2007 2 liter in my SX4. At any rate, it’s still a decent mini suv, meant to get you from A to B safely, although mine has the all wheel drive option, and is very capable in rain, mud and snow with the right tires. It also gets 40 mpg on the highway. That “Buick” should get better than that since if front wheel drive.
@@cubbysrig it’s not related to the SX4. It’s corporate cousin is the Chevy Trax.
That engine is also in the Chevy Cruze. Has a few common problems, turbo fails, PCV problems and intake air leaks.
@@cubbysrig Definitely not....It is based on a Korean design, if I am not mistaken. I also used to own a Suzuki SX4, an '09, and that car was 2.0 liter with no turbo, not a 1.4 turbo like this Buick. Overseas version was a 1.6 and also a diesel option.
It's a Daewoo. Everyone forgets that GM took over Daewoo and they make small cars for GM
Here in the UK 🇬🇧 I use a small independent garage, have done for years, to maintain/repair my cars. They are proper old school mechanics and they are great…never rip me off, no drama and they are a pleasure to deal with. No main dealers for me…put money into a small family business 🇬🇧👍
Congratulations Cameron 🎊 👏 on your move to freedom!
Ms wizard, a 1.4 turbo is plenty enough power for the highway.
Till you add 4 American adults and a trunk full of Costco goodies. Then you became a hazard for everyone around you.
@@ty811 no, still plenty of power
@@ty811 I guess that is why small cars don't sell well in US then....
They don't even drive that fast in America, we do real speed in Europe
I'm guessing that Thermostats were out of stock at the Dealerships, so they just did some unnecessary work to pay their garage overhead, especially as their scan machine would have told them it was the thermostat ...
Car Wizard: Kinda cute mrs Wizard?
Mrs Wizard: Well, if you say so...
She still has an eye on the 308, you know ;-)
I do my own work car wizard but occasionally it's not convenient for me to do it myself. I always explain my position and show them work that I've completed myself successfully. I've even done a few RUclips videos on cars. I live on the Front Range and Kansas City and I'm telling you it's a nightmare to try to get service work done to your car. No matter who you are. I just recently had to come back to Kansas City where my family is to do serious work to my car. I could not get it done on the Front Range. I tried to have a flex pipe replaced on my custom exhaust and they had it tapping my crossmember. When the guy was holding my down pipe in his hand and asking me questions and had not tack weld things into place. I knew I was screwed. Thank you for teaching me a bunch of tricks I did not know. You really can't rely on anybody around these parts.
Amen Wiz! Many wrench turners turn 60 and can't or not willing to do universal joints, but dead on regarding these repairs. Finding a good mechanic is paramount. You even give this car a thumbs up, but you called it from the start. We need more like you. Amen. Adam
“Trained technicians”? Trained maybe to sell unnecessary parts and service?
And just like Jiffy Lube, and one of my coworkers got The jiffy for sure with no lube
The dealer won’t fix it, but they’ll try to sell you a bunch of fluid flushes.
From my experience, dealership techs are generally kids. Anyone who is decent either opens their own shop or goes and works for an independent shop after getting experience at the dealership.
Check engine light on? Oil change should fix it. Lol
Buick Encores 2013 -16 are Beautiful Cars! Great lines! I have one its been very reliable! the later Encores had a updated front end that made it look frumpy
I saw the Studebaker episode, but it is so sweet to see something like that in the background. I have a 53 Studebaker Coupe I wish was in similar condition.