Car salesmen are retarded.

[sickness]

I can't believe this. I sent a request for a quote to a car dealership and, because I didn't specify whether I wanted the Civic Hybrid with or without the nav system, a salesman emails me to ask rather than just giving me two quotes. Whatever happened to proactive sales and making the customer at least THINK you were knowledgeable and looking to create options for them?

[Trazalca]

Car salesmen are retarded.

You're just now seeing that?

We bought a used 2000 Honda Odyssey that ran great, save for one minor
detail the dealer failed to supply to us - when the battery dies, the radio goes inactive for security reasons.
So even if a new battery is put in, the radio is inoperable until YOU PUT IN A FREAKIN' CODE.

To get the code, we have to turn in the vehicle, the greasy mechanic then has to pull out the radio from its frame, look up the serial number in the back, PLUS the VIN number,
and look up the database for the matching code, just so we can punch it in,
and then play a radio or CD.

No one ever bothered to warn us about this, or work to supply us with a code to mark down for future reference when the vehicle was sold to us.

And oh yeah. It'll cost us $80.00 to carry out this service, just so we can play music in a car!!!

:angry

As of now, Lady Traz and I enjoy the ear splitting music of our dear children.

:ohwell: :dunno:

[kah]

You're just now seeing that?

We bought a used 2000 Honda Odyssey that ran great, save for one minor
detail the dealer failed to supply to us - when the battery dies, the radio goes inactive for security reasons.
So even if a new battery is put in, the radio is inoperable until YOU PUT IN A FREAKIN' CODE.

To get the code, we have to turn in the vehicle, the greasy mechanic then has to pull out the radio from its frame, look up the serial number in the back, PLUS the VIN number,
and look up the database for the matching code, just so we can punch it in,
and then play a radio or CD.

No one ever bothered to warn us about this, or work to supply us with a code to mark down for future reference when the vehicle was sold to us.

And oh yeah. It'll cost us $80.00 to carry out this service, just so we can play music in a car!!!

:angry

As of now, Lady Traz and I enjoy the ear splitting music of our dear children.

:ohwell: :dunno:

First of all, you can just call Honda with your Vin and they will tell you the code. Second- GREASY MECHANIC??? ~takes deep breath and counts to ten~ I'm not going to do it, but I really want to rip you a new ******* for that one.

[sickness]

An update:

That was right before I left to go see about buying one at fleet price through my mom's union. Turns out fleet price is the same as regular on the Civic Hybrid so I'm now researching my financing options to cover $24,000. It arrives later this month (between the 24th and 30th).

[sickness]

By the way, I checked my email and had gotten a response from the salesman in question and his dealership was offering the car for no less than $26,900 before tax, license, document, destination fees and the like. That's almost what it was at the dealership I made a deal with after all fees.

[Trazalca]

First of all, you can just call Honda with your Vin and they will tell you the code.

That's not what I was told at the Honda dealership last week when I paid
them a visit to get extra keys made.

Second- GREASY MECHANIC??? ~takes deep breath and counts to ten~ I'm not going to do it, but I really want to rip you a new ******* for that one.

:confused: :ohwell: :ohwell: :dunno:

Uh, care to explain this one Kah? Methinks I have toucheth a nerve. :rolleyes:

[kah]

Hmmm, maybe they just wanted to make 80 bucks off you since you did bring your car in to be looked at.

Let's see.... Yup- everyone I know is a mechanic, mason, carpenter, tile-setter, or in one of the other trades. It doesn't sit real well with me when someone talks shit about a tradesman.

[Trazalca]

Hmmm, maybe they just wanted to make 80 bucks off you since you did bring your car in to be looked at.

Let's see.... Yup- everyone I know is a mechanic, mason, carpenter, tile-setter, or in one of the other trades. It doesn't sit real well with me when someone talks shit about a tradesman.

Well, considering the trades my Dad took up in his lifetime, being a maintenance man for a series of apartment complexes for one,
and a mechanic for the Post Office machinery for another, I have plenty of
respect for all tradesmen. But that respect does slip down a bit
if any of them tries to unnecessarily bilk me out of money better spent for my little ones.

[kah]

Well, considering the trades my Dad took up in his lifetime, being a maintenance man for a series of apartment complexes for one,
and a mechanic for the Post Office machinery for another, I have plenty of
respect for all tradesmen. But that respect does slip down a bit
if any of them tries to unnecessarily bilk me out of money better spent for my little ones.

Yeah- except it wasn't the mechanic doing the bilking. That would be either the service writer, or the service manager. Besides, 80 bucks is probably the shop's hourly rate, which is what they would charge to sit on the phone with Honda to get your stereo code, whether it be for 10 minutes or 50 minutes, because the mechanic has to get paid for spending time with your stereo when he could be doing a motor job or something else that is more lucrative. I can explain the whole flat-rate concept for you if you like, but it basically comes down to the fact that someone spent time with your car that wasn't volunteering.

[Intelligent_Design]

Yeah- except it wasn't the mechanic doing the bilking. That would be either the service writer, or the service manager. Besides, 80 bucks is probably the shop's hourly rate, which is what they would charge to sit on the phone with Honda to get your stereo code, whether it be for 10 minutes or 50 minutes, because the mechanic has to get paid for spending time with your stereo when he could be doing a motor job or something else that is more lucrative. I can explain the whole flat-rate concept for you if you like, but it basically comes down to the fact that someone spent time with your car that wasn't volunteering.


If what you said is true it seems like the its as big a scam as I thought it was. And the mechanic is the willing accomplice. I play $80 for labor.....You know actually fixing the car not for the information gathering process on how to fix the car. Also I bet that while my car sits while another gets worked on, we both get charged the same. Those thieving Fuckers could at least pull a gun and wear a ski mask when I go to pay for that bs.

[kah]

Ok- I see I do have to explain the flat-rate system. It basically works like this...

Let's say a tranny job should take 6 hours. That is the amount of hours the customer will be charged for the work, whether it takes the mechanic three hours or 10 hours. The mechanic also gets paid for 6 hours, although it is probably in the $13- $16 dollar an hour range. Sometimes the system works in the mechanic's favor. Sometimes it doesn't. And if the shop has no work for them to do, they get paid minimum wage, because that is the minimum allowable wage according to the law.

Let's say a shop had a slow week, and the mechanic only had enough work to make 20 hours. If he makes $13/hour, then he is at work for 40 hours, and makes $260 gross. If he had absolutely NO work at all, he would gross $206, and with the cost of health insurance around here, he wouldn't be taking home much of anything. If he busted his ass on a busy week, and did his jobs in record time, he might be lucky enough to make 80 hours (not common) in 40. That works out to $1040, since all their hours are straight pay. Most of the time, mechanics are lucky to make their 40 hours, sometimes 50, which would be $520 and $650 respectively, because shops make out on the flat-rate system if there is no work, so they hire more mechanics than they need so work gets done faster.

I would assume that the stereo reprogramming was billed at 1 hour, which is probably their minimum billable rate. If you were having other work done that billed at over an hour, there would probably be a separate rate for the RP at about 1/4 hour. Or they may even have done it for free.

[Trazalca]

Not meaning any disrespect to your post, but....

Let's say a tranny job should take 6 hours.

Um, don't you mean TRAINEE? Or is that short for something else?

[Bark]

Transmission.

When I bought my Honda, it came with a card in the glove box with the radio's security code listed.

[Trazalca]

Transmission.

When I bought my Honda, it came with a card in the glove box with the radio's security code listed.

Nope. I looked. No card was in the glove box for us.