Car Dealership Customer Service Tips
on Feb 16 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged repairs by jasonl
Your new car (or your new car dealer) is giving you a headache. There’s a problem and the customer service you’ve received hasn’t been good enough. You feel like you’ve done your part, but your problem is still unresolved. How do you get it solved?
Listen to this article.
First of all, if you’re having a problem with your new car and it hasn’t been taken care of, your best hope for a solution is to work with your local dealer. Believe it or not, your local dealership is invested in solving your problem because they know that’s the best way to make you a lifetime customer. It’s a well known fact (known by dealers and car manufacturers alike) that while dealerships spend thousands of dollars in advertising trying to create trust with their customers, statistics show that the *best* way to create trust with consumers is to solve their problems.
But before your local new car dealer will help you, they need to believe that you’re going to be a good future customer. It’s much easier for a dealership to justify helping you (especially if it costs money) if they believe they will earn that money back in the future. The best way to convince a dealership you’re going to be a good customer in the future is to show them you’re a good customer now.
You can show the dealership you’re a good customer by being nice to the dealer’s employees. While it might make you feel better to yell or be rude, nothing will hurt your cause more than a group of employees at the dealership that hate you. If you want to get what you want, give them a reason to like you and want to help you. “Kill em’ with kindness” and you will prove you’re a customer worth saving.
While being pleasant will help you get what you want from your local dealer, working with the dealership’s General Manager (GM) will help you just as much. GM’s have the full backing of the manufacturer and they have the power to do just about anything to solve a customer service complaint. Keep in mind that many dealership general managers are powerful enough to get senior manufacturer sales executives on the phone at any time, so they’re absolutely capable of getting the manufacturer to do something for you. They are also usually experienced professionals that know how to help. Make sure you ask to speak with the dealership GM when you have a customer service problem.
In the rare case that speaking with the GM of your local dealer doesn’t work, the next step is to call the manufacturer’s customer service hotline (the number can be found in your owner’s manual). You should try to contact the local regional office as well. While the local regional office will probably just refer you to the national hotline, you may be able to speak with a regional Toyota executive. Persistence is key.
So, to summarize, if you have a new car customer service problem, your local dealer is your starting point. Make sure to ask to speak with the general manager and to be nice to everyone you speak with. If the local dealer doesn’t get it done, try working with the manufacturer’s national hotline. Finally, call your manufacturer’s regional office. As long as you’re persistent and pleasant, you’ll get the best possible customer service.
Should I Use Synthetic Oil In My New Car?
on Feb 16 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged oil, scheduled maintenance by jasonl
Listen to this article.
People often wonder if they should be using synthetic oil in their vehicles. Synthetic oil is better than regular oil for a lot of different reasons – it’s a better lubricant, it maintains integrity at high temperatures, it’s fairly pure, and it rarely turns into sludge (even when it’s abused). To many, the obvious benefits of synthetic oil lead them to conclude they should start using it ASAP. However, despite synthetic oil’s benefits, it really depends on how you take care of your car.
To start with, do you change your oil regularly? Oil needs to be changed before it breaks down and puts your engine at risk. But if you’re good at changing your oil on time every 3-5k miles, you’ll never experience one of the benefits of synthetic oil. Synthetic is resistant to breaking down, even after extended use. If you forget an oil change for instance, or even if you just put one off for a few weeks, synthetic is the best oil to have in your engine. But if you’re changing your oil regularly and at the proper mileage you’ll never be in a situation where your engine is at risk from worn-out oil.
Another benefit of synthetic is that it will last a long time without deteriorating. For instance, let’s say you drive 7k miles per year. At that rate, assuming a 5k mile oil change interval, you’re only going to need an oil change every 9 months (based on mileage). Since regular oil starts to break down after 6 months (even when unused), you should either change your oil sooner than necessary or you should think about using synthetic. It may save you money to pay for one synthetic oil change a year instead of two regular oil changes, and it will definitely save you time.
Other than synthetic’s breakdown resistance and long life, there’s one other common reason you should consider using synthetic. As natural oil gets hot, it starts to breakdown. The longer it stays hot, the worse the breakdown. So, if you regularly operate your vehicle in such a way that the engine temperature is always high, you should run synthetic. Letting your vehicle idle for hours at a time (like on a jobsite) will overheat the engine, as would driving in high ambient temperatures (like the desert) or at high altitudes (over 10k feet). As a rule, high temperature desert air doesn’t cool your engine very well, and neither does “thin” mountain air. If you live in these areas, consider running synthetic oil. Finally, synthetic oil is often used in high performance vehicles. If you are utilizing your vehice like a high-performance car (high speeds, fast turns, you know who you are) then synthetic is a smart choice.
There are a lot of entities that recommend using synthetic oil, even for people that don’t need it. For example, synthetic is recommended for anyone that drives in stop-and-go traffic. Since all of us drive in stop-and-go at some point, that’s a bad recommendation. You should only use synthetic if you’re driving in stop and go traffic long enough for your engine’s cooling fan to turn on and only if you’re doing so daily. Also, if you drive short trips only, people may recommend synthetic oil as a way to protect you engine. However, short trips, regardless of your choice of oil, can damage your motor. No matter whether you use synthetic or regular oil, your engine was designed to be ran for at least 20 minutes. Running synthetic in these situations might be better, but tests have shown the benefit is minor.
If you determine that one of the above situations applies to you, take care when you purchase synthetic oil. Many places will suggest a synthetic blend as a way to save money (instead of full-synthetic), however the “blend” is often times a mystery. Maybe you’re getting a 50-50 blend, or maybe you’re getting 1% synthetic and 99% regular oil. My recommendation is to go full synthetic or not to bother with it – unless the blend suggested is provided and produced by your vehicle’s manufacturer.
Last but not least, what do auto manufacturers have to say about synthetics? Most state that “any oil that meets API standard specifications can be used in your vehicle.” That means normal oil is just fine. For most people, their vehicles will operate for a very long time without the benefit of synthetic oil as long as they are properly maintained and used normally.
How To Figure Out Your Gas Mileage: Calculate It Easy
on Dec 16 in Maintenance & Repairs tagged gas mileage by jasonl
Figuring out your gas mileage yourself is very easy to do, and if you remember this simple method you can figure it out for yourself every time you fill up your tank.
Here’s how — we’re going to figure out how many miles you drive between fill-ups, then we’re going to figure out how much gas you used. Finally, we’re going to do some really simple math and come up with a very accurate estimate of your gas mileage.
All you’ll need is a piece of paper, a simple calculator (the one in your cell phone will work fine), and a minute or two at the gas station right after you fill up.
Step 1: Fill your gas tank completely full.
Step 2: Before you leave the gas station, you need to reset your trip odometer to “0″ (zero). If you don’t know how to do that, or if you don’t have a trip odometer, then you need to write down your car’s total miles and save the piece of paper you write it on.
Step 3: Drive around normally until it’s time to put gas in your car.
Step 4: Fill your gas tank completely full.
Step 5: Figure out how many miles you’ve driven since your last fill-up. You can look at your trip odometer for the answer, or you can figure out how far you’ve driven using the scrap of paper from step 2 and your calculator. Write down that mileage and go to the next step.
NOTE: Keep in mind that most of the time, the number you write down in step 5 should be between 100-500 miles. If you’ve driven a lot more or a lot less, there might be a problem with your math (or you’re getting really good mileage).
Step 6: Now that you know how far you’ve driven since your last fill-up, it’s time to figure out how much gas you’ve used. This is easy — just look at the gas pump. You’ll see exactly how many gallons of gas you just put in your car — that’s the amount of gas you used since your last fill-up. Make sure to write down the amount of gas you used, and make sure to include the numbers after the decimal point.
Step 7: Using your calculator, divide the number of miles you’ve driven by the number of gallons of gas you just bought. The resulting number is your gas mileage!
If you’re driving a truck or large SUV, your mileage should be between 12 and 20.
If you’re driving a small SUV or a large car, your mileage should be between 18 and 25.
If you’re driving a mid-size or compact car, your mileage should be between 25 and 35.
If you’re driving a scooter, your mileage should be really good and you shouldn’t worry about it.
If you want to know what your car’s mileage should be according to the EPA, you can look it up online. Just find your car’s year, make, and model.
Also, if you car’s mileage is a lot more or a lot less than we’ve listed, there might be something wrong with your math or your car.
The best part about this method is that you can figure out your gas mileage every time you fill up — just make sure that you reset your trip odometer or write down your mileage every time you fill up with gas.
