Whiteout FR-S Towed into Dealership

[Jeff Lange]

No dealer is going to pull the plug and check the trans fluid level on a brand new car that arrives from the factory, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't say no dealer, but almost no dealer. It's just not something that happens. I see no wrongdoing on the part of the dealership, only at the factory.

You check for visible leaks and you confirm operation, but you don't go pulling out plugs to check the levels of fluids in the diff and/or transmission, etc.

Jeff

[ayau]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lange

No dealer is going to pull the plug and check the trans fluid level on a brand new car that arrives from the factory, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't say no dealer, but almost no dealer. It's just not something that happens. I see no wrongdoing on the part of the dealership, only at the factory.

You check for visible leaks and you confirm operation, but you don't go pulling out plugs to check the levels of fluids in the diff and/or transmission, etc.

Jeff

that's what i thought. i don't think the pdi says specifically to check for transmission fluid either.

[Jeff Lange]

Originally Posted by Chewie4299

Get the tranny replaced at the expense of the original dealer.

This is a warranty issue not a dealer issue, the first dealer did nothing wrong, they won't be paying a bill.

Originally Posted by Chewie4299

Dealer #2 will hopefully see an opportunity to make a really good customer by taking care of someone where dealer #1 dropped the ball.

Again, dealer #1 didn't screw anything up, and while the customer may feel they did (potentially, I don't know), in reality they really didn't. Well at least not related to the transmission.

Originally Posted by ruskymx

I'm curious to find out why they had the car towed to my dealership instead of the original. I'm guessing they may live closer to us, but bought the car at the other place because they had what they wanted.

Or the car just broke down closer to your dealership.

Jeff

[mattles]

still sounds like a shit PDI. I bet if you drive a trans with oil itll sound/feel NOT GOOD, which then would warrant a peek into the case to check leaks/fluid level... common sense even though its not in writing on the PDI.

[Jeff Lange]

I agree, but it may/probably did have some gear oil, enough to drive fine until it was overheating. It's hard to say without hearing exact details.

Jeff

[sbxjap]

c'mon guys... you're giving me nightmares already. I have less than 200miles on my BRZ.

But if this happened... I'd go ballistic on everyone, at fault or not. I hope this turns out okay though...

[Mpowered]

This is a reminder to all to check their fluids.

[mattles]

Originally Posted by sbxjap

c'mon guys... you're giving me nightmares already. I have less than 200miles on my BRZ.

But if this happened... I'd go ballistic on everyone, at fault or not. I hope this turns out okay though...

heh, well realistically the odds of a car coming from the factory entirely missing a certain fluid is very low. Considering the car has to be driven onto a boat or truck and then back off again, its in the best interest of everyone that it leave its plant of origin in full operating condition. Sadly the car in the OP was doomed before it even got to the dealership or into the customer's hands.

[White64Goat]

The dealer did a crap job. Period. I worked new car prep for a couple of years for Pontiac back in the mid-70's and every car had all the fluids checked. That's what dealer prep is for, to catch the possible mistake that the factory may have made. Owner should have gotten a copy of the prep sheet in the car or should have asked for it. Then if there is a check box on there for transmission fluid, service guy isn't doing his job. So now you have an unhappy owner wondering what else got overlooked, maybe a cotter pin on a tie rod or a ball joint.........

[Pscylo]

I did new car prep in 2000 for a company with 9 dealers in the city (Chattanooga TN), wasn't part of the checklist to check any of the fluids, cause it was done at the factory.

[Jeff Lange]

Originally Posted by White64Goat

The dealer did a crap job. Period. I worked new car prep for a couple of years for Pontiac back in the mid-70's and every car had all the fluids checked. That's what dealer prep is for, to catch the possible mistake that the factory may have made. Owner should have gotten a copy of the prep sheet in the car or should have asked for it. Then if there is a check box on there for transmission fluid, service guy isn't doing his job. So now you have an unhappy owner wondering what else got overlooked, maybe a cotter pin on a tie rod or a ball joint.........

There is no checkbox on the sheet to check manual transmission fluids. It is not done.

Dealers are not instructed to check these fluid levels. Period.

Dealers check any fluid level that can be checked easily, but they do not remove plugs and/or other bolts to check fluids like this in the diff or transmission. Things are visually inspected, things are not disassembled to check them. They don't pull off the oil pan to make sure that the main bolts are tight, or take out the driveshaft to make sure the seals were installed straight. You can only do so much, beyond that you expect that people at the factory did their job. A situation like this is extremely rare, the need to check something like this is near zero.

Honestly, as I've said, I see no fault of the dealer, at all.

Jeff

[K2]

Originally Posted by Hawaiian

I'd would kill the dealer just for that sticker alone.

I don't know...Dealer sticker and a license plate frame...I'd say that's worth billing the dealer $100 a month for the advertising. If there's a license plate frame in the front too, make it $150 a month. But there is a high market demand for this vehicle so you better mark that up to $275 a month.

[White64Goat]

And now you have a customer with a blown tranny, which, if the dealer had checked the fluid, would have not happened. On a brand new car it takes less than 5 minutes to check the rear and the transmission. Maybe the new car prep guys should have a little initiative, not just do what you're told or what's on a piece of paper (or not). If you're not trained right, you'll never learn. I guess if it's not on the paper, hey don't do it..........

Driving the car out of the factory or onto a truck or the ship is not going to generate enough heat to cause a problem. I'd also have to guess that once the prep was done, the car didn't get a road test either because that tranny had to be screaming with no fluid in it.

I'll bet that dealer will check every car now....................

[MrFRsLa]

Thats no fun. Another low VIN # car down.