Maybe I was a ****, but.....

Posted another thread asking for advice on a 15000 mile check-up for the car. Some good advice there, thanks to everyone.

Well, I tried to make an appointment with my regular Viper guy but he is out for a couple of months with a back problem. Really want to get this done before the car gets put away for the winter, so I went looking for another dealership that had a Viper tech. (tech seem to be getting rarer). Ok, found a place that said they had an experienced tech so I made an appointment to have him do the work.

Went to the appointment today. Walked into the service department and told the clerk I was there for my appointment to have my Viper serviced. She said ok and sat down at her computer to start the paper work. She said, "Are the keys in it?". OK, that should have been my first clue. I would never just leave the keys in it. I said "No, I have them". Next she said, "What are we having done today?" So I told her that I wanted to get its 15000 mile service, which includes oil change and lube. And that I had gotten a lot of advice from here on other things that should be checked, so i was hoping the tech could give us some advice on what else should be done.

She said OK and went to ask him. When she came back she said he would be right out. So out comes this guy and I shake his hand and tell him the story about asking his advice on what needs to be done. He says, "We'll check everything and let you know." THEN he says, "Is that front wheel drive or rear wheel drive?" WHAT!! I said, "I hope your joking", but I could tell he wasn't. I said, "Your a certified Viper tech, right?" He kind of sheepishly replied no. So I said to the clerk, "I brought the car here because you said you had a certified Viper tech." She said, "We do, but he doesn't change oil. This is our lube guy." So I looked at him and asked, "How many quarts of oil does it take?" His reply was that he'd have to do some research on that. I turned around and walked out.

I know it's just an oil change, but I really didn't want some grease monkey working on it that didn't even know how many quarts of oil it took.

Do you think I was being a prima donna? Should I have let them do it? It's just an oil change. Kind of felt like I was being a dick. But I also got the feeling they were pretty incompetent.

In a word....no. You did the right thing.

You have every right to refuse business. These are not just normal cars and should be treated as such. Hopefully the NEW Viper will wead out these issues and force dealers to have certified techs to assist.

Bruce

wow....you're a real ****!!!!

j/k .....that is totally ridiculous on the dealerships part....they should have had the Viper tech service the car....I would make a phone call to the the service manager to very nicely let him know what happened and why you won't be bringing the car back....

wow ! surprised u kept it together that long

I think you acted appropriately!

wow ! surprised u kept it together that long

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Actually, the more I'm thinking about it, the more pissed I'm getting. I better go watch some TV. lol

lol. I would have done the same.

I generally live with this motto: because I'm nice to most people doesn't mean that I always have to be nice to everyone.

Nick

If the lube tech had to ask you if a Viper was front wheel drive or rear wheel drive - he shouldn't even be allowed to change oil on ANY car period.

You did the right thing and I agree with whoever made the recommendation to contact the service manager. They should know they are losing business and why.I can determine if they worked on a viper or not when I ask them to open the hood so I can point something out to them. I have a 2001. If they cannot open the hood, I know they do not work on vipers and off I go.

Was front wheel drive an option? LOL
I would have had a few kind words before I left and left some nice black marks with the REAR tires!!

Sounds likenyou did the right thing. I would have been scared to let the "lube guy" work on my car too. I would have loved to know why the viper tech didn't do oil changes on viper of all things.

Wow. How could anyone not know what drive a viper is?

thats crazy! Whenever I take my car in for ANYTHING I hand the keys directly to the viper tech and he is the only one that touches the car. If that dealer was willing to let a lube guy change the oil think of who would have been allowed to drive the car. The first "viper tech" I checked with in Las Vegas tried to open the hood on my 94 from the front, when he asked me if it was stuck I left and never went back to that dealership for anything.

You did the right thing. You should also put your location in your profile. Someone here might know a good Viper tech in your area.

This post has been up for a whole 12 hours now and not one person has rudely suggested that you should be changing the oil yourself. I'm very surprised.

cant blame you for leaving at that point. if he doesn't know a car like that is RWD, he aint working on mine either...

this is why everyone needs a relationship with a solid, local mechanic who they can trust.

This post has been up for a whole 12 hours now and not one person has rudely suggested that you should be changing the oil yourself. I'm very surprised.

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Well, I really want an experienced eye to look over the car while it's being serviced. My regular guy has come to know the car and that's what I like. So the reason I take it in is not just for the oil change but to have someone that knows what their doing keep an eye on it.

I think I will do the oil change myself today and when my regular guy gets back on his feet I'll take it in to him and get all the fluids changed and a tune up.

J&R3xV10 said:

thats crazy! Whenever I take my car in for ANYTHING I hand the keys directly to the viper tech and he is the only one that touches the car....

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+1. If he didn't know how much to put in, chances are he didn't know what to put in, you may have had your oil changed with the stuff I put in my lawnmower. You did the right thing.

I can't comment until I know if that Viper of yours is an automatic or 4 speed?

what dealer was it?

Nick

SkyBob said:

This post has been up for a whole 12 hours now and not one person has rudely suggested that you should be changing the oil yourself. I'm very surprised.

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I agree...
If you have the room just get a lift and do it yourself.
It is fast and easy and it will be less hassle in the long run.

Beside the fact that I do all the work on my vehicles, i think that you guys should realize this this "Viper Tech" thing is nothing more than a marketing gimmik designed to make peoples that bought a very expensive DODGE feel special.
Give me a break, what so special about working on a Viper???????????
From a technical point of view, It's 1 of the easiest car to work on and any good mechanic, especially a dealer that have access to all the factory informations, should have no problem with it.
The ony tricky part is opening the clamshell hood and there is nothing wrong in showing a mechanic how to do it if he had never worked on a Viper b4.

The real issue is not technical but rather that owners of expensive cars, being a Viper, a Jaguar, a Porsche, etc, expect their car and themselves to be treated differently than the average Joe and his Ford 150. Pretty hard to do when you don't have "stand-alone" dealeship or even a "viper-Corner" at regular dealership.

SkyBob said:

This post has been up for a whole 12 hours now and not one person has rudely suggested that you should be changing the oil yourself. I'm very surprised.

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Beat me to it...




I don't know how anyone could ask if ANY sports car was a FWD or RWD? That is hilarious to me...

To the OP, I think you did the right thing. You probably would have been here making a post about how the dealership wrecked your Viper.

wow..not a **** at all...You did the right thing

Well after reading such a disappointing experience i thought i would chime in with a completely opposite one.

Garrett the master technician/viper tech over at Raceway Chrysler Dodge in Toronto Ontario did a terrific job on my car this morning. He is knowledgeable, down to earth, and just plain out right loves vipers!
Let me drive the car into the work area, allowed me to watch and ask a bunch of questions as he worked on my car, just plain out right gave me the shirt off his back. This guy is class act!

Only other mechanic i met like this was my old porsche mechanic whom i think is retired now.

Garrett does it right and strives for excellence. And believe me, i am OCD when it comes to my toys and this guy is the same, i mean he is meticulous!

if you are reading this Garrett thanks again, both my father and I had a blast today looking at the underside of the car!

Jman

luc said:

Beside the fact that I do all the work on my vehicles, i think that you guys should realize this this "Viper Tech" thing is nothing more than a marketing gimmik designed to make peoples that bought a very expensive DODGE feel special.
Give me a break, what so special about working on a Viper???????????
From a technical point of view, It's 1 of the easiest car to work on and any good mechanic, especially a dealer that have access to all the factory informations, should have no problem with it.
The ony tricky part is opening the clamshell hood and there is nothing wrong in showing a mechanic how to do it if he had never worked on a Viper b4.

The real issue is not technical but rather that owners of expensive cars, being a Viper, a Jaguar, a Porsche, etc, expect their car and themselves to be treated differently than the average Joe and his Ford 150. Pretty hard to do when you don't have "stand-alone" dealeship or even a "viper-Corner" at regular dealership.

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The purpose of having a "Viper Tech" work on your car is that
1. they have been trained and certified by Dodge to work on Vipers, meaning they have a more hands on experiance and better understanding knowledge about vipers in particular.
2. in order to become a certified viper tech they must first prove that they are a skilled and compatent mechanic, as I understand, it is not cheap to be trained as a viper tech and dealerships don't want to waste money getting fools certified.
3. Yes it has a lot to do with feeling special. There is nothing wrong with getting special and prefered treatment when you buy the most expensive vehicle in a manufacturers line-up. I didn't buy my cars because they were expensive but there is nothing wrong with getting special treatment because of that fact.

The reason Dodge has viper techs is not just as a "marketing gimikke", they want to make sure they have properly trained people to resolve any problems that you would have with the car and provide a high level of service.

You acted appropriately, held it together and moved on.

In reality, it is the dealership's fault, not the little lady behind the service desk who just goes through her routine and has never had a Viper come in before. It is not even the lube guy's fault as he has obviously never seen a Viper before let alone changed the oil. He is right, he would have checked and it would have shown him "alot of Oil and the Type". Changing the Oil in a Viper is not rocket science. This is not an Aston Martin where you have to drop the Oil pan to get to the filter. Yes the young guy's comment was blarringly stupid, but he is young and will learn. Bet he drives an import with that front wheel drive comment.

However do we expect to be treated differently when we come in with a Viper? Absolutely and with great reason. When the average car purchase price at Dodge is probably $35K and a new Viper is $95K+, I think that qualifies. It is not, we are better than them because we can afford a Viper, but, a we bought something special, understand that and treat that car with respect thing. Personally if they took care of my car, never put it in danger and insured a trained and respectful individual with amazing attention to detail worked on it, then I could care less if they spit in my eye every time I brought it in. I care about my car enough to suffer through egos, etc. if need be.

Hate to say it, but your first mistake was not trusting your instincts to just wait for your trusted Viper tech. Better yet, I would have just asked for his number (which you should have anyway) and asked him how you could get it taken care of in the meantime. He might have recommended someone else and if you trust him, you would trust his opinion of someone else or better yet, he might have just come in to get your car through (whether he did the work or just directed it) and went back out.

Either way, you did the right thing to just leave. Service people take the brunt of bad press for poor management in most all situations, which is wrong. It is obvious that dealership needs a Viper protocol issued and made known to the staff. This is the problem when management does not give employees respect enough to make decisions and do a better job. They just expect everyone to follow a script. Problem is ultimately Corporate America when you get right down to it, but that is for another soap box.

J&R3xV10 said:

The purpose of having a "Viper Tech" work on your car is that
1. they have been trained and certified by Dodge to work on Vipers, meaning they have a more hands on experiance and better understanding knowledge about vipers in particular.
2. in order to become a certified viper tech they must first prove that they are a skilled and compatent mechanic, as I understand, it is not cheap to be trained as a viper tech and dealerships don't want to waste money getting fools certified.
3. Yes it has a lot to do with feeling special. There is nothing wrong with getting special and prefered treatment when you buy the most expensive vehicle in a manufacturers line-up. I didn't buy my cars because they were expensive but there is nothing wrong with getting special treatment because of that fact.

The reason Dodge has viper techs is not just as a "marketing gimikke", they want to make sure they have properly trained people to resolve any problems that you would have with the car and provide a high level of service.

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Are you implying that for other cars than the Viper, Dodge DO NOT want to have properly trained people to resolve any problems and provide a high level of services?????

Of course not, so where the difference?

Your point #1 is correct, a mechanic that work on a lot of Vipers will be better ( faster) at it but, that the same for every car.
A non-certified tech that work on a lot of vipers will also be better at it than a certified tech that only see a couple of vipers each year.

Go back to the ? in the original post:
One of the issue was that the "lube guy" was not a certifed viper tech and didn't knew the engine oil capacity but will look it up

So what the technical difference in changing the oil between a viper and ANY other vehicles?
None, you drain the oil, remove the filter, put a new filter on ( and if you're a good tech you prefill the filter) and add the required amount of correct oil.
How hard is that and which qualification/training a non-certified viper tech would be missing to do this simple job?
At least the tech was honest and didn't pretend that he knew.

Another post had an interesting comment: " they are not just normal cars and should be treated as such"
This is completely wrong from a technical point of view, as a matter of facts the viper is on of the simplest car and quit a few " cheap" cars are way more complicated with way more electronics, auto box, and packaging issues.

The only thing not "normal" about the viper ( beside obviously style and performances) is the price tag and that bring us back to my comment about Viper's owners wanting to be treated differently than the average Joe and his F150

I shoud add that there nothing wrong in wanting to be treated differently than the average Joe and his F150 but let's not confuse marketing and technical issues