Certified mechanics at dealership services?

"signintokinjalol" (signintokinjalol)
03/22/2014 at 20:01 • Filed to: None

I know most of you are smart enough to not take your car to the service center at the dealership, unless you have a warranty, specific car, etc.

A few days ago i recently learned that a car dealership near me is full of uncertified mechanics doing major work on cars. Everything, rack and pinion, motor/tranny replacement, etc.

You could argue that even a certified mechanic could have no idea what the fuck is he doing, but don't these "standards" matter?

DISCUSSION (14)

Montalvo > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 20:06

Unless I know the mechanic personally then yes it does matter. Certification acts like a screen, it isn't always effective but it at least raises the standard a little bit. I would rather have someone I don't know working on my car with a certification than a stranger without it.

The Dummy Gummy > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 20:19

Would Subaru's count as specific? I planned on taking my Subi to the dealers for all my service maintenance (timing belt, rear differential change, transmission fluid flush, etc)

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 20:31

I was doing all sorts of work at a dealer when I was no where near certified......

I did axles, transmissions, engines, and plenty of other jobs.

Even at a shop that "Only hires ASE Certified techs", I was doing heavy work there with NO certifications.

You can do a lot without the certifications.

Basically at a shop "what the customer doesn't know won't hurt them" is the mentality.

dogisbadob > The Dummy Gummy
03/22/2014 at 20:32

They definitely know how to replace your head gaskets :)

dogisbadob > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 20:33

Dealer's mechanics might not need ASE certification because they only work on one line of cars and are often trained by that manufacturer. Ford dealers don't need to know how to work on a GTR.

The Dummy Gummy > dogisbadob
03/22/2014 at 20:34

Lol I will give you that.

dogisbadob > The Dummy Gummy
03/22/2014 at 20:39

Sorry, I had to!

The Dummy Gummy > dogisbadob
03/22/2014 at 20:40

It was fair haha. No penalty flags thrown.

Takuro Spirit > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 20:46

Depends on who's doing the certifying. ASE? The manufacturer? Lots of techs become certified in one of those, then moves on to a different manufacturer and either doesn't get training right away for the new car make, or lets their ASE's lapse.

Either way, there should be someone certified there. Otherwise they cannot perform warranty work on cars. Usually our used car techs are experienced, but not Mazda certified, because they never work on customer's Mazdas under warranty. All that has changed recently though, as Mazda requires EVERYONE in the back end to be certified, or the sales department doesn't get as much floor plan and other cool things on new cars. Even me, the parts guy, has to be certified. Yup. To sell parts.

Pitchblende > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 21:00

My brother had a problem with his car, the Ford garage servicing it told him there was a problem with the emissions, spent a week without finding what was wrong, eventually they gave in and handed it to a Volvo dealer, as the 2.5 l in the Focus ST is a Volvo lump, who told them it was perfectly fine. So even certified mechanics are not always reliable.

M54B30 > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 21:07

There's probably a master mechanic supervising non-certified techs. No big deal, as long as they're insured lol

Bad72AMX > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 21:26

For Chrysler, every warranty repair (and recall) is assigned a skill level. The tech performing that repair must have completed training to meet or exceed the skill level the repair dictates. There are some exceptions, but for the most part that holds true. We are very good at catching cheating, so it does not happen very often. However, there is no way to force a dealer into using trained techs on customer pay repairs, so there is a chance that untrained techs are working on your car if you are footing the bill.

Broke30 > signintokinjalol
03/22/2014 at 22:17

What certifications are you talking about? ASE, dealer certification, or what??? Most of those are bs. Although they're nice to have. Most dealers hate sending techs to training unless they're forced to. They apparently don't think having better techs is worth spending a small amount of cash. I worked with a kid for a week who went to UTI and was a "Ford Certified Master Tech." He had to ask my friend or me every time, "Which way do I turn these lug nuts to take them off again?" We had to tell our boss he was going to kill someone if they didn't let him go. I miss working on cars, but I'll never go back to a dealership, they fuck everyone over, customers, employees, etc. The only thing that matters is the owner, and general manager making money.

signintokinjalol > Broke30
03/22/2014 at 22:18

ASE. They aren't standard?