Omaha Dealer Service - Bad News

[omahanut]

I took my car into performance to have some simple warranty work done. There was a rattle in the drivers door when the window was down and the passenger window leaked when the car was washed. They had to order a new seal for the window so they kept it overnight. I picked it up today and drove it home. Half way home I noticed that the locks had not engages. Then when I got home I noticed that with the new seal in the window, the door although apparently latched does not shut even with the body of the car. I called and they told me to drop by on Monday when the "Smart Mechanic" would be back and hopefully it would be something that he could fix while I wait. What a bunch of .... Two days and now it has to go back. To make it worse, when you call the service department the majority of the time it just rings and rings and rings and goes back to the operator. Guess if you have the only game in town it doens't matter how you treat your customers.

[Fredvon4]

sorry to hear that... my dealer in Round Rock has a full time smart shop and they appear to me to be interested and competent

I recommend dropping a note to the dealer General Manager politely describing your disappointment

Not defending them.... but in some markets it may just be that there is not enough volume yet to keep full time help... remember we are still only 7 months into the distribution and the training the technicians got was really just a brief over view of the car... each tech is learning something new every day and it will take several years before most of them get really good

Do not lower your expectations, just be mindful that for a while many of us will experience lower service quality then we would get from a brand XX 30 year plus history...and to be be fair I have received even poorer service then you describe at some long time, well staffed and trained, Ford/Chevy/Nissan shops

[jwight]

Remember the discussions last year and two big areas of concern? Parts pipeline and technician training; both seem to have panned out as expected - and both should have been up to speed before cars started going to customers, IMHO. smart is playing catch up now and damaging their reputation in the process; too bad, as it could have been prevented with a little foresight.

[kitttie]

I am experiencing the parts problem right now... I took my car to the dealer last Monday (I had barely had it a week). Parking brake malfunction. I thought perhaps all they'd have to do was tighten a screw or something. No such luck... Annoyed, but not surprised, they wouldn't let me drive the car off the lot because it's a safety issue. I could have easily continued to drive the car, but I knew it wasn't worth arguing about (they gave me a loaner). The part is coming from Germany. They told me it could take up to two weeks, but were going to try to expedite it. I checked yesterday, the part still had not arrived yet. I'm actually going to take the loaner back to the rental place today even though my Smart isn't ready yet. I can't stand the loaner car. I have another vehicle, so a loaner wasn't necessary, but I took it because they offered. I'm sort of surprised at how bad my Smart Car withdrawal is, I really miss my little car!

[omahanut]

I understand about the parts, that is why they kept the car overnight to begin with, they had to get the part from Germany, at least that is what they told me but it just took them overnight. What I don't udnerstand is if the "Smart Mechanic" wasn't going to be available, why the did tell me to wait to bring it in since nothing they did was really big or causing safety issues. I will contact the general manager, plus this dealer usually has someone to a feedback survey an they are going to get an earful. There was another smart there from Iowa and I was told that they had been waiitng 3 weeks for parts so I guess it could be worse. I have another car, in fact between the two of us we have 5 other cars but it is just frustrating to have to go back because the job wasn't done right.