Disappointed in Peterbilt Dealers and Prices

Oh boy my experience is quite the opposite. The local Kenworth dealer doesn't stock very much at all, so if your part isn't in it's either wait a week to 10 days, or order it air and double the cost of the part. They also seem to have problems finding part numbers for my truck for some odd reason. Sometimes it can be like pulling teeth. One good example is coolant tubes for the engine. They wanted over $300 each, plus another $170 for air shipping EACH. There was exactly ONE of each in the entire system, and if I ordered it ground and someone ordered it air while it was in transit, they would get it. I ended up ordering stainless aftermarket online for much cheaper and higher quality.

My experience with the Volvo dealer is the exact opposite. They almost have everything in stock, and if they don't it's next day air if you order by 5 pm. For free.

Night and day difference.

 

That is a mighty short list. It is just unbelievable the Sterling dealer could not see what was staring them in the face. I wonder how long it took them to calculate the lost revenue from all the parts sales after you left. Lost parts sales and warranty work vs. no parts sales and no warranty work. Which path should we take.

 

This months Engine Builder magazine had a good article that sort of relates to this thread:
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2014/08/failure-happens/

Sheds a little light on why some manufactures are so picky on warranty procedures. Aimed more at the car/light truck market, but the same applies to any warranty work. Dealers are the ones often caught in the middle and in many cases their shop did the work too, so this should be a wake up call for the importance if tech training and proper diagnosis. Most dealerships will simply pass the cost to the customer if warranty is denied, they rare will take blame for not not identifying the root cause of a problem causing premature failure of a part.

 

Belials My comment to you was poorly worded. You are absolutely correct about the personal satisfaction. Still I commend you for what you do.

 

There's a reason most of us call them stealerships.

 

Some may be, many aren't. There's also a ton of customers who like to give us Hell for no reason at all, just because they feel they're going to get better treatment.

Just yesterday I had someone call in and tell me he spoke with 4 people here and was tossed around before he spoke with me and all he wanted to do was buy a part. I talked to every person - no one spoke with him. It was the first time he had ever called in. But we deal with people like that on a daily basis.

There's also an abundance of people who believe we should be selling parts below our cost, essentially giving them away. Keep in mind - dealerships are businesses and have operating costs as well. We have to turn a profit in order to keep running. We'll certainly try to give out good deals when we can, and we'll help out a customer in need. If we screw something up, you can guarantee you're going to get a great price and we'll take the hit - but other than that, we have to make money.

We aren't here to price gouge anyone - you're less likely to come back and bring us more business if you're unhappy with our treatment. It's a fine line between turning a profit and customers feeling like prices were good.