remember your maintenence schedule!

I got quite a rude awakening at my dealership the other day. I don't know if
this is happening nationwide but..

To start on a good note, Thanx to blah blah and others here on their
suggestions re: SC2 tranny blues. I ended up taking my SC2 in to our other
shop to have the recommended 30K trans service, no more hard shifts, much
smoother now.

So I find my schedule maintenance sheet that I got from service last yr.,
and ask my wife who has fuel system & tranny troubles on her '93 SL1 if she
has ever been reminded or had recommended service intervals such as tranny
flush, etc, she says no.

It occurred to us (we have several Saturns in the family) that Saturn does
not remind owners via post cards, phone calls or even when they are in the
shop for something, about necessary service maintenance items. wtf?

So, I ask our shop guy why not? Um, and why after I have 35K miles they
suggested replacing the trans VB on my '02 SC2 and never thought to ask or
look up my records to see if I have ever had my 30K trans service. He got
very defensive, his answer was "now that GM has put oil change monitors in
cars, it is against GM policy to recommend fluid changes, so they stopped
reminding ppl". Lame, what a very lame load of....

Saturn is a great car and while it has it's own quirks like any other brand,
the last thing needed is the brand marred by lack of service. While it is
the owner's responsibility to maintain their Saturn in schedule, Saturns do
need a little different maintenance than other brands and it should be part
of the service department's job to remind owners when they come in about
necessary service items such as above BEFORE they recommend expensive repair
jobs.

IMHO, a trans service should have been reccomended before an expensive trans
VB replacement and days of lost time returning the car because of hard
shifts. IMHO, the $expensive VB replacement was more revenue than a simple
trans flush which may have freed the VB valves and solved the problem
immediately. Good thing for warranties.

The reason for this rant is just a reminder to keep your own
maintenance/service schedule. Go into Saturn or your own shop and have them
print out your personal service history and keep it along with the
recommended service schedule sheet. If they suggest major repairs check for
relevant maintenance items first.

Our family will be using a different Saturn shop as well as a local mechanic
who knows Saturns from now on. We plan on keeping our cars running well
until 200K or more miles like they should. Blah blah once said " a car is
not an appliance" I wish some mechanics remembered that when working on my
car.

marx404

 

I regularly get postcards from my local Saturn dealer trying to sell
me service like oil changes. I do the oil changes myself in the
driveway so I ignore them. It could be that the reason that I get
those notices is that I registered on the Saturn web site. I noticed
recently that the estimated mileage that they had on the postcard was
way off so I updated the current mileage on the web site. They'd been
estimating my current mileage from the mileage I entered when I
registered.

I just changed the transmission fluid on my '97 SL2 with Mobil-1 ATF.
No one stocks it locally so I had to order it through Amazon.com. It
brought a remarkable change in the transmission. Smoother than I've
ever known. And it looks like I've picked up as much as 10% in gas
mileage, though my mileage sample size is too small right now to be
sure. I hope it turns out to be true, 35 mpg around town would be
great and I can only speculate what it might do on the highway. I
didn't really know how many miles the old fill had on it since I
bought the car used from the Saturn dealer but I figured it was time.

One thing that bothers me about repair shops, including Saturn, is
that they ALWAYS overfill the automatic transmission. ALWAYS! When I
get the car home, I wait until the foam in the fluid settles and then
siphon out some of the excess fluid. I suspect two different
scenarios:

1. The mechanic checks fluid by shifting the transmission into drive
with the engine running. This always makes the fluid seem low. If you
add fluid then you'll be overfilling. I've observed mechanics doing
this so I know it happens. Of course you can never tell a mechanic
he's doing anything wrong, even if the procedure is stamped right on
the dipstick. They'll just get huffy and do it their way anyway. I
remember that decades ago that some Fords asked you to shift into
drive to check fluid but now GM says to check it in park. Maybe the
check in drive is a holdover from ancient times.

2. The mechanic doesn't drive the car far enough to get the
transmission hot. If you fill to the top line on the dipstick you'll
be overfilling if the transmission is cold.

When I bought the Saturn, I had to siphon out some excess fluid. When
my mother bought a Cadillac I had to siphon out excess fluid on that
car too--it was full of foam.

I've wondered if this might be why so many people seem to have trouble
with Automatic Transmissions. I've always found them to be much more
reliable than manuals, which require regular clutch replacement.

RK Henry

 

My dealer e-mails me when a service point is due. They must have worked out
my average distance driven because the message arrives about the time my
odometer says I need an oil change. I suppose each dealer is an independent
business and I guess some employ customer retention practices and some do
not.

But, you're right. One should never rely solely on the dealer for reminders.
The time they slip up will be the time something major goes and you're on
your own.

 

Well what's the Saturn experience all about then ? If it's just like any
other car, why should i pay extra for that vaporous saturn experience ?
Saturns were sold as cars for non-car people. I'm a non-car people, meaning
I know next to nothing about cars. Tell me what I need to do to keep it
running and I'll do it; but beyond that I just don't have the time to screw
around with all that maintence stuff for our car.

Laz

 

When and where did you pay extra?

Two very simple words to remember "Owners Manual". Everything that needs
to be maintained will be in there.

but beyond that I just don't have the time to screw

Heres some simple advice to follow. If everything has been kept up look
at your current mileage, look in the owners manual at the next service
or services closest to your current mileage or cars age. Jot the next
service mileage and/or date down on a piece of paper and stick it on
your dash. When you reach that mileage or date have the service done.
Then repeat what you just done for the next service.

 

Huh? There is no "transmission oil" life monitor that I know of. The
new Dexron Mercon IV fluid has no service life but it wasnt around
during the S-series. Dip sticks on transmissions are going to be phased
out by all auto makers eventually if i'm not mistaken. Kinda stupid IMO.

"Service Advisors" should catch this kind of stuff when a cars brought
in, it would be a legit upsale, but Service Advisors are pretty
useless... Technicians/mechanics dont have service history available to
them.

IMHO the VB should of never been replaced...

The only service they'll find on my car since I owned it is a recalled
Fuel pressure regulator. Since then they tried to get me in for an oil
change that wasnt even close to being due. Everything I do I write down
onto a sheet of paper.

The mechanics know that, they shouldn't assume that you know that. Thats
the problem.

 

quote ""Service Advisors" should catch this kind of stuff when a cars
brought
in, it would be a legit upsale, but Service Advisors are pretty
useless... Technicians/mechanics dont have service history available to
them. "

I agree with what you say. Pity, I originally applied to be a Service
Advisor and instead was offered a position in sales instead. I hate "grocery
lists" and am very pro-customer assistance. Perhaps they saw that when they
denied me the Service position, lol.

Oh well, I (and my entire family) are still customers and it still gets my
goat that we were told we needed expensive transmission work instead of
regular scheduled maintenance.

marx404

 

Well part of the problem with service advisors is they have no or
little background in cars. (How some of them have jobs is beyond me)
When a customer has a complaint about something the service advisor
should know what kind of questions to ask the customer to help narrow
things down for the Tech and then they should relay the customers
answeres to the tech. Problem is...most SA's dont give a $#it about the
problem and some are arrogant to techs when you try to ask them
something they should of known to ask. Its kinda like when someone comes
in here and says my white car doesnt run right... Often you dont get
anymore info about it than that on the service sheet. This is where some
independant shops usually do better because you often get to talk to a
real mechanic for anything more than an oil change.

 

<snip>

Blah Blah, you paint with a rather broad brush. The Service Advisors at
the dealership from which I purchased both my Saturns and where I have all
my work done (I'm not a DYI for *anything* )are not only pretty
knowledgeable about Saturns themselves but when they recognize they have
gaps in their knowledge, they go ask a tech.