Happy Holidays all.. I'm on my annual trek to Central Florida for the holidays. I was too far for an oil change at home, so I got one once I arrived. Bill Ray Nissan in Longwood. Apparently, none of the Nissan dealers down here have a no-appointment drive-in oil change shop like we do up north. But when I called, they said to come by any time and they will squeeze me into their schedule. Nice folks.
Well, you know how dealers have some unwritten rule that they're not allowed to call you to pick up your car without telling you that something else is wrong with it? Apparently, the Florida summer heat does something to cars and Bill Ray makes it a point to do a 100-point inspection on every car that enters the shop. They say they found a dead cell in the battery. Its only putting out 12.4v and 312 cranking amps instead of the regular 14v and 490(?) cranking amps. I had them change out the battery as opposed to risking breaking down somewhere between Florida and Philly, but does that sound right for a Feb '03 purchase and 52k miles? I've been very, very good about returning to the dealer for service on time. I wonder if they have simply slacked off on checking the water levels in the battery, thus killing a cell. And I did notice that the dash was flickering just a teeny bit upon arriving in Florida, and I have had the alternator upgrade, so a dying battery would not be entirely out of the question.
When I read over the invoice, I saw the text "Customer stated that the car must be jumped every morning." I freaked out and called the service manager over, thinking that someone entered that text which led them to "find" a problem with the battery. They calmed me down and showed me how when they enter the code for "dead battery" in the system, that's the text that automatically comes up. They can change it to read whatever they want, but they rarely do. I may write a letter (as a business and IT consultant) that they may find benefit in creating new codes for problems they discover with their free 100-point check, without the customer indicating any problems. I know as a service manager, *I'd* like to know when a free service I automatically perform generates additional revenue. That tells me the process is worth it.
All in all, I was satisfied with the service there, just a little freaked. Oh, and they threw in a car wash upon request, and reset my tires to 35psi all the way around, thus clearing my TPMS flat tire alarm. We'll see what happens when I get back up north in the cold weather. He also warned me that the front tires are down to the "wear indicators"(?) and that the treadwear is indicating the need for an alignment. Looks like I'll have some more work to do when I get back home, including making a final decision on the replacement tires.
Well, you know how dealers have some unwritten rule that they're not allowed to call you to pick up your car without telling you that something else is wrong with it? Apparently, the Florida summer heat does something to cars and Bill Ray makes it a point to do a 100-point inspection on every car that enters the shop. They say they found a dead cell in the battery. Its only putting out 12.4v and 312 cranking amps instead of the regular 14v and 490(?) cranking amps. I had them change out the battery as opposed to risking breaking down somewhere between Florida and Philly, but does that sound right for a Feb '03 purchase and 52k miles? I've been very, very good about returning to the dealer for service on time. I wonder if they have simply slacked off on checking the water levels in the battery, thus killing a cell. And I did notice that the dash was flickering just a teeny bit upon arriving in Florida, and I have had the alternator upgrade, so a dying battery would not be entirely out of the question.
When I read over the invoice, I saw the text "Customer stated that the car must be jumped every morning." I freaked out and called the service manager over, thinking that someone entered that text which led them to "find" a problem with the battery. They calmed me down and showed me how when they enter the code for "dead battery" in the system, that's the text that automatically comes up. They can change it to read whatever they want, but they rarely do. I may write a letter (as a business and IT consultant) that they may find benefit in creating new codes for problems they discover with their free 100-point check, without the customer indicating any problems. I know as a service manager, *I'd* like to know when a free service I automatically perform generates additional revenue. That tells me the process is worth it.
All in all, I was satisfied with the service there, just a little freaked. Oh, and they threw in a car wash upon request, and reset my tires to 35psi all the way around, thus clearing my TPMS flat tire alarm. We'll see what happens when I get back up north in the cold weather. He also warned me that the front tires are down to the "wear indicators"(?) and that the treadwear is indicating the need for an alignment. Looks like I'll have some more work to do when I get back home, including making a final decision on the replacement tires.