So after reading good things about Sewell on this board I decided to take my G there for the 30k maintenance. Granted, I'm still a neophyte when it comes to our cars... but i'm learning.

I paid over a grand for the work, and it didn't really seem like they did much or even cared about explaining what it was they did do.

The weather striping that goes on the roof was kind of peeling off and when I told them about it all they did was "glue it" back together. I asked if it was under warranty and they said it was but that they weren't the ones to make the decision on whether to temporairly fix it or replace it altogether. Then I found out they replaced my oil with conventional oil instead of synthetic. Apparantley I was supposed to tell them to specifically use synthetic, instead of them asking me or hey... looking at the sticker of my last oil change?

Anyway, this morning almost broke the camel's back... I was driving along and noticed a warning light turn on. I was cursing Sewell all the way to work because I thought it was the check engine light, but after perusing the manual come to find out it was only the tire pressure light. BUT STILL... Did they even check my tires for my 30k maintenance??

Anyway... i'm not looking for sympathy, and I suppose the honus is on me from now on to make sure I nitpick and bitch about every single detail I can think about to get my money's worth....

Oh well... off the box and back to work

 

What exactly was done to cost a grand?

 

I'm going to scan the whole receipt... will post later.

 

I've only heard others mention good things about Sewell sales ... not necessarily their service department.

That 30k/60k/90k service is a bunch of BS IMHO. They charge a ridiculous amount of money to "visually inspect" a bunch of stuff that shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes of the mechanics time and then charge you 2 hours of "book" time.

As for the oil they used ... I would never assume they are going to use what is on the sticker or even the last time you had it changed there. I have always been extremely explicit about the things I've wanted done when I bring it to the stealership and I've never had a problem... I have only had my G serviced at Grubbs Infiniti however and always went to the same Service Writer (Randy who is no longer there) so we had an understanding also since my car has several modifications.

As for the tire pressure sensor, one time that will come on is when you exceed 60 mph for an extended period of time at which the TPMS is out of contact with the computer. Otherwise it's probably what it sounds like, low tire pressure at one or more of the corners.

 

i went up there and got some info about the 30k mainenance, looks like alot of stuff i can do on my own...

why does it charge more for a coupe? i saw that on the paper they gave me...

 

Weird thing about the Tire Pressure light... I checked my tires after work and NONE of them were even close to be low on pressure. If anything there was a tire that was close to 40 psi, so I brought that one down to 30 and left the others between 30-32 and the light remains on. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Here's the receipt.

 

wow 1,300 for a 30K. I woulda done it for you for free out of boredom

 

My TPMS took like 50 miles before it would turn off.

 

I did some searching and noticed there could be some correlation between getting your tires rotated during a maintenance and the tpms going off.

Mine went off and none of the tires were close to being under pressure, if anything they were over... and it's not like it's been cold lately. I feel as though I'll be making another visit to Sewell in the not so distant future.

 

wow 1000 for f*ing labor??
that's crazy....

 

WOW...sorry dude...that sucks!
I agree with the guys above...those interval services are a joke for what they charge and actually do. I "inspect" things like they do every day...

Ive started to learn to do things myself...this site has great DIY threads. Shoot...and if yall want...we should have a service meet...haha

 

I just got done doing several of these things myself and had my local Valvoline quick-lube place do the others...

Belts - Fan/Alt & A/C - did myself, took about 1 hour and very easy to do (belts $35)
Coolant flush - $69.99 @ Valvoline
Manual tranny drain/fill - $15 @ Valvoline (brought my own Amsoil MTF $25)
Rear diff drain/fill - $15 @ Valvoline (brought my own Amsoil diff oil $25)
Oil change - $20 @ Valvoline (brought my own M1 0W-40 and filter $44)

I see parts for an Injector Cleaning kit but I don't see labor for it.
Most of the line items that say "Inspect" are mainly BS - IMHO

I also see you had them do a detail for $180 and alignment for $120, both of which you could have done somewhere else for far less but it's nice to be able to bring it to one place, get a loaner, and have it all done ... so you will pay for that convenience.

Bottom line is they charged about $704 labor to do a coolant flush, trans fluid change, rear diff oil change, engine oil change, in-cabin filter change, engine air filter change, wiper replace, and belt replace ... at dealer rates, very justifiable unfortunately.

When you break it down it's not all that bad, you could have done several of the things elsewhere and been much cheaper but no loaner car while you wait...

Just my $0.02

 

Yeah... I wasn't particularly upset with the price, and springing for the detail and alignment was an impulse move I'd probably do again anyway. I'll spend to make sure she's well kept, what miffed me was the fact that they didn't replace the weather stripping on the roof and the mix up with the oil - though i've taken responsibility for that...

Just the overall customer service I was given, not to mention the build up I got from the board... but you're right service != sales.

When I originally told a few of my friends (my brother paid less than 600 for the 30k on his Acura TL-S) including members of the board about the price and the work done they scoffed so it also became part of the story it seems.

I'll take one on the chin, long as I learn from it. I can be taken advantage of when it comes to cars, hopefully this experience will finally give me the initiative to take on a new hobby - mechanics.



P.S. Don't be mad at me if I start showing up at a lot of meets and asking ya'll questions till your ears bleed!

 

I got lazy and brought the car in for an oil change service and they ended up having to get me new set of the Volk GT-S after I had it on for 3 freaking weeks . I guess I got lucky cause the service manager was very nice and work with me to replace it. Never been back to either grubbs or sewell for any service since .

 

Hey buddy, that is the great thing about these forums is a great group of people that are willing to help out another G brother