Hey everyone, taking my "G" into the Infiniti dealer at the Pleasanton, Ca. Automall tomorrow (Hendrick Automotive Group) for it's 15,000 mile service - anyone have any experince with this dealer's service department, positive or negative??

All comments/insights appreciated.

 

what ever you do, don't take it to frontier infiniti in Santa Clara. The Idiot who worked on my car forgot to bolt up the underbody panel. I found this out as I heard it dragging on the street driving away from the dealer. They replace it at no charge. two week later, my wife says the motor is making a funny noise, go to investigate and find they neglected to replace the oil filler cap. oil was blown all over the motor and I had to put in 2 quarts to make it back up to the middle on the dipstick.

 

My experiences with infiniti service dept's have not been good. They are real pains to work with.

 

mine have been fine, infiniti of west chester is pretty good, got mty car inspected n an oil change, and tommorow im gettin a spoiler put on......

 

Some are better than others. When I discovered that the people at
SouthWest Houston Infiniti are a**holes, I went shopping for another dealer.
I found the folks at West Houston Infiniti to be honest and competent. You
will need to find out by word of mouth or hit or miss. Good luck!

 

dbarnes, post this question in the Regional Forums - Northern California. You may get answers more specific to your locale. Personally I have not tried the dealership in Pleasanton, but I have had mediocre to bad experiences at Niello in Concord and Peninsula in Redwood City.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I was thinking of taking my G there next, but I will definitely not now.

 

Thanks for the input, everyone - didn't think about the more localized forum, Skeleton (Duh !)

Went to Infiniti of Pleasanton (Nor Cal) this morning - service rep was Michael Troche, used to be a mechanic/tech and was very knowledgeable. I went in primed for a fight over my 6MT occasionally grinding when going into 6th. He corrected my initial assertion that there had been "several" 6MT revisions (as I'd read here and on Fresh Alloy), but did state (with a smile) that there had been one redesign, then said "what's important here, though, is if your 6MT has a problem, we'll fix it". They drove the car, came back and said "I'll have a new 6MT here for installation next week" - case closed, with a smile. Class, respect, and excellent customer service - Kudos to Pleasanton Infiniti service department, and Michael Troche. A pleasant change from the surly guys over at the German car dealership(s). Also, offered me a loaner until the new tranny came in, but I declined, since it wouldn't be a 6MT.

By the way, the 15,000 mile service was $257.56 (without in cabin filter, I did myself), which is probably average or decent in the high cost SF Bay Area, but they wouldn't let me pay for it, said "we'll catch you after the new tranny is in, and you are happy!".

After hearing your recent service department horror story, Skeleton Cru, and those of others, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience - recommend Pleasanton Infiniti sales and service department to anyone within striking distance.

My $0.02

 

What's exactly in the 15k service, mines due in a few months. I'll do the incabin filter myself, and I don't need a tire rotation either. I do my own oil changes as well so I don't need that. What else do they do, tranny fluid, radiator?

 

Great write-up. Thanks for the feedback on Pleasanton Infiniti. I need a new service dept, so maybe Pleasanton is the way to go.

 

Take a look for yourself...

 

FOLLOW UP:

Pleasanton Infiniti had my new transmission "package" in less than a week, took me awhile to clear a day for installation. I delivered my car to Pleasanton (CA) Infiniti at 7:30 AM on 2/16/05. They were "swamped" with customers, but got to me within 10 minutes. Had a 5AT loaner idling and ready. Picked my car up at 7:00 PM that night. Very courteous, excellent customer service, everybody I came in contact with was very pleasant.

The new transmission package includes: 6MT unit, clutch, pressure plate, and, apparently, a different pedal assembly. With only 100 miles on it, the transmission is still very tight, especially going into 6th gear. 1st to 2nd shift is direct and easy, 2nd to 3rd action smoother, too (very easy to miss that shift in the prior unit). Tighter gate from 4th to 5th gear, actually feels like I'm going back into 3rd (gave me the ******* at first), but getting comfortable with it. No more "cement mixer" sound with the clutch, and the takeup and engagement of the clutch is smoother (vs. the On/Off nature of the previous clutch's engagement). Much less "notchy" feel to the transmission now - happy so far in all respects, but hoping that 6th gear synchro loosens up a bit.

I recommend Infiniti of Pleasanton, CA to all of you within "striking" distance. Based upon my experiences there, "service" is not just a name on the door. My $0.02.

 

Thanks db for the review. I've been through Niello in Concord and Peninsula in RWC. I have had less then satisfactory experiences at both. Looks like Pleasanton is my next stop.