CaddyInfo.com

Enjoying Your Cadillac

Need a Repair?
Things to Consider when going to see the Cadillac Dealer  for repairs
by Bruce Nunnally

Certainly the ideal is that your Cadillac never has any issues and never needs to go to the Dealer. But unfortunately, cars are mechanical, and mechanical things eventually wear out and require repair or replacement.

The Cadillac Dealer is not an employee of Cadillac. They are independently owned franchises focused on making money selling new cars, financing new cars, and repairing cars.

If you know that you need to visit the Cadillac Dealer, what things can you do to make your visit as quick, successful, and inexpensive as possible?

1. Clean your Cadillac prior to taking it to the dealer. The impression I want to give is that this is a car that is well taken care of, well maintained, and that I am detail oriented.
   
   
2. At all times, no matter what, be courteous and clear with the Dealer personnel. They are people too, and they can help you more or less as they perceive is best for the Dealership.
   
   On this topic, I should mention that one of my friends ONLY makes service appointments by calling his Salesman. A year or more after his purchase, he calls the Salesman for appointments. The Salesman then makes the service appointment. This seems to do a marvelous job of aligning the Dealership's attention.
   
   
3. Plan ahead and keep every receipt, every document, every shred of documentation from any interaction with the car and/or dealer. Get a ring binder, and some document inserts, and keep everything. Whenever the Service Writer tells you something that seems odd, ask him to write it on to the service order.
   
   
4. Know what symptoms your car has, and write them down or print it out. I don't mean you have to know what needs to be fixed, but describe what the Cadillac is doing that caused you to bring the car in.
   
   For example, "it shifts roughly in to gear at low speeds when cold". Give as much detail about the problem as you know, and when exactly it happens.
   
   A normal problem in any trouble shooting / repair shop is that the mechanic can't duplicate the problem that you are having. Make it easy for them by writing down exactly what the symptoms are, and when they happen.
   
   For visits consider printing out exactly what the symptoms are, and what you suspect is wrong with the car. Leave copies with the Service Writer, and on the dash or seat of the car for the mechanic. When you talk to the Service Writer, he will need to write down what you have on the printout in his own hand on the tech order. That's okay, just just your print out to be sure he gets all the details down.
   
   
5. Have as much knowledge of what the problem is and what the solution set may be as possible.
   
   If one of the possible outcomes is a new engine, or new transmission, or new shocks/struts, you need to know going in how much those cost and have thought through options. After the car is apart at the dealer is a poor time to decide to take it somewhere else.
   
   
6.  For a used car repair, you KNOW the car is not new. It is easier and safer for the Dealer to correctly remove and replace parts until the car is in fact new in the problem area. The Dealer prefers to put in a new engine, or new transmission.
   
   Why? Because when you make a repair to a engine with 100K miles, what you repaired may now be great, but the thing next to it may fail. The Customer is mad because the car is broken again, and looks to the dealer to repair, even though nothing the Dealer did caused the new issue