I was a service manager at two dealerships in the 1980's, First rule of
dealing with any car service dept is to inspect the car before you pay!!
Once you pay, you are at their mercy in the short term. That was your
biggest mistake. The service director of the dealership chain will likely
yank you around to the point where they figure you will give up. Your next
step should be to contact your state attorney generals office, better
business bureau, consumer affairs or any other agency that deals with
consumer problems in your area. send them all letters and CC a copy to the
service director and the owner of the dealership. Like everything else in
life the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Speaking from my own experience Many dealerships do not like to service
older cars. the labor rate for a a/c service on 1 year old car is often the
same as a 10 year old car. You can bet the problems are going to be on the
older cars. I use to turn those jobs away unless they were established
customers. Keep in mind dealerships generally have a high turnover rate of
mechanics, The mechanics tend to be young and though they may be well
trained, they are often only familar with recent car models. generally your
best bet for service is to find a independent shop that specializes in you
particular make of car. If you see an old gas station with a bunch of old
nissans sitting around that is often your best bet for old nissan service.
Most of the time the mechanic will be an ex factory trained technician for
that particular make with many years experince.
As for the dipstick if it broke off in the tube you can remove the dipstick
tube to retrieve the dipstick. it may be clamped , pressed in or in a rubber
grommet ,not usually a very big deal to fix. If it is in the bottom of the
oil pan , you usually can fish them out with a bent piece of wire through
the oil drain hole. I have done it twice myself on Alfas that had the
aluminum dipsticks, just takes patience.
good luck
rick
>
>
|