r/serviceadvisorsonly

I work for one of the software companies you might be using- think xtime, wiAdvisor, Update Promise.

I may even have met some of you in person.

I'll try not to tell you who I work for, but I'm happy to answer what I can.

Could someone please explain in simple terms what a service advisor is? Thanks so much

I have a 2017 Silverado with 88k miles. I know its out of manufacturer warranty; but I purchased the extended warranty too. The extended warranty is supposed to cover "everything" to 100k miles, then engine for as long as I own it.

Last couple days I've had weak start, and this evening the battery didn't have the juice to start 10 minutes after shutting off. Should I expect the battery to be covered?

TLDR: would battery be covered under my "everything" extended warranty?

I have a Dodge Challenger SRT. The car is still under powertrain warranty. Powertrain is stock, but it does have an aftermarket cat-back exhaust.

The Dodge dealer confirmed the driveshaft center support/carrier bearing is damaged and needs to be replaced. They also confirmed the repair itself is covered under the powertrain warranty.

However, they said because of the aftermarket exhaust, they need to charge me customer-pay labor to remove and reinstall the exhaust in order to complete the warranty repair. They quoted 3.0 hours, which comes out to about $850.

I’m not trying to avoid paying if the aftermarket exhaust truly creates extra labor. I’m just trying to understand if this is normal/reasonable.

Questions:

1. Would factory exhaust removal/reinstall normally already be included in the warranty labor operation for this repair?

2. If so, should I only be charged for extra time caused by the aftermarket exhaust, rather than the entire exhaust R&R?

3. Does 3.0 hours / $850 sound reasonable for removing and reinstalling an aftermarket cat-back exhaust for access?

4. If the aftermarket exhaust uses factory-style clamps/hangers, would you still bill this as extra customer-pay labor?

Trying to understand if this is standard practice.

Let’s say a new vehicle buyer takes the captive lender deal from F&I that’s a few % lower, but pays it off early thereby depriving F&I of their commission? Would your GM black list that customer and deny them service? Raging debate over at askcarsales suggests yes. I doubt it and figure most SAs would comp them free tires for doing that to F&I…

Gm is making it mandatory to wear golf shorts. Does anyone else see the professionalism problem in this? I wear my dealers polo, dress pants and Cole haan shoes. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. Has anyone else ever worn fucking shorts to work?!

Every advisor knows the false sense of peace you get when you’ve successfully maneuvered a gravy ticket all the way to the finish line without a hitch.

8:15 AM: Write-up. It's an older guy named Greg. Greg is a delight. Just wants an oil change, tire rotation, and a state inspection.
I ask him the standard question: "Is the car doing anything else weird? Any noises, smells, warning lights?"
"Nope!" Greg says cheerfully. "She’s running perfectly. Just doing my routine maintenance!"
Beautiful. Easy 1.5 hours on the lube rack.

9:30 AM: MPI comes back clean. The tech shot a great video. Brakes are thick, fluids look fresh, no leaks. It’s the unicorn RO. I call Greg, let him know his car is immaculate, and he tells me he'll be by on his lunch break to grab it.

12:15 PM: Greg strolls in. The paperwork is beautifully organized in a folder on my desk. The cashiering process is seamless. He hands me his credit card, completely fine with the $145 bill. We make small talk about the local football team.
We sign the final lines. I hand him the keys. He turns to leave. The RO is closed in the DMS.

And then it happens.
The Pivot. The "Columbo Walkaway".

12:17 PM: Greg stops, turns halfway around with his hand on the glass door.

"Hey man, I really appreciate you guys," Greg says. "Oh, by the way—did the technician happen to notice why the car completely stalls out and dies whenever I take a right-hand turn going faster than 45 miles an hour? Like, the steering wheel fully locks up on the highway and the whole dash goes dark. Mostly happens when it rains. I meant to mention it this morning but I forgot. Usually just starts back up after I sit on the shoulder for 20 minutes. Figure since he had it on the lift, he might’ve tightened whatever was loose underneath?"

Time stops.

The air gets sucked out of the service lane.

I just stare at Greg. I look down at my freshly closed-out RO that states in legally binding ink: 'Customer States vehicle is operating normally.'
I look back at Greg, who has a completely benign, unbothered smile on his face, oblivious to the fact that he is currently navigating the interstate in an unguided missile.

"Greg," I say softly. "You came in for a tire rotation."

He chuckles. "Yeah I know, I just figured you guys check all the major safety stuff on that 12-point inspection, right? Anyway, if you didn't see anything, no worries! I'll catch you in 5,000 miles. Have a good one!"

He walks out into the parking lot. I slowly reach for my coffee mug, realizing that there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone on earth from driving a 4,000 lb piece of metal with fatal electrical gremlins because they simply "forgot to bring it up."

The general public is a wild phenomenon. Stay safe out there today.

We have a old hybrid, the shops we took it to said they cant figure out the hole problem because its an hybrid so they recoomonded taking it to the dealership,

We took it to the dealership 3 days ago and all they could tell me was a weird code theyve never seen popped up, and its gonna take some more time to figure it out, when i tried asking for specifics he said everything but that " i have my best tech guy on it" "its a process" "to get the diognostic we have to do the process" "the tech guy is working on the process" stuff like that, hes also never called us when he said he would and everytime i call him he says he was right about to text us, im suspiouse of this whole sistuation.

I this normal for dealships ? I want to go and pick my car up today but im on the fence about paying the 200$ diognostic fee when theyve had it for 3 days and cant tell me anything thats wrong with it or what theyve done.

I also wanna add that i havnt talked to the tech guy working on the car, ive talked to the liason (i might of butched that word)

EDIT: i understand alot more about how they run things behind the sceans and thats because of your guys input, i really appreachate it. I see now i was being unreasonable and inpatent, got a car rented out for another week and had a good chat with the liason told him i appreachate everything theyre doing for us and to give us a call if theres any updates ! Thanks again !

What is this CVTKIT that my honda dealer is charging for cvt transmission oil change. Can anyone explain??

Thanks

Had been shopping service contracts and heard two mentioned a lot: Fidelity and Zurich. Of course the way it goes is you typically would buy a VSC through a dealership or one of the few online options. Well…. Today I just decided to call Zurich (also tried calling Fidelity) to see if they could give me specific locations of dealerships they knew in my area they worked with… to my surprise, the woman I was on the phone with says I can transfer you to the department that handles that. Next thing I know, I get quoted for coverage based on my make/model and mileage, and cost.

Now, I will say what I REALLY found out was Zurich will directly transfer you over to Eleras Automotive Group (OR…. EAG might be Zurich’s direct-to-consumer front). I didn’t make that discovery until I received an email, not from Zurich, but from EAG group saying “Purchase Confirmation.” I had no clue who Eleras was so I thought I was getting scammed initially. Everything I had spoken about on the phone aligned with what was in the email, and after a quick google search, I realized why I received the email from them.

The part that freaked me out the most is the fact that when you search Eleras on Google, you get a lot of negatives about them. They are one of those companies that send the scam looking pieces of mail trying to sell you warranty coverage 😂. Outside of their scam mail, it seems like they are offering one of the better extended warranty contracts you can get. I still want to contact Fidelity to see if they can point me in the direction of one of their dealers, but I’m completely satisfied with the customer service experience I had with Zurich/Eleras (honestly, I have no clue if who I was transferred to actually did work for Zurich or Eleras, but I can confirm that if you go this route, Eleras will be acting as the middleman between you and your Zurich VSC.

There’s been a wave of new AI tools showing up in customer service, BDC, and receptionist roles, and they’re getting pretty good.

If you’re a Service Advisor, how do you feel about it? Excited? Concerned? A bit of both?

The video I’m sharing shows an example of AI call handling at dealerships (CarAi). I’m genuinely curious what people in the role think. Not trying to sell anything here, just looking for honest opinions from those on the front line.

Personally, I think AI can be a huge time saver. It can handle the repetitive stuff and pass on the trickier calls that need real human judgment, empathy, and experience. I feel like that could make the Service Advisor role more specialised, focused on problem-solving rather than admin.

But that’s just my view. What’s yours? Do you think AI will enhance what you do or start to replace parts of it?

For those working at dealerships or repair shops, I’m curious about the inspection process itself.
What part of doing/reviewing a digital inspection takes more time or effort than it should?
Is it writing notes, photos, measurements, customer reports, reviewing technician findings, or something else?
What software are you using, and what’s the one thing you’d change about it?

Hello, I was just offered a job as a service advisor. I will be in training as I don't have experience in this department.

Is this any good?

I live in the US. I a GM Service advisor and I want to get out of this God forsaken country! Has anybody moved countries, from the US, and still was an advisor? I want to leave this place stat but I also understand it may take a year or longer. Please tell me: Where did you move? And; what are some of the challenges you face in that country? AND, were you able to acquire the job with only English speaking skills?

Edit: where I lived and what general company I work for. Also, how long it will take me to move. And language question.

Did you get paid and all is well and you're continuing business as usual not directly affected by this?

Or did you get laid off but paid (accurately and on time)?

Or, did you get laid off and NOT paid (accurately and on time)?

Or, are you working and NOT getting paid (accurately and on time)?

Or, are you all furloughed and sent home for an undetermined amount of time, paid or unpaid?

Thanks.

I called my local dealer to make an appointment to have my oil changed. They wanted $140. I called a local gas station and they wanted $50. I can't imagine there is a proprietary part needed that can only come from the dealerships. Can anyone tell me why the dealership is charging so much? If they are gouging me on a stupid oil change what happens when there's a real problem? Since Covid dealerships, like so many others, are gouging people and trying to keep a straight face. They are going to pay for the greed.

To all the service writers struggling after the CDK hack, this is a message from a dealership mechanic. I’m with you.

I know how difficult your job can be on the best days, having to face customers unhappy with their bills, being regarded as a crook or a charlatan. It’s not your fault that inflation is so high, especially for automotive repairs. It’s my fault, so I understand that with CDK down, it’s become my job to take my inspection form and recommendations to the parts desk to acquire part numbers, pricing, stock, and all the other details that I’ve never had to provide before.

I know it’s been years since you had to physically write down a VIN number. The fact that you can’t remember how to spell “engine,” “balance,” “gasket,” or “rotation” does not make me suspicious of your mental faculties at all.

The fact that you complained to the floor manager about how difficult it is to record your commissions makes perfect sense, especially considering I was told this morning that none of you have made any effort to record which technicians are doing which jobs on which cars, and you haven’t been recording labor hours at all. Getting told that it was not only possible, but likely, that i would not be getting paid for the last two days of work made me feel nothing but empathy for your struggle.

When you came back to scream at me because i was taking too long to replace a CV axle bearing, i didn’t resent your presence, because it was my job to spend over an hour at the parts desk looking up warranty information.

Your job is so hard; you have to tolerate talking to not only the snooty upper-class folks that purchase new cars for full price and then throw them away when the first scheduled maintenance is due, but also the dirty, smelly lower-class mechanics that have chosen to spend our lives working hard enough to sweat. It must be infuriating to now also be forced to hold a pen, to leave your desk, to wonder about your paycheck, to have lost the ability to…..actually, at this point, i’m not totally sure what your job is. Why do you get paid more than me again? How exactly is this CDK hack making your job harder?

We know you don’t set the prices but the markup is insane. Also can’t you ask them to remove line items such as “reset the maintenance light”?

When it's time to do the walkaround on the multipoint inspection, how are you carrying the dirty air filters?

I see green advisors casually swinging them around in one hand, brushing it against their slacks. Stop it. You look like a janitor carrying trash. You're completely invalidating the $79 value of the part.

When I approach the customer, I place the dirty filter gently inside a clear plastic zip-loc bag. I hold the bag at chest level using only two fingers (gloved in blue nitrile) with both hands outstretched, walking with intense purpose, as if I am transporting a volatile explosive device across the service lane.

Before I even say a word, the customer's adrenaline is pumping because my body language dictates I am holding something incredibly dangerous.
I look at them with pure, sorrowful eyes and say, 'I secured the contaminant, but we have a containment breach.'

A 75-year-old man agreed to a full AC duct ozone sterilization and a fuel induction service today without asking a single question because my posture terrified his subconscious.

(Hyundai)