Servicing Imiev (90K service) K Mart??

[doug]

Hi,
has anyone used K-mart for servicing? If I use Mr Shitty, I have to take it to the Gold Coast, or about 3 charges each way!

The local K-mart car servicing says they can do it (& much cheaper too!) I feel it is my ONLY option.

regards, Doug

[Adverse Effects]

just so you know i was a mechanic at K-Mart for several years (i was the guy that went from shop to shop when a mechanic went on holidays) till i quit because i could not stand to see the shit that went on with customers cars

everyone that works there gets a bonus (profit sharing) depending on how much the shop makes over a set amount each month (and i considered them BIG bonuses)

this led to LOTS of over charging and things like a major service that should have taken 45 min being done in less than 15 a lot of the time

it may have changed in the time since i worked there but i would buy a replacement 2nd hand car rather than take mine to them if i had no other choices

AGAIN THIS IS JUST MY THOUGHTS ON WHAT I DEALT WITH so dont sue me K-Mart (they liked doing that to)

[bladecar]

I've never worked for that company but I have worked elsewhere and I understand what you're saying.

I don't know what's in a 90 000 service but if there's very little that concerns you, it won't be the end of the world.

If you want peace of mind just to know someone did something, make a little trip out of it. Do it over a couple of days. Stay somewhere overnight and go to dinner along the way

[brendon_m]

My work used to do bonuses, it was something like 3% of the profit you created and we would get it every 2nd payday. It was nice but wasn't going to buy a Ferrari. Maybe it was just me but I never even thought about the bonus when talking to customers. As far as I know no-one else ever thought about jacking up the price for customers either, it just wasn't enough of an incentive to be a rip-off wanker, although one guy used to love writing up invoices for people because he'd put his name on all the jobs.
I know of someone who applied for a job as a mechanic at a dealership. His pay was going to be primarily commission based. I'm sure that leads to honest work...
All you can do is read reviews and ask people you know where they get their car serviced and if they like the people there.
Oh and remove all the previous service records so they can't copy someone else's previous work. See if they tell you about the stuff you already know is up with the car

[mark_hetho]

Is the Gold Coast your nearest Mitsubishi dealer - or is that the nearest one that is "certified" on EVs?

I'm not too concerned about most of the service items. The main service item seems to be to change the coolant at 100K. Otherwise it's the cabin air filter, and filling the wiper fluid. I've got a trusted local mechanic I'd trust to do this without deception. The rest of it doesn't seem to be maintenance that is intended to improve the longevity of the vehicle. They check the state of the battery, but I don't think they do anything to actually maintain it.

Brakes, suspension etc get checked for rego - I do want a thorough safety check periodically.