Dear Tom and Ray:

Do you remember the 1980s? GM's reputation for customer service and trust were low. Well, now we're in the 1990s, and GM seems to have made great strides in these areas. The Mr. Goodwrench commercials had finally convinced me to take a chance on a GM car and GM service. And so far, my 1994 Geo Prizm runs great. Recently, I had to take my car in to be serviced at my local Chevy/Geo dealership because it was recalled for an air-bag-related problem. While I was there, I decided to take advantage of the Mr. Goodwrench Oil Change Special for $24. When they called me to tell me my car was done, they also told me they topped off my windshield-wiper fluid. I thought, "Great! The good guys at GM are really taking care of me. I didn't even ask them to check the windshield-washer fluid. What a great service!" When I picked up the car, I had the shock of my life. It seems that Mr. Goodwrench's buddies decided that I should be billed $6.36 for the wiper fluid. With tax, this brought my bill to over $33. That's a 25 percent premium over the price I had expected to pay. What was I supposed to do? Ask them to drain it out? The last time I bought windshield-washer fluid, it cost 99 cents a gallon, and I still have half of it left over in my garage! Has anything changed at GM? -- Daniel

Ray: We hate hearing stories like this, Daniel. Just when we think auto mechanics are within striking distance of joining the human race, their primordial instincts creep up and ... wham! They charge you six bucks for 25 cents worth of soap and alcohol.

Tom: I'll tell you what I would have done had I been you. I would have said to the service manager very nicely, "Excuse me, I'm sure this is just a mistake. My car was in for an oil change, and there's a charge here for six bucks worth of windshield-washer fluid. I don't even think my car HOLDS six gallons of windshield washer fluid. Would you be a dear and take this off my bill?"

Ray: And with any luck, he'd be so embarrassed that he'd simply make the adjustment and apologize profusely for the error.

Tom: The worst thing about this is that they managed to turn you from a delighted customer ("What a great service!") into a guy who writes a nasty letter that the whole country is going to read. And all over what? Twenty- five cents worth of soapy water! Had they topped up the fluid as a courtesy, you would have been back there every three months for an oil change, and whenever your car needed anything else. Plus, you would have told all of your friends how exceptional the service was. But now, you're so wary of them, you probably won't go back there at all. Am I right?

Ray: So how do we get dealerships to understand that six bucks is not worth losing a customer over? Here's my plan. Everybody reading this column today should clip it out of the paper and save it. And next time you take your car in for repair, leave it conspicuously lying on the passenger seat.

Tom: Then, hopefully, when your mechanic is scrounging around your car looking for loose change and partially eaten food, he'll find this letter and show it to his service manager, who'll show it to the dealership's owner. Maybe the owner will have an epiphany: "Hey," he'll say. "Why am I jeopardizing this customer's loyalty to make a lousy six extra bucks? If I'm patient, I can take him for a transmission rebuild in a year or two!"

Everybody wants a new car. But from a purely financial point of view, there is no question that buying a used car is always cheaper, even in the long run. To learn more, order Tom and Ray's pamphlet How to Buy a Used Car: Things That Detroit and Tokyo Don't Want You to Know. To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1996 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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