I can't speak of Herb Gordon's sales department, but I now have a beef with their service department. I previously said HG Nissan was OK, even handling something I damaged on the trail as a warranty fix though they knew better. However, I must now give them a big thumbs down.

I won't go into the details to save myself some embarassment, but let's just say that I incurred a significant repair due to a little brain fart doing some work on my X last weekend. I went to HG today to have the problem checked out.

I was intitially quoted a breathtaking figure for a repair with new parts. Let's say it was $100 (all prices include tax and supplies etc. except where noted) as a point of reference (obviously it was more).

The same repair was quoted at a scale $74 or so with used parts with no warranty.

When I hesitated at both and started talking about having the work done at a shade-tree shop to save some $, the service manager came over and said he would see if he could cut a deal on the new part, and returned a minute later with a significant discount (23% cheaper) which brought my total repair cost with all new parts to a scale $86.

I figured with the deal I was getting on the new part I was doing as well as I could and I told them to order the part and planned to return to have the repair done when it arrived. I then got curious and started shopping around for better labor rates. HG charges $77.50/hr. Another charged $71/hr, not enough to jump ship. I made one more call to my original dealer (Jenkins) nearly an hour away, and they were $67/hr, something to consider. I mentioned my problem to the service guy and he said it might be possible I wasn't in nearly as dire straits as HG said I was and I should come in for a second opinion. Hoping I might luck out, I drove over.

A quick check confirmed HG's diagnosis, I was still facing a costly repair. He offered to give me a quote, so I said "sure" and he made a call to find the part. Without knowing what HG quoted me at, he came back with a quote for the job with brand new parts for (a scale) $57 complete!!!

To recap, HG quoted me an initial $100 with new parts, then "bargained" down to $86, and with used (no warranty) parts it was $74. Jenkins quoted $57 up front with new parts. That's a complete repair at the same cost that HG quoted for the "discount" price for the new part alone, and still less than HG would do the job with used parts.

I felt a little guilty but I called HG to cancel the part order and the repair and the service guy was shocked to say the least. He went to talk to his manager and came back with an offer of $57 + tax. I was torn, but I still declined. I can't shirk Jenkins for the sake of convenience now after they stepped up to the plate so admirably. He went back once again and offered to match Jenkins' price exactly, but at this point I've got such a bad taste in my mouth that I could not in good conscience accept the deal. Remember, HG could well have gladly taken my $100 if I had been dumb enough to bite, and now they're willing to stoop to $57. I don't think so...

And to top it all off, after I had finalized with Jenkins, they gave me a loaner (01 Sentra) at no charge for the week until I get my X back!

Moral of the story, Herb Gordon is a rip-off, Jenkins is straight-up awesome, and it pays to get a second opinion.

Brent

[This message has been edited by OffroadX (edited 04-12-2001).]