Reviews of Volkswagen of Marietta in Marietta

My daughter went to this dealer for a front end alignment. They claimed they couldn’t break the outer tie rod nuts free they were frozen. Told her to change the outer tie rods was going to cost her $1200.00.

This is a $500 job at a Volkswagon dealer. They saw a young college kid with out of state plates and tried to take advantage of her. Thomas the service advisor then told her she had to pay full price for a front end alignment even though they couldn’t do the alignment. This is wrong on so many levels. No reputable shop or dealer charges full price when they can’t do an alignment for any reason. It is normal to have to pay a half hour labor for the inspection.

First issue is this car had an alignment a year ago and being a mechanic I have worked on this car and never had an issue getting a single bolt, but, or part off of this car, that’s why every car I own is Volkswagon. I find it hard to believe they couldn’t get the locknut to loosen and my knowledge of this vehicle this doesn’t make sense. I believe the scam started here.

Then the service advisor tried to get her to pay $139 for an alignment they didn’t complete. A good and competent mechanic puts the car on a lift, unloads the suspension, and inspects for worn out parts. A good and competent mechanic then tries to break the tie rods loose to make sure there are no issues there. Then a good or competent mechanic sets up the alignment. The second part of this scam is the service advisor telling my daughter the mechanic had two hours into her car. I told her it is not right to be charged $139 and that he should charge either an hourly rate for a half hour or a diag fee. He then told her his service rate is $160 an hour so he is doing her a favor by charging her $139 instead of $320. I raised a smart girl so she didn’t buy into his scam and she left for $80 which is fair.

The third scam is he then gave her a warning that this is how they do business so next time she should expect to pay full price for any service even if they can’t complete it.

I wanted to let the general manager of the dealer know that they got caught trying to take advantage of a young college kid and wanted to know what they were going to about it. Three days in a row I called the dealer, first day he had left for the day before 5 pm and I left a voice message. The voice message is still in the previous general managers voice, female. 2nd day I called because he was scheduled to be at work and he wasn’t at work. The receptionist assured me he would be there today after 9 am. I called at 10:30 and the general manager never came in to work today.

In my opinion this dealer uses predatory practices on people they believe that they can get away with it. Little did they know her dad is a mechanic and knows this car well!!! Further have tight connections with Volkswagon dealership managers and service advisors whom in formed me of the normal costs and practices of a Volkswagon dealer.

The incompetence and dishonesty in my opinion starts at the general manager and flows all the way down to the technician in this instance.

Do not use this dealer and question any charges and or repairs that did not go smoothly as they probably scammed you.