GM in history: The American streetcar

I won't even go to a car wash where I have to get out and let them drive it. I'm not interested in allowing my car be the first Prius they ever drove. When I got my tires replaced last fall, I drove it in and out myself. I may get daring one day and take it to the Saturn dealership that I know is really good and let them do the oil change but I don't know...

 

the word "eventually" would have freaked me out too, eric.

but watching the tech who, from the sound of it, is already nervous? disaster waiting to happen.

no good dealer recommendations near you at all? hmm. that's completely foreign to me. where are you located anyway?

 

and malorn, i haven't heard of a dealer that doesn't do randomized drug testing.

that's grounds for immediate termination around here- who wants someone under the influence of anything trying to fix someone's brakes and screwing up? lives hang in the balance here.

any problems that come up also are accompanied by drug testing.

heck, even sears auto center did drug testing.

maybe THAT is why every time DH's coworker has his Silverado fixed the techs find loose bolts in very important places. also no wonder he has the techs look it over after each service. the GM techs are the ones that failed drug tests everywhere else. :lol:

 

okay. yeah i guess an oil change is one thing. something major is another.

 

I have to admit it is fun to read your enthusiasm for your vehicles.

 

How do you know? Do they advertise it or do you ask? Or are you really a technician that can't find a job because you live like George Michael! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

CA-CHING!

:lol:

 

Great sense of humor you have there EricGo. I didn't know that Danny annointed you the PC police? I know that I have never been poked fun at on here. :lol:

 

my husband is a tech. techs talk to other techs from other places. they carry info from place to place if they change jobs. word gets around sufficiently enough.

he had to take a drug test for every vehicle maintenance job he's ever had, even when he was just starting out changing out tires and oil back in the day.

from dealers all the way down to tire shops- most do drug testing. except jiffy lube AFAIK. and apparently GM dealers. and that must be where the George Michael's of the auto technician world work.

i know. "something major" and "prius" rarely go together in the same sentence at the shop

so you're having your oil done at an oil change place then?

yeah the dealers won't release any of that in-depth info out to other shops. proprietary and all that. protocols can be found in the repair manual if you want to spring that kind of money, or download it for cheap on the techinfo website. but getting the ECU to talk is dealer work.

 

what do you mean by "ECU interrogation?"

i was talking about reflashing and etc but i suppose i could have made that more clear. in the case of a reflash it's prefectly legit- like a software upgrade- that may fix a bug (as in the most recent recall). i've never heard of anyone accessing the ECU for much else other than to tweak user-customizable settings. and i don't know if that's the ECU or what, you use the scanner for it so it's talking to something in the car.

dealer profit on a recall situation is small. 0.1 hours per job in many cases, less on quicker jobs. half the time the tech gets kinda hosed too.

i prefer my DH doing our oil changes. but you can bring in your own oil and filter to the lube place- they shouldn't have a problem with that. shouldn't... :mellow:

 

What!!! Malorn is a lefty?????? :blink:

 

Was your husband tested when he started and then randomly tested or just tested when he started? We do extensive background checks, credit, criminal, etc, but we do not drug-test. In my years of hiring and firing, if someone pays their bills and stays away from the law, they will almost always be a great part of our team.(assuming the skill set matches our needs.)

 

Maybe you don't consider a computer update to prevent random stalling something major. I bet your tune would change if it happened to you.

 

he was tested at hire, and they do random drug tests of all employees at random intervals. techs seem to always comprise the higher percentage of those tested, though the high-commission sales guys have been known to become friendly with such expensive nasty things as cocaine and the like.

i asked him about it, and he says there aren't many places around here that don't drug test- the other local toyota/lexus dealers do from what he's heard. and a couple of larger chain stores he's worked for had mandatory drug testing as a condition of employment.

plus, any on-the-job injury report is accompanied by a drug test to be sure you were of clear mind when the injury occurred.