do you honestly believe what you post up?
have you SEEN a belt break (that was not a roll back truck of course) due to age and not km?
have you taken a belt from a 50K unit and put it through ANY tests at all?
what exactly is your 'experience' with working on diesel engines?
or are you just quoting something you have read?
if dealers are not making money off changing out the belts etc then that is a misleading statement. ALL dealers have to make money to stay in business or soon they are out of business and their warranties (if they actually have any) are void as well.
when you go to work do you work for free? do you go up to your boss and say "you know, i like you so much i am going to work every monday for free"? of course not. you and everyone else works with the expectation of being paid for the work they do.
to be clear, i do not work on the timing belts on a delica. i sub it out to ProActive or someone else i trust. what does this mean? it means that the customer will be paying $110/hr (last time i checked with Mike that is what his hourly rate is) plus parts to change out a belt. if they want it done i have no problem getting it done but they know up front that they will be paying for the work. i was contacted by a 'reputable' shop in Vancouver a couple years back and they quoted me $800 to change the belts and idlers on a delica using factory parts. i want you to think this through. they are supplying factory parts, 2 belts, 2 idlers and labor for $800. Mike charged $1400 out the door, the last one he did for me (and that was quite a while ago). how can that dealer make me an offer of that cheap? if it sounds too good to be true it usually is, so i passed on it.
plus, Green, you have to understand how the bidding goes. if you are after a mid range condition then there is lots to chose from but if your customer is after a specific unit and condition then there is a very small number of units to pick from. if you have 2 or three importers all looking for the same unit then they start to bid against each other and the price to purchase goes up and up and up.
so if you are looking for a grade 4 - 4.5 with A interior with ultra low km and you are bidding against another importer then it would be easy to go 3 to 4 times the price of a mid range unit. i have watched it happen many times over the last 9 years.
my customers know what they want and they come to me then they know they will get EXACTLY what i describe or full refund (now less $1000 which is refunded once the vehicle sells to someone else).
to be honest, you have never been one of my customers but you have seen my vehicles first hand. the quality of the units i bring in have not changed in the last few years, you were impressed back then and suddenly, even though you have not seen my vehicles in 2 years, you are blackballing me. is that fair, no. but this is the interweb so people can say unfair, unjust statements with no basis and get away with it.
if that makes you feel good, fine by me. knock yourself out. those that know me and read your posts know that you have some bitterness towards me and it has nothing to do with vehicles or my company.
to close this off, i have customers coming back for their second and third vehicles. if i am a crook as you claim then you are calling these people easily fooled.
my reputation is, was and will be impeccable. i stand behind what i sell, i find parts for my customers, if they need something then i am here. they know it.
i am through with this thread.
Green1 wrote:-i have changed a number of timing belts on vehicles with low km and have yet to find a single one stretched or cracked or otherwise compromised. i made the decision years ago that this is a dealer money maker and stopped doing it.
Considering your prices are the highest of any dealer out there, I don't think it's the other importers that include this work who are making money off doing the work, I think it is you that is saving yourself money off of NOT doing it.
timing belts are supposed to be changed every 5 years or 100,000 km, whichever comes first. Belts deteriorate with age, even if they "look" fine, that doesn't mean they are. These are interference engines if a timing belt breaks the whole engine is toast. Failing to change one on a 15 year old vehicle without a history is begging for trouble.
The most reputable dealers on this site find high quality vehicles, change all fluids, all belts (including the timing belt on L300s), all filters, check the cooling system (often including replacing the radiator), replace the coolant expansion bottle on L400s, replace the shocks and tires, and do full compliance work. And they do it all for several thousand dollars bellow what you charge.
I'll admit you find high quality vehicles, but you do not have a monopoly on that, and you do significantly less work on them once they arrive, and charge a fair amount more money.