That is correct. They'll give you the part, but they will charge you for labor. I assume they don't get reimbursed because probably they don't have all the tech certifications required by car makers. Or maybe they do, but they choose to keep that for themselves. I know it's their fault and not the customer's, but that's how things work in DR. Funny thing is, they charge the labor hour at the same rate as in any other country ($150-$200 / hour), even though the mechanic's salaries are nowhere near those.
I only bought one brand new car in DR. After that, I decided it was not worth it and limit myself to one or two-year-old vehicles.
I've also heard that they charge ridiculous labors as well. The few things I've learned in short time in DR, I think they are making money doing warranty work.
A car need warranty service => dealer gets parts cheaply+cheap labor => tell manufacturer that they did a warranty work on a vehicle with their stock parts and ask for full part and labor price plus rob customer for labor. WIN WIN WIN for DR dealers.
I have a Kia (Viamar) and the 2 times I've had to change parts covered by the warranty I haven't had to pay a dime. Normal 5,000km maintenance usually costs me about 1,100DOP (labor, oil, oil filter, overall check) which I find reasonable. Obviously this probably varies from one dealer to the other...
The previous owner did a 5000km maintenance and I am due for a 10000km service in a month or two. I don't know if you have read the manual but my manual state more mileage or kilometer for service and just use different oil for warm weather. If doing double times the maintenance isn't over charging I don't know what is. I know all the cars need more service intervals when you drive on a severe usage condition but still my manual clearly state 7500/5000 miles 12000/8000 km for normal/severe service.
The parts for the dealer are (or should be) covered by the manufacturer so that should cost no one anything (other than the manufacturer). The warranty you get from the dealer is where your negotiation skills come into play when striking up the deal. You need to push hard and be prepared to walk away if they are not going to give you what you want. If you can't get parts and labour then look elsewhere, as mentioned labour is cheap in DR and the parts come free so what exactly is the dealer doing for you if they don't supply free labour, at least get free labour for a couple of years, it's something. It's best if you can get a guy with an accent to show they have lived abroad before and know how negotiations are done, some of the Dominican dealers I've come across left me feeling as if they were doing me a favour in taking my money from me.
So you are basically saying you have beg dealers for services that we get free in many other countries?
Have you think about....
Jumping through the multiple hoops for the free parts...
And something tells me after you get the parts and service them at the other places, they will laugh at my face and refuse warranty based on work has not been done from certified dealers.