My run in with a Ford Dealer

Dimi_Ghia · 19-12-2005, 08:53 PM

Hi All,
I can't believe what little respect some service mechanics at Ford dealers have with your pride and joy.
I had my Ghia booked in to have the 15000kms service at a local Ford dealer 2 weeks ago. Told them the car was running great with a couple of small things for them to look at.
Anyway, a couple of hours later my car is ready. I get home and popped the bonnet open to have a quick look at the engine and to my horror I find that my V8 engine cover had paint missing!

:
Where it is supposed to be silver is now black.
So I went back the next day as I had no time to go back straight after the service and told them the situation. He went and asked the mechanic who worked on the car and, you guessed it, he said it was like that when he started to service it!! (He probably swapped his cover for mine...)
Anyway told them that was rubbish since the car is only 11 months old and the cover was perfect till you guys serviced it and they agreed to replace it which they did a couple of days ago.

:

Oh and I noticed my rear mudflap was loose which I got them to fix at the same time (wasn't like that B4 service.....)
Not sure if we can name dealers but this one is in Melbournes north west.

A good Ford dealer is hard to find....

Dimi

thunderoo · 19-12-2005, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimi_Ghia

A good Ford dealer is hard to find....

Dimi

All you need to find is a good mechanical workshop.......What the dealers DONT tell you is that ANY qaulified mechanic at a licenced premisis CAN do all your service work and your WARRANTY STAYS INTACT !! We service quite a few BA's ...XR'S and a couple of XR6T's, along with alot of other makes of new cars still under new car warranty. Most of the time the mechanical workshops will charge you almost half the price for the service and do twice the job, and take alot better care for your car....and most importantly you can talk with the mechanic that does the job !!. The only thing that us mechanics cant do is the repair work if something goes wrong..then it has to go to the dealer, but if your service book has been stamped and up to date...even tho you have been taking it else where...they CANNOT DECLINE YOUR WARRANTY CLAIM. Ive mentioned in a previous thred...finding a decent and honnest workshop can be difficult to find...but the best way to find one is "buy word of mouth" ask others who they take there pride and joy to.

Dimi_Ghia · 19-12-2005, 09:40 PM

I can take my car to my wifes cousin who has his own workshop but when I took it to ford there was a recall on the passengers side airbag cabling which I would not have known if I took it to someone else.
For my next service I will call ford to see if there is any recals and if not I will take it to her cousin.

Dimi

EL_futuraistic · 19-12-2005, 09:46 PM

crikey...... there is a shyte load of posts lately about poor dealer service. I guess with xmas they are rushed to push lots of cars through. (or thats the excuse im going to adopt) however it seems that you can take your car to other places and still keep your warranty.

Where bouts are you located?? I found City Ford in melbourne to be fairly good.

sfr rob · 19-12-2005, 10:21 PM

dont even start me on this subject mate!
I had a list as long as my arm for things for the pricks to repair, after i signed the contract and left my new car in perefect nic, i popped in the next day to see how a little scratch had been fixed up.
I walked around the car and found another 3 scratches and one huge *** dent in the rear door from some dip sh|t backing into it with a towbar.
So as you can tell, i wasnt happy and told the bloke that was "taking care" of me that i want that fixed or all hell will break loose.
Next day, everything fixed, jumped in to drive home, and what do ya know.
A nice new deep scratch on the rear door trim that was about 6 inches long that went over the power window buttons.. ( WTF)
on my ICC ( the center display in the BA ) black paint splashed on it.
more but i cant be bothered writing it all down!

anyway, after kicking up a huge stink everything was fixed for me that weekend.

to put it simply:
you just got to fight for it man,
it sucks, but thats the way our world works HAHAHA

Rob

Abacus · 19-12-2005, 10:31 PM

Hey Dimi,

I've had the odd bad experience with Ford dealers, but I don't think they should be blasted on this occasion for two reasons:

1. If, as you imply, the mechanic/apprentice who worked on your car nicked your cover, it isn't the dealer's fault, and

2. They made good the damage at no cost to you.

Sure, you were inconvenienced. But do search of these forums for Ford Service problems and you'll come across some real ugly situations that haven't been resolved so easily...

Dimi_Ghia · 19-12-2005, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abacus

Hey Dimi,

I've had the odd bad experience with Ford dealers, but I don't think they should be blasted on this occasion for two reasons:

1. If, as you imply, the mechanic/apprentice who worked on your car nicked your cover, it isn't the dealer's fault, and

2. They made good the damage at no cost to you.

Sure, you were inconvenienced. But do search of these forums for Ford Service problems and you'll come across some real ugly situations that haven't been resolved so easily...

Hi Abacus,
There was no arguing at all with the dealer and they were the first ones to say that they will replace it but these things shouldn't happen in the first place! All they should be doing is servicing the car!

My baby is fine now....till the next service.

Dimi_Ghia · 19-12-2005, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfr rob

dont even start me on this subject mate!
I had a list as long as my arm for things for the pricks to repair, after i signed the contract and left my new car in perefect nic, i popped in the next day to see how a little scratch had been fixed up.
I walked around the car and found another 3 scratches and one huge *** dent in the rear door from some dip sh|t backing into it with a towbar.
So as you can tell, i wasnt happy and told the bloke that was "taking care" of me that i want that fixed or all hell will break loose.
Next day, everything fixed, jumped in to drive home, and what do ya know.
A nice new deep scratch on the rear door trim that was about 6 inches long that went over the power window buttons.. ( WTF)
on my ICC ( the center display in the BA ) black paint splashed on it.
more but i cant be bothered writing it all down!

anyway, after kicking up a huge stink everything was fixed for me that weekend.

to put it simply:
you just got to fight for it man,
it sucks, but thats the way our world works HAHAHA

Rob

Love your Ghia SFR ROB. Am about to upload some pics of mine in the Show us ya BA thread. Been meaning to do it for a while.

Dimi

VZSS250 · 20-12-2005, 12:14 PM

Good to see that its not just us Holden guys that suffer from bad service. My immaculate and then brand new VX SS was given a nice big dint in the front quarter panel after it returned to me from a service. Absolutely disgraceful.

Unfortunately I only spotted it when I got home.

Someone's got to stand up to these pricks and make them suffer...its not enough to fix a damaged panel...the damage should never have happened. Its just not good enough.

EA2BA · 20-12-2005, 12:25 PM

If the car is serviced else where as in a local mechanic, just make sure they use 100% ford parts, or ford may choose to blame the replacement part for failure of your vehicle if it does break down, and therefore you have no warranty claim.

20-12-2005, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EA2BA

If the car is serviced else where as in a local mechanic, just make sure they use 100% ford parts, or ford may choose to blame the replacement part for failure of your vehicle if it does break down, and therefore you have no warranty claim.

Very true.

xe351 · 20-12-2005, 12:38 PM

Yeah its not just the Ford dealers guys, my brother got a new vx? supercharged 6 and when they where serviceing it they backed it into a pole, the whole rear quarter had to be repaired and painted, and you could see the fine scratches thru the paint when finished. Ask around to find a good one

Mack 6 · 20-12-2005, 12:44 PM

I took my car into ford only once for a recall to re-tension the steering rack or something like that (AU2). I dropped it off expecting it to cost nothing, so i was surprised when I went to pick it up that they wanted me to pay $6. I know it's not much, but when I asked why, they told me that they noticed a brake light was blown and decided to fix it.
I had noticed the globe the night before and had 2 globes in my centre console (at about $1.20 the pack) ready for that night.
I decided to make a big stink just cos I could and told them they should have called me if they wanted to do anything other than the recall. I offered to use my tools in the boot to take out the tail light, remove their globe and replace it with mine.
In the end they said not to worry and let me go. Felt good to win back 6 bucks from the man.

blackers10 · 20-12-2005, 12:48 PM

the question is..
can i get any mechanic to fix it rather than ford.. for my Harrier waranty!!
im VERY close to voiding it as its just more m,oney to throw into their hungry pockets.. and i live 40 mins from the dealership i need to take it to (i live at morayfield.. the dealership is in the valley in brisbane.. my closest dealer is 5 mins away at caboolture!)

so can i take it to any mechanic shop that stamps my book.. or do i need to take it to ford..

rob_liss_lms10 · 20-12-2005, 05:45 PM

Oh yes,and Nova ford are so wonderful,helpful,professional,ignorant,decietful, hopless,couldnt give a damn,incompetent bunch of galahs, that I wouldnt be taking my pushy there to get the tyres checked because they would prob over inflate and say the burst tyre was my fault.Oh,and did I mention thier professional manner?

thunderoo · 20-12-2005, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EA2BA

If the car is serviced else where as in a local mechanic, just make sure they use 100% ford parts, or ford may choose to blame the replacement part for failure of your vehicle if it does break down, and therefore you have no warranty claim.

Very true....but in a mechanical workshop, only the service work can be done. If any more than whats in the book service. eg..repairs or any non service work...your warranty will be void !!

thunderoo · 20-12-2005, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackers10

the question is..
can i get any mechanic to fix it rather than ford.. for my Harrier waranty!!
im VERY close to voiding it as its just more m,oney to throw into their hungry pockets.. and i live 40 mins from the dealership i need to take it to (i live at morayfield.. the dealership is in the valley in brisbane.. my closest dealer is 5 mins away at caboolture!)

so can i take it to any mechanic shop that stamps my book.. or do i need to take it to ford..

Any qualified mechanic at a licenced premisis CAN DO ALL YOUR SERVICE WORK WITHOUT YOUR WARRANTY BEING VOID AND THEY CAN STAMP YOUR BOOK.
But.......THAT IS ONLY "NEW CAR WARRANTY" if it is EXTENDED WARRANTY that you have paid for....PLEASE READ YOUR EXTENDED WARRANTY BOOK !!!!!! as alot of extended warranty ( which takes over when your new car warranty runs out) can only be done at the dealership !!!!!! If you take it elsewhere your warranty will be void as soon as the mechanic puts it on the hoist !! But...if you do have extended warranty....read it closely...99.9% of all the ones that ive seen ( ive seen alot ) the paper there written on is worth more than the warranty itself !!! Please if you dont understand what i have just blabberd on about PM me with your question...as i deal with this type of stuff every day at work.

**Papa Smurf** · 20-12-2005, 07:35 PM

Maybe you should tell them next time you have Pics of the car? and see if that helps

Redrum · 20-12-2005, 10:54 PM

This experience is all too common. I live in Melbourne's Western Suburbs. Can anyne name some good dealers or experiences if they exist or should I start a new thread?

:

Dimi_Ghia · 20-12-2005, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrum

This experience is all too common. I live in Melbourne's Western Suburbs. Can anyne name some good dealers or experiences if they exist or should I start a new thread?

:

I was told that City Ford are supposed to be good.

mik · 21-12-2005, 01:39 AM

my 2 cents worth , it is not just dalers it happens every were i took my truck to a sparky , on picking the truck up i noticed my jack handle in one of the sparkys hands , whats more he argued with me how did i know it was mine, it had a nick missing out of it which i pointed out to him , then he handed it over the cheeky $$#@,they will no longer get my custom , have to keep your eyes open

blackers10 · 21-12-2005, 02:43 AM

cheers guys

its a used car warranty.. that ford gives free(didnt touch the extended warranty as ..its useless as we all know)
im definatly voiding it i think..

only thing im wondering about is the lack of other workshops having the "ford computer" to do diagnostics?? or can most mechanics pull the codes manually?

SpoolMan · 21-12-2005, 03:28 AM

We do see a thread from time to time about poor dealer service, remember how many cars get serviced every day.... so all in all they’re doing a fairly good job.
If your in Melbourne try Strapp Ford for service.... my F6 has its 1st service on Monday took around 90 mins.... they asked me if I would like my car washed…. when I picked it up, it had a wash and vacuum...
Most of our sponsor’s workshops can do your servicing and stamp your books.
.
Most workshops that tune cars have a can scan which can pick up fault codes.

Redrum · 21-12-2005, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRFPV8

We do see a thread from time to time about poor dealer service, remember how many cars get serviced every day.... so all in all they’re doing a fairly good job.
If your in Melbourne try Strapp Ford for service.... my F6 has its 1st service on Monday took around 90 mins.... they asked me if I would like my car washed…. when I picked it up, it had a wash and vacuum...
Most of our sponsor’s workshops can do your servicing and stamp your books.
.
Most workshops that tune cars have a can scan which can pick up fault codes.

Excellent. This was one thing I was thinking about, getting the car serviced by a non ford dealer but was concerned they may not be aware of all faults etc.

thunderoo · 21-12-2005, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackers10

cheers guys

its a used car warranty.. that ford gives free(didnt touch the extended warranty as ..its useless as we all know)
im definatly voiding it i think..

only thing im wondering about is the lack of other workshops having the "ford computer" to do diagnostics?? or can most mechanics pull the codes manually?

All good workshops will have the computers needed to do diagnostic work and pull codes from all the latest cars. Most scan tools that we have in our workshops cost alot of money .... but they are able to hook in to 90 % of the cars on the road today. And we spend thousands of dollars every year to have all the information and books to keep up with the latest cars.
The only things that we cant do to the new cars is know when recalls have been done and upload new programs into the computer......but the old saying is....if its running sweet....LEAVE IT ALONE :evil_laug

Porsche Guy · 21-12-2005, 10:59 AM

Had a friend with a then new VT, he had had several warranty concerns already (new engine and tranny) Booked it in for a "handbook service", but was sus on the dealer so he chalked the tyres before he left the car. End of the day he goes to pick up the car, notices that it's still in the same car park. Chalk marks still intact! Goes inside and the service consultant sits him down and starts telling him what they've done to the car and how much it's going to cost him. Then started to get really shirty when the owner says that they've done none of what they said they'd done and were a pack of lying bastards. Apparantly the look on the consultants face was priceless when he was shown the chalk marks! The owner was promised all manner of free servicing in the end after the Service Manager found out!

Redrum · 21-12-2005, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche Guy

Had a friend with a then new VT, he had had several warranty concerns already (new engine and tranny) Booked it in for a "handbook service", but was sus on the dealer so he chalked the tyres before he left the car. End of the day he goes to pick up the car, notices that it's still in the same car park. Chalk marks still intact! Goes inside and the service consultant sits him down and starts telling him what they've done to the car and how much it's going to cost him. Then started to get really shirty when the owner says that they've done none of what they said they'd done and were a pack of lying bastards. Apparantly the look on the consultants face was priceless when he was shown the chalk marks! The owner was promised all manner of free servicing in the end after the Service Manager found out!

Got to try that one out.

b2tf · 21-12-2005, 09:30 PM

another good one is put a dob of paint on any nuts or bolts etc that require undoing in the course of servicing - i.e. your sump plug. great way to catch the buggers out.

whenever the LBT is serviced (never by Ford), I record odo details and mark the tyres if im asking for a rotation. I trust my mechanic but Im just very picky about what's done to my car.

T3rminator · 21-12-2005, 09:39 PM

Picking a good dealer service is like taking a lottery out of a hat. You get the good, the bad and the really ugly. I won't be sending mine a Christmas card that's for sure. In fact I'm switching to a new dealer next year.

After having first hand experience with how the dealer service and FORD (remember they are different) treat their customers on a number of issues I am NEVER EVER going to buy a new Ford EVER again.

Psycho Chicken · 21-12-2005, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimi_Ghia

I can take my car to my wifes cousin who has his own workshop but when I took it to ford there was a recall on the passengers side airbag cabling which I would not have known if I took it to someone else.

Ford should be mailing you details of any recalls.