Bad Dealer Experience!!

[Fred]

Agreed. My wifes 2009 C300 costs about $180 for an oil change every 10-12k miles. Someones getting bent over paying $400 for just an oil change..

My father has a 08 BMW X3, also has no dipstick. Dumbest thing ever. You have to press a button on the dash to see the oil level.

Yeah...$400 for an oil change...I am in the wrong business...as for the dipstick, I spent 20 minutes looking for that bastard...didn't have the balls to admit i could not find it...glad they told me or I would still be looking for it...

sorry I derailed again...

 

[Boss Hoss]

This is why I never take delivery at night or in the rain . Not a matter of fixing it because I will wait for a perfect one.

 

[roostinyfz]

Really enjoying my new truck, but do have one complaint...

I seem to have the same experience with all Ford dealers in western PA, I have yet to find one that makes me feel as though they care if you ever come back. I love the products but hate the dealers in the area. They all seem to have a chip on their shoulder as though they are doing you a favor by selling you a car, especially because Ford didn't take bail out money (heard that a few times).

As a previous GM buyer, this was never the case. I even had one dealer that I felt bad telling I was switching over to Ford, because they treated me so well when I returned for service. Also, my sister used to work for Bobby Rahal family of dealerships and there customer service is amazing. My mother bought a Mercedes GLK from them and has had it back twice for warranty work. Both times she was provided a courtesy vehicle (of equivalent type and capability) and I was amazed with how you car is treated when it is serviced at one of their dealerships. I know its kinda apples to oranges but her Benz was 10K less than my truck and so far she has received the same treatment as someone who bought a 100K SLS.

I as reread this post I realize I'm just venting my frustration to the world, but I would really like to find a Ford dealer that values me as a customer. If I could find one that treated me right, they would have a customer for life!

I have had your exact same experience and feelings with Ford. I didn't realize how good my GM warranties were until I found out how crappy fords warranty is. Tons of aftermarket stuff on my GM cars and never a hint of a problem with GM, but buy a Ford and have a small issue and they don't care. Then you tell them how good you were treated by GM and all they say we aren't a bailout company and that's why we are in business. Well, that might be true but I have a $56,000 truck with a clearly straightforward warranty issue and not caring is worse than upholding your guarantees and going broke. I had to go to several dealerships and play that game to get a couple things fixed.

 

[Rookie]

I understand the frustration. I would be pissed too. Part of the documents you sign when buying a vehicle usually includes a walk around inspection. If you didn't notice it and signed that paper you are basically saying that the truck has nothing wrong with it. I guess it's whether or not they are a good dealer if they will fix it or not.

 

[jrz5072]

Well, I looked at some pictures of the trucks with color matched flares and really like it, so I think that is the way I am going to go and forget about it.

I was sort of an auto mechanic through High School and before joining the Air Force where I then worked on aircraft and now I am a Mechanical Engineer, so I do all of my own maintenance and repairs. I enjoy working on my own stuff, the only repairs that I don't do are warranty work. I guess I can't be too mad if a dealer does not help me out considering I never pay for anything but parts. I guess I just thought, 55K for a truck, $150 to repaint a fender flare, shouldn't be an issue, right??? WRONG!!!

I guess this was the final straw that really pissed me off about the whole experience. This dealer made me feel as though I was inconveniencing them to buy the truck, unfortunately they were the only on that had exactly what I wanted. I'll make the appropriate marks on the customer survey that Ford sends out and move on. I did speak to a representative from SVT and he stated that I wasn't the first customer to call about my dissatisfaction with a dealer. Unfortunately there is nothing they can do about it, makes me wonder if it was better when you had to get an SVT vehicle from and SVT dealer.

Thanks for the input and glad to hear I not the only one who hates my dealership, but man do I love this truck!!!!

P.S.
I do all the maintenance on my mothers GLK and previous German cars and it still runs about $75+ for the oil and filter (Full synthetic in the Raptor will prob be the same). German cars aren't really that hard to work on, once you figure out their engineering logic. Some of the designs they have are are pretty cool and others are like WTF! I guess I could say the same for GM and Ford. Just beware that you'll need different tools (a lot of 12 point, cap screws and the newer triple square bolts).


The dealer was Washington Ford, in Washington PA.

 

[spirit]

Sometimes the dealer just has to take a leap of faith and spend the money for the in-house cost of the repair. Charge it to the age-old cost-of-doing-business.

Just maybe the customer is always right.

I'm a home builder and hear what I sometimes consider dubious complaints. I make decent money building homes and figure I don't need to take every nickle off the table. Dealers and contractors are both businesses that the public loves to hate so there is an opportunity to separate ourselves from the competition by spending a tiny fraction of the profit from the sale. I know the drywall damage wasn't there when we closed on the sale but why waste my time by acting the way the customer expects? I've got my limits, but that line is way past simple repairs.

I had two local dealers refuse to do a repair they thought was my fault but a 3rd dealer said yes, and now I find myself driving to this dealer on the other side of Phoenix for all my service and repair work for both my Raptor and my dually. He made me a customer for a simple repair probably worth $40 or $50.

 

[golferdude1971]

Make your issues known when you receive your delivery survey that should be arriving soon They will definitely hear about you comments.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

P.S. I do all the maintenance on my mothers GLK and previous German cars and it still runs about $75+ for the oil and filter (Full synthetic in the Raptor will prob be the same).

Full synthetic in the Raptor costs about $100 here in SoCal unless you have a "discount coupon."

The 6.2L motor takes, I believe, 7 quarts. That's a lot of expensive (at the dealership) oil.

Sometimes the dealer just has to take a leap of faith and spend the money for the in-house cost of the repair. Charge it to the age-old cost-of-doing-business.

Just maybe the customer is always right.

I understand your point but:

* Most dealers don't do body shop and paint work in-house so there's a real cost to fixing that kind of problem and it most likely won't be paid for by Ford (so there's 2 reasons why this kind of problem is not an easy warranty fix).

* Not to beat a dead horse but there's no way for the dealer to know who caused the problem or when it happened. If it was a mechanical issue there wouldn't be anything for them to contemplate - they'd just fix it under warranty.