are all dealers bad?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Let me tell you a few things about the "reviews" that customers send to Ford. Where I work, we call them surveys and I've read a million of 'em because it's part of my job and no...I don't work for Ford or a dealer...I work for a company that collects that tabulates the data.

I cannot recall a single instance of a customer reporting a problem with either the vehicle or the dealer that was solved because of something the customer reported to Ford via the survey. Therefore, I deduce that Ford simply does not care what is written on the survey because it is not a tool for customer satisfaction. It is, IMHO...a tool to identify these three things:

1. Is the customer going to contact an attorney...sue Ford...involve the BBB or a government agency?

2. Is the customer complaining about a safety defect?

3. Are the customers complaining about a dealer offering bribes in exchange for perfect survey scores? Too many of these and the dealer risks being flagged for interference and having their bonus paid by Corporate reduced. In a worst case scenario, they could even have their franchise taken away.

To the OP...I'd love to know which dealers gave you grief over this. Please send me a PM.

GrtArtiste
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
No i purchased an aftermarket warranty called the mechanic. But today ford offered me ford extended service plan.


Oh, see that complicates things again. Ford isn't on the hook to give you anything if an aftermarket plan provides it. There are lots of bad reports on aftermarket plans...
 
I agree. But the dealer is who sold me the plan and thats why they should honor it.
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
I agree. But the dealer is who sold me the plan and thats why they should honor it.


Yes they should, if they refuse under the contract they are committing FRAUD.

Why didn't you insist on purchasing the manufacturer extended service plan, my guess is that it was only a small amount more than the
aftermarket plan. It is fairly common knowledge that you should only consider manufacturer plans for extended service and that the aftermarket plans are usually questionable at best. I do think that Ford and other manufacturers should REQUIRE that they at least mention their own plan in addition to the shady plans they make more money on.
 
Last edited:
Didnt even mention the ford plan to me. The aftermarket warranty has been fine its just thr dealer the other dealer i took it to had no issues at all using my warranty
 
A couple things -

If the dealer you took it to isn't the one you purchased the extended warranty from, they may not work with the third party company you purchased the warranty from. It's not like an extended warranty directly from Ford that all Ford dealers can honor.

The warranty company may only pay for the rental if it's a repair they are paying for. Since this falls under the factory warranty, you might need to check the verbiage of the warranty contract to see if they will in fact pay for a rental.

At this point you're only putting the car in to check for a noise, which is not an overnight repair at this point so you probably aren't entitled to a rental car anyway. Typically book time is used to determine if the repair is long enough to authorize a rental, and a strut mount isn't going to be enough.
 
Ford does not pay for rental cars under warranty except for certain conditions. An owner of a SVT product, Cobra, Lightning, Raptor is entitled to rental cars as part of owning a SVT product. Rentals are covered if it is authorised for the specific repair especially if it is a Service Campaign (recall). Also Lincoln owners are entitled to rental coverage.

If you purchased or were given a genuine Ford ESP plan, then a rental is covered up to $28 a day, there is an option to have a higher dollar amount covered at the time of purchase. If you have an aftermarket warranty, that is up to you to get them to authorise it. Some dealers will not honor aftermarket warranties and inform customers that they are to pay for the repair and seek reimbursement from the warranty company. From an insider most aftermarket warranties are scams, it takes them forever to pay the dealer for work performed and they usually short pay.

A dealer is allowed to refuse warranty work in certain circumstances. Like at my work we will not work on vehicles over a certain size because we physically cannot handle the vehicles. There are also time when you can "fire" a customer and as the dealer inform Ford that the customer, for whatever reason, will not be helped by the dealer any longer. I have only seen this a couple times, but the customers were completely impossible to work with. Also if a dealer does not have certified technicians in a certain area, like diesel, they are not authorized to perform warranty work in that area.
 
O, I forgot to add that there is a thing called a "126 report" from Ford that tracks warranty repairs. If the dealer has too many repairs in a certain area compared to other dealers in the region, you are audited because Ford wants to know what you are doing. They will look for things like over-repair or unnecessary repair. Ford will not count vehicles from out of the area i.e. travellers, but things like excessive diesel, brake/suspension, tune-up, engine or transmission will trigger an audit. A dealer can be perfect in all their repairs and just be unlucky enough to have a company with a lot of new diesel trucks that need work to trigger being excessive in diesel repair.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
My last Ford was bought new in 1987. I see not much has changed since then.


Ha, my last Chrysler product was 1982, swore I would never touch another one and never have and never will!
 
Not to pee in anybody's pool but I've really have had good dealer service since 1980 from the Ford dealers I've purchased my new vehicles from. Some even went above and beyond the warranty and fixed a major issue outside of the warranty period. It depends upon the dealer and the relationship you establish with them. After market warranties are basically useless, even at the dealer that sold them. It's a high profit item for them that becomes useless for you. Only go for the manufactures extended warranty if you want one.

Whimsey
 
The car should be done tomorrow. Theyre replacing the right front strut assembly. I do have a question should i assume that an alignment will be performed ? Or should i ask them? I am correct in thinking one should be performed arent i?
 
It's best practice as you know, but I'd guess they only do the work by the book. Can you get a copy of the family saying to align afterwards? if it doesn't then perhaps it isn't necessary.

Can you adjust alignment via the strut to knuckle bolts on that car?
 
I've had my current Focus for almost a year. I've dealt with three separate dealers for warranty repair, purchase and a repair of the warranty repair. I've had quite a few cars that were in warranty in my life, and I've experience a fair share of car dealerships. I've never encountered worse dealers than Ford's. Holy [censored], it has been a nightmare. The first warranty repair was bunk; they made a mess of a wiring repair. The second dealer that repaired the repair tried to rip me off (Ford doesn't warranty the workmanship of its dealers. Think about that for a minute); eventually, I got the first dealer that butchered the initial repair to reimburse me, AFTER I posted poor reviews all over the internet.This was a battle in itself.

Oh, and the first dealer sold me a CPO car with significant refinishing work on it; indicating that it had been in some sort of accident. They denied this.

I dread visiting dealers for warranty repair; I've seen tremendous incompetence, neglect and a total disregard for quality at every Ford dealer I've been to. What good is a warranty if this is the kind of work received?

Join the club.
 
Originally Posted By: Rob_S
I've had my current Focus for almost a year. I've dealt with three separate dealers for warranty repair, purchase and a repair of the warranty repair. I've had quite a few cars that were in warranty in my life, and I've experience a fair share of car dealerships. I've never encountered worse dealers than Ford's. Holy [censored], it has been a nightmare. The first warranty repair was bunk; they made a mess of a wiring repair. The second dealer that repaired the repair tried to rip me off (Ford doesn't warranty the workmanship of its dealers. Think about that for a minute); eventually, I got the first dealer that butchered the initial repair to reimburse me, AFTER I posted poor reviews all over the internet.This was a battle in itself.

Oh, and the first dealer sold me a CPO car with significant refinishing work on it; indicating that it had been in some sort of accident. They denied this.

I dread visiting dealers for warranty repair; I've seen tremendous incompetence, neglect and a total disregard for quality at every Ford dealer I've been to. What good is a warranty if this is the kind of work received?

Join the club.


That's the same thing I experienced. Although I would not rule out ever buying another Ford (I really like the F-150 among others) I haven't owned another one since 1988, when I traded my '87 Ranger on an S-10. I did, however, send Ford a hate letter which they never replied to stating I would never buy another Ford. I guess never say never.
 
Originally Posted By: Rob_S


Oh, and the first dealer sold me a CPO car with significant refinishing work on it; indicating that it had been in some sort of accident. They denied this.

.


CPO is just marketing, buying ANY used car is a real [censored] shoot, you just never know how much of someone else's problem you are going to end up with.

I'd buy new. Just drive it till the wheels fall off, and you get the security of a new car warranty and if you want the extended manufacturer's warranty for a bit extra. I've always found it to be true that dealers always seem to be a bit more interested in fixing a newly purchased vehicle under factory warranty than a used one. CPO or not. Again CPO is just marketing bunk.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Originally Posted By: Rob_S
I've had my current Focus for almost a year. I've dealt with three separate dealers for warranty repair, purchase and a repair of the warranty repair. I've had quite a few cars that were in warranty in my life, and I've experience a fair share of car dealerships. I've never encountered worse dealers than Ford's. Holy [censored], it has been a nightmare. The first warranty repair was bunk; they made a mess of a wiring repair. The second dealer that repaired the repair tried to rip me off (Ford doesn't warranty the workmanship of its dealers. Think about that for a minute); eventually, I got the first dealer that butchered the initial repair to reimburse me, AFTER I posted poor reviews all over the internet.This was a battle in itself.

Oh, and the first dealer sold me a CPO car with significant refinishing work on it; indicating that it had been in some sort of accident. They denied this.

I dread visiting dealers for warranty repair; I've seen tremendous incompetence, neglect and a total disregard for quality at every Ford dealer I've been to. What good is a warranty if this is the kind of work received?

Join the club.


That's the same thing I experienced. Although I would not rule out ever buying another Ford (I really like the F-150 among others) I haven't owned another one since 1988, when I traded my '87 Ranger on an S-10. I did, however, send Ford a hate letter which they never replied to stating I would never buy another Ford. I guess never say never.


Not much has changed in 27 years, it seems. It's a shame; I've been keeping my eye on the Focus RS, as it looks to be a spectacular car; but the only turn off (barring the price) is dealing with Ford's dealer network. It's not even the misrepair or the service writers that tell me things like "it's interfering with the MAF reading" (the car is Speed Density; doesn't have a MAF sensor); it's the general disregard for the work. I get my car back with dirty boot-prints all over it; dye transfer on the leather; my OBD door is broken and rattles; the airbox lid ears are broken from over tightening, there's other stuff too. Mind you, this is over the course of two trips; I DIY all maintenance. I have to spend an hour after a trip cleaning up. For even minor repairs, to me, it is hardly worth it.

Sorry for derailing the thread OP.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
Originally Posted By: Rob_S


Oh, and the first dealer sold me a CPO car with significant refinishing work on it; indicating that it had been in some sort of accident. They denied this.

.


CPO is just marketing, buying ANY used car is a real [censored] shoot, you just never know how much of someone else's problem you are going to end up with.

I'd buy new. Just drive it till the wheels fall off, and you get the security of a new car warranty and if you want the extended manufacturer's warranty for a bit extra. I've always found it to be true that dealers always seem to be a bit more interested in fixing a newly purchased vehicle under factory warranty than a used one. CPO or not. Again CPO is just marketing bunk.


And a way for them to charge you a new car price for a used car! If you actually run the numbers, a lot of CPO cars have a higher cost per mile than a new car.
 
Yes and no. The Chrysler CPO actually gives you a 7 year, 100K mile powertrain warranty. That's a better warranty than new. Their asking price is negotiable, and I don't think anyone actually pays it anyways.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Yes and no. The Chrysler CPO actually gives you a 7 year, 100K mile powertrain warranty. That's a better warranty than new. Their asking price is negotiable, and I don't think anyone actually pays it anyways.


Yeah it always depends, you really have to run the numbers and research it...every deal is different. Never say never! Never lease, never buy new...etc
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
Local oil change place mis hap
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
ammolab
AZjeff
Selling a truck to Carvana from across the country.
Replies
8
Views
485
SeaJay
U
2016 Volvo V60 - dealer put used oil back in the car
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
2K
fdcg27
wings&wheels
Dealer and Mechanic Anecdotes
2
Replies
20
Views
3K
97prizm
K
Scrapped the 2009 Ford Flex today...after almost 15 years of ownership
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
BLND1
Back
Top