Venting (a little)

[Ducati1098]

You could always try a different dealer. They are not all the same.

This ^

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[DALOLA]

For sure, most (not all..) dealers suck, all mfgr's.

When you find a good one (they are out there..), reward them with your business, and word-of-mouth.

Imagine the change if everyone stopped supporting garbage dealers?

 

[OscarHTX]

We took in a 24 Badlands for the rear shock issue and a defroster cable coming off the rear window.

The dealer picked up the vehicle August 27, they didn't drop it off until September 4th.

 

[23OBX2.7]

It all comes down to dealer ....dropped mine off this AM for 7 tasks incl 2 SSB speaker pop, rattling windows plus cam recall / update, cracking weather strip at 2600 miles, rattling heat shield on start up.

They sent me home in Tesla Uber said I'll get it back this afternoon and will come back when other parts in.

My Mustang had CDF 10R80 issues for ever they gave me several GT convertible rental cars for days on end.

This is the only reason I bought a Bronco lux 2.7 that needs close to $10K in basic upgrades from new LOL.

 

[23BDBigSean]

Similar story, different outcome- I’m trying to get an appointment to get my 2.7 looked at with cam phasers issue. I have multiple videos of this happening(about 10) and the service advisor still saying “we need a few days to diagnose it” then probably another week to get it fixed and I’m thinking… watch my video and diagnose the thing…. Service advisors are zero help when asking about how I can get a loaner for that time it’s in the shop(mind you this is the dealer I purchased from).

fast forward a week and it’s my birthday and the salesman who sold me the Bronco, texts me happy birthday and how I’m liking the Bronco(which he periodically does) and I explain to him the situation.

Next day I get a call from the guy in the loaner dept and although the next loaner isn’t available until 6 weeks from now, he got it handled for me.

 

[Canyon Coolers]

Sounds about right. My advice, make a friend at the dealer. I have a dude in sales I have worked with for a number of years. I contact him, he contacts service. It feels like I get better treatment. Do I? Maybe not, but it feels better.

This is the way. I struggled with varying levels of service at my local dealer. Happened to come across someone moderately high up in Ford corporate and passed along a great service review. He then passed it through his channels. My Service Writer about high fives me every time I see him now, and it frankly paid off in so many ways. At the end of the day people want to be seen and heard for their efforts, if you facilitate that you can make the right friends in the right places.

 

[Canyon Coolers]

Similar story, different outcome- I’m trying to get an appointment to get my 2.7 looked at with cam phasers issue. I have multiple videos of this happening(about 10) and the service advisor still saying “we need a few days to diagnose it” then probably another week to get it fixed and I’m thinking… watch my video and diagnose the thing…. Service advisors are zero help when asking about how I can get a loaner for that time it’s in the shop(mind you this is the dealer I purchased from).

fast forward a week and it’s my birthday and the salesman who sold me the Bronco, texts me happy birthday and how I’m liking the Bronco(which he periodically does) and I explain to him the situation.

Next day I get a call from the guy in the loaner dept and although the next loaner isn’t available until 6 weeks from now, he got it handled for me.

Relationships matter and I'm glad that worked for you. That being said its not a scalable solution to have everyone sending cell phone audio files for super expensive repair diagnosis and the follow on parts commitment and such even if it appears self evident.

I could see a day where a manufacturer could have a high quality microphone pre installed and tied to diagnostics and/or AI. Maybe even a thermal camera inside the hood.

 

[indio22]

There you go. Dealerships are more often then not poor places to have $paid$ (i.e. the dealership is incentivized) work done. They don't want the warranty work, so there service is even worse.

Just being honest here, look at your list. You lose use of your vehicle for days for

1) the cost of a battery (batteries are consumables)
2) a shock band aid that is probably not needed in your climate and will need to be replaced in any case (shocks are consumables)
3) a loose wire a local shop could do in 5 minutes and minimal cost.

Your "free" warranty work turns out to be expensive

This. I wouldn't waste much time making appointments, dropping off vehicles, waiting etc ... at least for any minor or low cost repair, regardless of warranty. I'm handy in terms of fixing things so sometimes it's not worth involving other people.

The driver seat recliner lever snapped off day one of my Bronco ownership. Dealer said I could put in a service claim but they didn't have part on hand yada yada. I ended up buying the plastic lever from a discount online vendor, it arrived a week later, I installed and moved on with life.

 

[Severum17]

There you go. Dealerships are more often then not poor places to have $paid$ (i.e. the dealership is incentivized) work done. They don't want the warranty work, so there service is even worse.

Just being honest here, look at your list. You lose use of your vehicle for days for

1) the cost of a battery (batteries are consumables)
2) a shock band aid that is probably not needed in your climate and will need to be replaced in any case (shocks are consumables)
3) a loose wire a local shop could do in 5 minutes and minimal cost.

Your "free" warranty work turns out to be expensive

Think you are missing my point here. Little background, I was a GM Parts Manager for 45 years so I know how the dealer environment SHOULD work. We were one of the best. Make appointments and work on the vehicle same day, thats what appointments are for. I took it in for warranty repairs. Shock recall was not important to me and I wanted it removed. I guess my main point was the scheduling. Im retired, and things have obviously changed.

 

[Severum17]

This ^

This is true, but I try to support the dealer that I bought it from. At least to start with.

 

[Severum17]

Think you are missing my point here. Little background, I was a GM Parts Manager for 45 years so I know how the dealer environment SHOULD work. We were one of the best. Make appointments and work on the vehicle same day, thats what appointments are for. I took it in for warranty repairs. Shock recall was not important to me and I wanted it removed. I guess my main point was the scheduling. Im retired, and things have obviously changed.

BTW, got it back today after 5 days. Charging system and battery check OK. Shock recall done. Sent a request to Ford to Warranty the rear window ??? Request??
5 days for a max of 1 day deal. Live and learn

 

[crenca]

Live and learn

indeed. You mention how it should work, but for the majority of dealerships it has not worked that way I would say for at least the last 10 years going back even before Covid.

The core reason is the same as it always has been, which is the power of thedealership lobby at the state legislature’s. The changing nature of the workforce combined with Covid and the change of expectations within dealership culture justaccelerated the already crumbling service.

nothing stands in the way of it getting significantly worse either, because the dealerships are protected from both the consumer and the manufacturers. All they have to do is operate at a profit from sales within their local environment..

I’m not a supporter of electrification, and I don’t think it’s the future, but I was hoping one positive outcome from it would’ve been the success of the direct to consumer model that Tesla tried to pull off meekly followed for a short period.

 

[kodiakisland]

They tell you it’s at least 2-3 days to look at it. Why leave it? Make an appointment and then you don’t have the problem of it just sitting at the dealer.

 

[crenca]

They tell you it’s at least 2-3 days to look at it. Why leave it? Make an appointment and then you don’t have the problem of it just sitting at the dealer.

Increasingly they will tell you that does not matter. In other words you make an appointment 2 weeks/2 months/2 years in the future, and that's when the required "leave it for 2-3 days or a week" begins...

 

[Wyatt]

If I may, I am a tech at a Ford dealership. Everyone seems to have an idea about how the dealership works. Everyone that shows up wants their vehicle back immediately. So I’ll ask this question: how do we as tech look at every car and fix them for everyone? Both can’t be done for every vehicle; only one person can. I try my absolute best to do right by the customer, and I still get heat for it from the customer. It’s impossible to please everyone. And every dealer’s shit is different. There’s a tech shortage, and most tech now are younger tech, and these cars aren’t getting any easier to fix. Everyone thinks, “Ohh, it’s just a simple fix yea it’s not. I do hope your next visit is more pleasant. Not all techs, but I promise a lot of us are trying to do our best.

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