Heater went out, dealer still sucks.

[Tangent]

Driving around I turned off my heater yesterday, which caused a loud pop, crack, and a ratcheting sound.

This morning, I got the joy of having no heat in my 3 month old truck. Called the dealer, they say they can fit me in this afternoon, I ask off from work, get to the dealer within an hour "we won't be able to get to it until tomorrow, is that alright?"

I was like, fine, can I get a rental? The dealership recently stopped having loaners and instead points you to their car rental company, and will comp you sometimes. They told me that because I didn't buy the extended warranty, my truck that has 3700 miles on it was "Only covered for 4 hours shop time, which doesn't merit a rental." News to me, great, making me regret buying Ford every minute.

Eventually they decide they can spare a tech to look at it, since the shuttle driver refused to pick me up later, because "I was too far out of the way." I live in city limits, and its not a big town.

Tech says something about passenger actuator failing, it'll be here Friday, great, a week in winter without heat, but sure, lets try to be patient, I try to schedule the service for Saturday so I don't have to miss more work. "We can't do that on Saturdays, we only have 1 tech here that day."

Mind you, gigantic service department they just renovated, has like 20 bays, and they have 1 dude there on the one day of the week most have to get things done. Great.

So 2020 looks like its off to a great start eh?

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[VAMike]

People still having trouble distinguishing between Ford and the dealer?

 

[LNK_Keff]

People still having trouble distinguishing between Ford and the dealer?

Like it or not, the dealership is (to most people) the face of Ford. I'm sure many dealerships have sent customers running to other brands for reasons having nothing to do with the vehicles themselves.

 

[Tangent]

The dealer sucks but if Ford are the ones who built the truck that broke after 3 months, and if it's true their warranty only covers 4 hours of shop time? Then they are just as go blame as the dealer.

Also, Ford authorizes these people to use their brand. That means Ford is totally okay with these guys giving the worst customer service in the automotive industry.

I honestly don't know how Ford stays in business, it took two months and 3 different sales guys to even get a salesman to even take me seriously and answer emails/phone calls. For a $32,000 vehicle. IDK why I ignored those red flags and thought service would be better.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

The dealer sucks but if Ford are the ones who built the truck that broke after 3 months, and if it's true their warranty only covers 4 hours of shop time? Then they are just as go blame as the dealer.

Also, Ford authorizes these people to use their brand. That means Ford is totally okay with these guys giving the worst customer service in the automotive industry.

I honestly don't know how Ford stays in business, it took two months and 3 different sales guys to even get a salesman to even take me seriously and answer emails/phone calls. For a $32,000 vehicle. IDK why I ignored those red flags and thought service would be better.

I think the problem some of us are having is that you appear to be taking this isolated incident at your local dealership as a catch all for Ford the global corporation. I'm not saying Ford is a saint of company who doesn't do anything wrong. They do plenty of things wrong and I've been angry with them before. But when my dealer does something stupid, I blame the dealer. I don't blame McDonald's the company for a bad experience I had at a single restaurant. It sounds like your truck had a fault, not unheard of, and your dealer screwed you over trying to do it.

I'd probably try and avoid that dealer if possible. Any dealer that no longer has loaners, makes you pay for rentals, has only 1 tech on Saturdays, and takes 3 sales guys and months of waiting to even answer you, is not a dealer that should have business. That dealer is bad.

 

[VAMike]

The dealer sucks but if Ford are the ones who built the truck that broke after 3 months, and if it's true their warranty only covers 4 hours of shop time?

That's a lot of "ifs". Probably easier to just take it to a dealer that sucks less.

 

[HoosierT]

I'll add that, well, to be frank, shit happens. For some reason we have come to expect perfection 100% of the time. These are very complex machines and issues are going to occur in very small sample sets. Then yea, they can't make the parts magically appear the same day and boot all the other appointments just for you. Yea, this is inconvenient for you with your work schedule but no dealer I've ever worked with will perform repairs on the weekends, usually just oil changes. Seems like an issue of improper expectations. Nonetheless, I'm sorry to hear that you're having an issue with your heat.

The dealer broke some of the clips removing the door handle trim (inside) when they were repairing my truck from the accident. They ordered the part but it's backordered. Yep, I'm driving around in a $45k truck with a missing door trim but it is what it is, there's nothing that can be done any quicker and I'm not upset because I've accepted the realities of business and manufacturing.

 

[HenryMac]

The dealer sucks but if Ford are the ones who built the truck that broke after 3 months, and if it's true their warranty only covers 4 hours of shop time? Then they are just as go blame as the dealer.

Also, Ford authorizes these people to use their brand. That means Ford is totally okay with these guys giving the worst customer service in the automotive industry.

I honestly don't know how Ford stays in business, it took two months and 3 different sales guys to even get a salesman to even take me seriously and answer emails/phone calls. For a $32,000 vehicle. IDK why I ignored those red flags and thought service would be better.

I'd suggest you contact the Regional Sales Manager. Since heat is pretty much required in the winter.... the prudent thing for the dealer to do is provide you with a free loaner car until they fix the issue on your new truck.

 

[Motorpsychology]

That's a lot of "ifs". Probably easier to just take it to a dealer that sucks less.

Ford Motor Company is not required to provide a courtesy vehicle, or other transportation (except for Lincoln owners). That is up to the individual dealer. I have a Ford/Lincoln dealership only six miles away, but I have bought three new Fords from one 18 miles away, and service both of my cars there because of their "customer is always right" approach to service and sales, rather than, "Let's do business at the lowest possible cost." Maybe that's why they have been the largest Ford Dealer in Wisconsin the past 3 years in a town of under 13,000. I got a loaner for a Field Service Action https://www.fordescape.org/threads/field-service-action-19b37.114378/ on my Escape that took only 3 hours incl. waiting for a tech to free up. Ford is pretty much the same worldwide, but dealers vary greatly. Shop around, I did.

 

[Mokume]

I think the problem some of us are having is that you appear to be taking this isolated incident at your local dealership as a catch all for Ford the global corporation. I'm not saying Ford is a saint of company who doesn't do anything wrong. They do plenty of things wrong and I've been angry with them before. But when my dealer does something stupid, I blame the dealer. I don't blame McDonald's the company for a bad experience I had at a single restaurant. It sounds like your truck had a fault, not unheard of, and your dealer screwed you over trying to do it.

I'd probably try and avoid that dealer if possible. Any dealer that no longer has loaners, makes you pay for rentals, has only 1 tech on Saturdays, and takes 3 sales guys and months of waiting to even answer you, is not a dealer that should have business. That dealer is bad.

I sure hope my 2020 does not suffer from quality issues that Tangent is experiencing because there are just 3 Ford dealers in Honolulu.
Yes, it is my choice to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, so it is what it is...
I worked at a Lincoln/Mercury-Honda agency for almost 14 years as a line mechanic and came across all sorts of Ford snafus, mind you we were to sole L/M dealership on the island.

• '77 Cougar XR-7 with a 351M that was missing a piston and connecting rod
• '78 Monarch 4 door with a dashboard assy. that was a totally different color from the rest on the interior
• '78 Lincoln Town Car with a marble rolling around in the left rocker panel
• '79 Zephyr 2 door sedan in which the wiper motor was attached with zip-ties
• '80 Colony Park wagon in which the rear headliner was missing (wagons had 2 separate liners)
• '81 Continental Mark VI with a 255W V8 installed instead of the correct 302W

How do I remember all these snafus? because I had to fix them...and all of them left the factory the way they were!

 

[IdriveG5]

Shop around, I did.

This is getting to be the hard part! I shopped around, could find one for sales experience, but on service side have yet to find one that will be stellar and want to trust. Also believe this is not just a ford problem, but all the car manufacturing dealers these days. Also when I was in the land of cheese like you are, I had an easier time finding multiple ones I would trust Now that I am removed having a real hard time finding a genuine place.

If anyone has recommendations for a great ford dealer on the service side in the Greater Charlotte/Lake Norman area let me know.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I sure hope my 2020 does not suffer from quality issues that Tangent is experiencing because there are just 3 Ford dealers in Honolulu.
Yes, it is my choice to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, so it is what it is...
I worked at a Lincoln/Mercury-Honda agency for almost 14 years as a line mechanic and came across all sorts of Ford snafus, mind you we were to sole L/M dealership on the island.

• '77 Cougar XR-7 with a 351M that was missing a piston and connecting rod
• '78 Monarch 4 door with a dashboard assy. that was a totally different color from the rest on the interior
• '78 Lincoln Town Car with a marble rolling around in the left rocker panel
• '79 Zephyr 2 door sedan in which the wiper motor was attached with zip-ties
• '80 Colony Park wagon in which the rear headliner was missing (wagons had 2 separate liners)
• '81 Continental Mark VI with a 255W V8 installed instead of the correct 302W

How do I remember all these snafus? because I had to fix them...and all of them left the factory the way they were!

Of course all the Hondas arrived defect free
When I was selling Fords, We had a Futura come in with a soda can in the passenger door, a Black Mustang with blue underside hood paint. I haven't, but I bet if an import-brand line tech were asked, he/she would be able to cite similar snafus. Production supervision may have a ways to go, but it has greatly improved since the leasure suit days. Our answer to the objection about quality, reliability, engineering yadda-yadda of the "vastly superior imports" was. "why do their dealerships also have a service departments?"

 

[Cape Cruiser]

I sure hope my 2020 does not suffer from quality issues that Tangent is experiencing because there are just 3 Ford dealers in Honolulu.
Yes, it is my choice to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, so it is what it is...
I worked at a Lincoln/Mercury-Honda agency for almost 14 years as a line mechanic and came across all sorts of Ford snafus, mind you we were to sole L/M dealership on the island.

• '77 Cougar XR-7 with a 351M that was missing a piston and connecting rod
• '78 Monarch 4 door with a dashboard assy. that was a totally different color from the rest on the interior
• '78 Lincoln Town Car with a marble rolling around in the left rocker panel
• '79 Zephyr 2 door sedan in which the wiper motor was attached with zip-ties
• '80 Colony Park wagon in which the rear headliner was missing (wagons had 2 separate liners)
• '81 Continental Mark VI with a 255W V8 installed instead of the correct 302W

How do I remember all these snafus? because I had to fix them...and all of them left the factory the way they were!

Jeff the late 70's must have been a rough time as I worked at a Lincoln Mercury dealer also and had 78 cougar with an engine miss that drove me crazy,it would drop 1 cylinder at idle but then pick it up above idle . After tear down found casting flashing blocking intake runner! Also 78 Mark 5 missing right front nut holding wheel bearing on,lucky the rotor held the wheel on I found on road test.Also had Continental spelled wrong on rear trunk lid. No manufactured car is perfect,people sometimes make mistakes. My friend was top man on windstar /nissan quest assembly line and sometimes at the end of the day they would be missing a build and would eventually find it hiding somewhere or in the bottom of the anti corrosion dip tank.

 

[Mokume]

Of course all the Hondas arrived defect free
When I was selling Fords, We had a Futura come in with a soda can in the passenger door, a Black Mustang with blue underside hood paint. I haven't, but I bet if an import-brand line tech were asked, he/she would be able to cite similar snafus. Production supervision may have a ways to go, but it has greatly improved since the leasure suit days. Our answer to the objection about quality, reliability, engineering yadda-yadda of the "vastly superior imports" was. "why do their dealerships also have a service departments?"

Yes, the Honda's were well-assembled vehicles, but, back then all the Honda's we received were all Japan production. We did, however, get some early production '82 Accords from Honda's Marysville plant, the paint finish was actually glossier than the Japan models.
The '86 Accords did have problems with door fit, especially the 4 door models, made no difference if they were Japan or US production.
Ford, IMO has come a long way in fit and finish from the seventies and eighties.
Futura you say? I briefly owned a used '78 Z-7 with a 5.0, I loved that car until somebody rear-ended it when it was parked in front of my home.

 

[Mokume]

Jeff the late 70's must have been a rough time as I worked at a Lincoln Mercury dealer also and had 78 cougar with an engine miss that drove me crazy,it would drop 1 cylinder at idle but then pick it up above idle . After tear down found casting flashing blocking intake runner! Also 78 Mark 5 missing right front nut holding wheel bearing on,lucky the rotor held the wheel on I found on road test.Also had Continental spelled wrong on rear trunk lid. No manufactured car is perfect,people sometimes make mistakes. My friend was top man on windstar /nissan quest assembly line and sometimes at the end of the day they would be missing a build and would eventually find it hiding somewhere or in the bottom of the anti corrosion dip tank.

Lol, I especially remember the Cougar with the missing piston/rod fondly, the motor shook so violently that the hood would not stay raised.
When I did yank the left bank head I could not believe what I saw, I yelled out to my buddy (and partner in crime) mechanic in the adjoining stall "Joe, WTF did you do with my piston?"
Joe comes over and says "how the f*#@k you pull the piston without dropping the pan?"
Long story short I ordered a short block for it, maybe the "M" in 351M meant "missing" in this case?

BTW, that manifold issue would have driven ANY mechanic bonkers...

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