Choosing Dealer(s) for Service?

[tremorman]

I know many will just go to the dealer they bought the truck from, but for those of you like me who bought from a dealer relatively far away from where you live, how did you choose which local dealer to do service and warranty work? Just pick the closest dealer, or did you go read reviews for all of them, etc. Is there a better way to find out how good the techs are at certain dealers other than trying to sift through all the nonsense reviews on dealerrater, yelp, etc.? Also what are people's thoughts on going to different dealers depending on the timing/where you are? Is it better to just try to pick one dealer to do all the work so they have a history with the vehicle or does it not matter to go to different dealers?

Still low mileage on my truck and no issues but trying to get ahead of it and I have the ford maintenance plan so until that's up I'll be going to dealers for all my service and warranty work, no private shops until that's used up. Also, there's a chance in the next few years that I'll be splitting time between 2 different states so may need to have 2 different trusted dealers anyways.

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[slowmachine]

I know many will just go to the dealer they bought the truck from, but for those of you like me who bought from a dealer relatively far away from where you live, how did you choose which local dealer to do service and warranty work? Just pick the closest dealer, or did you go read reviews for all of them, etc. Is there a better way to find out how good the techs are at certain dealers other than trying to sift through all the nonsense reviews on dealerrater, yelp, etc.? Also what are people's thoughts on going to different dealers depending on the timing/where you are? Is it better to just try to pick one dealer to do all the work so they have a history with the vehicle or does it not matter to go to different dealers?

Still low mileage on my truck and no issues but trying to get ahead of it and I have the ford maintenance plan so until that's up I'll be going to dealers for all my service and warranty work, no private shops until that's used up. Also, there's a chance in the next few years that I'll be splitting time between 2 different states so may need to have 2 different trusted dealers anyways.

I would be willing to travel a bit to get to a shop that I’m comfortable with. I purchased from a dealer that I trust, and I take it back to them for some service. My Ranger is my 10th vehicle from Grappone auto group in Concord, NH. There are plenty of forum members from New England. If you say where you are, you might get some useful recommendations right here.

 

[halligan1201]

Does Ford have a service department rating customers can use? When I worked at Mercedes and Honda dealerships they did and it was a big motivation factor for us (granted this was in the 90s). I don't particularly like, trust, or have confidence in any of the Ford service centers in my immediate area.

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