Repairs at another dealer.

[wanted33]

I'm not sure what to think about your friend. It's hard to tell whether he was trying to help you, or just wanting to sound important. But, whichever it was I'd just drop the GM of that dealer an email, tell him what you just heard (without mentioning your friend by name), and that you will be going to another dealer for service in the future. Will that help, I don't know. But, it would make me feel much better.

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[THLONE]

Since he is your buddy why doesnt he put you to the front? Do you have a license plate frame advertising the other dealer? That might piss off the non selling dealer. Lots of businesses do stupid stuff. Just dont go there. If a CA or NY car came into my shop and got demanding, I would put them to the way way back of the line.

 

[Glocker]

My personal experience with this is that Ford dealerships generally want ANY service business they can get. The margins on new vehicles are slim and they make a lot of their money selling service as well as financing. I bought my Mustang from a dealership in Baltimore, MD. My wife's Escape came from her former corporate employer that is recognized as having a dealer status. And my Ranger came from Carmax. I take all three to a local dealership that I tried to buy my truck at. In fact, I had a bad experience trying to buy my truck at this dealership because of the thick headedness of the sales staff. They actually drove my business to Carmax and a slightly used truck. But the service department at this dealership has treated me VERY well.

I went in at 0730 once for an oil change on my Mustang that I had an appointment for, and they told me to expect a 4 hour wait. I was a little miffed - I had made an appointment for a reason and needed to wait with the car. The Mustang oil changes are really expensive because of the oil capacity and are usually $90. The service manager apologized, and said that if I bring it in at the same time the next Saturday, the oil change was on him! Great customer service!!!!

My last oil change, on the Mustang again, I decided to use my Ford Pass points in conjunction with a coupon. It was, again, a very expensive oil change because of the Coyote motor's oil capacity. After the Ford Pass points and the coupon, I owed $13 dollars. The service writer told me to hold on a second, and came back and told me she got the service manager to waive the balance!!!! Awesome!

The dealership I bought the Mustang from, out of state, straight up told me they needed my business in the service department and wanted to do whatever they could to get it for any of my vehicles, Ford or not. I told them I would love to, but they would have to move from MD to GA!

 

[Jason B]

Every business is going to take care of their loyal customers first. Not sure why this surprises anyone. Of course you are going to be put behind the guy that has purchased many vehicles from them. If that dealer is more convenient why did you not buy the truck from them?

Because of availability. That dealer had no Rangers on the lot and would have taken 6 - 8 months for an order. The dealer I purchased from at 4 on the lot and had the exact one I wanted: STX SE in Oxford White. If they didn't have the one I wanted, they would pull it from one of their other dealerships in the chain.

 

[Jason B]

Since he is your buddy why doesnt he put you to the front? Do you have a license plate frame advertising the other dealer? That might piss off the non selling dealer. Lots of businesses do stupid stuff. Just dont go there. If a CA or NY car came into my shop and got demanding, I would put them to the way way back of the line.

No license plate frame, but there are stickers on the rear window and tailgate that I have been meaning to remove.
Also, my friend there is a service writer for the repair department. This dealer has a separate writer for maintenance work at what they call 'Quick Lane'. I made the appointment with him. When I arrived and gave him my name, the first thing he asked is if I was paying or using my points. My appointment was at 3:30, the truck was ready at 4:15.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Yesterday, I took my 5G to a Ford dealer for 12K service. While waiting for the job to complete, I sat with
an old school mate of mine who is one of the service writers there. After a while I mentioned that I bought
the truck at another dealer but prefer this dealer for service/repair because its closer to work. He mentioned
that his dealership and the one I bought the truck are not in best standing. It's like oil and water he said. He also
mentioned that his dealership doesn't mind service work from the other dealer, but that I should take the truck
to the place of purchase for repairs. He said that his dealership would hesitantly do repair work, but that I would be
put at the "back of the line" so to speak and would receive little to no priority over vehicles purchased at his dealership.
That's crappy business practice. I don't believe Ford cares where I get repairs done, just as long as it is at a Ford shop.
Also, during the discussion, I was told that the place I bought the truck sells only third-party extended warranties, not Ford's
protection plan. Now I'm wondering if I should cancel the 3rd party extended warranty and purchase a genuine Ford plan.
Anybody here of such a thing?

I also have a third party (Allstate) extended warranty that I bought when I bought my Ranger. I couldv'e gotten a Ford EW, but the Allstate covers everything the Ford does for 25,000 miles further and is honored a any repair shop not just Ford or Lincoln dealers. The price was comparable, maybe a few dollars less.

If you make an appointment for service, you have reserved that time blocked out to have your vehicle worked on. The service department is a fixed base operation adding to the profit of the dealership; moreso than new vehicle sales in many. You may not want to throw your old classmate under the bus, but the Shop Supervisor and General Manager of the store would be very interested to learn that one of the service writers is discouraging business. You shouldn't get bumped out; this ain't the airlines! The dealer may not give you the same, or any "perks;" pick up/drop off the vehicle, free carwash w/svc, etc although most will try to get repeat business from you, not send you up the street!

 

[GTGallop]

Think about it, there's a reason the average turn-over for that position is 3 months....

I have always wondered why they come out and introduce themselves as "your service advisor" and tell you that they will always be there and you should always call and ask for them. Give you a business card even. I know that when I need an oil change or some other service, by the time I get back here the guy that replaced my guy will have already moved on too.

And the crap they spew...
I had a Fusion Hybrid. One summer it started getting crap for gas mileage so I watched it and I noticed that the battery was full but the electric traction motors were never coming on. Even with the AC and all accessories off. Took it in and the Service Guy told me that was nonsense, that the electric traction motor was the only thing that drove the wheels. The gas engine was only there to charge the battery and wasn't attached to the transmission in any way. It was just a generator. He wasn't some young kid either.

Before buying a hybrid I had done mountains of research so I knew the material well. I politely begged to differ twice and he pulled the "I'm a Ford Service Advisor, we see these cars in here all the time, I should know" shit with me.

I blew my top, ripped him a new ass and orally downloaded about 6 months of Hybrid technology on him in the service lobby at volume 11. Told him he wasnt fit to wear a service advisor shirt and that he should take it off and resign in shame for insisting on spewing lies or for being so disconnected from the product he represents. General manager sees the commotion, pulls me aside and assures me he'll handle it and the car will be taken care of.

Two days later, I come back, car "had nothing wrong with it but they went ahead and updated the software and firmware." Service Advisor told me he was deeply embarrassed at his behavior and owed me an apology. I told him if he was really that sorry he'd take that shirt off and go back to Chevrolet. Car ran amazing and got crazy good gas mileage after that.

 

[Fitzmotor]

We caught a advisor telling the customer that the fuel tank had to be dropped to change the fuel filter, he was going to charge him 3.5 hours for a job that paid .4, needless to say he had to call the customer back and straighten it out, but who knows how many times he got away with it.

 

[Motorpsychology]

We caught a advisor telling the customer that the fuel tank had to be dropped to change the fuel filter, he was going to charge him 3.5 hours for a job that paid .4, needless to say he had to call the customer back and straighten it out, but who knows how many times he got away with it.

I think that incidences like these are why the occupation title is morphng from Service Advisor to Service Writer.

 

[tremorman]

that might be true for a mom and pop operation, but your always just a number to a large dealership.

I've got a good repour with my dealership service, most of them know me when i call for service, but 90% of my bookings at the shop are done online, and i pick the timeslot...theres no pushing me back because someone "more important" wanted that slot after me.

Yeah but you're in Canada so everything is backwards there...

 

[Fitzmotor]

That was also back in the 90's, I think it was a looser business then, social awareness has increased enough to where hopefully that kind of thing does not happen as much.

 

[Glocker]

I had two issues with my 2003 Ranger that needed addressed, and both were in the same area of the motor. Both issues required tearing into the motor to the same area, and replacing two separate parts. They quoted both jobs from the book, and added them together to a very high cost. When I debated that they were effectively charging me twice to do the tear down and build back, the service writer just basically said that's how it works. I bitched about it on one of my local gun forums, and it turns out one of the forum members worked at that dealership as a master tech. He had me over to his house one evening after his work day and knocked it out in one hour. I gave him a 30 of beer and my extreme gratitude!

 

[kieefer]

I purchased my truck from a Ford dealer 30 miles away and I have another dealer about 6 miles away.
I was taking my truck to the closest dealer and got serviced without issues for oil changes, TSB’s, wheel balances.

All was good until I mentioned a warranty complaint about my saggy leather seats, then it was a different tune and was told to take it back to the dealer I bought it from.

So I went to my purchasing dealer by recommendations from Fords Customer Service Rep at the 1-800 number after I called to complain about my local dealer.
My purchasing dealer wanted me to leave the truck during the whole process of the warranty claim, they wouldn’t swap the seat out from another truck or cared to work with me in any way.

Then the plandemic broke out and I haven’t been back to any dealer since.

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