What happened to customer care and quality service?

[Rocketeer61]

Unfortunately, oil and filter changes/tire rotations are going to be relegated to the new and inexperienced guys.

I understand that everyone has to start somewhere and experience is gained by doing, but that doesn't excuse being sloppy or lazy.

[/QUOT
In a perfect world, that 12 point wrench would have rounded the plug off before it broke the oil pan...

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[Rocketeer61]

1. I recently (10 days ago) took my 2019 to the dealer for a 'routine' oil change and tire rotation, prior to a long weekend road trip with my wife. During the trip I noticed a slow rattle in the front end when turning left. I discovered the cover over the oil filter was not replaced correctly and the holes in the cover for the clips were torn open.
   • I bought the truck with 7000 miles on it. It now has about 64,000 miles. I have ALWAYS taken it to the dealer for service and have NEVER accessed the cover over the filter myself. So I KNOW a technician, at one time, pulled the cover off rather than removing the clips. And most recently neglected to replace the cover correctly.
2. The oil change prior to this one, my truck was returned to me with a LARGE scrape and dent on the driver's side of the truck. Needless to say I was P!$$ED. This resulted in the dealership footing the bill for body repair.

These were 2 incidents in a row where the dealership was negligent. I get it, times are tough, with post-pandemic and all, and finding good help is difficult. But come on! The pandemic excuse is not valid anymore. If a dealer wants to excel, right now is the time to increase revenue by providing over-the-top service. People would be lining up at the door. (Though I wouldn't be one of them.)

I shouldn't need to take precautionary measures to ensure everything is in good shape after service is performed.

As a matter of fact, at the last oil change I purposely told the service tech the issue I experienced the last time I came in and the body damage caused to my truck. I did this to try and get them to attend to the details. Well.... so much for that.

But alas..... my pre-paid oil changes are gone and I will be servicing the truck myself from now on. I'm not a service technician, but I KNOW I can provide a better quality result than what is out there right now.

Why do dogs lick themselves? Because they can. Why do so many dealerships "provide" crap service? See previous answer.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Is there a Ranger, car, SUV or other light truck that calls for a tire pressure of 40 psIor greater? Is that a "break-in pressure?" The factory or rail crew deliberately inflate the tires to 45± psi to help keep the tire strap harnesses from loosening, but this was QuickLane doing the mount & balance starting from 0psi.
When I recently bought a set of Coopers for my Ranger, the TPMS read 43-43-44-43. as I drove home. I let the truck sit overnight and checked them in the morning: 41-42-41-40psi. So I know that they were deliberately set to at least 40 psi, and not just leaving the air chuck on after the bead seats fully.

Side note- While sitting in the customer lounge, my phone buzzed. I opened my phone and the Ford Pass app sent me an urgent message warning me that one or more TPMS' were at zero or dangerously low, and a link to my nearest Ford dealer. Nice to know that the low air warning will trigger even with the ignition off.

 

[Bullet]

Is there a Ranger, car, SUV or other light truck that calls for a tire pressure of 40 psIor greater? Is that a "break-in pressure?" The factory or rail crew deliberately inflate the tires to 45± psi to help keep the tire strap harnesses from loosening, but this was QuickLane doing the mount & balance starting from 0psi.
When I recently bought a set of Coopers for my Ranger, the TPMS read 43-43-44-43. as I drove home. I let the truck sit overnight and checked them in the morning: 41-42-41-40psi. So I know that they were deliberately set to at least 40 psi, and not just leaving the air chuck on after the bead seats fully.

Side note- While sitting in the customer lounge, my phone buzzed. I opened my phone and the Ford Pass app sent me an urgent message warning me that one or more TPMS' were at zero or dangerously low, and a link to my nearest Ford dealer. Nice to know that the low air warning will trigger even with the ignition off.

I often wondered as well their rationale for over-inflating the tires.
After one instance at the dealer my truck drove SUPER rough from their lot. Got it home and checked it... 40psi. Why, why why?
I'm running about 30 cold. On the road it gets up to approx 34 to 35 and feels good. Still original factory tires with decent tread at almost 64,000. I'm not a fan of the Hankook's, but not in the mood to drop 1K on new tires until totally necessary.
Back to topic... Can anybody explain WHY they over inflate. It just hit me.... tires wear out sooner, they get you to buy new tires from them

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Ha.

We all have dealer horror stories...

My latest is they dropped my entire set of skid plates to drain the oil and it took them ~40 minutes to get them back on. And that included me going out and walking them through the process... Ohh, and they failed to install 2 bolts that thread into speed clips, so I had to order a new set of those...

Yay dealerships.

 

[Lcr3000]

I've got a pretty good dealer and techs.
They may not be perfect, but they have done me right many times.

If you're unhappy with yours, there's avenues to take to make complaints.
R5G isn't one of them to get results, but it does give you an opportunity to vent and feel better

I do dealer maintenance 100%, not because I'm incapable, its just that I have better things to do with my time.

I agree, we've all had bad experiences with oil changes, I think that is a given. The lesson learned is, of course, do it yourself, or find a good car care center and stick with the one you trust.

 

[JimJa]

Friday and others have noted dealer tire rotation. To those that have someone other than themselves rotate their tires, suggest taking your truck's lug wrench to seen if it will fit over the lug nuts. Showing a significant lack of common sense, Ford has chosen to cover their wheel lug nuts with an Aluminum or soft metal cover. An impact wrench will quickly distort this soft metal to the point a socket or your lug wrench will not fit the lug nut. Just hope you don't have a flat and need to change a tire. What the hell are they thinking.

 

[Jason B]

Friday and others have noted dealer tire rotation. To those that have someone other than themselves rotate their tires, suggest taking your truck's lug wrench to seen if it will fit over the lug nuts. Showing a significant lack of common sense, Ford has chosen to cover their wheel lug nuts with an Aluminum or soft metal cover. An impact wrench will quickly distort this soft metal to the point a socket or your lug wrench will not fit the lug nut. Just hope you don't have a flat and need to change a tire. What the hell are they thinking.

They have been doing that since at least '95 as my F150 had them. I guess it's for appearance purposes. But you can get aftermarket 1-piece lugs. There are threads on it about where to get it and which are the correct ones for Rangers.

As for tire pressure, my door plate says 35 PSI, cold, so that's where I put them.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Back to topic... Can anybody explain WHY they over inflate. It just hit me.... tires wear out sooner, they get you to buy new tires from them

It was related a while back that they are inflated that high to both help seat the tires and also it makes it better for shipping. Checking the tire pressure is supposed to be part of the pre delivery prep, but it is missed by most dealers it seems.

 

[ppfd]

I do oil changes through my local dealer.
I live in an apt. That means I have to go to my storage unit, get the tools, jack, oil container. I have to buy the oil and filter. That’s a trip to the store. I then have to change the oil, make another trip to the parts shop to dump it. Somewhere in there I have to clean up and then take all this shit back to my storage unit.

I call the dealer, drive down, wait 45 minutes to an hour. Yeah it’s totally worth it to me. My time is worth more than the $20.00 I’d save buy the time I make all the trips I needed to do this.

When I had a house I did everything on my Tacoma.
I handle filters and tire checks myself.
Dealer I use is pretty good. They found and fixed my engine issues reasonably fast. They said with the last oil change I need an alignment, which I do. There was no pressure to get it done by them. But, I will next oil change.

 

[JesseS]

Unfortunately, oil and filter changes/tire rotations are going to be relegated to the new and inexperienced guys.

I understand that everyone has to start somewhere and experience is gained by doing, but that doesn't excuse being sloppy or lazy.

Not THAT tight!

 

[Grandaccess]

I am in New York, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice hope you can swim the Hudson river is cold this time of year
I dont trust anyone around my truck, my House, my kids or my dog.

Customer Care and Service... Has left the chat.

 

[Ranger_Rocks]

What happened to customer care and quality service?

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Not THAT tight!

Gotta make sure the bolt doesn't back out.

Wouldn't want a leak now...

 

[DaveP]

It truly is frustrating that service experiences at dealerships (Ford or otherwise) are wildly inconsistent from one location to the next. It's also why even though there's a Ford dealer less than five minutes from my house, I drive 30 minutes to another because of the consistently high-quality service they provide. It helps that their waiting lounge is stocked with snacks, coffee, a soda fountain, and multiple charging ports for devices.

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