Dealer pre delivery monkeys

GGT-66 · Sep 24, 2016

So I sprung for the Lakin brackets for the front and rear on my new Mustang. Had them a month before the car turned up. Once I knew the car had arrived I visited the pre-delivery coordinator at the dealership. She said "Oh Lakins, yes they are fantastic and we have done lots of them here on new Mustangs". Thought they looked pretty foolproof myself and they also had instructions with them which are very detailed.

Picked my car up and drove home. First thing I noticed was the rear plate cover was not attached at the bottom at all. Just two screws at the top. Removed the screws to find they had not used the 3M tabs at all. This worked out great as I was able to remove the holders and install them correctly. Then reattached the cover using the very obvious clips along the bottom. Rear all fixed.

Round to the front I looked a couple of times as the plate didnt seem centred to me. Thought I was imagining it as the holes in the Lakins line up perfectly with the dimples in the bumper so it must be my eye. I then looked from above to see one spacer was there but the other side was all screw. Took the plates off today to find the below. Now; you would have to work pretty hard to ignore the dimples and drill a random hole for the first side, then I guess you are then committed to drill the second also randomly as the hole and dimple no longer line up. Just for effect though also drill number two higher so it's also screwed horizontally. But hey let's also discard the second spacer to finish the job off in a completely f%#cked up way.

So what's the vote, drunk, sight impaired or just a complete and utter lack of giving a rats arse for a customers brand new Mustang that they have waited 12 months for. Then follow up with a call to ask me to please give them a great rating in the survey :shrug:

I just hope there is enough room for a second set of holes in the dimples once I get a spacer sent up from Phillip. I think there is just.

Shevs550 · Sep 24, 2016

Got my Lakins yesterday, hope my dealer does a much better job than what they've done to yours...
That really sucks mate, don't let them off without any feedback about your disatisfaction on the poor install

12baller12 · Sep 24, 2016

It's stuff like this that scares the hell out of me - it seems that you can be as explicit as you like, and some dealers will still screw it up!

GGT-66 · Sep 24, 2016

Shevs550 said:
Got my Lakins yesterday, hope my dealer does a much better job than what they've done to yours...
That really sucks mate, don't let them off without any feedback about your disatisfaction on the poor install

They just don't seem to care at all. I told the Ford Service guy when he called and he said to take it up with the dealer. Dealer has their money so don't give a rats arse. All I can do is not get the services there but they don't seem to care about that either. Strange new world we live in.

I love my Mustang so won't let this taint my experience of the car.

05STNG · Sep 24, 2016

My dealer used existing holes but i later found out that the front ones are not perfectly centred by 2mm. I notice it because i know its out but others dont on first glance

Shevs550 · Sep 24, 2016

True that, as long as is isn't tainting your ongoing experience, then that is all that counts!

It's weird that that particular dealer isn't doing their best to rectify so you continue to get their services provided on an ongoing basis... I'm pretty sure that's where the dealers and car manufacturers make most of their money from Servicing and Spare parts. AFAIK the actual sale of most vehicles isn't actually at a great margin.

Drewbo · Sep 24, 2016

GGT-66 said:
So what's the vote, drunk, sight impaired or just a complete and utter lack of giving a rats arse for a customers brand new Mustang that they have waited 12 months for.

Ding ding ding!

I thought mine was bad - christ.

The left one should be fine, but you may struggle to get a 3mm drill bit through the right hand one without their handiwork becoming a problem.

Where do they find these morons.

:doh:

GGT-66 · Sep 24, 2016

05STNG said:
My dealer used existing holes but i later found out that the front ones are not perfectly centred by 2mm. I notice it because i know its out but others dont on first glance

From on top you can see that mine's off to the left as the peak of the bend of the plate doesn't line up with the peak of the bumper. Seems at first glance to be out by about the same distance as the holes are out by. I suspect they just put the bracket up and said " yep that's centre" and drilled through the bracket. Don't think they even looked at or noticed the dimples. If I put the bracket up to the bumper the holes line up to the dimples and the peaks coincide. I'm backing Phillip over work experience boy.

GGT-66 · Sep 24, 2016

Drewbo said:
Ding ding ding!

I thought mine was bad - christ.

The left one should be fine, but you may struggle to get a 3mm drill bit through the right hand one without their handiwork becoming a problem.

Where do they find these morons.

:doh:

The photo is on an angle so both are pretty much the same. Should be ok.

Drewbo · Sep 24, 2016

GGT-66 said:
The photo is on an angle so both are pretty much the same. Should be ok.

Yeah, should be fine looking at that.

You'll probably need to flatten the protrusions caused by their holes so the spacers sit flat with the bumper by using a file or countersinking tool.

GGT-66 · Sep 24, 2016

Drewbo said:
Yeah, should be fine looking at that.

You'll probably need to flatten the protrusions caused by their holes so the spacers sit flat with the bumper by using a file or countersinking tool.

Yep. Was thinking of a chamfer bit to take the dags off. Just hope the screws have enough to bite into and not tear across to the other hole. The whole assembly doesn't weigh much so should be ok.

Kicking myself for not just doing it myself. Trying to have faith in the world but seem to be a disappointed optimist more and more lately.

noboot · Sep 24, 2016

GGT-66 said:
I just hope there is enough room for a second set of holes in the dimples once I get a spacer sent up from Phillip. I think there is just.

I may be overreacting but a new front bumper should be a no brainer.

GGT-66 · Sep 24, 2016

noboot said:
I may be overreacting but a new front bumper should be a no brainer.

I don't think it's that bad. If I can drill new holes and fix the bracket ok then cover the old holes with a bit of red tape they won't be seen at all. They are in the middle of the plate so won't be seen.

Drewbo · Sep 24, 2016

noboot said:
I may be overreacting but a new front bumper should be a no brainer.

Not worth the hassle if it can be resolved by other means. Too much of a risk with a possible paint matching disaster IMO.

This is what I was confronted with at delivery.

Red Stang 302 · Sep 24, 2016

GGT-66 said:
So I sprung for the Lakin brackets for the front and rear on my new Mustang. Had them a month before the car turned up. Once I knew the car had arrived I visited the pre-delivery coordinator at the dealership. She said "Oh Lakins, yes they are fantastic and we have done lots of them here on new Mustangs". Thought they looked pretty foolproof myself and they also had instructions with them which are very detailed.

Picked my car up and drove home. First thing I noticed was the rear plate cover was not attached at the bottom at all. Just two screws at the top. Removed the screws to find they had not used the 3M tabs at all. This worked out great as I was able to remove the holders and install them correctly. Then reattached the cover using the very obvious clips along the bottom. Rear all fixed.

Round to the front I looked a couple of times as the plate didnt seem centred to me. Thought I was imagining it as the holes in the Lakins line up perfectly with the dimples in the bumper so it must be my eye. I then looked from above to see one spacer was there but the other side was all screw. Took the plates off today to find the below. Now; you would have to work pretty hard to ignore the dimples and drill a random hole for the first side, then I guess you are then committed to drill the second also randomly as the hole and dimple no longer line up. Just for effect though also drill number two higher so it's also screwed horizontally. But hey let's also discard the second spacer to finish the job off in a completely f%#cked up way.

So what's the vote, drunk, sight impaired or just a complete and utter lack of giving a rats arse for a customers brand new Mustang that they have waited 12 months for. Then follow up with a call to ask me to please give them a great rating in the survey :shrug:

I just hope there is enough room for a second set of holes in the dimples once I get a spacer sent up from Phillip. I think there is just.

This is why I instructed my Dealer, on several occasions, not to fit my Number Plates.

On the day of delivery, I took a Battery Drill, 3.0 mm Drill Bit and my Screwdriver kit.

It took all of 15 minutes to fit my Lakin Brackets and Number Plates.

Then drove home knowing that was one less issue to worry about.

Dealer pre delivery monkeys

GGT-66

Well-Known Member

Shevs550

Well-Known Member

12baller12

Well-Known Member

GGT-66

Well-Known Member

05STNG

05 STNG

Shevs550

Well-Known Member

Drewbo

WTF?

GGT-66

Well-Known Member

GGT-66

Well-Known Member

Drewbo

WTF?

GGT-66

Well-Known Member

noboot

Well-Known Member

GGT-66

Well-Known Member

Drewbo

WTF?

Red Stang 302

Well-Known Member