5/5?.... Meh!

[Supersolo]

Up to around five years, the car was low maintenance, just the annual service and some warranty work, however, the failures and the repairs during the last ~9 months, have put me on first name terms with the staff at my preferred dealership/service centre.
They're a great bunch and average 5/5 on FeeFoo, I think it's 4.6/5 elsewhere, which imo is both impressive and the reason my car only goes to them...

But now it seems, 5/5 aint good enough and Ford is closing the smaller/single franchise holders.
Two of my closest dealerships are closing, to be replaced with fewer, larger, stores throughout the U.K, I'm told.

I find it staggering to see Ford doing this to staff who work so tirelessly to deliver such great (5/5) service and to it's legacy customer base.
I might have been forgiven for thinking Fords would be on U.K. roads for a long time to come and so an appropriately sized sales and service centre network would be best suited to meet the needs of future and legacy customers, apparently I'd be wrong!
Indeed, recent experience has begun to make me wonder if the decline of ICE Fords on the road may be *ahem* helped along, simply by not supplying replacement parts (I've waited 4 months for an exchange brake caliper!), while at the same time we see the brand shift to selling only EVs...

If all this results in me making longer round trips to reach a Ford dealership/service centre, then it may be time to find a local, independent specialist and when it comes to buying a car, to consider doing so from a local OEM, for my next purchase.

Now the hunt begins for where my future servicing and repairs can be carried out...
Thanks Ford.. Not!

Sponsored

 

[jonny10buds]

Ford will be gone from the UK in 3 years, go woke go broke

 

[raptor17GT]

it is a shame they are closing the smaller but good garages, maybe because it reflects badly on the factory trained technicians that are glorified filter spinners? © @WD Pro IIRC

 

[WD Pro]

it is a shame they are closing the smaller but good garages, maybe because it reflects badly on the factory trained technicians that are glorified filter spinners? © @WD Pro IIRC

Just to be clear, that wasn’t my terminology - I simply borrowed it off someone else who shall remain nameless … lol

Neither was it aimed at anyone I have been fortunate enough to have work on my car when it’s visited Ford

WD

 

[Kristian87]

But now it seems, 5/5 aint good enough and Ford is closing the smaller/single franchise holders.

It's so sad to see, and exactly what happened to my smaller Ford franchise place. They did a pucker job with a warranty issue in 2019, and I used them for all my servicing until sadly they closed up a couple of years ago.

Wouldn't go near the big Ford dealership in town for obvious reasons, so I now go to a local independent who specialise in the german brands, but have an excellent wheel alignment set up and they treat me like royalty. Walking distance from the house too which is a bonus.

 

[raptor17GT]

Just to be clear, that wasn’t my terminology - I simply borrowed it off someone else who shall remain nameless … lol

Neither was it aimed at anyone I have been fortunate enough to have work on my car when it’s visited Ford

WD

ah I thought it was you that had coined it Indeed I should have mentioned that you seem to have a found the good Ford dealership with excellent care for their customer cars. you lucky lucky git!

It's so sad to see, and exactly what happened to my smaller Ford franchise place. They did a pucker job with a warranty issue in 2019, and I used them for all my servicing until sadly they closed up a couple of years ago.

Wouldn't go near the big Ford dealership in town for obvious reasons, so I now go to a local independent who specialise in the german brands, but have an excellent wheel alignment set up and they treat me like royalty. Walking distance from the house too which is a bonus.

good job finding another place and esp so close!

 

[Gregs24]

Up to around five years, the car was low maintenance, just the annual service and some warranty work, however, the failures and the repairs during the last ~9 months, have put me on first name terms with the staff at my preferred dealership/service centre.
They're a great bunch and average 5/5 on FeeFoo, I think it's 4.6/5 elsewhere, which imo is both impressive and the reason my car only goes to them...

But now it seems, 5/5 aint good enough and Ford is closing the smaller/single franchise holders.
Two of my closest dealerships are closing, to be replaced with fewer, larger, stores throughout the U.K, I'm told.

I find it staggering to see Ford doing this to staff who work so tirelessly to deliver such great (5/5) service and to it's legacy customer base.
I might have been forgiven for thinking Fords would be on U.K. roads for a long time to come and so an appropriately sized sales and service centre network would be best suited to meet the needs of future and legacy customers, apparently I'd be wrong!
Indeed, recent experience has begun to make me wonder if the decline of ICE Fords on the road may be *ahem* helped along, simply by not supplying replacement parts (I've waited 4 months for an exchange brake caliper!), while at the same time we see the brand shift to selling only EVs...

If all this results in me making longer round trips to reach a Ford dealership/service centre, then it may be time to find a local, independent specialist and when it comes to buying a car, to consider doing so from a local OEM, for my next purchase.

Now the hunt begins for where my future servicing and repairs can be carried out...
Thanks Ford.. Not!

This applies to all car marques. The ZEV mandate is seeing to that.

However the direction of travel is clear globally and Ford is a global car maker.

 

[Gregs24]

Ford will be gone from the UK in 3 years, go woke go broke

Bizarre. What is 'woke' about Ford?

 

[jonny10buds]

Bizarre. What is 'woke' about Ford?

Getting rid of about 12 popular models, one a world best seller for decades and replacing them with a 2 tonne battery behemoth that no one wants.

 

[Gregs24]

Getting rid of about 12 popular models, one a world best seller for decades and replacing them with a 2 tonne battery behemoth that no one wants.

Nothing 'woke' about that. They are business decisions.

Ford explained very clearly why they stopped making the Fiesta, they made no profit on it!

Puma selling well (top selling in the UK) new electric version will help.

Ford are a global company selling in a global market, Europe is a small part of it.

 

[jonny10buds]

Nothing 'woke' about that. They are business decisions.

Ford explained very clearly why they stopped making the Fiesta, they made no profit on it!

Puma selling well (top selling in the UK) new electric version will help.

Ford are a global company selling in a global market, Europe is a small part of it.

Which is exactly why they’ll kick the UK to the kerb when battery cars inevitably flop

 

[Gregs24]

Which is exactly why they’ll kick the UK to the kerb when battery cars inevitably flop

Ahh the luddite speaks!

EVs aren't going to 'flop' - too far gone now. 20% of ALL cars sold in the world last year were EVs - that's 17 million cars. That is why car makers are developing and selling EVs. Timescales will vary by country from Norway at one extreme where pretty much every new car sold now is an EV to China where 50% of all new cars are EV to some places where EVs are yet to catch on.

The chair of Volvo was on the radio today saying they support the UK ZEV mandate!

EVs are not going away.

 

[raptor17GT]

ffs give it a rest. OP starts off about his local garage and now it's the usual EV argument. Bolt ya rockets!

Sponsored