My Dealer Rant (Part 2)

[Beachbum58]

So let's continue. (Read part 1 to get current; lol) Current day. I began to hear a clunk when Iet off the accelerator or engaged the clutch. Once again, I dug out my favorite Sherlock hat and commenced the chase. After an extensive search ( which also includes checking torque on every bolt/nut I could access) and found thT the middle bearing/carrier had failed and I could move the driveshaft around easily. So before anybody says it, yes I am aware that a one piece replacement is available, and I would certainly go that route to correct a completely unnecessary design FUBAR if it was my dime, but again, lifetime powertrain warranty. I call up the service department ( we are on great terms, remember) to schedule an appointment. I was instructed to bring it in and drop it off Tuesday morning. My thought at the time ( insert ROFLMAO here) was they would put it on the lift and check it, order parts and schedule the repair. No, it will be 4 or 5 days until they would even look at it, and who knows how long after to fix.. I lost my s**t right then. After a couple of minutes, I said , that I would leave the car if they would keep it covered during the day and bring it inside at night. And no driving ( as in getting lunch, taking it home, etc). The said they did not have space to bring it inside and would not install my cover. Completely uncooperative as expected. At this point, not entirely sure I want my car(triple yellow with black interior) sitting in the sun for a month. Maybe I bite the bullet and put in a one piece. Am I being unreasonable here, or should I contact FORD?

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[IPOGT]

I like my car a lot. And I had a 2016 GT like yours. I liked that a LOT also. But think about when your car was built. It sat in a yard. Probably for weeks, maybe longer before you got it. Honestly, I understand, but for your own health if nothing else, you need to calm down. You’ll get more help when people want to help you, rather than just want you to go away. Trust me. And remember to write your mileage down before you leave or take a pic. If you have a bad feeling about the place go somewhere else. Problem is everywhere is pretty much like this these days.

 

[MAGS1]

I agree with this ^^

I understand the frustration but they will be more inclined to help if you’re not screaming at them. I always try to take care of the service guys at my dealership (I bring them donuts or pizza when I take my car for service) and it goes a long way. They always do exactly what I ask them to do, take good care of my car and on my last oil change 2 weeks ago they gave me synthetic oil for blend pricing. Kill them with kindness

 

[Beachbum58]

Valid points indeed. As the title implies, it's a rant, more me venting my frustration that it takes four to five days to diagnose a problem l already found. I totally understand (don't like it) but I get that repairs can be delayed due to parts availability, etc.. Figuring this out should take all of fifteen minutes to verify. Then I could take my car home and wait for the parts to arrive. Then, when they are ready to finish the job I will leave it to be done. Instead, I am expected to leave it in an unsecured lot until they feel like looking at it, during a time when people have no qualms about stealing your stuff even in the middle of the day. My relationship with the dealership is not contentious and I may have turned up the drama ( let's call it creative liberties) to get my point across. At the end of the day, I will be dropping it off as instructed, and wait for that call to come get it.. Also, in response to the trust question, I have a GPS tracker on the car and the dealer is aware that it is there. Now that everyone is sufficiently bored, my work here is done.

 

[CrazyHippie]

So let's continue. (Read part 1 to get current; lol) Current day. I began to hear a clunk when Iet off the accelerator or engaged the clutch. Once again, I dug out my favorite Sherlock hat and commenced the chase. After an extensive search ( which also includes checking torque on every bolt/nut I could access) and found thT the middle bearing/carrier had failed and I could move the driveshaft around easily. So before anybody says it, yes I am aware that a one piece replacement is available, and I would certainly go that route to correct a completely unnecessary design FUBAR if it was my dime, but again, lifetime powertrain warranty. I call up the service department ( we are on great terms, remember) to schedule an appointment. I was instructed to bring it in and drop it off Tuesday morning. My thought at the time ( insert ROFLMAO here) was they would put it on the lift and check it, order parts and schedule the repair. No, it will be 4 or 5 days until they would even look at it, and who knows how long after to fix.. I lost my s**t right then. After a couple of minutes, I said , that I would leave the car if they would keep it covered during the day and bring it inside at night. And no driving ( as in getting lunch, taking it home, etc). The said they did not have space to bring it inside and would not install my cover. Completely uncooperative as expected. At this point, not entirely sure I want my car(triple yellow with black interior) sitting in the sun for a month. Maybe I bite the bullet and put in a one piece. Am I being unreasonable here, or should I contact FORD?

I wouldn't recommend contacting Ford, but you're on solid ground with your expectations as I'm percieving them:
1. Prompt service. It's ridiculous for a garage to require that you drop off the car a week before they plan to look at it.
2. Take care of the vehicle while they've got it. IF they plan to keep the car so long, the least they can do is honor reasonable requests for storage. It's not unusual for the owner of a Mustang to be particular about their car - so, are your requests reasonable?

They certainly need to be 100% transparent about scheduling the diagnostics - if the car is going to sit for a week before they look at it, you need to know about that up front. For me, that would be unacceptable and I'd negotiate alternate scheduling - like make an appointment to take it in on the same day that they look at it.

That arrangement would also take care of the second concern related to storage - they wouldn't have it overnight. (Ya probably can't avoid having it sitting in the sun for a few hours, though.)

Maybe taking it to a different shop is something to think about - especially if they won't work with you. My local dealer understands and doesn't operate the way that you're describing.

It's tempting to lose your s**t over stuff like this, but that's rarely helpful.

Good luck!

 

[CrazyHippie]

I agree with this ^^

I understand the frustration but they will be more inclined to help if you’re not screaming at them. I always try to take care of the service guys at my dealership (I bring them donuts or pizza when I take my car for service) and it goes a long way. They always do exactly what I ask them to do, take good care of my car and on my last oil change 2 weeks ago they gave me synthetic oil for blend pricing. Kill them with kindness

Yes, I agree with this 100%!

 

[Beachbum58]

No dealer employee was harmed ( neither physically or emotionally) during this event. They have been professional and I have as well. No screaming. Everyone one is entitled to a voice and Everyone deserves respect. it is possible to disagree without the ugliness we seem to promote today. As the gentleman so aptly stated " kill em with kindness.

 

[MAGS1]

Good luck OP. I would ask them why they need the car in so early if it’s going to take them a week to get to it. Maybe they’ll work it in if an appointment gets cancelled? I agree with CrazyHippie that your request for storage is not unreasonable however most dealerships do have limited space indoors. That said, I was at my local dealer a few weeks ago (before my oil change appointment) and the service department was closed for the day. They did have 2 GT500’s and a few Mustangs in the service garage for overnight storage. So, if they have the space they should be able to accommodate your request.

 

[RagmopInKona]

After reading part 1.
They learned they have a customer they would fire if they could.
I'd find another place to take it and don't act like a know it all asshat when talking to those that pick who and what gets done to your ride.

 

[IPOGT]

Good luck OP. I would ask them why they need the car in so early if it’s going to take them a week to get to it. Maybe they’ll work it in if an appointment gets cancelled? I agree with CrazyHippie that your request for storage is not unreasonable however most dealerships do have limited space indoors. That said, I was at my local dealer a few weeks ago (before my oil change appointment) and the service department was closed for the day. They did have 2 GT500’s and a few Mustangs in the service garage for overnight storage. So, if they have the space they should be able to accommodate your request.

It’s all in the approach when it comes to customer service. They probably should have said something like “well, we are quite busy as you can see, but if you can leave it there’s a good chance someone may miss their appointment and we can get to it sooner than xxxxx”
But if you don’t TELL people that stuff, then this kind of stuff happens.

 

[MAGS1]

It’s all in the approach when it comes to customer service. They probably should have said something like “well, we are quite busy as you can see, but if you can leave it there’s a good chance someone may miss their appointment and we can get to it sooner than xxxxx”
But if you don’t TELL people that stuff, then this happens.

Agreed. I feel like a lot of places have lost their way in terms of communication with customers and just the way they treat their customers. At some point we the consumer have just become a dollar sign to a lot of places and when the economy was on fire people were just buying stuff no matter what. Hopefully a slow down will help recalibrate some mindsets.

 

[Linkster1666]

I understand Dealers/Mechanics are busy. If They can't schedule a day and time for them to Diagnose the car, then release it if the car is not dangerous while they procure parts and THEN call you to schedule the repair when they get the parts.

You may want to look around for a better shop.

I know they don't like doing that for reasons, being a long time customer they should work with you.

 

[RagmopInKona]

Agreed. I feel like a lot of places have lost their way in terms of communication with customers and just the way they treat their customers. At some point we the consumer have just become a dollar sign to a lot of places and when the economy was on fire people were just buying stuff no matter what. Hopefully a slow down will help recalibrate some mindsets.

Nah, vehicles always need servicing, Service dept. are busy, Those managing them and dealing with the public at the retail level have to deal with nothing but headache after headaches from customers that want it fixed now, and get rude when told it'll be two weeks before we can look at it. They like all retail service are burnt out and sick of the entitled mindset of people today and they can't just tell a person to duck off.
Customer service is in the shitter because those filling those jobs are burnt out from being dragged through the mud from the second they start their shift till when they walk out the door for the day. To quote a movie line, "you get wht you deserve " and the last decade of beating retail/service workers into the ground has left them with no more ducks to give.

 

[Garfy]

No dealer employee was harmed ( neither physically or emotionally) during this event. They have been professional and I have as well. No screaming. Everyone one is entitled to a voice and Everyone deserves respect. it is possible to disagree without the ugliness we seem to promote today. As the gentleman so aptly stated " kill em with kindness.

Seems to me that they shouldn't be telling you to drop the car off if they can't work on it for weeks and can't store it inside. Why can't they just call you when they're ready to work on it the next day? I don't understand why they need to have you drop the car off and leave it for weeks before they even touch it. They can put a "reservation" in for your service work and when they've finished all the other vehicles ahead of yours, then they call you to bring it in for them to work on the following day. Sounds like stealership BS to me. Perhaps it's time to find another Ford dealership.

 

[Yetti2005]

So let's continue. (Read part 1 to get current; lol) Current day. I began to hear a clunk when Iet off the accelerator or engaged the clutch. Once again, I dug out my favorite Sherlock hat and commenced the chase. After an extensive search ( which also includes checking torque on every bolt/nut I could access) and found thT the middle bearing/carrier had failed and I could move the driveshaft around easily. So before anybody says it, yes I am aware that a one piece replacement is available, and I would certainly go that route to correct a completely unnecessary design FUBAR if it was my dime, but again, lifetime powertrain warranty. I call up the service department ( we are on great terms, remember) to schedule an appointment. I was instructed to bring it in and drop it off Tuesday morning. My thought at the time ( insert ROFLMAO here) was they would put it on the lift and check it, order parts and schedule the repair. No, it will be 4 or 5 days until they would even look at it, and who knows how long after to fix.. I lost my s**t right then. After a couple of minutes, I said , that I would leave the car if they would keep it covered during the day and bring it inside at night. And no driving ( as in getting lunch, taking it home, etc). The said they did not have space to bring it inside and would not install my cover. Completely uncooperative as expected. At this point, not entirely sure I want my car(triple yellow with black interior) sitting in the sun for a month. Maybe I bite the bullet and put in a one piece. Am I being unreasonable here, or should I contact FORD?

you can contact Ford UK and they’ll say you need to hook it into your local dealer to confirm the problem (doesn’tseam to matter what the problem is, it appears this is their standard response)… just to make it worse they’ll charge you for the pleasure of their thicker than pig sh*t technicians looking at it, saying they can’t replicate the problem, then telling you to book it in again when the problem reappears… only to charge you agsin and still tell you they can’t find the issue… even when you tell them exactly what it is. Just cut your losses and sort it yourself, at least you know it’s done right. Putting on a car cover is £160, taking it off is £200, agreeing not to drive your car without your permission? You couldn’t afford that!

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