Need to rant (about Ford Service) and need advice

[nhgaudreau]

Hey all. Here's my situation.

I took delivery of my GT350 in April this year from a dealership in Southern California, but I live in Northern California, so I immediately drove it up. When I got up here, I noticed a couple things wrong with the car:

1. Stripes on the trunk were peeling up a little bit
2. Front splitter wasn't seated/installed properly
3. Clicking coming from the front wheels when I turn

I took my car to Frontier Ford (San Jose, CA) because that's the closest dealership to me. They had my car for over 3 weeks with the following results:

• Stripes fixed (after 3-4 attempts)
• They apparently had to take the spoiler off to fix the stripes, and the attached picture shows what the spoiler looks like now. Double-sided tape sticking well out of both sides and layers of it cause a big gap between the spoiler and the trunk
• Splitter still not fixed (after 3 supposed attempts)
• Haven't even looked at diagnosing the clicking sound yet

After the 3 weeks when I saw the state of my car, I just said fuck this, I'm taking my car back now and taking it elsewhere. I took it straight to a more reputable dealership in my area, Ford Store in Morgan Hill, CA.

I told the service advisor my whole situation and he was sympathetic, but he said they may end up having to charge me to fix the spoiler issue and possible the splitter issue too. I was so frustrated by the whole thing at the time that I said that I don't care, just please fix it.

I've called Ford Customer Service and logged a complaint. I also chatted with someone at Ford Service on Facebook for a while and they basically suggested that I just ask the service manager at Morgan Hill Ford not to charge me... Not very helpful. I left a message asking them to have a service manager call me, but I have no idea how that will turn out. :frusty:

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Keep in mind I really don't want to speak with anyone at Frontier Ford at this point.

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[mkonrad]

Spoiler can be cleaned up, and it doesn't sound like there's permanent splitter damage. Take Ford up on the offer, don't let them touch it for cosmetic damage in the future.

Thank your good luck they didn't do any worse. Yup, I really would move on.

There's a pretty extensive splitter install video Ford posted, and it's linked here.

 

[nhgaudreau]

Spoiler can be cleaned up, and it doesn't sound like there's permanent splitter damage. Take Ford up on the offer, don't let them touch it for cosmetic damage in the future.

Thank your good luck they didn't do any worse. Yup, I really would move on.

There's a pretty extensive splitter install video Ford posted, and it's linked here.

Ford didn't offer me any help. They just said I should ask the service manager not to charge me... And that requires more than just a clean up. There's a big gap under the spoiler that you can see through.

I actually showed that video to the service manager at the dealership that F'd my spoiler up and he had never seen it before. Ugh. The service advisor at the new dealership had seen it though.

 

[FP350S]

1. Check that wheels lugs are torqued to spec.
2. Re-install the spoiler correctly yourself. Easy...LMR even has a video of the install on there website.

 

[nhgaudreau]

1. Check that wheels lugs are torqued to spec.
2. Re-install the spoiler correctly yourself. Easy...LMR even has a video of the install on there website.

It's not the lugs.

I've seen the video and could do it myself, but I thought I'd have them do it since I had to bring it in for the stripes and clicking anyways.

 

[Caballus]

Thought: May want to consider whether this is a hill worth dying on. Principle is important, but your first objective is to have your car in proper condition. You needed the dealer for the stripes, and that's finally done. You still need them to diagnose the clicking, and that won't cost anything. The splitter and spoiler you can do yourself and know for sure that it's right. That may be irritating, but probably less so than continuing to arm wrestle with them over something you can do in a couple of hours.

At the same time, you can use pictures and documentation to work with Ford customer service if you want to pursue the principle aspect. Maybe you'll get somewhere with them, maybe not, but at least you will have control of the most important situation (your car's condition) instead of them controlling it.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[MrCincinnati]

I have never (no hyperbole) had service work done at a car dealership and received the vehicle back in better shape than when I dropped it off. There's always some crap they did wrong or half did or didn't do at all.

For this reason I advise you to cut your losses and go it alone. The issue with the clicking sucks - I would take it to a reputable performance shop and have them attempt to diagnose. Sure it's covered by warranty - but if they can't get the little stuff right - do you really trust them to properly diagnose that?

 

[Demonic]

I know it's not a joke, and I'd be just as mad, but when I saw the stuffed tape sticking out the sides of the spoiler I couldn't help but be reminded of this...
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/23/church-masterpiece-restored-as-mr-bean-would-do-it/

 

[straightliner1]

There's a dealer local to me with a technician I'd bet money on, but this dealer is in the greater Sacramento area. Not sure if that's an option for you... [MENTION=20243]50 Deep[/MENTION] can chime in on this tech's skillset also.

 

[nhgaudreau]

I know it's not a joke, and I'd be just as mad, but when I saw the stuffed tape sticking out the sides of the spoiler I couldn't help but be reminded of this...
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/23/church-masterpiece-restored-as-mr-bean-would-do-it/

LOL, yeah, looks about right. Maybe my car will draw a bigger crowd now too.

 

[nhgaudreau]

I finally got in touch with a Service Manager at Morgan Hill Ford and he said I won't be charged for anything, so that's good. We'll see how the repairs come out I guess..

 

[Shift]

Hey all. Here's my situation.

I took delivery of my GT350 in April this year from a dealership in Southern California, but I live in Northern California, so I immediately drove it up. When I got up here, I noticed a couple things wrong with the car:

1. Stripes on the trunk were peeling up a little bit
2. Front splitter wasn't seated/installed properly
3. Clicking coming from the front wheels when I turn

I took my car to Frontier Ford (San Jose, CA) because that's the closest dealership to me. They had my car for over 3 weeks with the following results:

• Stripes fixed (after 3-4 attempts)
• They apparently had to take the spoiler off to fix the stripes, and the attached picture shows what the spoiler looks like now. Double-sided tape sticking well out of both sides and layers of it cause a big gap between the spoiler and the trunk
• Splitter still not fixed (after 3 supposed attempts)
• Haven't even looked at diagnosing the clicking sound yet

After the 3 weeks when I saw the state of my car, I just said fuck this, I'm taking my car back now and taking it elsewhere. I took it straight to a more reputable dealership in my area, Ford Store in Morgan Hill, CA.

I told the service advisor my whole situation and he was sympathetic, but he said they may end up having to charge me to fix the spoiler issue and possible the splitter issue too. I was so frustrated by the whole thing at the time that I said that I don't care, just please fix it.

I've called Ford Customer Service and logged a complaint. I also chatted with someone at Ford Service on Facebook for a while and they basically suggested that I just ask the service manager at Morgan Hill Ford not to charge me... Not very helpful. I left a message asking them to have a service manager call me, but I have no idea how that will turn out. :frusty:

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Keep in mind I really don't want to speak with anyone at Frontier Ford at this point.

Whoever is in the bay area and gets their GT350 serviced would have probably recommend Sunnyvale Ford, they've been good to me, and my service advisor is awesome so far. If you do decide to take it somewhere, I'd try there and ask for Chris Foti.

What I know so far is Sunnyvale Ford is the best around the area for service. God forbid you need a motor replaced, Walnut Creek has the most experience.

 

[blkmgc]

Whoever is in the bay area and gets their GT350 serviced would have probably recommend Sunnyvale Ford, they've been good to me, and my service advisor is awesome so far. If you do decide to take it somewhere, I'd try there and ask for Chris Foti.

What I know so far is Sunnyvale Ford is the best around the area for service. God forbid you need a motor replaced, Walnut Creek has the most experience.

+1 for Sunnyvale Ford. I took my car to Fremont Ford to get an electrical issue diagnosed (electrical noise coming from the speakers/dash area) and they told me it was normal when it obviously wasn't. Dropped my car off at Sunnyvale Ford for a second opinion and I'm glad I did, they diagnosed it as a bad amplifier and are replacing it right now.

 

[xXANCHORMONXx]

I have great experience with Walnut Creek Ford

 

[nhgaudreau]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for next time.

The reason I ended up taking it to Morgan Hill is that (apparently) they are the only Ford Dealership around here that only uses Ford OEM parts. I don't know how true that is, but I HEAR other dealerships have been known to use aftermarket parts in repairs...

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