Picked up my EB Stang - Sound Ford, Renton, WA

[Drift-Office]

Just wanted to post up to let the locals know where I ended up going to get my latest acquisition :

I had physically visited a total of 4 dealerships, called over a dozen to see if any of them had my choice of colors, package trim and of course price.

The finalists came down to :

1) Evergreen Ford & Scarff Ford (Auburn) : Closest to my house and facility respectively, didn't seem very capable of locating the car even when I had provided the VIN numbers direct from Ford's website. It was sad since they were highly recommended.

2) Ford of Kirkland : My initial meeting had left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth with two slick sales people trying to almost pressure me into getting what I wasn't interested in. Their internet manager, was much better at handling the situation so I kinda stuck with him for a bit, but after a few days of phone tag and with the final voice message stating that they could get a car with a different color of choice, I went to...

3) Sound Ford (Renton) : First visit left me wondering if they were really interested in dealing with me. A hungry salesman "Bini" had followed up with me pretty much every day since he had picked up my lead. We got so far as to figuring out exactly what I want, and when I needed it by and he understood what it took to really, earn the business. Happily, after a 3 hour negotiation session and lots of back and forth, we settled on the price and within hours after that, the located car of my choice was brought over to the dealership where I then assumed possession of it.

Couldn't be happier with the service. Relatively painless and highly recommended!

Regards!


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

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[Five Oh Brian]

Congrats, Bob. Although I sure wish you would have visited a 5th local dealership: Bowen Scarff Ford Lincoln in Kent. We're one of the largest volume Mustangs dealers in the NW and have a stellar reputation for selling/servicing/modding Mustangs. Maybe you'll keep us in mind for maintenance & warranty work in the future, or when it's time for another Ford/Lincoln.

 

[Drift-Office]

Congrats, Bob. Although I sure wish you would have visited a 5th local dealership: Bowen Scarff Ford Lincoln in Kent. We're one of the largest volume Mustangs dealers in the NW and have a stellar reputation for selling/servicing/modding Mustangs. Maybe you'll keep us in mind for maintenance & warranty work in the future, or when it's time for another Ford/Lincoln.

Brian :

I don't doubt that, but every dealership I went to pretty much gave me that same line. That said, my facility is in Auburn, so Kent was in line going all the way to Kirkland. They just said they couldn't get me one unless I ordered it from the factory with a 10 - 12 week wait. Same with Auburn and Evergreen.

Kirkland was keen on locating me one and Sound went so far as to locate and do a dealer trade on mine to get my biz.

Do you work at the service dept?


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

 

[Five Oh Brian]

Brian : Do you work at the service dept?


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

Hi, Bob. I'm our store's General Sales Manager (GSM) and am also the New Vehicle Sales Manager. I've been at Bowen Scarff for 15+ years. We're a full line SVT dealership and have been since day one back in 1993. We sold and still service a large group of 2005-6 Ford GT supercars. Countless Shelby Mustangs rely on us for servicing as our shop has a great reputation for handling Ford's performance toys.

Our service department enjoys doing aftermarket installs. I've personally had them install all kinds of aftermarket goodies on my own cars (supercharger, rear end gears, stall converters, suspension, exhaust, etc.) and they've done similar work for our customers, as well. Our store's Shop Foreman is just as much an enthusiast as me. He's the "other" Bryan at our store and he also owns a '14 Mustang GT currently. He's been a drag racer for many years (as have I) and he's a wealth of info for modifying Fords. One of our parts managers owns a '14 Mustang GT/CS, and we have several other employees with late model Mustangs.

We have a pretty good group of customers who like racing their Mustangs and I've spent a lot of time drag racing with many of them the last several years.

I see that the Drift Office specializes in tuning, but your specialty appears to be imports. There is a desperate need for tuning Mustangs in the Puget Sound area now so perhaps you'll venture into some domestic tuning now that you have a Mustang. SCT software seems to be the preferred route for the Mustang world and I suspect Cobb will be big in the Ford EcoBoost world of tuning, as well. There are many of us Mustang guys in the area that have no place to go for tuning anymore since the Horsepower Ranch in Maple Valley closed up a few years ago. Could you fill that void for us?

 

[Mizzle51]

I bought mine from Bowen Scarff and they were great (Bought from Brent, met Brian). Looked around a bit and Ford of Kirkland wanted a 5K markup...yuck. Nice looking Stang.

 

[Drift-Office]

I see that the Drift Office specializes in tuning, but your specialty appears to be imports. There is a desperate need for tuning Mustangs in the Puget Sound area now so perhaps you'll venture into some domestic tuning now that you have a Mustang. SCT software seems to be the preferred route for the Mustang world and I suspect Cobb will be big in the Ford EcoBoost world of tuning, as well. There are many of us Mustang guys in the area that have no place to go for tuning anymore since the Horsepower Ranch in Maple Valley closed up a few years ago. Could you fill that void for us?

Brian :

This isn't my first Mustang but it would be the first domestic application outside the LS swapped tunes that's offered @ Drift-Office. I was headed down the SCT path but being a CoBB Pro-Tuner for their other lines, I figured I'd be more at home with the latter to start with. That's not to say that we won't be going down the SCT road with other Ford options later either!

I've also recently held a charity dyno day for the Seattle Mustang Club and certainly, wouldn't mind getting to know more of you guys when the time comes, preferably when it gets warmer! For everything else, I'm sure the boys @ Blood Enterprises down the street would be able to help you guys out no?

I bought mine from Bowen Scarff and they were great (Bought from Brent, met Brian). Looked around a bit and Ford of Kirkland wanted a 5K markup...yuck. Nice looking Stang.

Thanks! Yeah, they were a tad pushy but ultimately, they still need the business! I was pretty surprised at the markup too!

Regards!


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

 

[Five Oh Brian]

For everything else, I'm sure the boys @ Blood Enterprises down the street would be able to help you guys out no?

Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

I like Craig Blood; went to high school with him, so I've known him for 30 years. He did a lot of work on my cars in the 1980's when he worked for Tom Turner at Performance Prep in Federal Way. He and I both built fast Ford V6's back in the early '80's and compared notes (he had a mid 70's Mercury Capri 2.6L and I had a '75 Mustang Mach 1 2.8L). He also did a lot of work on my '68 Pontiac GTO back in the day. I haven't had Blood Enterprises do any work for me since I owned my '03 Mach 1 as they didn't seem as comfortable with late model Mustangs. Maybe I need to pay him a visit again to see how the shop has evolved in the last decade.

I bet a bunch of us locals will come see your place and get to know you, as well.

 

[Drift-Office]

Maybe I need to pay him a visit again to see how the shop has evolved in the last decade.

You should! Check PM!

I bet a bunch of us locals will come see your place and get to know you, as well.

All are welcome to do so, only that we ask that you set something up in the schedule as we're usually on the dyno for hours on end!

Regards!


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

 

[bvdawg13]

Brian, after I PM'd you for some local shops, I did call bowen scarff and they told me they wouldn't do aftermarket installs and they had referred me to a couple exhaust shops in Kent (can't recall of the names).

I did end up going to The Mustang Shop and I'm extremely happy with them, if you check their facebook/instagram you'll see my exhaust set up. They never had a problem getting me an appt where Brad's Customs earliest appt was 1 1/2 months out.

 

[bvdawg13]

Brian :

This isn't my first Mustang but it would be the first domestic application outside the LS swapped tunes that's offered @ Drift-Office. I was headed down the SCT path but being a CoBB Pro-Tuner for their other lines, I figured I'd be more at home with the latter to start with. That's not to say that we won't be going down the SCT road with other Ford options later either!

I've also recently held a charity dyno day for the Seattle Mustang Club and certainly, wouldn't mind getting to know more of you guys when the time comes, preferably when it gets warmer! For everything else, I'm sure the boys @ Blood Enterprises down the street would be able to help you guys out no?



Thanks! Yeah, they were a tad pushy but ultimately, they still need the business! I was pretty surprised at the markup too!

Regards!


Bob @ Drift-Office, LLC

One positive about Cobb is they have a shop in Portland, I have used them on several different cars and they are one of the best.

 

[Five Oh Brian]

Brian, after I PM'd you for some local shops, I did call bowen scarff and they told me they wouldn't do aftermarket installs and they had referred me to a couple exhaust shops in Kent (can't recall of the names).

I did end up going to The Mustang Shop and I'm extremely happy with them, if you check their facebook/instagram you'll see my exhaust set up. They never had a problem getting me an appt where Brad's Customs earliest appt was 1 1/2 months out.

Exhaust mods are tough for a dealership to do legally if it involves emission controls. Simple axleback swaps are done at Bowen Scarff. Long Tube headers and Off Road mid pipes can't be done legally, though.

Bowen Scarff installed my CARB certified, 50 state legal Vortech supercharger on my '07 Mustang GT as it was emissions legal. They've done stall converters, suspension upgrades, wheel/tire swaps, axlebacks, clutch upgrades, etc.

If you need an install that alters emissions, then TMS, Brad's Custom Autos, Blood Enterprises, etc. can all do things that an OEM franchise can't do.

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