Why not the dealer

[Mike02z]

I agree with stanglife's post. Bad things happen WAY too often in the service department of a dealership, or on a dealer lot in general. There are exceptions to every rule. Just take a look around these forums and see all the horror stories. Again, just take the chin splitter situation for example.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43097

While I agree with stanglife that no one will care for your car like you will. I think the feeling that the dealer is the worst place to leave your car is stretching the point. Of course you hear of some dealers abusing people's cars. That is all that sticks in some people's mind. The reality is these are the exception, not the rule. You don't hear about the 99% of dealers who are just trying to do their jobs and service your car as Ford recommends. Those stories don't make the news so we never hear about them.

I just try and keep things in perspective. I'll also doubt anyone can beat on my car worse than I do.

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[murdock2112]

I'm not flying on 737s anymore. What's the ADM on a 737? Does a 737 ever go in to limp mode?

No ADM because no greedy dealer to mark it up. Haha. Anyway most systems have several back up systems in case of a failure so they can limp back to home base for repairs. So... sorta?

 

[stanglife]

While I agree with stanglife that no one will care for your car like you will. I think the feeling that the dealer is the worst place to leave your car is stretching the point. Of course you hear of some dealers abusing people's cars. That is all that sticks in some people's mind. The reality is these are the exception, not the rule. You don't hear about the 99% of dealers who are just trying to do their jobs and service your car as Ford recommends. Those stories don't make the news so we never hear about them.

I just try and keep things in perspective. I'll also doubt anyone can beat on my car worse than I do.

I agree that it "seems" like I'm milking the issue a bit...but I can tell you that my experience and the experiences of friends and family... We've had cars smoked in, door dinged, wheels scratched (set them face down on ground), grease on seats/door panels, always scuffed up door sills, job COMPLETELY skipped (paid for CV replacement), backed into and washed with chemicals that left permanent marks in the paint. Pretty much you name it. Now, if you don't care about a car and it's just a beater, then you aren't looking for half of this stuff - but as far as taking cars we care about to dealers - 75% of the time, one of the above has happened. These are different cars from different makers, all in for warranty work. Due to all of this, it's hard to blame me for insisting that I'll install (and pay for, if I have to) as much as possible to avoid leaving it with a dealer.

So....All of that said... the tech that inspected my car on delivery was very thorough and he didn't mind me hanging out, taking pictures and such. If I can get that tech, and not leave the car unattended - I'll take it in. It's really about mitigating the risk of something happening. Will I never go to a dealer?? -I'm sure I'll need to eventually.

 

[stanglife]

Right, and nobody ever has any trouble getting warranty work covered, do they? :shrug:

No, I'm saying that a relationship can't hurt, and can only increase your chances of getting anything covered by your warranty, which deserves to be covered.



I'm not trying to convince you of anything, and I have no interest in what you do with your car. In fact I don't even think I was replying to you originally? I'm just saying that there are benefits to taking your car to a good dealer for regular maintenance and service.

People generally don't have problems with warranty work if the car isn't modified and/or they aren't trying to pull a fast one on the dealer.

I'd disagree - if you are able to do the required maintenance and you aren't coming out of pocket much or any - I suggest there are zero benefits to leaving your car unattended at a dealer for maintenance. I don't know about your dealer, but even my dealer (which I like) has cars parked very close together in a couple of lines between two large service bays and techs are moving them in and out all day.

I make enough mistakes myself...I could end up scratching, denting, curbing or otherwise damaging the car but that's on me. I hate the idea of someone else, who likely will never admit it, messing something up.

I think any perceived hassle of getting work performed under warranty is much less than any hassle trying to get a dealer to repair scratches and dings caused while it was on their lot.

 

[stanglife]

Ps - for small warranty repairs, I'd do and pay for them myself to avoid the dealer or any service department.

I haven't even touched on things like door dings and joyrides. In my opinion the dealer is one of the highest risk places an enthusiast can leave their car.

The problem with fixing everything yourself that you can, is then when you get to 2 years in and your transmission is grinding, the dealer has never seen you before, has no relationship to base any "good will" on, and if they get push-back from Ford they have no service history or knowledge to base any kind of response on.

I'm not saying it's right, but if you're a valued customer of a dealer service center (a good one) then they will try a lot harder to make things right for you, if you have a warranty concern. If you've never been there before, they still will try to get warranty work covered as warranty work for you (again, a good service center) but they literally have no history of the car to be able to make an argument with, if there is an abuse or maintenance concern.

I think you did reply to me ;) It's all good though - like I said earlier, not everyone will worry about it to the same level as the next guy. I'm not judging.

 

[Dave]

I think you did reply to me ;) It's all good though - like I said earlier, not everyone will worry about it to the same level as the next guy. I'm not judging.

Not every post that doesn't agree with yours in a thread asking for opinions is a "reply to you". ;)

Judge away. I won't even notice from my Ivory Tower. :cheers:

 

[rb92gt]

Dealers suck

Here is just one of many examples I could give:
Brought my 1992 Mustang GT, which I still have, to a Ford dealer for an issue that required the car to be put on a lift and have the front wheel removed when it had less than 1,000 miles on it. I still remember watching the tech pop the center cap off the wheel and set it on the floor, directly below the wheel which was about 5 ft above it, then proceeded to remove the wheel and let it fall. It destroyed the center cap, obviously, but worse yet he tried to just put it back on the car and not tell me what happened. The Manager actually tried to tell me it came in that way and they won't replace it... eventually talked them into getting me an aftermarket center cap, which I was't happy with, but they refused to get me an original... LMFAO. Left Ford for GM/Cadillac for years, until the GT350 came out... I will say that in my experience dealer/service experience with GM has been awesome.

 

[stanglife]

Not every post that doesn't agree with yours in a thread asking for opinions is a "reply to you". ;)

Judge away. I won't even notice from my Ivory Tower. :cheers:

Sorry man - thought since I was the only one that said they would do the repairs himself, that your reply seemed context-correct? :first:

 

[jwhite]

Some of what I see, still a fault of the dealer, but is services manager and handling out job assignments. Some of this goes to a member posting getting to know your SM'er as he will be familiar with your expectations of how, and who works on your car. I did work auto body repair for about 15 years, and I was very good at it. As I worked solely on late-model collision work. Guys that weren't so good got rust repair and the old stuff till they could prove their craftsmanship. I would almost bet , and it's not right, but low guy on the pole is doing PDI on chin splitters. Normally those guys don't last long as rework is free if you're on a flat rate or %.

 

[stanglife]

Some of what I see, still a fault of the dealer, but is services manager and handling out job assignments. Some of this goes to a member posting getting to know your SM'er as he will be familiar with your expectations of how, and who works on your car. I did work auto body repair for about 15 years, and I was very good at it. As I worked solely on late-model collision work. Guys that weren't so good got rust repair and the old stuff till they could prove their craftsmanship. I would almost bet , and it's not right, but low guy on the pole is doing PDI on chin splitters. Normally those guys don't last long as rework is free if you're on a flat rate or %.

In my case, they said they had to have a certified tech do the PDI and from talking to him and the fleet guy who I ordered my car with - he really knew what he was doing. He offered to install my splitter but I asked him not to...not because I didn't think he could but because it was one of the few things "I" was going to install on the car...and "I" wanted to do it ;) I ended up never installing it and buying/installing a standard GT350 splitter instead. Glad I did - coming up on 2k miles and I've barely rubbed the standard one a couple of times....bet it would be a lot worse with the R one. Sorry for the OT

 

[jwhite]

I really did do some looking into where I purchased my 350. Fortunate in a way and not so in another. My local dealer has a tech that again big time Mustang enthusiast, he has a 13 Shelby America and a 68/69? Mach 1 that he rebuilt ground up. Beautiful car. It was agreed that this tech would do all repair from any warranty work to alignments to oil changes. As so far dealer has held his end of the bargain. Bad end to go through this dealer there was an ADM attached. So far worth it, but I've had no serious issues yet, but I do feel confident about my oil filter staying on!! Lol

 

[jwhite]

In my case, they said they had to have a certified tech do the PDI and from talking to him and the fleet guy who I ordered my car with - he really knew what he was doing. He offered to install my splitter but I asked him not to...not because I didn't think he could but because it was one of the few things "I" was going to install on the car...and "I" wanted to do it ;) I ended up never installing it and buying/installing a standard GT350 splitter instead. Glad I did - coming up on 2k miles and I've barely rubbed the standard one a couple of times....bet it would be a lot worse with the R one. Sorry for the OT

Good call on the splitter, you're right they rub enough on non R. Couldn't imagine the R rubbing problem

 

[TxOilMoney]

I'm about as turned off to dealer service as Jeff and Ryan are. I can't speak for every Ford dealer in the Dallas area, but the 3 I have tried near me leave a lot to be desired. From bad splitter install, messy oil changes with handprints on the interior, to jacking up the ticket with unwanted, unnecessary work - I have no faith in them. 2 of the 3 are guilty of trying to jack up my ticket on previously owned Fords. My GT350 came with 2 yrs. free oil changes, but I choose to spend my time and over $100 out of pocket instead. Also, I'm not nearly as picky as some owners; but when I get my car back dirtier than I left it, you lose me for life. When I take it in for the recall, I plan on staying and watching every move.

 

[Dave]

Sorry man - thought since I was the only one that said they would do the repairs himself, that your reply seemed context-correct? :first:

Nah man this is a common topic on every car forum I've ever been on. Some guys don't want to take it to the dealer and some guys do, for a variety of reasons.

You're definitely not the first guy to say he'd never take his special car to the dealer for anything, and I'm definitely not the first guy to say he would- As long as it's not a dealer that has a bad reputation or that I've previously had issues with.

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