My 04 XLT Screw finally came in. It only took 6 weeks! But I already have some problems with it. I picked it up on the evening of 2/20 (Friday) but during the financing part, the vehicle business manager was showing me his computer screen and I noticed there was a note that read "left front fender scratched" on the computer. I asked him about that and he kind of blew it off and said it wasn't part of my record. I didn't give it much more thought than that. The following day, I was looking through the glove compartment and found two sheets of paper. One was a “Pre-Delivery Service Record” for my truck. There were notes on the top that says the fuel door is the wrong color and the engine ticks while idle. I looked at the fuel door but couldn't really tell if it’s the wrong color. But I did notice some ticking when it was idling. The other piece of paper was a “Delivery Receipt” and highlighted on it was a note that read “left front fender scratched”. I then performed a closer inspection of my truck and did find the scratch that was noted on the "Delivery Receipt". Needless to say, I was a little upset especially after asking about it and not getting a straight answer from the vehicle business mgr. Then Saturday night, the alarm system totally konked out. None of the buttons on my remote worked. After some time I finally figured out how to disable the alarm so I could start my truck.

I had the alarm technicians check it out on Sunday and they concluded that the alarm module needed to be replaced. They asked me to bring it in to be serviced on Monday. After arriving at the dealership, I explained all the problems to the service dept. I was given a loaner car so I could get to work. After waiting all day and not hearing anything, I called the service mgr and was told that the alarm module was not in stock and had to be ordered. He said it wouldn't come in till the next day. He also said he didn't hear any ticking noise and that my truck would need to be scheduled to brought back in for the body shop because the scratch was too deep to be buffed out. At this point I was pretty upset since they now had to keep it another day and I had to bring it back to get the scratch fixed.

However, persistence pays off. After talking with the service manager and my fleet manager, I was getting nowhere. Out of frustration, I sent off a lengthy email to the dealership's general manager explaining all the problems I was having and the fact that the dealership was going to have my truck longer than I had it. To my surprise, the owner of the dealership called me directly and apologized. He got on the horn and people started jumping. Within an hour I had two phone calls from the fleet manager and service manager saying they will have the truck ready for me to pickup tomorrow morning with everything fixed. The best part is that the alarm module was not in stock and Ford didn't have any available so it would have to be backordered. The owner didn't think that was acceptable and had them search their lot inventory of '04 F-150's until they found an alarm module that they could take out and put in my truck.

I now have great respect for the way the owner of the dealership took control of my situation and streamlined the whole process which is what makes customers come back. Just thought I'd pass along a bad experience with a good ending.

P.S. By the way, I love my new truck. It's the smoothest ride I have every owned.

 

Wow, next time I buy a truck I'm going to get the dealership's general manger's email address. Congrats!

 

That's great to hear everything worked out well for you in the end. It's just too bad that the GM had to get involved and kick a few butts to make it happen. From a quality aspect, what happened in the end should have been done from the beginning w/o the GM having to get involved. It's called customer service and it should be a standard operating process. The Fleet and Service Managers need a little process training, or should go find a job cooking hamburgers.

 

What dealer was this?

 

I completely agree with MrPhish. Happy to hear you got things resolved, but the fact is that,

1. The dealer lied to you.
2. Customer service sucked.
3. Without the big boss man laying the hammer down, they would have continued to jerk you around.

I hope all goes well from here on out, but in the unfortunate event you need some other servicing I would not return to that dealer.

Kurtz

 

It was Drew Ford in La Mesa.

 

I live in San Diego and bought my (at the time) new 93' Ford Ranger at Drew Ford. I love their body shop with their lifetime warranty, but the sales team needs to improve for sure.

The dealership in San Diego I dislike the most is El Cajon Ford, I bought my F150 new there and it had some problems too!

I could tell some sort of paint work was done on the rear quarter of the driver side bed, but wasn't able to prove it! Oh well, never buy a truck at night!

Best dealership for sales IMO is Mossy Ford, they deal on volume, so prices are excellent. Best for service for me is DeWitt Lincoln, across from Bob Baker Ford. They give you Lincoln service, but charge Ford prices (at least for oil changes )

 

Do you know what they did to fix the engine ticking while idling? Mine ticks when the engine is heated up. Sometimes it sounds like a time bomb getting ready to go off. My dealership is supposed to be checking on if there is a fix for this.

 

Was the dealer in the San Diego area and if so which one? I bought my XLT Crewcab at Pearson Ford and have had very good service and response to questions.