The dealer would give you a free service loaner/rental. But today I found out that Ford doesn't do this anymore. My 2009 F150-2.75 month old truck is already in the shop due to a nasty rattle and grind sound coming from the left front hub area. It goes away when the 4x4 is engaged but comes right back when taken off.

So I arranged yesterday to have my truck taken in this morning and discovered she'll be in a few pieces until Monday. Alright that's depressing, but what really got me was wanting to charge for a loaner. I could understand if the truck had 20-30k on the odom, but I just rolled off the freak'in lot the other month!

I found a friend who's nice enough to let me borrow his Ranger until my truck is released, but didn't think I was asking for too much on a free rental with my new truck going down so soon. Oh well, little things like this are what make a customer go elsewhere for business.

 

I'm pretty sure thats more of a dealer issue then Ford.

When my 05 was in for some warranty work (35k on the odo), I got a new (at the time) 2007 F-150 to drive around for the week.

 

I agree, they should give you a loaner in your situation.

But I'll bet many dealers are hanging on by a thread right now, and doing anything they can to cut costs, just to stay open.

Hopefully they will fix the truck quickly.

 

my mom's mountaineer was in the shop a couple months ago and they loaned her a brand new 09 F150...

 

Your mom was taken care of with the 09'. I would've been happy with some beater off the used car lot as long as I wasn't flipping the bill. The kicker was the service manager saying I could run the truck until Monday when the mech. their couldn't pinpoint what was causing the loud grinding noise without tearing the truck up.

This wasn't a minor low pitched sound. It was more than obvious at highway speed with my music up... clunk, clunk, grind, grind turning people's heads. Wonder what they would've said when it caused even more damage? Sorry no repair under warranty?

 

This must be a dealer issue because I just took mine in for service, I didn't even want the rental but they insisted on it so what the heck I took it. I didn't have to do anything except sign a piece of paper and they brought the car to me and when I went to pick-up my truck I was able to turn the rental into my service advisor and paid nothing. So I never even went to Enterprise...I thought wow that was a simple deal and expedited very quickly. My only complaint is that they gave me a Ford Focus . This situation might be something I'd alert Ford Motor Company about when they email you the "How did we do" questionaire. Sorry to hear about the situation but understand also that it's not Ford's fault.

 

With my sales rep. and service manager telling me it's a Ford issue, I was having my disbelief too.

 

Most times, it's on the bill of sale when you sign on the dotted line, that "XYZ Ford is not obligated to provide you with a loaner vehicle."

Loaner vehicles are expensive for dealers to insure and maintain. Ford at one time did not reimburse dealers for providing loaner cars. I think it's changed recently, but comparatively speaking it's chump change and barely covers the wear and tear on the cars.

That said, it'd be a sign of good business that they give you something nice to drive around while your truck is down.

 

I think the dealer's techs need to follow this checklist...

• Be physically and mentally alert

• Have the proper tools

• Work in a clean, well lit place

• Do your homework—have the parts you will need

• Use the vehicle service manual.

• Complete what you start

• Ask for assistance if you need it

• Do not fix things that don’t need fixing

• Check your work, or better, have someone else check it

• Do an operational check

• Confidence that you can sign your name stating that the task is complete and repaired

Often times I don't think they give a rats hoot about safety...

 

What the hell does this have to do with getting a loaner car or not?

 

by my point of view...absolutely nothing.

 

That sounds like all the chicken **** dealers ive been to. U know the cute little tags and emblems they put on first thing I do is rip those bad boys off as soon as I get a chance.