I don't want to get off on a rant here but whatever marketing guru came up with the trade-mark term "Quality-Care" for Ford’s Service Department has obviously never been to one, or tried to get simple answers from a service representative over the phone. If Ford spent as much time and effort educating and improving their service departments and its personnel as they do on advertising, they wouldn't have to come up with such clever media advertisements to promote their service.
Or maybe I should say LACK OF service.
You don't see Lexus advertising their service departments but ask any Lexus owner about their dealer's service department and you'll hear endorsements that paid advertising couldn't begin to match no matter what the cost.
Car dealerships make their money off of the service departments however given the level of service I have seen at Ford dealerships, as well as the horror stories I have read here, I am amazed that Ford stays in business at all.
I owned a 1990 Thunderbird and the service experiences I had with it were frightening. I bought a Lexus LS 400 after that and the level of service I received was the most amazing I have ever seen. I am about to take my L in for the 15,000 mile maintenance and have been fearing it for about 2 months now, and my fears are being confirmed.
I called all my local Ford dealers (a total of 6 dealerships) and asked to speak to a service representative. Having both the recommended maintenance web site up and my owner's manual in front of me I asked each person I spoke to if
A) Do they work on Lightnings
B) What is done at the 15,000 mile recommended maintenance
C) What does it cost
One of the guys said they don't work on Lightnings (If you look at the Supplemental Owner's Manual you'll see that ANY FORD-LINCOLN-or MERCURY dealership nationwide can work on an SVT vehicle). 1 of the service reps did not know what a Lightning was, 1 dealership service representative said yes, they worked on Lightnings and they said the 15K maintenance was only oil, filter and tire rotation...cost 55 dollars, 1 dealership said that yes, they worked on L's, that the 15K checkup only did oil, filter, tire rotation and fluid top offs, and that the cost was 75 dollars. All of these dealerships were listed as "Blue Oval Certified" on the web site whatever the hell that means...obviously it doesn't mean much.
Two of the dealerships not only knew what an L was, whether their dealerships sold the damn things or not, but they also knew everything that was listed on the recommended maintenance list and both had the same price. $175 dollars. One was "Blue Oval Certified" and one wasn't. I checked out the one nearest me (the non BOC one) and it was quite a surprise. A nice clean service area (almost as clean as my old Lexus dealership) with seemingly knowledgeable service "advisors". The cost may be high but at least I like what I have seen and heard and I "believe" they will do everything they say they will do which is everything listed in the guide.
If I were in charge of Service for all of Ford there would be a lot of unemployed service people walking the streets wondering what hit them. Service managers, advisors and techs would regularly be tutored, tested, and awarded for outstanding service. Every place would be spotless and COURTESY would be extended to every customer. Ford is so clueless that I am embarrassed for them. Too bad.

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2000 Silver Lightning
#2372 of 4966
SnugLid
BedRug
dual Ravin Z-33 Exhaust
Valentine 1
Hyper Bright Headlamps and Foglamps
Mobil 1 Tri Synthetic and Mobil1 Filter
Mobil1 FactoryFill Plaque in Engine Bay
Matter/Antimatter Exchange Unit
Thinking about those Nitto Tires

http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4293534625

[This message has been edited by kobiashi (edited 05-14-2001).]

[This message has been edited by kobiashi (edited 05-14-2001).]

 

When first took my truck in for the i/c leak, to an SVT dealer with SVT certified mechanics, the Service Advisor told me that they would have to pressure test the cooling system because the intercooler was a part of the system. I popped the hood and showed him the separate reservoir and i/c plumbing. He went in the office, and came back out and acknowledged that I was correct. Armed with information gleaned off this site, I asked him to call Jake Doss at the Tech Info Hot Line and get the skinny on i/c leaks. To his credit he did so, and ordered the parts Jake told him to. Most of them were received quickly, but the i/c itself didn't arrive for months. When it did he was unable to tell me whether it was the o.e.m. p.o.s., or the revised version. I checked the numbers myself and determined that it was the original. At least the guy tried to work with me birddogging parts, but the level of ignorance about the Lightning mechanicals at an SVT dealer was truly scary.

------------------
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

'84 Alan Record Carbonio, Aerospoke wheels, Campy brakes.

'00 SVT Lightning, silver, built 2/9/00, #133 of 4966, G-tech Pro, JBA headers, 4.10 gears, Swanson chip, Pro-M, NGK plugs, carbon drive shaft, Roadmaster suspension kit, TransGo shift kit, cam bolts, Jackson washers, Wet Okoles, Kenyon transmission
13.39 @ 102.5

2001 Kevlacat 2400, twin 115 Evinrude FICHT, Raytheon VHF, radar, autopilot and GPS chartplotter/fishfinder.



gmvye@pacbell.net

 

I know..it is mind-boggeling. You can call a hand full of Ford Dealers that you know are SVT dealerships, ask to speak to someone in sales, anyone....when you get a sales person ask them if they are an authorized SVT dealer. I swear to you that 80% won't know what you're talking about.
As for service, I have an appointment for 7:30AM at the dealership that seemed to know what I was talking about and all the stuff that is supposed to be checked on the 15K checkup. Hopefully they will be as good as I hope (and pray) they are.

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2000 Silver Lightning
#2372 of 4966
SnugLid
BedRug
dual Ravin Z-33 Exhaust
Valentine 1
Hyper Bright Headlamps and Foglamps
Mobil 1 Tri Synthetic and Mobil1 Filter
Mobil1 FactoryFill Plaque in Engine Bay
Matter/Antimatter Exchange Unit
Thinking about those Nitto Tires

http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4293534625

 

The biggest problem with the Ford service is all of the dealerships are indepentantly owned. They can do what ever they want. I had a run in with a local dealship here on a 1997 F150. Got to the point that the service mgr called me an A-hole and walked away. After about two days of calling the dealership I finally spoke to the actual owner. Explained the situation and he told me his people would never say that or act that way. He stands behind his people. Told me not to bring my vehicle back in for any reason. Spoke to the Regional Ford rep and he told me the dealer has the right not to offer service. Pissed me off big time. Dealer didn't care how many cars I have purchased from them. My only satisfaction has come from buying heavy trucks for our company through out of state dealers and having them delivered to that dealership. Since the original encounter I have passed about $150k in trucks through that dealer that he did not get the sale on.

------------------
2000 Silver Lightning 13.16 (so far)
PSP 4-way
PSP Filter Kit
PSP Lower Pulley
Level 10 Shift kit
F-250 Trans pan
MagnaFlow 12468
Snug-Lid

I feel a 12.xx coming on.

Team PSP West

 

I have never been to a business of any kind where an employee can call you an A-Hole and then be backed up by his place of employment. That is unacceptable, and if my truck broke down in front of the dealership, I'd have it towed somewhere else.

Do you personally pick up all those fleet trucks?

 

I'd have to say, my experience with Ford dealership prior to last couple of weeks have not been too good. Back when I had my '95 Mustang GT Conv., one of the tailpipes began to droop, and front tires began to exhibit uneven wear, so I took it to a Ford dealership nearby. Initially, fairly pleasant, takes my car, have me sign a few things, and I'm off in my friend's car.

I call back a day later, and the service department can't find my car! I'm slightly panicked, since I noticed that the dealership didn't have security fence around the lot and really, anyone could have walked in and drove off with the cars. But they assure me that they'll find it, and will give me a call as soon as they locate it. So I hang up, and wait... and wait.

2 day later, I call again, having had other crisis in my life (going through law scool x_X) and the service manager knows nothing about my "problem" two days ago and still can't find my car. I've had it by then, so I stalk into the dealership and start to make a lot of noise. Turns out, the car was there all along, but not on the lot but in the garage where it sat, unworked for past 3 days. The manager is abjectly apologetic, and promises to have it fixed soon. I demand now and eventually they agree. I wait 45 minutes, and the car is "fixed." Except, of course, the right tailpipe still droops. I point that out, and about 30 minutes later, I drive home.

To their credit, it ended well. But I don't always believe that all's well that ends well. I did not need the aggravation of prior 3 days, and I do not believe that we have to be loud and ugly to get something done.

My current dealer, Corey Paul Ford in Decatur, GA, has so far been great. The sales pitch had some pressure, of course, even though I indicated that I wasn't quite ready to buy. I understand that some pressure is natural in the dealmaking process. If every salesman backed off from a coy customer, there'll be a lot less sales. Customer can use (apparent) indicision as a bargaining tool, too. We'll see what happens when I take the car in for scheduled maintenance in a few months.

--
'2001 F150 Supercrew Harley Davidson

 

That may be gratifying, Silver, but I wouldn't do it. Suppose they sabotaged one of those new trucks?

 

Kobiashi: I quit taking my truck into the dealer, but I had decent service with Advantage Ford in Duarte - I bought my L there(I know it's a hike from where you are, though)...

 

As much as I hate to admit it, living in America and all, but that is your typical American Corporate mentality on Fords behalf. They are too concerned with the price of the stock immediately to keep the stockholders happy vs. spending money training and educating their dealerships. That is why your service at Lexus must be so much better being a Japanese based company. I'll give you my example from my job that I was just laid off. In my department and in the Service and Repair Department we were all swamped beyond belief. All Managers heard over and over from the customers was that our service sucked and that they had to leave voicemails for numerous people and didn't get call backs for days. Our company's goal was to to grow from a 14 million dollar a year company to an 18 million dollar a year company and wanted to pull market share from the competition. So what do they do to strive to obtain more sales--they lay people off because the operating profit numbers weren't there because sales took a dip this quarter. Probably figuring they could get the remaining people in the department to work an extra hour or so a day and cut two people from payroll. It's a philosophy of seeing only the tip of their nose and not a long term focus. It sucks that so many American based companies are this way.

[This message has been edited by Peter B (edited 05-15-2001).]