Here’s my story, it’s a little long but interesting. Let's hear your's!!!!

I purchased a 2002 Ranger XLT with 60k miles 3.0L 5speed from a local Ford Dealership in Atlanta back in November. The truck had a "150 point" inspection and the salesman assured me that it received the same inspection as the CPO cars. The following morning I was having considerable difficulty shifting the truck into 1st gear. I called my salesman and he told me to bring the truck in to the service department. The service advisor and shop foreman drove said that it was sticking blocking rings and agreed to change the transmission fluid to free up the blocking rings. I waited on the truck and left with it that afternoon. On the way home the truck would not shift into 3rd gear. I turned around and went back to the service dept. They took it back to the shop and found out that the mechanic had put the wrong fluid in the transmission. They called me the next day and said the blocking rings were now toast and that the tranny needed to be rebuilt. Picked it up 2 days later and it wouldn't shift into 5th gear. This time, the Used Car manager became involved and offered to replace the transmission. I agreed and left the truck with the dealership again. The next day I received a phone call from the dealership asking me if I would be willing to allow them to repair the transmission because they found that the blocking rings had been installed improperly. They offered to double the 12month tranny warranty if I would go this route. I agreed and picked the truck up 4 days later. I took it for a drive and it popped out of gear 3 times in 2 miles. This time I told the dealership to keep this truck and give me my car back. Big surprise, it had been sold already!

I was told by the used car department that they would give me $1200 back if I bought a 2000 Dakota that they had on the lot. I was told that they would work this deal because of what I had been through. I agreed to the deal and went to sign the paperwork. They actually tried to get me to pay the "doc fee" again. they said that it was required by legal on all sales. I refused and won. The next day I noticed that the front end was popping loudly when I turned sharply. I climbed under the truck and saw that the inner tie-rod end bellows was torn in half and that the tie-rod end was rusted. I decided to handle it myself and replaced the tie-rod end and the bellows that afternoon. Two days later I noticed the popping was still present. I called Dodge to see if this truck was included in the ball-joint recall and was told the VIN number showed it as a salvage-title vehicle! I immediately called the dealership and informed my salesman that I was on my way back and to pull the carfax. They were waiting on me when I pulled in and started apologizing the second I opened my door. I needed a truck and had to buy one from then or have to pay sales taxes at another dealership soooooo Once again, I had to look for another vehicle.

We looked at a 2004 F150. My salesman told me that the used car department would sell me that truck for their actual cost and take a hit. (yeah right) I drove the truck home to check it out and was feeling OK about it as a vehicle. I did a search on the internet for local F150’s. I got really pissed when I saw my truck on their website listed at $250 LOWER than my “special price”. Very shady

As a customer that had just been illegally sold a salvaged vehicle and been through so much prior to this deal, I was shocked that the dealership's answer was to offer me a truck at a price higher than the advertised price! I argued the point with the salesman and he stumbled around his words for a minute. I told him that I would pay $11,200 period. ($5000 lower than the original asking price). We signed the papers, they tried to get me to pay the $300 "doc fee" again BITE ME!

Three days later the dealership called me and said that the parts from the “WE OWE” were in and to bring it in the next day. I waited for 4 hours only to be told by the Service department that they had accidentally sold my “We OWE” parts and that they had to order them again.

Thats when the pinging started. I returned it again a few days later to have them check it out. . The service department looked over the truck and retarded the timing in an effort to eliminate the pinging. I saw no improvement and went back a week later. When I went to pick it up the ticket said “Could not duplicate”. Wow, big surprise here I almost died of not-surprised! I decided to attack the problem myself. I removed the throttle body and found that the EGR ports in the Throttle-body elbow were completely clogged. After cleaning these ports the pinging subsided drastically.

Out of Sheer frustration I decided to call the owner of the dealership and let him know what I had dealt with. I explained my story and he apologized and promised to call me back. I wrote it off as a lost cause and forgot about. The owner called me back 30 minutes later and was fuming mad at his managers. He said that he was sending me something in the mail for my troubles. The next morning a courier showed up at my house with a check for $3000 from the dealership. That brought the total cost of my Certified Pre-Owned 2004 F150 Heritage Supercab to $8000.00. While I am very happy at the owner’s response, it’s sad that he had to do that because the people that work from him are not doing their job properly.

I still have the pinging and will see what I can do about that in the next few weeks.

 

Wow, just.. wow. I wonder how that place stays in business.

I'm sure they'll be able to help you with the pinging problem down in the 97-04 forum.

Sorry about your experience, but hopefully all goes well with this new truck!

 

Wow, quite the story! Please PM me the dealership if you do not mind. I help local people buy Fords from the dealerships closest to their house and I would want to avoid this one.

$8,000 sounds like a pretty good deal. Though I can imagine the frustration level.

 

Wow, that is a pretty bad story there...

 

That is bad.I took my truck to get a state vehicle inspection at our local Goodyear dealer it passed with no problems.When they brought it out they had manged to jam up my steering column and key to where it couldn't be started.Then they tried to soak me for $300.00 to repair it I had it towed home and just went and picked up another column.

 

yes, bad story, reminds of a certain truck dealer in bremerton washington, but heck, look at the good side though, at least the owner did something(not wanting media attention maybe) but anyways, the frustration level had to be tremendous, especially not knowing the outcome. and at least you still ened up with a ford! wish you luck with it!

 

All I'll say is this.... Largest Ford dealership in Georgia

 

I had a post in the illinois forum about viking dodge.

 

Ford dealership NEVADA.
I bought a new 95 Mustang GT from them in 95. After owning the car for a couple of months the chrome on the aftermarket wheels that they put on, started to peel. They wouldn't even talk to me. I did finally get another dealer to take care of the problem. The other dealer ended up selling me 4 new Ford Trucks over the next few years.

 

I dont know babbler, their overview tells me they can make me a peach of a deal. Are you trying to tell me that it may be a rotten peach?

 

Un-friggin-believable.

 

I will say this. The actual people that I have spoken to have all been very friendly and professional. The service manager I dealt with was very easy to work with and a very nice guy as well. The problem is that their srvice department missed the major transmission problem on the "150 pt inspection" then messed the transmission up even worse. The same service department missed a torn bellows and rusted out tie rod end on the Dodge and cannot hear pinging that my 9 yr old son can hear. Seems to me that the service departmet needs better leadership and quality control. Maybe they should all attend some Six Sigma training cause they aren't anywhere near 5 9's.

 

''The service department looked over the truck and retarded the timing in an effort to eliminate the pinging''


i didn't even think that was possible to do on the 4.2 , 4.6 or 5.4 engines?

 

I was born and raised in Reno and I avoided that Ford dealership like the plague. My uncle bought a brand new 97 F-250HD from them. He got it with 6 miles on the clock. It had no carpet, manual locks and windows, no headliner, just a contractors truck. He paid $28,000 for it and the only thing of note that it had was a 460.
When he took it in after a month because the A/C unit froze up and spit out metal shavings, they tried to say it wasn't covered. When the ECM went out after 6 months, they tried to say it wasn't covered. Biggest bunch of crooks I've ever seen.

 

Please rmember Ladies and Gents.
IF you have had a bad experience with a dealership/company etc. Please do not name them on the public forums.
The reason being is that the dealership/company in question is unable to perform a "right of reply", and we may be unjustly slandering thier name.

Thanks

Fred