So I head down to the stealer this morning to inquire about ordering a couple of factory tools. Jackass parts manager looks at me like I'm about to steal his first born. Says no can do, not allowed. I point out that I can order the tools directly from motorcraftservice.com but I was more than happy to spend my money locally and help him out. He doesn't seem to comprehend this and tries to argue his position based on his dealership agreement.

I ask him if he sees any absurdity in not being allowed to order tools for me that I can order from the very source he gets his.

Nope, he thinks he is protecting his business. Oh well, I tried to help him.

 

Wow that guy is an idiot!!
Curious what tool are you ordering. Most tools I have needed I get from the snap on guy.

 

I'm buying a VCM scan tool which is about $2700 give or take. I still can't believe this guy left that on the table but apparently that makes sense to him...

 

When I bought mine a while back I actaully called motorcraft and they were going to sell me the whole getup for 1400...just FYI and that was with the vcm and the hp portable device. But when you do get yours..(I don't have mine anymore) I have a few questions for you about what are some of the programmable parameters in the trucks computer. Either way you'll enjoy having it.

 

the license/distribution agreements may not allow the dealer to sell these parts, even if they want to. everybody trying to protect their piece of the market pie..

Sam

 

I know...I have bought Rotunda parts from the dealer before.

 

Yep it is all about THINKING they are protecting their market.

Fortunately for me they are trying to catch water with a sieve with their approach. I just got off the phone with a Rotunda guy who had a good chuckle when I told him what happened at the dealer. He said this was an attempt by Ford Canada to protect their dealers and technically he can't ship me the tool directly. I said how about shipping to my US postal code and he said "sure, no problem then you can reship it up to Canada or wherever you like."

Before I went ahead I asked him how much the shipping would be to Washington State from Detroit - $28 UPS Ground. I said let me try one other way on the website. So while on the phone with him, I placed my order on the website with my Canadian shipping address and it accepted my order no problem - shipping was only $10 more (but I proably will have to pay UPS brokerage this way but I don't care this time).

The Rotunda guy was great - he just laughed and said it was ironic that Ford would try and protect its dealers by not allowing them to order tools for their customers. In this day and age, anything is available to anyone who wants it so why hurt your dealers with such a misguided policy?

Even if Ford Canada is retarded thank God Rotunda is not!

 

Was it still the same price as you originally thought or was it cheaper when you talked to him?

 

Might wanna check this out too
ford ids items - Get great deals on Parts Accessories, ford vcm items on eBay Motors!

 

Same price. I asked him him they are ever cheaper and he said the only time he saw them less was at a tradeshow this past summer where they were a couple hundred bucks cheaper only during the trade show and only limited to the stock they had at the trade show.

So, not cheap but given the capabilities not bad. I need the tool to reverse engineer some of the CAN bus stuff and Ford has completely changed its CAN Bus programming protocols in 2011. No more FEPS voltage - it is all micro controlled. On top of that, with shop rates of $90/hour these days, should save some labour costs as well.

Actually the Ford VCM and subscription is one of the most inexpensive scan tools out there. I know GM and the Jap auto makers make it unaffordable for anyone outside of their dealer networks to own their scan tools.

 

Yep I looked at the eBay deals to - here is the problem. The new software licensing agreements are activated from date of purchase - so resellers need to move their inventory quickly or you may get stuck with a license only good for the next several months. If you buy a used scantool which has not had its software licenses maintained, you will pay a fortune to get it updated - really serves as a detriment to buying used in a lot of cases.

The eBay deals are $75 cheaper in unit price but $50 more in shipping for me - I'm happy ordering directly from Rotunda knowing my software license is full and all the other "intangibles" of reputable compay, customer service, warranty, blah, blah, blah, etc.

But if you want to go really cheap, you can buy the VCM clones out there for a third of the price. But caveat emptor as always.

 

Will you be able to get all the pcm/tcm updates also? Man it would be cool to have one of these!

 

You are exactly right...I had forgotten about all the license stuff. Idk how I got mine for 1400 straight from Rotunda three years ago with the hp pda but I wish I had never sold it.

 

As long as you have a active license you can download all the updates that Ford releases... Not cheap, but nice to have...

 

Yeah that is a killer price, fo sho. I know Ford is ending support for the PDA at the end of this year but I presume the VCM is the same as the one I ordered so it would/should be fine.

Rutcutter - yep all updates can be had and a lot of other really cool stuff they don't want you to know about.

I would have traded my Nav unit for a VCM - one of my projects is to replace the Nav unit with a 7" capacitive touchscreen car PC that will combine all functions of the existing nav system with the following:

- on the fly programming/parameter change
- live on board diagnotics reporting
- multiple camera inputs and display
- touchscreen upfitter switches
- full google maps integration and search capabilities - no more map updates required!
- full PC functionality

And a few others I've got in mind.

I've got an interposer built so I can intercept and record the CAN messaging between the VCM and the various control modules. The hardest part will be decoding the programming sequence as it is probably encrypted - but the payoff will be a car information and control system that will be second to none. (At least that is the plan!)