2000 v10 4wd. 96K miles.

I need to do fluids, oil, transmission, etc. I don't like doing them myself.

In your opinion would you take it to dealership the or just a Valvoline, jiffy lube etc?

 

My wife was a ford service manager for 10 years and my uncle for 30 years so my opinion my be skewed some.

By the time a new vehicle is out of warranty the issues or particularities associated with a model year are usually well know in the general automotive service industry and any factory tools and procedures are widely available to techs.

The pros of the dealership are the techs have probably seen your model many times and are very familiar with it.

The cons,...... oh boy. Maybe I shouldn't go down this road so I will summarize.
It cost more money.

Many Dealerships have a high employee turn over which means they are a training ground for new techs fresh out of school and it is common for a kid to start at a dealership and get a few years experience under his belt before moving on to a private repair facility. Likewise many private repair faculities are run by and owned by former factory master techs before starting out on their own.

Your task is to ask around and find the shop where the best of the factory techs went when they left the dealership. Every town or city has that place, find it and become a client, develop a relationship with the owner and let him know you are entrusting the well being of your vehicle to them.

The shop I use has 4 diesel techs and they have more combined years of being Ford techs then the current crop of rookies over at the dealership. Not to mention a much nicer shop and definitely a better customer interface.

 

That's good advise thank you. I have taken other vehicles to the valvoile and always been very happy with the work. I think I like my excursion more than all my other vehicles throughout the years and this is making me question things a bit more.

 

Let me put it this way.... Even with the employees discount we don't have the dealership change our fluids. My best or at least funny anology would be. Would you trust the 18 year old French fry chef at McDonalds to prepare your family's thanksgiving feast ?

 

Fwiw..... The wife ocassionaly takes her vehicle to the quick lube place that also does wash and detail work. The owner is one of her Ford customers and she likes the place I guess. ( even after they stripped the drain plug and tried to sneak a fix a plug in. New oil pan later and she still goes there for some reason )

Anyhow , for a simple oil change and window washer fluid fill up a quick lube type place works in a pinch.

I wouldn't let them touch my brake, power steering, radiator, diffs or transfer case fluids though.

 

Dont go to jiffy lube. Working in a dealership for 4 years we saw so many jiffy lube f ups. And if u go to a dealer and they say u need other stuff done have them show u because alot of times the havent even really looked at ur stuff and just go off the mileage and say u need this and that due to the miles even if its still fine. The dealerships force u to up sale even if its still fine.

 

Do you have any independent shop options? Word of mouth recommendations from neighbors, friends, family?

 

I agree with this. Time to find a good independent shop in your area. I do all my own basic maintenance, but I have a great, trustworthy shop I go to for anything I can't do in my driveway. He is good.... and fair.

 

I avoid dealerships also for all the reasons Camo gave. I avoid any quicky lube type places.
Find a good shop that's been in business with the same owner for some years; he's got to depend on repeat customers, word of mouth, and customer satisfaction...

 

Thanks for the advise all. Not sure why i didnt think of this before but i have a local shop that does all our work for our construction company, 450's, 350's, 250's gas and diesels. Really honest, really good. I'm pretty sure he can handle it.

 

So many good indy shops out there. Check Yelp/Google/Angie's List reviews and you should find a good one. Recently had to take my Ex in for some emissions work that was out of my league and I found a great indy shop just down the street. Looks like a hole in the wall but they did great work and went above and beyond. Will definitely use them again for anything I can't tackle myself.

 

2005 called




Try google.