I did cancel the order for the replacement steering wheel without the adaptive steering parts in it. I visited with the technician at the ford dealer I bot the truck at; he said it would likely create other problems due to having adaptive cruise etc. So I will drive the truck and see how it does.

 

Any update ? Mines has been at the dealership for this issue for 32 days and counting. Tech has no clue , says the the new steering wheel loads but doesn’t install . Incredibly frustrating as the truck has less then 1k miles .

 

I just kind of let it go. Most of the time it does not act up. But it has done it two more times and always self-corrects the next morning when I start the truck. When I talked with the dealership they told me to bring the truck in and they would keep it try to replicate the problem. Well if I did that, I would not have my truck to drive for a long long time. And who know how many miles they would pile up on it using it for free until the problem re-surfaces. So I just decided that is not going to happen. And most of the time it does not mal-function, so I just drive it and if I get the alarm and the wheel gets way off, I just drive it that way until I can park it. Then next morning when I start it, the wheel snaps back into correct alignment, and all is well again. It sucks, but I am not going to let the stealership just have my truck to drive without limit until the problem re-surfaces. So that is the current status. Still occasionally happens, but does not seem to be a catastrophic problem. Now if I had horrible death wobble or some other really major problem like that, I would very actively work on getting ford to buy back the truck and be done with it. Otherwise, I really like the truck and it runs great and is very comfortable etc. If I did not have adaptive steering in the truck, there would be no problems. So far anyway. BUT I have changed out shocks, tires, and steering stabilizer.

 

Damn tht sucks . Aggravating to spend all this money and have to look the other way . I’ll be contacting ford tomorrow as it sounds like the dealership isn’t providing a solution .

 

I have a suggestion for you regarding hating to take your truck to the dealer. Find a way to develop a relationship with a service advisor. Someone whose personality clicks with yours. I'm not suggesting hanging out or taking them to lunch or dinner, just get to know them a bit better than most people do. Give him/her a great survey, even if the experience wasn't great...then let them know that you took care of them on the survey because you knew that whatever happened wasn't their fault.

Once they really know who you are, and that you aren't the typical complain about everything and then slam them on a survey customer, you'd be surprised at how much less painful that dealership visit can be.

 

I respectfully disagree. This is how bad service departments keep on being ..bad.
Although a good relationship is helpful and a bad relationship is detrimental, their job is to do their job correctly without dangling carrots. Honesty and patience is the best judge. Be honest and understanding of their challenges. Not every service visit produces results, but if they honestly try, and work hard to resolve, well that’s a positive in my book.
A good service rep shouldn’t have to have their rear end polished to do their job right.. Kissing butt will not help a bad situation or a lousy service department. It will only make them feel more entitled and less trusted.

If I get great service, they earn high marks and my loyalty. If not, I certainly won’t provide cover for their poor work, and I’ll never return.

 

Look..you should take it in and leave it for a day at least. Have them try to replicate the problem, it will at least be documented that you had it in. I don't know how much factory warranty you have left, but if you have quite a bit take it in every month for a day until they have a few documented instances of your concern. Eventually, there will be a TSB with a fix. If it doesn't happen until after your warranty expires you can request goodwill assistance. They don't offer it as much as they used to, but you can still get it. The documented attempts at having it fixed while under warranty will help with that.

 

You can disagree all you want, I'm just telling you what works. Go ahead and slam them on the survey, you'll find they'll do nothing extra for you. Service advisors deal with a lot of customers every day, a lot of them are rude and have ridiculous expectations. When they have customers who are decent and a little bit understanding they want to go the extra mile for them. But you do you, doesn't matter to me. MY truck gets serviced quickly every time I take it in.

 

Kissing butt works.. ok, I disagree.
Being respectful, and not being a jerk works..and it works everywhere in the world. Kissing butt is what it is.. It’s bogus..
No one is telling anyone to slam them. If they do honest good work and effort, there will be no need to take your advice.
As far as ridiculous expectations, that is retail in any category. Ask anyone dealing with the public on a daily basis. Dealing with customers ridiculous expectations are part of the job. Maybe they are not equipped for dealing with customers, and adding chap stick and kissing butt will not fix the problem.

 

Clearly you think developing a relationship with them means kissing butt, it does not. Again, I don't care what you do, I KNOW what works. Service advisors often have the ability to assist with things. Such as after warranty assistance, a rental/loaner vehicle, giving a higher priority to a vehicle, and sometimes even discounts on parts and/or labor. I will GUARANTEE you they will not do that for someone who has given them a poor survey score, or who is a pain in their *** when they drop off. They may do it for someone who is an anonymous customer IF they feel the shop has contributed to a customer inconvenience. But the chances of them assisting someone who they know by name, who always goes to them for service, who is friendly and doesn't give them a hard time if repairs take longer than expected, and who DOESN'T use a survey as a tool to punish them, are much better. And, those who actually spend money with them rather than ONLY going there for warranty work.

Again, It doesn't matter to me what anyone else does...but developing relationships doesn't apply only to repair facilities, it's a good way to live your life.

 

We might be on the same page, but lousy service forms at the root of ownership. If service is suspect, all of the donuts and coffee won’t fix ownership’s lack of proper mission.
If a dealership is run properly from the top, there will be no need for donuts and poor surveys.
I will not deal with poor ownership which brings lackadaisical attitude from their employees, or the need to build a false relationship.

 

I don't think we are talking about the same thing. I spent 10 years as a service advisor, and several more years as a service manager and parts and service director. I've seen customers come onto the service drive demanding that they be looked at immediately without regard to the 15 people who are there ahead of them. Then, when the advisor explains they can't get to them until the next day, they are in my office telling me how rude the advisor was...unaware that I watched the entire interaction. I've seen surveys where the customer gave a poor score because the waiting room was too close to the restroom. She didn't like watching people go in and out while she waited. It was a survey on the service experience and whether or not her vehicle was fixed right the first time. I've seen people scored poorly on surveys because they had to order a part that no one in town had in stock. MOST service advisors pay is tied, in some way, to CSI scores. When someone burns them on a survey for something beyond their control, it can have a severe affect on their income. When you have a problem, giving them a chance to take care of it and then not burning them on the survey anyway is important. You don't get one on every visit so causing them to lose several hundred dollars because a porter got grease on your carpet generally doesn't sit well with them.

However, I was merely recommending doing what I always have done at banks, at restaurants, at any place where people service you and get compensated for that service. That's getting to know them on a more personal level, letting them get to know you a bit, and then understanding that people are not perfect and make honest mistakes. I'm NOT saying if you go into a dealership and people ignore you, treat you poorly, are actually rude to you that you should still say you're completely satisfied.

 

I gotcha.
I’m in retail also. We have roughly 500-1,000 people come through our doors given whatever part of the year it is. Rude, impatient, entitled, privileged, insecure people are a part of our society. I tell our employees to never take it personal because that is the way it is everywhere. I understand your point, and I believe you understand my intent. If someone comes in and becomes a real problem, of course we will service their needs, trying to make their experience positive, while knowing and understanding full well that we are dealing with someone who has issues in life beyond us. We will not go out of our way to service them any less, until we feel the outcome doesn’t serve anyone to where we won’t service them at all.
IMO, as a business owner who can make the call, that is proper retail. Not possible in the automotive service industry, which makes it even more tough to maintain a happy face.

Automotive dealerships are only as good as their owner/management . I have a Ford dealership across the street from my business. I would love to deal with them, but they are never in the ball park with price and have other telling issues. I won’t deal with them because they are dirty. Dirty floors, pot holes in the lot, filthy service desk. It’s a reflection of ownership and a reflection on how serious they take their business. Internal issues such as this will usually signal service quality. I’m surprised they have a Ford franchise.

My preferred dealer is 30 miles away. Spotless, competitive, and yes, I have an excellent 25 year relationship with them which requires no false effort on my part.

 

I definitely understand your feeling about the dealership across from you, and that sounds like a dealer who wants to maximize their profits without putting anything back into the business. Ford spent a lot of time and money several years ago trying to force dealers into remodels and upgrades, but they allowed some smaller dealers to not participate. Repair facilities are a strange business. I ran restaurants and bars for a long time, most of your customers came in happy. They could be made very unhappy fast if you screwed up their meal or didn't service them properly. Service departments have customers who are already unhappy when they arrive. You can make it better, in some cases, by having a great attitude and giving them good service. But if they expect you to push them ahead of others, or perform repairs on their vehicle after warranty for free, then they probably won't leave happy either.

When I first posted on this thread it was simply to suggest to the OP that there MAY be a way to lessen how he felt about taking his truck to the dealership, he 'HATED" taking it in. When I take my truck in these days, I always deal with the same advisor. Unless i need an urgent repair, I call first and verify their shop load. If the department that needs to handle my concern is too busy, I'll try to take it in another time. I give them a cell number and email so contacting me is easy, and even advise them a text message is fine. They don't always get things done when I want, but I try to understand when that happens and they often give me something to drive. If they can't, I make my own arrangements without getting upset. Last year, I dropped off some homemade cookies for my advisor and the rest of the staff at Christmas. Imagine my surprise when he had a basket of fruit for me!

Glad we figured out we weren't really disagreeing with one another. Have a great day!

 

Same problem @ 40k. I have 2 questions though. Has anyone had this happen at highway speeds and cause a loss of control? Also did anyone actually find a fix? I stopped reading after the petty arguing started about ridiculousness.