With only 7,000 miles or so on the odometer, my truck just shut off and the check engine light came on one day. Well, I started it back up and it has run OK since. But I called my dealer to get an appointment to have the codes scanned to see if maybe they could tell me why it happened. You know, I don't want it to happen again while I'm on the highway driving about 65 mph...that wouldn't be cool at all. So they told me, "Well, we can scan the computer for you, but if there isn't a code stored in there it's going to cost you $75".

You mean, my truck has a factory warranty, but it's going to cost me out-of-pocket to try and figure out why the stupid thing just decided to shut off on me one day for no reason??

I think you guys may be right...Ford customer service isn't much.

 

I'd find out the # for customer sevice and put in a complaint. I work in a Ford dealer and have come across this stuff alot. if theres nothing wrong we (techs) write down what we did and still get paid by Ford just for checken. Sounds like they are double dipen.....not right. This is what gives a dealerships a bad rap.

 

Anyone who charges $75 to pull codes.. Won't autozone pull em' for free?

 

For $75, it would be more practical to just spend another $50 and buy your own code reader.

 

I think auto zone does but all they can do is point you in a direction to go in. Sometimes a code doesn't reflect the problem. Diag a check engine light isn't always as easy as one might seem. I had one today on a 01 F350 V10 with misfire codes on cylinders 1,2,6and 7. After 2 hours I found one bad valve spring, replace and concern was fixed.

man I need to win the lottary....lol

 

Don't like Ford service huh? I had my driver's side lower balljoint go bad (creaking, squeaking), covered under aftermarket warranty bought from dealership, and dealership gets fully reimbursed. I took it to the dealership because of the creaking, and they took a stethescope and found the noise. They said it's a balljoint, we'll fix it tomorrow. Went to pick it up and asked if they aligned it, and they said it doesn't need to be aligned. After 300 miles, front tires were becoming feathered. Ford dealership wouldn't align it. Took it to an independent shop and they said they couldn't align it, the passenger side balljoint had 3/4" movement (spindle would contact the lower control arm). Called the warranty company and told the guy what happened and that ford didn't check both balljoints. He said he doesn't like to let people go to independent shops, and that the dealerships would always check both balljoints if they thought one was bad. He called the dealership and they actually admitted to replacing a bad balljoint without checking the other one. They said that they just replaced the balljoint that made noise and were done with it. When the warranty company called me back they said that the shop could do the work and he'd waiver the deductable. In the end, I got a new balljoint, AND an alignment included, like I should've gotten from Ford in the first place. When the dealership did my brake job, they took my power steering cap half way off and a bunch spilled out, and there was brake fluid all over the power distribution box and all over the paint under the hood. Every other problem I had they pretty much ignored. When my door ajar light stayed on, they said they would have to replace both door switches. Later I found out that I could spray WD40 in the latch, and no problems since. I get a squealing noise when I'm in 4x4, and after I've been in 4x4. They said, "If it goes away after a while, no reason to fix it." <!-- These are the laziest f%ckers I've ever seen. -->Language violation edited by admin.They've got my stereo right now that was sent away to have the display fixed. Hope they don't mess that up too.
I need to call the warranty company back again and thank the guy that helped me, and see if I can go to another dealership to have some other issues addressed. Normally they want you to go to the dealership you bought the warranty from. I think I'll get him to change his mind about that though. Sorry about the long rant, just VERY irritated by my Ford dealership. I used to have the Ford customer service number, I need to call it again and give them my 'list'. Good luck, I'd try going to a different dealership. Or, just confront them and say, "I thought Ford reimburses you for all of this stuff, even if you don't find the problem!"

Brian J Wilson

 

I like my Ranger and Mustang enough to keep them around, but I wouldn't give you a dime for Ford dealers. We have three Ford dealers in our area and not one of them seem to give much of a damn what your problem is even if you bought the vehicle from them. I think Ford makes a good product at reasonable price points for the average consumer but if Bill Ford wants to make an improvement he could start with customer care after the sale IMO!

 

man I tell ya, the more I hear about how other dealerships work makes feel great that my place isn't like that. Far as the aftermarket warrenty...you should be able to take it somewhere else.

 

On a similar note, how many when you bought your truck new from the dealership were told that they had scheduled your first oil change and service?

My salesman gave me one of those appointment cards telling me that I had an appointment set for January 10th to get an oil change and service. I called the dealership on the 8th to confirm that my appointment was still set and the service manager just said, "We don't make appointments - it's first come, first served."

So I decided that I'd try to show up at opening time (8:00am) on Saturday morning - they said they were so backed up that they "probably couldn't get to it until Monday... would I like to leave it there?" FOR AN OIL CHANGE???!!! No, Thank you - I'll do it myself.

Luckily, just to spite the little ******* that sold me the truck, I hadn't filled out his performace review form yet - I marked negative on all fields about fulfilling promises and service agreements. I made three copies, sent the original to Ford, and a copy to the salesman and the owner of the dealership. Supposedly, if you don't give all good marks it goes against their 5-Star rating or whatever.

I also made some phone calls to the sales manager. No reply to those calls for 2 weeks now. I agree with the statement that Ford could go a long way in improving after sale customer care.

 

I would have to agree. I remember when I bought my Actron code reader I had reservations about how much I was spending and how much I would actually use the scanner. Suffice to say, it's one of my best tool purchases of the last 5 years. I use it to check my own vehicles all the time, and I also am "the man" when it comes to scanning my buddies' vehicles. There is a drawback, however, in that you cannot scan for ABS codes, observe PIDs, or do a GEM scan with just a basic code reader, and that is something the dealer can do with more sophisticated equipment.

AutoZone is a good alternative, and I think Advanced Auto also scans codes in my area, as well.

 

I know there are some bad Ford dealerships out there, but there are some good ones, too... The place where we bought my wife's Mystique gave us 2 free tires, a front and rear brake job, and an alignment when I mentioned a vibration while braking on the test drive. I will do business with no one else now (This dealership even sells OEM parts at prices less than the other dealerships, sometimes as much as 30% less), and have sent several friends there, all of whom came out with brand new cars at an average of 4-5K under book. The wierdest part is, from the outside, it looks like a small, lonely dealership.

For anyone that's in the Jax, FL area, it's Paul Clark Ford in Yulee, FL....

 

The resolution I've had to all of my ford dealership issues....Ford customer care.

Called Ford themselves and while I was on the phone with them, they called the dealer.....The lady at Ford gets back on the phone and says "Its all taken care of, you can pick up your car today."

I ended up with 4 new tires, new transmission, and some new suspension bolts..all for free. When the dealer wanted to charge me for everything.

 

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Does Ford have the power to drop dealerships? For example if they have too many complaints can they be closed by Ford? Cause I know of one dealership that should be closed.I paid $200 for them to find out what was wrong with my truck and when I came to pick it up all they could tell me is the injectors where bad.They did not write down the codes.After I got the truck home I replaced the injectors they felt were bad and it made no change.I know for a fact that I am not the first guy to get taken by this dealership in Hortonville WI.

 

Maybe FTE could put up a string, for quality dealerships per state.So we could patronage the good dealers out there.There has to be a good dealer in my state (I would hope)