No Wonder Ford is Going Down Hill

[John Hilley]

Just got back from taking the motor home in for an oil change at the Ford garage and the brake recall. They finally had the part as I checked last week. Brought a diagram of the lube points, wrote on the diagram that I wanted 5w-20 Motorcraft oil, put what I wanted for front and rear tire pressure. Went to cashier and paid bill, invoice mentioned Quaker State oil and no paper work for recall. Went over to lube area and asked about oil. They said it was the same thing, a semi syn. Asked about the recall. They said oh, sorry. They then did the recall and I had to sign three forms to that effect. Haven't checked the air pressure and it's to cold and miserable to see if they lubed every thing. This is second time in a row they didn't put in Motorcraft oil when asked.

[two2go]

Understand the frustration, but that is a dealer problem, not a Ford problem. I would send a respectful gripe letter to the dealer manager and the Ford district manager. I'll bet FMC is just as upset as you when their dealers don't perform.

[tmar10]

I have to agree with two2go. My local dealer ordered the wrong part twice after I gave them the correct part number and then told me it was my fault because I gave them the wrong VIN number until they looked at my registration. I now travel to a Ford dealer about 10 miles further away and have been quite satisfied.

[John Hilley]

Quote:

Originally posted by John Hilley: Just got back from taking the motor home in for an oil change at the Ford garage and the brake recall. They finally had the part as I checked last week. Brought a diagram of the lube points, wrote on the diagram that I wanted 5w-20 Motorcraft oil, put what I wanted for front and rear tire pressure. Went to cashier and paid bill, invoice mentioned Quaker State oil and no paper work for recall. Went over to lube area and asked about oil. They said it was the same thing, a semi syn. Asked about the recall. They said oh, sorry. They then did the recall and I had to sign three forms to that effect. Haven't checked the air pressure and it's to cold and miserable to see if they lubed every thing. This is second time in a row they didn't put in Motorcraft oil when asked.

It definitely is a dealer problem, but why doesn't Ford have Ford dealers push Ford products. I understand the dealer gets the Quaker State cheaper, but I pay the difference for Motorcraft. If the dealers don't have loyalty to the manufacturer, how can they expect customers to be loyal. I remember my first Volkswagen in 1960. It was a beautiful shop, the mechanics were German and wore white shop coats, white shirts, blue ties and blue pants. The shop was kept spotless and they had all the proper factory tools. Took about 5 years for Volkswagen to become
Americanized and sloppy. Same thing is happening to all industries in my opinion. Uniforms and dress codes seem to enhance an employees sense of values. I worked in the computer industry and noticed that once the suit and ties were gone and the polo shirts and Dockers were the norm, so was the value seen in the sales and support teams.

[TXiceman]

You can try calling Ford and complaining. Sometimes it does some good, sometime not. My daughter's trick is to call the owners and insist on speaking to the owner and no one else. She is polite and usually gets good results.

Best service she got was when she caught the owners wife and unloaded on her the way the service manager treated a "dumb woman". Service manager did not have much to say to her, but she got the vehicle serviced and never had a problem after that.

Ken

Ken

[D in Davie]

You need to find another Ford Dealer. It has been my experience that Ford is the only company with a program that constantly monitors the performance of its dealers and takes action. I've bought cars and trucks from most of them and was most disapointed with GMC and Acura and happiest with Ford. Anyone who substitutes a lesser grade oil is cheating you and ford. Ford would be interested to find out. The dealers I deal with do not wait for my call, they call me to see if I was satisfied. If you do not receive those calls and do not get coupons in the mail you are not dealing with a competent business man. Just my opinion.

[John Hilley]

Quote:

Originally posted by D in Davie: You need to find another Ford Dealer. It has been my experience that Ford is the only company with a program that constantly monitors the performance of its dealers and takes action. I've bought cars and trucks from most of them and was most disapointed with GMC and Acura and happiest with Ford. Anyone who substitutes a lesser grade oil is cheating you and ford. Ford would be interested to find out. The dealers I deal with do not wait for my call, they call me to see if I was satisfied. If you do not receive those calls and do not get coupons in the mail you are not dealing with a competent business man. Just my opinion.

This is one of their larger dealers, Lithia with dealerships from the west coast thru the midwest. They assured me that the Quaker State was also a semi synthetic oil and as good as the Motorcraft. I do get the questionaires and coupons from them. They haven't called me yet after this service, I was waiting for that.

[N8XV]

I would contact Ford Motor Company and let them know what happened. There are going to be dealers disappear as Ford makes cuts, this might be a good one to get rid of.

[D in Davie]

It is an unfortunate side of this type of communication that it seem fare easier to flame out on a whole company when one person has a problem. It is rare that someone takes the time to report good experiences. Well I had one with Ford. Sawgrass Ford in Sunrise Florida treated me real well today and fixed my emergency brake switch for free. They never gave me their names and were not fishing for compliments but I wish I did get their names. I did buy a Mustang from them 3 years ago but it never needed service except oil so I never went back. I hope Ford Makes it though this rough patch. I'd hate to have the only choice in cars to be one of those Japan styled appliances. How dull would that be.

[tmar10]

D in Davie,
While rereading the previous comments I was pressed to see any suggestion of hatred or distrust of Ford by the responses to the original post, only questions or concerns related to some of their independent dealers. We have no complaints with either our Ford chassis or the support we have received from their customer service representatives. We had problems with one dealer and found another more than eager to take care of our needs.