Dealership Problems!

[Reduaram]

I need help! I purchased my '03 just over a year ago and I really like the car. It is the first new car I have ever owned and is the nicest material thing I've ever had. The big issue I'm facing, which is forcing me to consider selling the car is the lack of support from the 2 (actually 1, more on that later) dealerships out here in Victoria. The dealership I bought it from (Glenoak Ford) is owned by the only other dealer in this town (Suburban Ford) and the next closest one is over an hour's drive in Duncan.
My biggest concerns are with the engine and paint and there are other concerns with poor quality workmanship on the part of the garage and from manufacturing.
The dealers here keep blowing off my car's problems and have an overall lackadaisical attitude, such as not returning phone calls, or telling me to call at a certain time and get " Mr. **** is at a meeting all day" or the worst one I've had is "Don't worry, you still have lots of warranty time left".
I've called Ford Canada and the rep there said "We can't do anything about it, you have to go through your dealer". After repeatedly stating my concern about the orange peel and spider web paint job, the dealership sent it out to their detail shop and it came back looking like Frankenstein's monster did the buffing and polishing! It was atrocious! The response is basically, "That's not our fault". I was so furious I couldn't even speak! I left and didn't come back for a couple of months to cool down... aaagh, nevermind - it just goes on and on. I won't even get into the problems I had when I brought it in for the 10 000 km warranty. Except to mention that they put the wheels on backwards so the engine stalled out at about 50 kph. Grrr... my anger level is rising just writing this!
I need some good advice on how to wake these p****s up and see that my car's issues are addressed once and for all.
My next step will be to type a letter to FMC stating all my concerns (that'll be at least a 3-pager) and their response will determine my next step. But what is THE NEXT STEP, aside from laying down a little bit of the ol' CLockwork Orange on these louts?

[SideshowBob]

A little of the old "ultra violence", eh? I imagine you'd be worse off than they in the end. But you should be able to get the phone number for the FoMoCo regional rep out of them before you've finished even one chorus of 'Singin' in the Rain'. A phone call or letter to the company rep is definately in order ASAP.

[Sully008]

I'm sorry your experiences at the local dealers haven't been pleasant. I guess I'm fortunate that one of my close friends is a Senior Tech at my dealership (Parkside Ford). I don't deal with anyone else. I've bought my last 3 cars there ('02 Taurus SEL, '04 CVLX, '03 MM). It also helps that I helped sod the Service Manager's backyard one summer. :D

Another thing that might be contributing to their lack of interest is Mercury is no longer sold in Canada except for the Grand Marquis. It's either Ford or Lincoln. They probably figure, "we don't sell 'em anymore, so why bother?"

It sounds to me that they need an attitude adjustment. That's certainly NOT the way to keep repeat customers. You might need to go to a different dealership, even if it's out of the way. Tell them your experiences at the first two. After hearing the way you were treated, they might be a little more helpful and open minded. Good Luck!

[de minimus]

No pun intended but "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". I'd be writing and calling Ford to complain loudly. I had a issue with my bank that wasn't being resolved at the branch level so I e-mailed the president and the problem was solved within 24 hrs. Rationally and reasonably complaining can work.....and if it doesn't you can always go for a little road trip to Nanaimo or a boat ride to Vancouver.
Good luck.
<DD> <DD> </DD>

[grampaws]

I too! am disgusted with the ford warranty program!!

Once I sell the ones I have returning to the ford products
is very unlikely..Ford has obviuously sc**wed the dealers
plenty and they don't want to get stuck with the bill if the
claim is denied...Rowland ford/Donway now where I bought the car
did every thing to avoid doing anything on the car...
I was fortunate to to have a connection through work
if it wasn't for that I would have sold or torched the car...
Threatening to go public with a story sometimes helps..
Making a scene has worked on occasion!!
It worked yesterday at Chrysler...
I tried the different dealership and got a little better response.
Keep sqeeking or find a connection seem to be the best...

[LordVader]

:mad2: Have been where you are at...just a different manufacturer. For me a complete spreadsheet of documented problems, to include date car was brought in, complaint, resolution or not resolved, parts ordered, rental car required, etc. was enough to get the dealership and the parent company on board to resolve the problems. Once it was on paper where the full impact could be seen and understood with the threat of releasing it to the Internet to one of their most popular websites, cooler minds prevailed and people began to listen. At the dealership they even changed GM's. Good luck with this..hang tough.

[Bluerauder]

The dealers here keep blowing off my car's problems and have an overall lackadaisical attitude, such as not returning phone calls, or telling me to call at a certain time and get " Mr. **** is at a meeting all day" or the worst one I've had is "Don't worry, you still have lots of warranty time left".
Sorry to hear about your dealer/car problems. :( However, I think the attitude that you have described covers alot of businesses these days. Globalization and the Big Box stores have created an atmosphere where the customer satisfaction is the last thing that they are concerned with. :mad: Their attitude is that you can take your business elsewhere and they still will have more people than they can wait on efficiently. Darn shame !!! :rolleyes:

That said ... I am pretty happy with my dealer and its service department. :D Of course, I take my car for service on the other side of town because of bad experiences at the closest L-M dealer. :shake:

[nexstar7]

i too had my problems with them. they kept my car for a month. they found a code , then they lost the code. i month for nothing. they suck.

[Canadasvt]

All I can tell you is to keep calling Ford of Canada and email them with everything you need fixed or problems you are having.

And like SideshowBob said earlier, get in touch with the regional Ford of Canada rep and let him know what is going on. My regional rep got my $1000.00 rebate from Ford after nobody else would.

Good luck and let us know how things are going.:beer:

[Reduaram]

After getting tossed around for another week with more non-returned phone calls and excuses I finally have a time scheduled on Tues. For what? I couldn't get a real answer except to just hear the noises again.

I'm just wondering: What will it be like with this car once the warranty is up?

According to the service advisor, he said that he's been trying to contact a Ford engineer to find out if my car's problems are like other 4.6L DOHC problems - which seems like a stall to me. If I had no warranty left and I brought my car in with the same problems how much do you want to bet that I would have a bay with my car in it within a day - and a bill for repair payable immediately!

I keep hearing horror stories about how ridiculously expensive Lincolns are to repair... are these cars in the Big Boys club as well? If so, I'm out of my league as far as the bottomless wallet goes. You might just be seeing my first (car) love up on eBay sooner than I would like.

[Sully008]

After getting tossed around for another week with more non-returned phone calls and excuses I finally have a time scheduled on Tues. For what? I couldn't get a real answer except to just hear the noises again.

According to the service advisor, he said that he's been trying to contact a Ford engineer to find out if my car's problems are like other 4.6L DOHC problems - which seems like a stall to me.

Can you list what issues you're having with your car Reduaram? Maybe some of the more technically savvy guys around here can help diagnose the problem. That way when you bring it in on Tues. you can give them some direction. (Although from the sounds of it, they may just blow you off.) :mad2:

[Reduaram]

Back again after a summer vacation!
I finally got the car into the garage after it was diagnosed as having a defective valve guide. After 3 days I got the car back, which isn't bad considering the mech had to dismantle half the engine. I got to take a look when it was apart and oh, man! I was amazed at the complexity of this engine! Anyway, the problem is "sort of" fixed. I took the car on a road trip up to Cortes Island (Past Campbell River) and there was a very noticeable knocking noise at 110 km/h (about 65 mph) and up. Not a very good noise at all, especially on a car that likes to go 100 mph and up. I have to get it back to the dealer again and go through all that hassle.
Does this engine noise sound familiar to anyone out there?