Bad dealership experience ...

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I'm not following here. Miller told 'em that it had a bad motor mount, they checked it, and then, contrary to what the rest of the world knows--they claimed to have never ever heard a Focus having a bad engine mount. And that there is nothing wrong.

Either they have denied every claim come through or they just blew him off.

I'm with Miller. I don't want to argue with someone about the sky being blue. If it's a common failure item and they claim to not know about it then they probably don't know what end of an impact wrench to hold either.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88

I have heard about the electric Focus mount on the 3rd generation. Would that work on my 2nd generation?


I'm not sure, a look underneath should tell you. Sorry I can't be of more help.
 
Also, he explicitly told the first dealership his concerns about the failed component. What does he need to do... hold the service manager and techs hands, then take them out to lunch?
 
Originally Posted By: redhat
Also, he explicitly told the first dealership his concerns about the failed component. What does he need to do... hold the service manager and techs hands, then take them out to lunch?



I'm not going to wine and dine a service manager just for a motor mount! haha.
 
Originally Posted By: Noey
Where'd you get the idea that you shouldn't have to diagnose? Accurate diagnosis is key to accurate repair. The point is, you HAD accurately diagnosed the issue, and the failure lies at least as much with your inability to communicate that effectively. You should have had the pics, and/or just taken the writer out to the car and shown him.

Pay attention here, no matter where you go in life, people will ultimately let you down if you're not willing to help them help you.


A service department should be able to diagnose a problem without the customer doing that for them. I don't really follow your thinking here.

It sounds like he DID point them in the direction of the motor mount, and got brushed off. There's no good excuse for that. Doesn't matter if he is young, old, knows exactly what is wrong with the car, or doesn't.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Noey
Where'd you get the idea that you shouldn't have to diagnose? Accurate diagnosis is key to accurate repair. The point is, you HAD accurately diagnosed the issue, and the failure lies at least as much with your inability to communicate that effectively. You should have had the pics, and/or just taken the writer out to the car and shown him.

Pay attention here, no matter where you go in life, people will ultimately let you down if you're not willing to help them help you.


A service department should be able to diagnose a problem without the customer doing that for them. I don't really follow your thinking here.

It sounds like he DID point them in the direction of the motor mount, and got brushed off. There's no good excuse for that. Doesn't matter if he is young, old, knows exactly what is wrong with the car, or doesn't.


Exactly.
 
It all boils down to the fact they don't make money on most warranty repairs. In fact, based on conversations I've had with dealer service techs, the techs often loose money. Thus the lack of motivation.
 
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Originally Posted By: JTK
It all boils down to the fact they don't make money on most warranty repairs. In fact, based on conversations I've had with dealer service techs, the techs often loose money. Thus the lack of motivation.


You got it!

Flat rate over pays for head gaskets on a Superduty diesel. It doesn't over pay for a $90 motor mount on a Focus.
 
I would think that the bad motor mount pics would need to be from the side, like this one:
S10Rebuild_ReplaceBrokenMotorMounts.jpg


Having said that, I am not familiar with the hydraulic type. I had "vibration" and it was a loose heat shield on my Escort.
 
I call the 800 number in the owners manual before bringing my car into the dealership and say the dealership always gives me trouble when it comes to warranty repair. It works wonders at least for me.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88


He says that Focuses get "buzzy" when they get older. NO $@@@@ SHERLOCK, IT'S BECAUSE THE MOTOR MOUNTS ARE BAD!



Back in the early 90's I brought my Ford ranger into a dealership with engine problems. I could tell immediately they really didn't want to deal with me.

I persisted and their diagnosis was: I NEED A NEW ENGINE.

Thats all, no real diagnosis, just "need a new engine". They did not want to talk to me further.

I put another 100K on that engine.
 
Miller...

If you can't get the $tealership to do their job (which it is in fact their job, in their contract with Ford) to repair failed items like this under the factory warranty, you need to call Ford corporate and inform them about the issue. It is true that the $tealers don't make that much money on warranty repairs but that doesn't matter one poop, they have a contract with the manufacturer to perform warranty service, if they don't want to do the job then the $tealership in question needs to have their franchise agreement with Ford terminated. Period.

It seems as if this [censored] $tealer was handed the diagnosis and asked to perform a very straight forward repair...and they were dismissive, and refused to do what they agreed to do under contract with Ford.

@Miller...call Ford and explain what the problem is, how the
poopy $tealership treated you, and what you want done to solve the problem (which is the repair) be polite but firm and let Ford know how dissatisfied you are with their $tealership. Don't worry you will get your car repaired properly and the store will have their franchise agreement threatened if they refuse, they will lose their right to be a Ford store.


This is just more evidence that the entire auto repair industry has a serious credibility and competence issue. The biggest disgrace of all is that the industry refuses to do anything about their horrible business practices.
 
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Here is my planned course of action.

I am going to give the dealer from which I bought the car another day or so to call me back with a response to my video / pictures I sent in.

IF they do not contact me back or they do not think it is bad, I will contact the Ford rep on the focus forums. That's a quick way to get in contact with the Ford rep. From what I have seen, that will fast track you to a regional / district manager for Ford.
 
Typical stealership experience to me. I have had very few satisfactory interactions with them. And if you try and force them to do anything you really DO get black listed and then none of them will help.

My defense was going all in on doing my own work. We do anything here except trans rebuilds, even those we R & R them ourselves.

If you do find a good stealership then you tip them big time and hope they can keep it up. IME they are a rare bird.

I've had much better luck finding the disgruntled techs who have started their own shop. My latest find is a factory trained guy from Ford who tells great stories about the horrors of stealership service techs trying to make a living on flat rate...
 
Originally Posted By: redhat
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Noey
Where'd you get the idea that you shouldn't have to diagnose? Accurate diagnosis is key to accurate repair. The point is, you HAD accurately diagnosed the issue, and the failure lies at least as much with your inability to communicate that effectively. You should have had the pics, and/or just taken the writer out to the car and shown him.

Pay attention here, no matter where you go in life, people will ultimately let you down if you're not willing to help them help you.


A service department should be able to diagnose a problem without the customer doing that for them. I don't really follow your thinking here.

It sounds like he DID point them in the direction of the motor mount, and got brushed off. There's no good excuse for that. Doesn't matter if he is young, old, knows exactly what is wrong with the car, or doesn't.


Exactly.


Nope. Sorry.

If you recognize weakness you compensate for it. So, if you don't trust the dealer, you absolutely take the time and the effort to hold their hand..you go out and show them the problem and you wait for them to show recognition and agreement with said issue. That way, it is both clear what needs to be done, and you are aware of that, too. Nothing gets someone's attention like competence.

If the point of the thread was to whine and get sympathy, my apologies. If the point was to deter this type of sloppy treatment, than my response is correct. If you assume someone is incompetent you make it harder for them to be that way.
 
I doubt that approach would change things in this situation. The service writer made it clear from the start that he was not interested in helping him out. Trying to "hold his hand" could be seen as "telling him how to do his job," and might not produce the desired result - the car being repaired properly under warranty. On top of that, I wouldn't want to waste my time with hand holding...a Ford service department should be plenty capable of diagnosing and repairing a Focus. The issue here is more that they don't WANT to. Miller got bad service from the start, they weren't even trying.

I'd just find a competent dealer instead, which sounds like the current plan, and take my future business to them. It's a Ford, not a Suzuki, so there are plenty of alternate choices.

I think the point of the thread was to vent about a frustrating experience. Nothing wrong with that.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
I doubt that approach would change things in this situation. The service writer made it clear from the start that he was not interested in helping him out. Trying to "hold his hand" could be seen as "telling him how to do his job," and might not produce the desired result - the car being repaired properly under warranty. On top of that, I wouldn't want to waste my time with hand holding...a Ford service department should be plenty capable of diagnosing and repairing a Focus. The issue here is more that they don't WANT to. Miller got bad service from the start, they weren't even trying.

I'd just find a competent dealer instead, which sounds like the current plan, and take my future business to them. It's a Ford, not a Suzuki, so there are plenty of alternate choices.

I think the point of the thread was to vent about a frustrating experience. Nothing wrong with that.


Exactly.

You take your car to the dealer. You are not a mechanic. You have a warranty.

They should fix it. Period. End of story.

I could regale everyone with amazing stories of bad stealership behavior, both my own and others experiences. But that won't help me escape the ill mannered folks who auto-magically assume it is somehow the client's problem!

Were I to run my biz this way I would be long gone very quickly!
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: SilverC6
I don't understand Ford guys that just assume this is normal for automobiles.

They just keep buying Fords.

Ford = car


Very ignorant statement, there. I am not a "Ford" guy. I buy the vehicle that presents the best value. If the only serious issue I have in 47K is a bad motor mount, that's not too bad.

I could have bought a Nissan and had a failed CVT at 50K miles. I could have bought a Chrysler and had some sort of crippling electronic or transmission failure at 50K miles. I could have bought a GM product and had it out of service for 3 months while they recall the entire car. This $12000 new Ford Focus doesn't seem like a bad buy, to me.


Not ignorance at all.

My response was prompted by your statement,

"The good news is, if I buy a new Ford ... I know where I will NOT be buying it from."

The last thing I would consider would be another Ford.

And I wouldn't be looking at GM, Chrysler, or Nissan either.

Try a Toyota, Honda, or Mazda instead.

Don't want to sound like a commercial but I own three Toyotas right now and I believe you'd be pleased with a Toyota vehicle and the dealer service.

I've had nothing but normal maintenance (oil changes and tires only) with my Toyotas at 80,000, 60,000, and 30,000 miles.

Each of them still feel brand new.

400,000 miles seems to be well within reach for all of them.
 
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