Pleasently surprised with local Ford Dealer

[Hall]

Trying to schedule an appointment by email ? Think how impractical that is. Service rep emails you back and gives you the time he/she scheduled you for. What if that doesn't work for you ? You suggest a different date/time. Service rep emails you back to tell you none of those are available.

How many Ford dealers do you have around you ?

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Trying to schedule an appointment by email ? Think how impractical that is.


Fair enough. Then WHY offer the option on the dealer's website?

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by redhat
I have to be selective with my wipers as I have the Push-tab style (thanks Ford!). FWIW, the Motorcraft Premium ones I bought did have multi-adapters to install on just about any vehicle.


Just a heads up from another Push Tab guy (thanks Ford!

) - the Michelins or Goodyears at Costco have the adapter to fit on them and are generally around $10 a piece.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Trying to schedule an appointment by email ? Think how impractical that is. Service rep emails you back and gives you the time he/she scheduled you for. What if that doesn't work for you ? You suggest a different date/time. Service rep emails you back to tell you none of those are available.

How many Ford dealers do you have around you ?


Surprised it's not directly into their appointment system. The Ford dealers (close to work and home) both work that way. You pick the time and they won't let you schedule if they are booked. Works out pretty well.

 

[Pew]

Originally Posted by itguy08
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Trying to schedule an appointment by email ? Think how impractical that is. Service rep emails you back and gives you the time he/she scheduled you for. What if that doesn't work for you ? You suggest a different date/time. Service rep emails you back to tell you none of those are available.

How many Ford dealers do you have around you ?


Surprised it's not directly into their appointment system. The Ford dealers (close to work and home) both work that way. You pick the time and they won't let you schedule if they are booked. Works out pretty well.


My old one was like that too. Go on their website, click a service, time, and service adviser if preferred, and if the time isn't available then it was grayed out. Now I just drop it off at night and the dealer is done with it before 9AM the next day.

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted by itguy08
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Trying to schedule an appointment by email ? Think how impractical that is. Service rep emails you back and gives you the time he/she scheduled you for. What if that doesn't work for you ? You suggest a different date/time. Service rep emails you back to tell you none of those are available.

How many Ford dealers do you have around you ?


Surprised it's not directly into their appointment system. The Ford dealers (close to work and home) both work that way. You pick the time and they won't let you schedule if they are booked. Works out pretty well.


The local Toyota dealer where we bought our Rav4 is this way. Used it for the free oil changes and tire rotations and a reflash of the head unit.

I do go there for oil filters as the price isn't outrageous.

 

[MNgopher]

Always amused at the I won't buy brand X because the dealer I used does something dumb. The dealer isn't owned by the manufacturer. At least in my area, if I don't like the dealer, I've got choices - and quite a few of them too.

Reality is this: Every dealership is different and sets themselves up to make their profits somewhere. And it becomes obvious where the priorities are when dealing with the various components of each dealership - sales, used sales, financing, parts. service, etc...

My local Ford dealership is a pain to deal with for retail parts - you are treated as an inconvenience, not worthy of their time. The only way I've gotten decent service is by ordering on line through the ford parts site - at least I don't have to deal with them for being surly about looking up parts - and I even show up with a VIN. Service I actually go to a dealer 30 minutes away - and the funny thing is they are part of the same dealership family. Much better communication skills and service managers who listen to concerns, and actually work to address them. The dealer I bought my truck from was great as far as having the best price out the door. Service, meh...

All varies - and isn't necessarily the brand as much as the ownership.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by earlyre
btw: Raabe Ford, Delphos Ohio.
Is Raabe the good dealer or the one he's had bad experiences with ? If they're bad, so much for that "small town" aspect but then again, Delphos has always been a strange place to me. They don't like outsiders, that's for sure. What are the options, Reineke, which is part of a big, multi-dealer conglomerate or what used to be Lima Lincoln-Mercury on Cable ?


Raabe is where he's had the trouble, as have I, but my dad has had nothing but good experiences there...
I chalked mine up to the fact that I didn't buy the car there* which really shouldn't matter but.....
but he's purchased at least 3 Lincolns there in the last decade.

the old Lima Lincoln Mercury on cable is Reineke Nissan now, Reineke also owns the main line Ford Dealer on the other side of Lima,but he's heard nothing but complaints about them from his friends/classmates(many of whom are Ford Retirees) ... no the other dealer he'll take the continental to for warranty work is down in Columbus (he down goes there for work all the time) I forget the particular one... Bob Boyd maybe?

* I bought my mercury used from Allan Nott Honda/Toyota. but, the Nott family also Owns Raabe Ford, Joe Nott manages, works at an does commercials for both dealerships.
the car was serviced before i bought it, including a new battery, which just happened to be a Motorcraft Battery. telling me, that they either got the parts from Raabe, or Raabe did the work on the car...

 

[Hall]

We've bought quite a few cars from Allan Nott over the years. That includes myself, my parents, my siblings, and so on. I vaguely recall that Nott now owns Raabe Ford. They haven't always though. Sounds like there are plenty of folks at Raabe that 'remember' where the Ford was originally bought and they factor that in....

 

[earlyre]

They have for longer than most people realize. Or at least a relationship between the 2.
Joe Nott had a short racing career in the late 90's/early 2000's( made it as far as one Busch series race in Atlanta, iirc). His car was sponsored by both dealerships....

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by dogememe
The auto parts store I work for just added two new wipers to the lineup available in store... Bosch Focus and Trico Titan. You know what's hilarious? THEY'RE ALMOST $30 APIECE!

I saw something about a new Bosch up here the other day, but didn't look that closely or check the pricing. I do know the older Bosch versions were on clearance and none of them were my size. But, Redhat did pretty good with the dealer. Here, the Ford dealers have traditionally been fairly reasonable on wipers. There are Motorcrafts on the F-150, the Town Car got nothing but, and the LTD got a lot of Motorcraft blades, thanks to some experimenting with some brands and gimmicks that didn't work.

 

[MCompact]

Back in 2010 I needed a few quarts of Ford Synthetic Transmission fluid for my Mazdaspeed 3. I went to the web site of my closest Ford dealer(Bill Collins Ford) and the parts department page is configured so that you can send a message to the parts desk. I asked if they had the fluid in stock and gave the part number. I received a response within two hours, advising me that it was in stock. So.....
After I drop my son off at soccer practice I drive over to the dealer. I tell the parts guy what I want, he types it into the inventory computer and tells me "We don't got it." I explain that I received an e-mail stating it was in stock and he says "That's your problem; those email guys are never right- you shoulda called instead."
You think I'll ever seriously considered buying a car from that store?

 

[oilpsi2high]

The ford dealer is my go to for when I need tires or service that I can't do myself. As with anything independently owned this can vary but they have the best service. Chevy dealer is OK but kept trying to upsell every time I went.

There's also the mom and pop repair shops but they don't have a waiting room and are usually booked.