LB Escape

yea, but I'm not a credit issue kinda guy. 745 Fico, own house, own business, replace cars/trucks on average every two years, just because I get bored sitting behind the wheel so much. The toyota dealer I wandered into this past weekend made me feel good, and maybe the first impression is wrong, but I could not find one neighbor with a bad word about them. They got my sale this past weekend. Simply because I was out for a walk, and I stopped in there, got to talking, and presto! They talked me into a sale, and I didn't feel dirty afterwards. And I hope that holds true for the servicing of the truck too. If not, I would not go back and spend more money there.

your definition of reasonably close are vastly different than mine. If I can't not walk, ride a bicycle or take a bus to/from the dealer, then they should be able to shuttle me home.

Not Pacific. After dealing with "Cal", I switched to the one Jim Varney was pushing for the collective auto mall up the 605....

You see that's the problem...keep searching for service is not convenient. I now live in Long Beach, I should not have to keep driving back to OC for a dealership. I moved to Long Beach, and I should be able to get normal, reasonable service and sales locally. If I had driven back down into OC, I would most likely not be typing here, as they would have stepped up and taken care of their customer. Convenience comes right after availabilty and service. Have you tried leaving a car off in the City of Orange, and get a ride back to Long Beach? Or even a loaner car? The wife takes her car to Newport Beach - it's a Benz. After moving here and trying the local Benz here in LB, she goes back to Newport. They take care of her, and even hand over a loaner. They make you want to come back to them, and they make it convenient for their customers. I wasn't looking for a loaner car, just wanted a decent replacement or repair.

See there in your reply is the reasoning for the Toyota purchase. I already bought something that had an inferior product placed in it. Like I said, maybe the Toyota will prove to be a bad buy. Should I have been toying with the idea of buying non-Ford? Had either the dealer or Ford (who directed me back to the dealer) stepped up, and did something to correct the issue, I would have been back in said dealership for the replacing of the pickup. And they knew it. And they didn't care about the future purchase.

I buy Fords, or I did. Only Ford's. Have all my life. That was the end of an era in my life. All my work trucks have been either E-150's, F-150's, or sedan's. The Escape was instead of the sedan, as I didn't care for the 500, and thought the Fusion would be to small. So, I drove the Escape, and thought it would do. And I love it, exactly what I thought it would be like, and only complaint was the crappy radio. Which when you spend long periods in a car, driving in a rather large region for work, you depend on simple things to help you thru the day. Ever drive LA to Vegas in a single day round trip? I do it sometimes. or Frenso. Or San Diego etc. A working radio makes a huge difference if driving three hours out to a customer, then three hours back home. This was a huge issue to someone like me, and they knew it. They know me. And that's what makes me both sad and angry. And to 19 guy - yea, all over a radio. Poor service over a crappy radio. Sad huh?

I bought the Toyota simply because I was tired of chasing service at the local level. I should not have to drive miles and waste time searching for decent service. The Toyota decision was based upon the following thoughts: Not satisfied with local dealers (note - not dealer, but dealers). Not satisfied with contact at Ford about said dealerships. Not safitied that to resolve last problem with FoMoCo product, I had to spend my out of pocket on warranty covered item, plus my time. Toyota dealer is walking distance to my house. So is one Ford dealer. The other two close Ford shops are within 15 to 20 minutes driving. The two I like are in Orange County, and either 45 minutes or just over an hour away. The fact that I told dealer if the problem with Escape did not get resolved, it would lead to competition being purchased when the F-150 time comes up to replace, because it would not be from that dealer or Ford. When I offered to pay the difference to get a radio different from the standard 6 CD changer radio, to either the single CD player, the audiophile unit, or anything else instead of that unit, I was told if I was willing to spend money, go spend it at Fry's Electronics or Best Buy. They knew by this summer I would be in the market to replace the truck. Why did I go elsewhere? Poor service. I know things break, they do in my lline of work too. But I try to stand behind what I sell, and try to give good service, so I will get the repeat sales and the return calls for service. That's the way life works.

true, however the only two Ford dealerships that I like and are good, one is 45 minutes away, the other is just over an hour. Time for me, like most people, is money. I can either chase down good Ford service, wasting my time, which steals money from my poctket (that is used to buy things like new cars/trucks) or I can try their competition, trying to save my time/money/sanity. After only purchasing Ford's since I started driving in 1980, the poor service pushed me to try the competition. Ford needs loyal customer more then ever at this point in time, and could have saved a customer here. Maybe the tacoma will have problems, but word of mouth says this dealer I bought it from is wonderful for service. Why can't Ford hold it's dealers to the same level? I know the Toyota dealer is the same as a Ford dealer - not owned by the company.

You'll make Ford (or any other dealer) a great service manager! You can decide customer problems without actually seeing the car in question or knowing what the original complaint is/was! Can you make up for it by maybe telling us what tomorrow's wining lottery numbers are?

Drove the car into the dealership during the day, while the problem was happening, as I was passing thru home area (was driving from a morning appointment in San Diego to another appointment in downtown LA that day). Service manager was there, came out with tech, and listened to it happening. I had an appointment the following week with dealer, as regional rep was due in the day of appointment. Told to make sure I do not miss appointment. Left car for whole day for that appointment, as the service manager and regional were to drive my car for the day, to recreate conditions to show regional rep the problem. When I picked up the car, noticed the mileage was not even one mile more than when I dropped it off. Regional did not drive car, so problem did not show itself. Was told nothing would be done this time, and I should just purchase after market radio. Service writer then explains she had to replace the radio in her year old Mustang for same reasons, and she was happier with the after market radio (as am I). My whole reason behind this post is: Ford sells a $550 6 CD changer that is crap. They will not stand behind their products (even though they didn't build the radio either, it's a SANYO unit). I feel they stole the $550 out of my pocket, since I had to spend $395 at Crutchfield. Which was not a bad deal, as I got a JVD HD radio and four Rockford-Fosgate speakers and now quite happy driving the car. I drive it for a living, when I do not need the truck to deliver equipment to customers. The Escape is a great car, but being in it for several hours at a time, the radio losing/gaining bass at random will drive you insane when you had to deal with it for long periods. Ford, and/or this dealer, were willing to tell a long term Ford buyer to hit the road over a $550 defective part. I would have never ventured into the toyota dealer this past Sunday had I not still felt screwed over about $550. Will I be happy in the Toyota Tacoma as I was in the F-150 it replaced? Time will tell, but this should not have been allowed to happen in the first place. Yea, they saved replacing the radio again. They saved having to deal with a no so happy customer. And that's the problem that drives people away from returning to spend more money - the feeling that they've been screwed over.

The regional guy stuck his head in the car window, proclaimed it sounded fine, and walked away. Didn't care to hear that the problem happens when the car is being driven, at highway speeds, and after about 30 minutes of driving. he did not have the time to drive it for that long, and it sounded ok to him sitting there in park.

no, I stopped buying Fords because this was the last straw. Had other problems, but they fixed them under warranty, on other cars/trucks. The REFUSAL to repair under warranty, the dare to try and get satisfaction on the issue, stopped Ford from getting $25k this past weekend. Over their crappy $550 radio. lost a sale, maybe a lifelong customer, over a radio.

yes, car was still under warranty. not now, and the warranty was close to expiring due to mileage. yes, the service manager flat out yelled at me in front of several other customers, and that's when I went to the GM, who asked that I go speak with the service manager again. When I replied that the service manager was not willing to replace the radio for the fourth time, the GM stated clearly that he was firmly behind service manager and to give him another chance, I clearly stated this is the third radio that's gone bad in 18 months, and that he refuses to replace it. Was told to replace it out of my pocket, take it to Ford directly if I was not happy, as they only sell them, the do not built them. I love it when others say that can not happen. Would you like to send me your address? I'll mail you copies of the services orders and the email between me and the GM of this dealership.

that's my point, the dealer - the service manager and the GM - both agreed that the radio is a crappy radio (the Ford 6 CD changer is a Sanyo BTW). After the third one, they both told me that I would be happier with an aftermarket radio, and that they refuse to admit the problem is real. After replacing the radio three times already, they claimed I am a liar, and NOTHING was wrong with the first three radios and they replaced them just to make me happy. After the third one went south they told me to just go by my own radio since I was not happy with what Ford put in the Escape, as they only sell them, they don't built them. They know it would cost me more to fight for the cost of the radio, and would take more time then it would be worth it. And they are right, but cost Ford a steady repeat customer in the process.

Yep, same problems with me - dealer issues killer my loyalty to buying another Ford. It truly saddens me that this past weekend that I replaced my work truck with a Toyota, as I am just plain disgusted with the local dealers here in Southern California. They would rather have me go elsewhere, rather then fix a $500 radio in my Escape. So I did, and I'm not proud of the fact. But this isn't the first issue with not getting things fixed right the first time, or getting things fixed right under warranty. But if they can not get their act together and take care of their customers, the customer will go to someone who can. living proof here