TomServo92 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 (edited) OK, I need to vent a little bit. We needed to have the drivers side door module (controls door locks, windows, etc) replaced due to a door lock problem so a couple of months ago we took it in to a local FLM dealer. We got the car back and the door lock problem was solved. However, the other day I went to adjust the driver's side mirror and nada. Didn't move at all. So I got to looking closely at the door and I noticed that of the seven screws that hold the inner door panel on, only TWO had been replaced. That alone was enought to piss me off enough to not take it back to the dealer. So removed the screws and took the door panel off. I noticed a couple of plastic clips that had been crushed when they reattached the panel (assholes!). The connector for the mirror had not only been left unconnected, they had tucked inside the inner door area so that I appeard to go somewhere else! WTF? Then I began looking at wiring harness and realized the other connector for the mirror had been attached to the door with a plastic clip in the wrong location so that the wiring from the mirror couldn't reach it. Also, the connector that should have been located where the mirror connector had been attached was left hanging loose. What kind of morons do they hire at this dealership? I'm mean really, W-T-F???? I'm not even a trained tech and I saw the problem immediately. I rerouted the wiring and now everything works. I reattached the panel and found some screws in my garage that fit and buttoned everything back up. That'll be the LAST time I ever visit that dealership for anything!!! OK, I'll admit that I should have looked a little closer at the work before driving off so shame on me for that but that is just plain old shitty work. If anyone cares, it's Silsbee FLM in Silsbee, TX. There, now I feel a little better.... Edited March 8, 2009 by TomServo92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Sorry to hear about that....at least you were able to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Sorry to hear about that....at least you were able to fix it. I wish I could have taken it to the dealership where I bought the Fusion but they're about two hours away and it wasn't convenient. They're a small town dealership and have great sales and service. I hope they're still around when all the dust settles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papilgee4evaeva Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 That's rough. Like RMC said, good that you were able to fix it. Should we expect to see you change your username to SILSBEEFORDSUCKS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01FOCI Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 OK, I need to vent a little bit. We needed to have the drivers side door module (controls door locks, windows, etc) replaced due to a door lock problem so a couple of months ago we took it in to a local FLM dealer. We got the car back and the door lock problem was solved. However, the other day I went to adjust the driver's side mirror and nada. Didn't move at all. So I got to looking closely at the door and I noticed that of the seven screws that hold the inner door panel on, only TWO had been replaced. That alone was enought to piss me off enough to not take it back to the dealer. So removed the screws and took the door panel off. I noticed a couple of plastic clips that had been crushed when they reattached the panel (assholes!). The connector for the mirror had not only been left unconnected, they had tucked inside the inner door area so that I appeard to go somewhere else! WTF? Then I began looking at wiring harness and realized the other connector for the mirror had been attached to the door with a plastic clip in the wrong location so that the wiring from the mirror couldn't reach it. Also, the connector that should have been located where the mirror connector had been attached was left hanging loose. What kind of morons do they hire at this dealership? I'm mean really, W-T-F???? I'm not even a trained tech and I saw the problem immediately. I rerouted the wiring and now everything works. I reattached the panel and found some screws in my garage that fit and buttoned everything back up. That'll be the LAST time I ever visit that dealership for anything!!! OK, I'll admit that I should have looked a little closer at the work before driving off so shame on me for that but that is just plain old shitty work. If anyone cares, it's Silsbee FLM in Silsbee, TX. There, now I feel a little better.... Any experience with the Jasper Ford Lincoln Mercury? I'm thinking of buying in the somewhat near future and am new to the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 That's rough. Like RMC said, good that you were able to fix it. Should we expect to see you change your username to SILSBEEFORDSUCKS? No, I'm not THAT pissed about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Any experience with the Jasper Ford Lincoln Mercury? I'm thinking of buying in the somewhat near future and am new to the area. That's where I bought my Fusion! Are you in Jasper or the surrounding area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy8768 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 That's rough. Like RMC said, good that you were able to fix it. Should we expect to see you change your username to SILSBEEFORDSUCKS? :hysterical:Now THAT was funny!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packardbob Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Pffffft, that happens at the FLM dealership here all the time. You get screwed on the vehicle not only when you buy it, but also when you have to take it in to get serviced. Sad thing is the GM dealership has been gone for about 15 years and the Chrysler dealership has been gone for about 2 years, leaving Ford to do whatever they want, no competition at all. Now when we buy Ford we go to Woodhouse Ford in Blair, clear at the other end of the state. We usually save anywhere from $3000 to $6500 by dealing with Woodhouse instead of buying locally. And if we need service we take it to Wahlstrom Ford to get it serviced, it's an hour drive, but stuff gets fixed the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDuff Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 This is why people need to build a relationship with their mechanic rather than their service writer. I have been at my dealer for the last ten years, ever since college, and I take a lot of pride in doing the job right the first time and not letting it leave until it's done right. I have an apprentice and at times I want to pull my hair out with the things he's willing to call finished. I don't know how many times I go back over his work. Now sometimes new mechanics don't have the luxury of having a precepter like me or any at all. My dealer will hire anyone with a pulse and tools sometimes just because their is a huge shortage of mechanics with good experience. 95% of the time they're fired in six months. Your mechanic is probably one of these. The other 5% are either sent to school (sometimes you have to make a good mechanic like my apprentice) or they were stolen from another area Ford store. Those writers will shmooze you till the cows come home. A mechanic will tell it like it is. I bet Silsbee has some very good mechanics. Some that could have had that panel on and off with their eyes closed, and it would have been perfect. Your mechanic wasn't one of them. Everyone who has ears let them hear, build that relationship. You'll thank me in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Pffffft, that happens at the FLM dealership here all the time. You get screwed on the vehicle not only when you buy it, but also when you have to take it in to get serviced. Sad thing is the GM dealership has been gone for about 15 years and the Chrysler dealership has been gone for about 2 years, leaving Ford to do whatever they want, no competition at all. Now when we buy Ford we go to Woodhouse Ford in Blair, clear at the other end of the state. We usually save anywhere from $3000 to $6500 by dealing with Woodhouse instead of buying locally. And if we need service we take it to Wahlstrom Ford to get it serviced, it's an hour drive, but stuff gets fixed the first time. There's a Toyota dealership right across the street from the FLM dealership BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT..... ....it's owned by the same people. A ginormous Chevy-Cadillac-Buick-Pontiac-GMC-Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealership just moved in down the street (they were consolidated in one location from various other parts of town). Now that they have that huge white elephant of dealership with sales like they are now, I suspect service will be even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldZephyr Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 This is why people need to build a relationship with their mechanic rather than their service writer. . . . Well put. But what do you do when you are new with a dealer and you don't know who the mechanics are? We bought our first new Ford last year from a local dealer ('08 Taurus). We decided it would be good to buy local for service needs. Before then we'd owned used Fords (and others) and had a local independent mechanic do the work for us. He had a good job for us. A few months ago the car slid on some ice and the front driver side wheel slammed into a curb. Almost immediately we started hearing noise and feeling vibration when the speed got over 30MPH. So we thought we'd give the repair work to the dealer. In no way did we think this was a warranty issue -- the problem started right after the impact. The dealer looked and said the problem was a bent wheel. They installed a new wheel. We took the car home and noticed that the noise and vibration were still there, so we brought it in again. My wife asked whether there was an alignment issue or something else. They checked and said there was nothing wrong with the alignment and that the noise was from snow in the wheel. We took the car to a car wash to get rid of the "snow" in the wheel. The problem remained. So I called up our old mechanic on the phone and described what had happened. After 30 seconds he said he thought it might be the wheel bearing and perhaps alignment and asked us to bring in the car. We brought in the car, he replaced the bearing and had the alignment tuned up. Sure enough, problem solved. A month or so later my wife brings in the car to the dealer for a free oil change. The service manager on duty asks how things are, and my wife tells him the above story. He says " well, if you'd let us fix it, we could have had that warrantied". My wife told him that the dealer had 2 chances to fix it and didn't, and what's more, there was no warranty issue, the problem arose out of the collision with the curb, not with a defect. We'll be looking at buying a Ford again in the future, but I don't feel any great loyalty to this dealer. They aren't bad folks, but I don't have much confidence in their ability to diagnose and fix problems. So how do you find a good mechanic and good dealer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Pffffft, that happens at the FLM dealership here all the time. You get screwed on the vehicle not only when you buy it, but also when you have to take it in to get serviced. Sad thing is the GM dealership has been gone for about 15 years and the Chrysler dealership has been gone for about 2 years, leaving Ford to do whatever they want, no competition at all. Now when we buy Ford we go to Woodhouse Ford in Blair, clear at the other end of the state. We usually save anywhere from $3000 to $6500 by dealing with Woodhouse instead of buying locally. And if we need service we take it to Wahlstrom Ford to get it serviced, it's an hour drive, but stuff gets fixed the first time. You're from Nebraska, eh? What Ford dealership is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDuff Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 We took the car home and noticed that the noise and vibration were still there, so we brought it in again. There is no way it would have left my stall like that, especially with a concern so verifiable. The only thing regular about my "come-backs" is my inability to duplicate the customers concern. Sometimes that's the toughest part of my job. It sounds like the dealer doesn't have any type of quality control system. Our assistant service manager test drives every one of our jobs to make sure its fixed. He knows all about not verifying a problem too. I'll have him out in a car for an hour sometimes trying to get a car to act up. He even checks all the lube techs oil levels. The problem you had is just inexcusable if the concern was easily verifiable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B. Morrow Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 My brother had a similar experience with his Mini Clubman at the only dealer in the Pittsburgh area. His passenger door was damaged and the windshield was cracked when debris fell off a truck on the highway. The Mini dealer had the car for 10 days while he was out of town but didn't bother to start the work until the day he came back. It took another week to complete the work of replacing the windshield and refinishing the door. When he picked the car up he got one block from the shop when he noticed the pass door wouldn't lock because the panel wasn't on straight and was interfering with the lock. An hour later it was fixed. They weren't even appologetic about the inconvenience. The same dealer sells BMW. Not very impressive service for a high end business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retropia Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 At most new car dealerships in Central Ohio, you never get to SEE any mechanics, much less talk to them. The customers are kept hermetically sealed in a little bubble with the service writer. I would prefer to work with just one mechanic, someone I trusted, but I don't know how to make that happen unless I go to an independent mechanic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 At most new car dealerships in Central Ohio, you never get to SEE any mechanics, much less talk to them. The customers are kept hermetically sealed in a little bubble with the service writer. I would prefer to work with just one mechanic, someone I trusted, but I don't know how to make that happen unless I go to an independent mechanic. That's pretty much been my experience as well. The Lincoln is now out of warranty so it'll be going to an independent mechanic. So far the Fusion has been trouble free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01FOCI Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 That's where I bought my Fusion! Are you in Jasper or the surrounding area? Kirbyville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Kirbyville. Cool. I live in Lumberton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefstang Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Yeah. I've been spoiled by my service department. They have virtually no turnover, and most of my techs have been there for at least ten years. It's nice to have my customers taken care of the first time. I've worked for some less than spectacular service departments before, and believe me, a customer upset with service will often vent on the salesman. Hope you find someone able to take care of your Ford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Cool. I live in Lumberton. Kirbyville and Lumberton? That must be the vacuum and two by four district of Texas that you hear so much about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B. Morrow Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Kirbyville and Lumberton? That must be the vacuum and two by four district of Texas that you hear so much about. Intercourse, PA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Kirbyville and Lumberton? That must be the vacuum and two by four district of Texas that you hear so much about. No vacuums but you're spot on about the two by fours. Kirbyville was named after John Henry Kirby, who was a lumber tycoon in early 1900s. Lumberton originated as the location of a sawmill and lumber camp. Both cities are located in the dense pine woods of east Texas. But, enough history... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retropia Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Of course, going to an independent mechanic isn't always a guarantee of a flawless experience, either. When I had my '79 Capri 5.0, after it was out of warranty, I went to a nearby independent shop, mostly because it was convenient. After I picked up the car following an oil change, I noticed a lot of oil dripping underneath the car (more than usual, LOL). I checked the dipstick, and the oil level was WAY too high. The mechanic performing the oil change didn't realize that this car's oiil pan has TWO drain plugs, and both must be drained. He only drained one. Then to compound insult upon injury, instead of checking the dipstick, he just added five quarts of fresh oil. So it was spilling out wherever it could. To make it even worse, I went back to the shop and complained to the owner, whose response was "it will be allright, it won't hurt anything." No offer to re-do the oil change. I never went back to that place. I re-did it myself and now almost always do my own oil changes. It is hard for me to believe anyone could screw up an oil change, but I hear about it all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 (edited) Intercourse, PA? Hell, MI Christmas, MI * Paradise, MI * ( * I'm pretty certain both of these "close down" in winter; too much snow in 'da U.P. ! Hell is open all year round !) Edited March 9, 2009 by theoldwizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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