Ford dealership experiences are really starting to sour on me

[Anthony]

This has been boiling up for some time and finally hit a breaking point this morning.  I know I'll most likely light some fires with this post, but I just need to rant.

 

It seems every time I go to a Ford dealership (no matter which ones), something always seems to go wrong, and none of them seem ever to have a smooth-running operation.

 

Earlier this week, I emailed the dealership to make an appointment to talk to someone about paying off the lease on my wife's older Edge and turning it in a few months early (not looking to make a deal or anything, just payoff what's left and get it out of my driveway since nobody drives it).

 

I made an appointment for 9:30 this morning. I drive up to the dealership (a 20 minute drive each way). I pulled in and saw a gorgeous four-door Cactus Grey Bronco and five Mach Es. VERY lovely on both of those fronts, great looking vehicles! Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.

 

I went inside to the receptionist, and she had no record of my appointment. (Here we go again; I can see where this is going). She asks me to sit down and wait to see if she can get someone.

 

Ten minutes later, a gentleman (sales manager?) comes over and asks what I needed. I explained to him the appointment I made and why I was here. He advised that no one here could help me as only the GM could "ground a lease," and the GM would not be back in until Monday or Tuesday.

 

This is super frustrating because I had even explained in the email thread when making the appointment to verify that someone would be available to assist me when I came in (being it was on a weekend). He said an outside company makes those appointments, and they don't know what they are talking about.

 

 

So I left, having accomplished nothing. Unfortunately, this is in a long line of times I've left a Ford dealership feeling frustrated.  

 

Guys, I don't know if I am in the minority, but I have yet to go to a Ford dealership and get anything accomplished in one visit. It is starting to sour me to the point where I don't even want to bring my Ranger in for a recall because I am concerned about the bullshit I'm going to be put through. Whenever something happens, they always smirk and blow it off as  "someone else's fault" and nothing is done to remedy the situation.

 

I know we have several members who work at dealerships here, and I try to give the benefit of the doubt that not all dealers are as clueless as the ones I seem to deal with constantly. But I've dealt with three different dealerships in the area, and they are the same. I'm not a difficult customer, in fact I probably put up with much more than the average person would. I don't get mad and cause a scene as some people would; I just take my business elsewhere when it gets too much. It is getting to be too much.

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ford vehicles.  But that love affair ends very quickly once I have to visit a dealership.  Whether its for service, sales or financing, it is never a pleasurable experience or one that accomplishes anything in a straightforward and smooth manner.  The vehicles stand on their own, the rest of the ownership experience does not live up to the promise the vehicles make.

 

Horrible customer service is what gives Ford and other domestics a lousy name. I know we always say "well, go to another dealer".  Many people don't differentiate Ford the company with a dealership...and frankly, they shouldn't have to.  I've tried three different dealerships in the area and each one is just as inept as the others. The post-sales support is downright pathetic (and to be honest, the sales experience is nothing to write home about either)

 

I would literally pay extra to just get good support (which I guess is what people do when they buy a Lexus, etc).  I already like the vehicles, just give me the post sales support that lives up to the rest of the experience.  Because I have not experienced it yet.

 

Sorry, just needed to rant.

 

 

 

 

[FordBuyer]

1 hour ago, Anthony said:

This has been boiling up for some time and finally hit a breaking point this morning.  I know I'll most likely light some fires with this post, but I just need to rant.

 

It seems every time I go to a Ford dealership (no matter which ones), something always seems to go wrong, and none of them seem ever to have a smooth-running operation.

 

Earlier this week, I emailed the dealership to make an appointment to talk to someone about paying off the lease on my wife's older Edge and turning it in a few months early (not looking to make a deal or anything, just payoff what's left and get it out of my driveway since nobody drives it).

 

I made an appointment for 9:30 this morning. I drive up to the dealership (a 20 minute drive each way). I pulled in and saw a gorgeous four-door Cactus Grey Bronco and five Mach Es. VERY lovely on both of those fronts, great looking vehicles! Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.

 

I went inside to the receptionist, and she had no record of my appointment. (Here we go again; I can see where this is going). She asks me to sit down and wait to see if she can get someone.

 

Ten minutes later, a gentleman (sales manager?) comes over and asks what I needed. I explained to him the appointment I made and why I was here. He advised that no one here could help me as only the GM could "ground a lease," and the GM would not be back in until Monday or Tuesday.

 

This is super frustrating because I had even explained in the email thread when making the appointment to verify that someone would be available to assist me when I came in (being it was on a weekend). He said an outside company makes those appointments, and they don't know what they are talking about.

 

 

So I left, having accomplished nothing. Unfortunately, this is in a long line of times I've left a Ford dealership feeling frustrated.  

 

Guys, I don't know if I am in the minority, but I have yet to go to a Ford dealership and get anything accomplished in one visit. It is starting to sour me to the point where I don't even want to bring my Ranger in for a recall because I am concerned about the bullshit I'm going to be put through. Whenever something happens, they always smirk and blow it off as  "someone else's fault" and nothing is done to remedy the situation.

 

I know we have several members who work at dealerships here, and I try to give the benefit of the doubt that not all dealers are as clueless as the ones I seem to deal with constantly. But I've dealt with three different dealerships in the area, and they are the same. I'm not a difficult customer, in fact I probably put up with much more than the average person would. I don't get mad and cause a scene as some people would; I just take my business elsewhere when it gets too much. It is getting to be too much.

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ford vehicles.  But that love affair ends very quickly once I have to visit a dealership.  Whether its for service, sales or financing, it is never a pleasurable experience or one that accomplishes anything in a straightforward and smooth manner.  The vehicles stand on their own, the rest of the ownership experience does not live up to the promise the vehicles make.

 

Horrible customer service is what gives Ford and other domestics a lousy name. I know we always say "well, go to another dealer".  Many people don't differentiate Ford the company with a dealership...and frankly, they shouldn't have to.  I've tried three different dealerships in the area and each one is just as inept as the others. The post-sales support is downright pathetic (and to be honest, the sales experience is nothing to write home about either)

 

I would literally pay extra to just get good support (which I guess is what people do when they buy a Lexus, etc).  I already like the vehicles, just give me the post sales support that lives up to the rest of the experience.  Because I have not experienced it yet.

 

Sorry, just needed to rant.

 

 

 

 

 

I had some of the same problems dealing with turning in my lease of a Subaru Crosstrek to my Subaru dealership. So it's a dealership problem, not just a Ford dealership problem. Chase runs Subaru's leasing problem, and it took 2 months after turn in to straighten it out. 

[Anthony]

I wish it were just the lease issue.  It’s been years of incompetence and indifference. 

[blwnsmoke]

1 hour ago, Anthony said:

I wish it were just the lease issue.  It’s been years of incompetence and indifference. 

 

Completely agree.  After 15 years, finally switched dealers because I couldn't take it any more.  My last straw was when the pivot my wiper transmission snapped.  Dealer refused to warranty it.  Had to escalate it and took almost 2 weeks for Ford to cover a part covered by my ESP, not accessible to the customer so impossible for me to physically break it and would not explain to me why it isn't covered.

 

I usually wait till I have a full list of issues before taking it in to try and minimize how many visits I have to make.

 

Another was just last week.  I complained about the reverse sliding collar of my 6 speed not always going down by itself.  Almost slammed into a curb putting it in 1st and it really went into reverse due to the lockout not fully down.  Service advisor calls me and says " you have an aftermarket shift knob".  Stopped him right there.. not caused by a shift knob.. absolutely ridiculous he would even bring that up.  Guy had never heard of this type of complaint...  Told him afterwards there is a TSB on this exact issue.  Just amazing!!

[fuzzymoomoo]

This is clearly a huge problem with dealers across the country. Look at how often we see people sign up for new accounts here just to vent about bad dealer experiences. 
 

Sadly because of ridiculous franchise laws that heavily favor dealers I don't think there's a ton that Ford can do to address it. 

[sullynd]

I’ve got like 30 Ford stores with twenty miles of me. The closest store has all the service of a Walmart. (I call it megalomart Ford) I lucked into a dealer twenty minutes away when we bought our Flex - they had the one we wanted in stock, and needed one THEN.  It’s a smaller family owned store. I’ve bought three Ford’s from them now, and serviced four. The service manager is awesome, and knows me by name. My salesman, who sold me both the Edge and Mach-E was nearly as excited about me getting the Mach-E as I was. The finance guys are the ones I usually have issues with. On the Mach-E I did “Ford Options” (Fords pseudo-lease) and he came back at 8% (and I have good credit). On forums people were getting 2.25%. After showing him multiple posts, including one that had a Ford program number, he came back at 2.25%. He actually seemed like a decent guy, and I was the first Ford Options in the region, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

[02MustangGT]

I’ve had the same experiences at multiple dealers, these issues are not exclusive to Ford.  For instance, I just purchased a Kia Soul (not ashamed) as a bridge vehicle until my Bronco arrives.   My son will inherit the Kia and drive it thru his college years and beyond.  Dealer was a joke, they cared more about scheduling my first service than taking the $2500 down payment.  However, the Lincoln dealers I’ve dealt with have been fantastic.  In fact, just had the Navigator in for scheduled service this morning and it was another excellent experience.  

[Tico]

Its not a Ford problem.  Its the whole idea of dealerships.   I have bought and helped friends and family buy many new and pre owned vehicles over the years.  First off I usually know more about the vehicle than the sales person does.  I know what trim and option package I want.  They don't get if they try to steer me to something slightly different I would not get the feature that was important to me or I will be paying for a bunch of stuff I didn't want to pay for.  And in general I will know that this or that was new for this year or was new for 2019 which is why I don't want to look at a 18 but again I know more than they do.  Shouldn't they be reading more car forums online than I do?  That said the next annoyance is the finance office.  I have financing through the local credit union which does have relationships with most local dealerships of all makes.   I already know the loan term and how many thousand I will put down.  They focus incessantly on monthly payment.  All I care about is the final price.  I will adjust my down payment to get the monthly number I want. They are so used to people buying based on monthly payment they seem incapable of dealing with a guy like me who has 30 or 40% down and just wants the best out the door price.  Then there is the high pressure extended warranty pitch.  Even after saying no several times they keep explaining the benefits of all the extended warranty options.  In the end they give up but are visibly unhappy.  One guy told me he was required to sell one to every customer who sat in his office or it would reflect on his performance review.  Finally the trade.  I am tired of trading a vehicle and seeing it on the lot the next week for several thousand more than they payed me.  The bottom line is a 29K car ends up costing you 35K or more out the door with the $2700 extended warranty and 7 year 5% financing they try to push on you.  This hurts the people who can least afford it the most.  Finally , finally is service.  Especially after the 3 year bumper to bumper expires.   They try to sell me things I don't need or didn't ask for.  More than once I have had vehicle into dealer for a recall and told other repairs were needed.  When I took the paperwork to my NAPA mechanic he checked it out and said it would be waste to do the work at this time or there was nothing wrong at all.   After the3 years is up my cars never see the dealership again except for recalls.

 

I have had this experience with Ford, Dodge, Toyota etc.   Note many of these dealerships are owned by the same family anyway.  Joe Smoe's Ford is across town from Joe Smoe Toyota and in the next town over there is a Joe Smoe Chevrolet and Joe Smoe Honda etc.  So its the same people often running things no matter what make your looking at.

 

Dealers make little to no money on the car itself.  So they have to make it up on extended warranties and service.  This just inflates the final cost of the car and leaves people with a bad taste in their mouth.  Dealerships should be done away with IMHO.  

 

Agree or disagree with me I would like to hear your thoughts.

[akirby]

34 minutes ago, Tico said:

Its not a Ford problem.  Its the whole idea of dealerships.   I have bought and helped friends and family buy many new and pre owned vehicles over the years.  First off I usually know more about the vehicle than the sales person does.  I know what trim and option package I want.  They don't get if they try to steer me to something slightly different I would not get the feature that was important to me or I will be paying for a bunch of stuff I didn't want to pay for.  And in general I will know that this or that was new for this year or was new for 2019 which is why I don't want to look at a 18 but again I know more than they do.  Shouldn't they be reading more car forums online than I do?  That said the next annoyance is the finance office.  I have financing through the local credit union which does have relationships with most local dealerships of all makes.   I already know the loan term and how many thousand I will put down.  They focus incessantly on monthly payment.  All I care about is the final price.  I will adjust my down payment to get the monthly number I want. They are so used to people buying based on monthly payment they seem incapable of dealing with a guy like me who has 30 or 40% down and just wants the best out the door price.  Then there is the high pressure extended warranty pitch.  Even after saying no several times they keep explaining the benefits of all the extended warranty options.  In the end they give up but are visibly unhappy.  One guy told me he was required to sell one to every customer who sat in his office or it would reflect on his performance review.  Finally the trade.  I am tired of trading a vehicle and seeing it on the lot the next week for several thousand more than they payed me.  The bottom line is a 29K car ends up costing you 35K or more out the door with the $2700 extended warranty and 7 year 5% financing they try to push on you.  This hurts the people who can least afford it the most.  Finally , finally is service.  Especially after the 3 year bumper to bumper expires.   They try to sell me things I don't need or didn't ask for.  More than once I have had vehicle into dealer for a recall and told other repairs were needed.  When I took the paperwork to my NAPA mechanic he checked it out and said it would be waste to do the work at this time or there was nothing wrong at all.   After the3 years is up my cars never see the dealership again except for recalls.

 

I have had this experience with Ford, Dodge, Toyota etc.   Note many of these dealerships are owned by the same family anyway.  Joe Smoe's Ford is across town from Joe Smoe Toyota and in the next town over there is a Joe Smoe Chevrolet and Joe Smoe Honda etc.  So its the same people often running things no matter what make your looking at.

 

Dealers make little to no money on the car itself.  So they have to make it up on extended warranties and service.  This just inflates the final cost of the car and leaves people with a bad taste in their mouth.  Dealerships should be done away with IMHO.  

 

Agree or disagree with me I would like to hear your thoughts.

Agree with almost everything except the trade in situation.  Trade in is wholesale.  They have to sell it for a few thousand more than they pay you or they don’t make any money.  Now if you’re saying they lowball you even below wholesale then I agree that’s distasteful but sometimes they just don’t need that particular vehicle or they’re not selling well.  You can always get a quote from car max or Carvana, etc.  

[sullynd]

Finance guy really pushed hard on extended warranty for the Mach-E. I did a three year Ford Options plan. I was like “Hey, I’m turning it in in three years. If I get to 30 months and I’m thinking of keeping it I’ll buy the extended warranty (online) then.” He still kept pushing. (He didn’t try to push service plan or paint protection though). 

[jcartwright99]

It can get annoying that's for sure. I learned a long time ago to always ask who I am talking to when scheduling over the phone. That tends to help people "remember" to do what they say there were going to do.

 

Much like a good doctor, dentist, or mechanic (similar) when you find a good one stick with them. The first time I went to my dealer and bought a car the finance guy forgot to file/finish the paper work. I hadn't received the paperwork in the mail from Ford Credit which seemed odd so I contacted my sales guy to find out. That is when the problem was discovered. My sales guy was very apologetic and give me a few oil changes (on top of the 3 that I already got with purchase) to smooth things over. That finance guy no longer worked there when I went for my 2nd oil change.

 

I have had one almost bad experience with the service department since that time (they begrudgingly saw things my way eventually), otherwise they have been pretty good.  Some of the horror stories that I hear from folks or read online are insane. For the most part, I think this is a dealership problem. Although, some brands are a little better than others (as a whole).

[FordBuyer]

On 7/3/2021 at 3:35 PM, fuzzymoomoo said:

This is clearly a huge problem with dealers across the country. Look at how often we see people sign up for new accounts here just to vent about bad dealer experiences. 
 

Sadly because of ridiculous franchise laws that heavily favor dealers I don't think there's a ton that Ford can do to address it. 

 

One of the most difficult jobs out there is Service Manager. All you hear all day are complaints that are hard to replicate in short test drive. Dealing with angry customers all day can't be easy. Lots of turnover I bet. I know I'm pissed off that 8 months later still can't get my backup camera replaced. So you vent to the service manager. 

[FordBuyer]

15 minutes ago, jcartwright99 said:

It can get annoying that's for sure. I learned a long time ago to always ask who I am talking to when scheduling over the phone. That tends to help people "remember" to do what they say there were going to do.

 

Much like a good doctor, dentist, or mechanic (similar) when you find a good one stick with them. The first time I went to my dealer and bought a car the finance guy forgot to file/finish the paper work. I hadn't received the paperwork in the mail from Ford Credit which seemed odd so I contacted my sales guy to find out. That is when the problem was discovered. My sales guy was very apologetic and give me a few oil changes (on top of the 3 that I already got with purchase) to smooth things over. That finance guy no longer worked there when I went for my 2nd oil change.

 

I have had one almost bad experience with the service department since that time (they begrudgingly saw things my way eventually), otherwise they have been pretty good.  Some of the horror stories that I hear from folks or read online are insane. For the most part, I think this is a dealership problem. Although, some brands are a little better than others (as a whole).

 

I don't think it has anything to do with brand when it comes to service. It has to do with with the individual dealership and their staff. Even there it seems to be all over the map. I read the reviews and one customer will rave about their experience and another most terrible experience of their life. Maybe sometimes it's more about the customer than the dealership. 

[jcartwright99]

5 minutes ago, FordBuyer said:

 

One of the most difficult jobs out there is Service Manager. All you hear all day are complaints that are hard to replicate in short test drive. Dealing with angry customers all day can't be easy. Lots of turnover I bet. I know I'm pissed off that 8 months later still can't get my backup camera replaced. So you vent to the service manager. 

 

I think that service manager = just about any customer service job.  I've been a application support engineer for trading software and level 1/2 NOC/Systems engineer in the trading industry. When crap hits the fan, people complain (some more colorful and dramatic than others). If you are good at it, it's like water off of a ducks back. If they pay you well enough, the turn over stops.

[FordBuyer]

17 hours ago, sullynd said:

Finance guy really pushed hard on extended warranty for the Mach-E. I did a three year Ford Options plan. I was like “Hey, I’m turning it in in three years. If I get to 30 months and I’m thinking of keeping it I’ll buy the extended warranty (online) then.” He still kept pushing. (He didn’t try to push service plan or paint protection though). 

 

More about the dealership than brand. My Ford dealer pushed me on nothing when I bought new Escape last year. 0% interest through Ford Credit and personally drove the vehicle to our house and gave us gifts to boot. T

Two other Ford dealerships in area were super good also. One let me drive Escape Titanium for 24hr. test drive. Said don't bother with putting anymore gas in it, but I did anyway they were so accommodating. 

[rperez817]

Among non-luxury brands, Ford dealers were among the best in J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index 2020 (new and used car sales, finance departments)

 

But Ford dealers were below average in the latest Customer Service Index (service departments).

Edited July 6, 2021 by rperez817

[Anthony]

Those charts make sense.

 

I never had any bad experiences with the sales process with Ford (well, no worse than any other manufacturer I've bought from).  But it seems that once they make the sale, the great service & support you received is gone.  Retention is harder when you have crappy service. Ford builds world-class vehicles. The ownership journey needs to be world-class as well and it is not in my experience.

[FordBuyer]

Back when I lived in Metro Detroit, I had consistently good experiences with Bill Brown, Backwell, and Royal Oak Ford. My only bad experiences were with Tom Holzer and North Brothers. Also had real good experiences with Gaylord Ford. They put in a new trans into my Bronco ll for one third the price Holzer Ford quoted me. Of course those experiences are too dated to be relevant today. But I wouldn't hesitate to do business with Bill Brown or Backwell. 

[ScottK1]

It's clear that many dealers do not really care about the customers.  Had one make an appointment 3 hours away to go see a used car (at a new car dealer), confirmed 3 times, and then the car wasn't there.  On the other hand, when I bought my 2005 F150, I took a newspaper ad showing the truck I wanted for 15K to the dealer.  Salesman said take your pick, we've got about 8 of those.  So I did, test drove it, paid with a check -  the price in the ad, and was on my way home in less than an hour.  Perfect.  And I expect that to never happen again.

[Anthony]

Bumping this up as this will be my last Ford dealership experience. I'll buy used if I want a Ford from now on or direct from the manufacturer if they ever begin allowing that.

 

I returned my wife's Edge lease on Tuesday. I gave the salesman the keys, and he took the license plates off. He said the computers were down, they would ground the lease after they came back up.

 

I emailed the dealership manager this morning to verify the lease was grounded, and he promptly replied that it was successfully grounded but mentioned they only received one key and I would be billed for it. The two keys were on one keyring that I gave them. They either somehow lost one of the keys I gave them or entered it into the system incorrectly. I emailed him back to please verify the vehicle has two keys because that's what I gave them...of course, no reply all day.

 

I'm done. The incompetence and indifference have done their damage, and I won't be dealing with Ford dealerships any longer.

[silvrsvt]

Wow that is freaking horrible 

[FordBuyer]

2 hours ago, Anthony said:

Bumping this up as this will be my last Ford dealership experience. I'll buy used if I want a Ford from now on or direct from the manufacturer if they ever begin allowing that.

 

I returned my wife's Edge lease on Tuesday. I gave the salesman the keys, and he took the license plates off. He said the computers were down, they would ground the lease after they came back up.

 

I emailed the dealership manager this morning to verify the lease was grounded, and he promptly replied that it was successfully grounded but mentioned they only received one key and I would be billed for it. The two keys were on one keyring that I gave them. They either somehow lost one of the keys I gave them or entered it into the system incorrectly. I emailed him back to please verify the vehicle has two keys because that's what I gave them...of course, no reply all day.

 

I'm done. The incompetence and indifference have done their damage, and I won't be dealing with Ford dealerships any longer.

 

So how many Ford dealerships have you dealt with?

[snooter]

Did you take a photo?..answer----no...deal with it...sensitive types may find this offensive

[MadManMoon]

23 minutes ago, snooter said:

Did you take a photo?..answer----no...deal with it...sensitive types may find this offensive

 

Haven't changed at all, have you?  Still as tiring and combative as ever.

[akirby]

15 minutes ago, MadManMoon said:

 

Haven't changed at all, have you? 

 

 

Banned.  Should have done it years ago.