Ford Service - What would make you stay with Ford ?

[Jab]

Hi All,

Senario is this
Your car is about to come out of warranty and up until now you have had the services done by your dealer.

What would entice you to stay with Fords dealer servicing ?
Now keep this to the topic please, no slanderous comments !!
There is method to my madness in this but I can't say anything at this stage.
The following words only have been suggested to me (not all may be possible)

Membership

A pack or gift involved

Service discounts

Parts discounts

So let's have some good ideas that could potentially come to fruition.

Jim
PS Nothing to outrageous !

[mrghia]

how about a higher trade in price if they got another car or discount clothing?

[sgt_doofey]

A decent job at a reasonable price. Simple as that.

The 307 is coming out of warranty next month. It's going to a Peugeot specialist mechanic from now on instead of the dealer, simply to reduce the cost of servicing. Dealer was a bit too much as is shown by the price difference in the 307 and 308 turbo diesel engine. Same engine, $150 cheaper on the 308, same dealer.
Having said that, I don't have a single complaint otherwise about the dealer. They've done a great job with the car.

[Bushbasher]

Same as above, A decent job at a reasonable price. Problem is, FoMoCo charge like wounded bulls for parts and most of the time one of the apprentices is let loose on your pride and joy which they stuff up half the time and for which you get charged the premium rate for labour as if the head mechanic had done the job.


Bushbasher

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

Most of the time one of the apprentices is let loose on your pride and joy which they stuff up half the time and for which you get charged the premium rate for labour as if the head mechanic had done the job.


Bushbasher

You hit the nail on the head brother.

Cost for me. The local Ford dealer here stings you like a swarm of bees. A Fiesta service costs nearly double, and they don't run through the car with you like Repco does for me. Ontop of that they forget to put oil in your car sometimes too. Sorry I'll go back ontopic now. And by cost I mean compeditive for what they do, I don't expect a Ford dealer to be cheaper than anywhere else, but I do expect they know more about my car than Repco would...

[vztrt]

If they knew what they were doing would be nice. I'm quite happy to pay a little more for the job to be done properly as I don't like things to be done twice.
As I don't really have faith in the service departments in my area I wouldn't go there any more then I have to.

[ILLaViTaR]

Not having apprentices work on your car when you can go to an experienced and more cheaper mechanic.

[Road_Warrior]

Having the job done properly by properly qualified and trained mechanics instead of muppets would be a good start.

Oh and the "fault denial service" (TM) that you get whenever you have anything that remotely resembles a warranty problem is kind of a deal breaker.

[Mick K.]

The following would guarantee my repeat business for servicing my Fairmont and Focus:

• Competence at what they do
• Showing a difference over non-dealer servicing - eg: "we noticed there was a TSB for you model so we applied for you at no charge"
• inspiring confidence that I won't find a problem with the car a few hours later
• Good customer service
• Appreciation of my business

The price to me is not critical - I would be willing to pay an extra $100-200 per service at a dealer vs Kmart / Ultra Tune /etc if I was getting all of the above.

My last service experience was a great example of one of Brisbane's major Ford dealerships getting about 0 out of 10 for all of the above.

• Booked my car in for a 9am job. Said what I thought the problem was.
• Was told it would be ready by 4pm
• Arrived back at 3pm
• Car still not moved from where I left it
• Service people hurriedly replaced the part that I mentioned
• Did not carry out any further investigations
• Had car back to me 45 mins after promised time
• Said they road tested and the problem was gone, but the odometer showed less than 1km more than when I dropped it off
• Car still has the same problem

I remember back in the mid 90s I owned a Camry V6 - the top of the range of the old narrow bodied model. Southside Toyota servicing was fairly expensive, but they were always on time, the courtesy bus was clean, they gave a full debrief on the service and what to look for next time, and they always presented the car back to me in great condition - cleaned inside and out delivered to the reception door with the aircon on. My typical experience at Ford is - "your cars out the back somewhere", "I think everything went OK - the guy who worked on it has gone home", and about 50% of the time there is a reason for the car to be back at the service centre soon after for follow up work.

My car has never been serviced / mechanically worked on by anyone other than a Ford dealer but the experience above, has pushed me towards getting future work done elsewhere. More significantly, stories of great service from brands such as Toyota, Mazda, Mini and others has me looking elsewhere for my next car, when I'd happily have another Focus and Falcon in my garage.

When I have friends being invited by their car dealer to track days and new model launches, while I can see this as a sales tactic and it will add a few $ to costs here and there, they are also the kind of things that would have me coming back for brand loyalty.

One of the key reasons I bought the Fairmont was for ease of servicing as one of the most popular cars in Australia. Ford service is the main reason my 2 Fords will probably be replaced by other brands in the next 12 months.

MK

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by Jab

What would entice you to stay with Fords dealer servicing ?

The ability to adjust a handbrake properly and not charge me $150 for a service on it for it to last 5 pulls during its warranty period. :

...then have Ultratune service it after the warranty expired, adjusted the handbrake without me asking (for free), a more thorough service for cheaper and the handbrake lasting for 6 weeks (the longest since picking up the car new) before I traded it in.

Quite frankly, if I was to purchase another Ford, the service centres would have to provide much better service at much more reasonable prices. End of story.

[Buzz Box]

Well I can tell you its the service centres and service as to why my stepfather drives a holden and also why our family friends say ford makes the better car just look at taxis and company cars but just don't get it serviced at the dealers.........

But I will tell you why we are EXACTLY the same as Mick with a Focus and a Fairmont lol we will be taking our cars to Blue Power to get them serviced is our Ford dealership when you get your car serviced don't acknowledge anything you say, treat you like your an absolute idiot and charge you for things they don't do and theres always something else that needs doing we've never had our cars serviced without a subsiquent phone call of "Hi its X at the dealership and they say your car needs..... that will cost Y can we do it" not once!

Just in the last services alone (which was the tipping point) told them the headlights NEED to be adjusted as they are dangerously low. We are charged $30 to adjust the headlights and alas they havn't moved an inch. In the same service they ring up and say your tyres are pulling to one side you need an alignment, the tyres are less than 5,000k's old and the last set came off dead straight and perfect and this set are exactly the same.

So a bit of care and service especially since your paying a premium for factory servicing!

I know one dealership I use to get an old car serviced at use to get your car washed for you only like a $10-$15 handwash job thing but its nice to come back to a clean and tidy car especially when your paying close to $300!

[onfire]

I'd be inclined to say all those things.. but a t-shirt would do.

[Bluehoon]

Will pay for competency, confidence and proper service.
Until then I do it all myself.....

[Wally]

A contrast on the difference in servicing I found between my local Ford and Holden workshops:

Holden would vacuum and (pre drought) wash my car:- Ford would leave a greasy paper floor mat for me to throw in the bin.

Holden workshop is bright, clean and large and viewable to the customer:- Ford workshop is a roller shutter windowing a dark abyss.

Ford service bill was always expected to hurt and it did:- Holden bill is very modest and generally only for consumables.

Generally offerred two year extended warranty by Holden after the base period:- never by Ford.

Every repair was my fault with Ford:- Close to buggerall repairs with Holden, but no finger pointing if required.

One particular instance springs to mind, where one of my Falcons sprung an air conditioning condensate leak...Ford's solution was mega dollars to dismantle and fix, taking it to Holden, their solution was a hole and blanking grommet that cost me $90

[platinumXR]

Originally Posted by Wally

A contrast on the difference in servicing I found between my local Ford and Holden workshops:

Holden would vacuum and (pre drought) wash my car:- Ford would leave a greasy paper floor mat for me to throw in the bin.

Holden workshop is bright, clean and large and viewable to the customer:- Ford workshop is a roller shutter windowing a dark abyss.

Ford service bill was always expected to hurt and it did:- Holden bill is very modest and generally only for consumables.

Generally offerred two year extended warranty by Holden after the base period:- never by Ford.

Every repair was my fault with Ford:- Close to buggerall repairs with Holden, but no finger pointing if required.

One particular instance springs to mind, where one of my Falcons sprung an air conditioning condensate leak...Ford's solution was mega dollars to dismantle and fix, taking it to Holden, their solution was a hole and blanking grommet that cost me $90

Yeah, I think the common theme would be: Customer Service as opposed to Customer Accusation.

Years ago when my E Series was new, it had a few dramas but (not my local) Ford Dealership I bought the car from made an effort to support problem solving and reasonable solutions from my perspective and to my advantage.

The only time I had any It's all too hard mentality was when I visited my local Dealership (which is now no longer Ford...as a consequence I suspect) for non-warranty stuff that I could not do myself.

As a mechanic I am able to do pretty much everything myself: but I suspect others would appreciate overall package...reasonable price on everything from parts to consumables AND genuine customer service AND competency AND convenience.

Dealerships often make little profit from car sales so the temptation is there to compensate with after sales service charges...it's not myth...

[bathurst77]

Price competitive with Kmart etc.
Knowlege they checked all TSBs and put latest flash in BCMs or Engine computers.
Give it a wash and some tyre black
Not having to wait OVER AN HOUR for a lift to railway station or town if i havent booked a loan car. OK a free loan car?
Job done well (I dont mind a properly supervised apprentice.. hey eveyone has to learn)

[ltd]

I'm happy with them, have no problem and have the added luxury of having the car serviced by professionals (I have one mechanic only who does my cars - not an apprentice) as well as all the TSB's being applied without my request on top of my cars on board diagnostics being read and acted upon. Love my ford service and would never go anywhere else. I even have my mercedes serviced there.

[PepeLePew]

Having someone on the front end I can talk to and have confidence they're just not the front end voice....

Seeing into a private workshop its great to be able to see whats going on, and WHO might be working on your car. Dealer workshops are like black holes, you drop your car off to a talking head, and pick it up from same.

I cant help but picture teams of apprentices inside working on my car....nothing wrong with apprentices but if you're charging like a wounded bull I tend to expect more.

That said, Ive never had an issue with Maughan Thiem Port Adelaide. ONLY Ford dealer Ive never had a issue with. Good ones do exist.

[arm79]

After the drama's with my EL with regard to servicing and warranty many moons ago, and the same but if not worse issues currently with my BF, nothing will make me stay with Ford.

Unfortunately I'm committed under the warranty period to their overpriced and lacklustre servicing. So I'll just pay the money and continue to redo and check the things they are supposed to do in servicing.

[BLUEYBA]

I just recently got the car serviced by a local mechanic after going to Ford since I bought it. Was happy with the Ford service tho I got a bit peeved when charge for small things when the local mechanic doesn't. But the main reason I changed was basically the cost. I just couldn't afford the servicing from Ford

[uranium_death]

We will only ever service our car at a dealership under warranty.
Outside of that, we don't like having to wait to get the car in, and the charge is too high.

We've gone to Mobil CarCare for over 10 years, and they are very good. Under them, the XF ran the best it ever did, and the VTII has only had electronic problems, which seems to be a problem with a couple of other VT owners I've spoken to.

[Ghiadude]

ford service = oxymoron

[snappy]

A good job at a resonable price.
Thats all it would of taken to keep me there . To get me to go back well i would need to get a rub and tug from the window tint sales lady while i wait for the car to be finished.

[bdave351]

Not damaging my vehicle in the process of supposedly fixing it through lack of car....

Not flogging it....watching the eyes light up when it drives in from the stoner apprentice.

It would take a miracle to rebuild enough faith for me to even take it to ford for free warranty fixes these days, Id rather pay someone who I can actually trust to do it.

[Ibrox90]

I have a 3 month warranty on my BA XR8 after this warranty period expires i plan on taking it to the same mechanic i took my 1994 magna to or ill take it down to KPM.

the ford guys ive dealt with are pretty terrible. Ive had the "thats normal" excuse a few times.

[melbzetec]

I agree with all of the above, and we all have horror stories about the fundamental issues. It's a basic they must get the fundamental offer right

However, to answer your direct question, I think they should offer a loyalty discount.

If I've stuck with you for 3 years, then reward me as the car gets older by charging me 10 - 15% less for parts and service. It's alot cheaper to retain a customer than find a new one. And maybe the discount or bonus gets bigger as the years of loyalty increase

Smart operators will also chuck in something without charging....... something as simple as "we noticed your number plate was loose.....have put 4 new screws in"

I'm with my current Ford Dealer becuase of this approach. Had a problem with an aftermarket gauge. They fixed it but said...."We had a play with it and it's working now. We don't know what we actually did however, so we can hardly charge you"

This was after leaving another Ford dealer who charged me 4 hours labour to change brake pads!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately with the Focus, you tend to stay with a Ford Dealer as there are a number of specialist tools required that general mechanics don't have (ABS brakes declined to change a clutch for this reason)

[GQ_Smooth]

This is probably not the best forum to ask this type of question, most on here take personal pride and interest in their car, as we are mostly Enthusiasts. We know what needs to be done and when a substandard job is done most of us know something in not right. The general public is different.

If Joe public beleive they will be getting a discount from their Ford Dealer by staying with them (10-20% off, which will probably bring them down to only 30% above an independant mechanic), they will more than likely be happy.

It's hard to change the culture in dealerships, however now is the best time in the last 10 years to do so. Qualified mechanics are more available due to the recession than before (not necessarily good ones).

Ford are in a very difficult situation, they are not in a position to take dealerships away from principles due to bad service as they still need them to sell their cars. If FORD can regularly take independant surveys of service customer from their dealers and rate them, then offer incentives to their dealers if they reach certain service levels, if the incentives are good enough more dealers will take service customers perception more seriously. It may encourage dealers to be more proactive with their customer service. At the end of the day, there will always be people you can't please (thats for all brands). And perception is as important as reality. If FORD called me after my bad experience with my Dealer and then came back to me with a reason or offer, I would go back and give them another chance. It can be an expensive excersice, and one their dealers won't necessarily be happy with and it won't bring quick sales of new cars. It's more about building the brand FORD, and doing what they can to make sure when their customers are dealing with the FORD brand their experience is as positive as it can be.

I previously instigated a similar process for a popular industrial powertools company when I was there, we followed up 60% of all customer that have had their tools serviced/repaired by independant dealers and company run service centres. Even when they weren't happy with the service they appreciated that someone from the BRAND asked them for their opinion and got back to them with some sort of answer even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear.

This is unlikely to happen as I doubt they are in a financial position to invest in the service experience, this is usually left to the dealers (as we all know, they are both good and bad).

So after a long winded speech, when their customer satisfaction is above 90% I will happly give them my business.

Sorry to be long winded.

[MR_SIDO]

Originally Posted by GQ_Smooth

If FORD can regularly take independant surveys of service customer from their dealers and rate them, then offer incentives to their dealers if they reach certain service levels, if the incentives are good enough more dealers will take service customers perception more seriously.

They do this mate. The only problem is the survey is sent after the first service experience after the purchase of a new vehicle. Generally everyone is happy after their first service. The good dealers survey their own customers every time a service is done.

An Incentive is given depending on the level of service, I cannot go into detail but rest assured that the incentives should make dealers work alot harder with their customer serevice.

[mrbaxr6t]

what would make me stay? Well I do pretty much everything myself, and if not I do as much of the particular job I am unable to complete as I can, at least this way I know the part of the job I did was right.

how about these for starters :

if the customer has a clue about cars and says something like "the problem is xxx" at least investigate what they have suggested

when fault is a slamdunk (is known exactly what the problem is with absolute certainty) have the parts on hand to fix it when the car is due to arrive, nobody likes coming back because the repair shop "needs parts" that they were aware of needing ahead of time

if work is to be carried out by the apprentice, thoroughly check the work before it leaves the shop by a qualified mechanic

don't band aid the damn cars through the warranty period then all of a sudden once its out of warranty magically learn how to fix it, and charge like all hell as a result.

when cars arrive DOA and they are very near new say < 5000 kms find a reason why quickly, current model cars arriving to dealerships on flatbeds and tow trucks sends out a negative in terms of product reliability.

this is a very difficult one but can the staff have pride in the product they are selling, I know for me personally I take my car to people that at least own one, owning/driving one gives a greater understanding of the product, and how it is supposed to work

[The Yeti]

Nothing infact my car is under waranty and I wont take it to the dealer for service, I have this thing abotu actualy wanting the work that I pay for to actualy be carried out, (I'm funny like that) ive even paid my mechanic to fix things that should be warranty jsut so I dont have to take it back to the dealer 2 and 3 times to get it fixed correctly,