9 Ford shops out of 10 are places I wouldn't trust them to put a set of Lego's together properly...
I'm happy that you have found a good shop. You are definintely the minority. I've been through close to 10 shops with 2 SHO's and now a Contour SVT and I can say that NONE have been worth a damn. My experiences with Chevrolet haven't been much better. Try taking a Corvette into the same place where a Geo Metro gets serviced and not break out into a cold sweat!
I've been screaming for years that Corvettes should also be able to be serviced at Cadillac dealers...
Ford points to the dealers and say there's nothing they can do, their hands are tied, blah f***ing blah. The dealers come up with every BS excuse under the sun for the blatant trashing of cars, part-swappers that haven't any business working on a lawn mower, etc., etc. In the end, they do their damndest to pawn any mistakes off on the customer on his/her own time and dime. How do I know? I took my Countour in to a shop in Tulsa (Tulsa Auto Collection) to get a motor mount fixed. The problem was that the mount never was bolted down properly from day one. It came from the factory missing a nut on one of the bolts!!! I get it fixed and talk to the mechanic about it. This is when the only mod I had on the car was the intake. The guy flat-out stated that whoever installed the intake must have removed the damn nut!!! I bare-faced called the mech. an idiot because:
1) I was the guy that did it and I KNOW the difference between a bolt for a motor mount and a bolt fastening the air box down and
2) The bolt showed NO signs of wear, rust or anything. It was a FRESH bolt, which tells anyone over a room temperature IQ that a nut had never been placed on the bolt!!!
Sure enough, on the report it was stated that the owner's aftermarket modifications could have caused the bolt to have been misplaced, etc. Under the threat of bringing in an attourney and suing for libel and slander, I had the shop manager change the report, because God forbid if I ever have to bring the car in for something else, I'd most likely have a tech look at this and try to void parts of my warranty to save Ford a couple of measly dollars...
Point is, I know there are thousands of other totally disgusted Ford owners out there considering other cars from other manufacturers simply for the SOLE reason of the dealer screw-ups that is almost a trademark of Ford dealerships. If Ford had ANY intelligence whatsoever in this matter, they would wake the hell up and realize that it's PRECISELY this type of dumb-a$$ activity that is draining them of future car sales. I don't care what anyone says, crap like this WILL EFFECT A COMPANIES BOTTOM LINE. Ford needs to wake up to this fact and do something about it, instead of letting the dealer's totally wreck what little reputation that Ford has left. Like it or not, dealerships are most likely the ONLY REPRESENTATIVES of Ford that a customer will ever deal with, unless they've the intestinal fortitude of going through the loop with the joke that passes itself of as Ford customer service. Someone said it right when they said they are definintely batting for the dealerships instead of the customer...
I don't care if Ford makes a 500HP AWD 2800lb. 4-door sedan under $25,000, I'll never buy it because of the service I'd have to put up with. They have PERMANENTLY lost me as a future customer, which is a damn shame because I really like the new Cobra and I've always had a crush on the Lightning.
I just can't stand the thought of putting a $30k+ automobile in the same hands that have close to a .900 batting average of f***ing any and everything up that they get their hands on. Cars need maintenance; it's a fact. From a Ferrari down to a Yugo, there will be something that will need dealership attention from time to time.
This is why Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Infinity or Lexus will be getting my dollars next time around. I know their dealer service (as I've friends or family with at least one of the above manufactured cars). I LOVE my Contour SVT to death, but God-almighty, the trips to the dealer for maintenance are like preparing for a Supreme Court hearing. I bring my video camera and shoot the interior, exterior and engine bay, while paying special attention to my rims. I MAKE SURE that the service manager sees me doing this. I write down the mileage on my car and I make sure they see this as well. I tell them I will be checking the wheel-wells for any beaded rubber (sure sign they been doing burn-outs). I tell them the precise problem I've been having and before they DO ANYTHING corrective, to call me first. In short, shops HATE when I bring my car in, but I've no choice anymore, given the piss-poor service I've consistently received.
I'll gladly quit my job and become a full-time consultant for Ford on their service and dealership practices if they will pay me 3% yearly of the lost business I can prove from dealership screw-ups and activities in their shops. At that rate, I could retire a multi-millionare within 2-3 years. I'm serious as a heart-attack, too. If anyone from Ford reads this, hit me up, as things need IMMEDIATE improvement and I'd love to help Ford out while lining my pockets with tons of cash...
That's just a horsesh^t response!
They apologize but for them to hot rod my car when I trust them with it is inexcusable. If they would hot rod my car I wonder what else they would do. They are not the kind of people I like to deal with.
