Ripped off by my local Ford dealer.....

[shane96ranger]

Thanks for that.

Don't paint us all with the same brush.

Yeah, I agree. There are some really good mechanics at our dealers here - we have 4 major Ford dealers within 15 minutes of where I live. I seldom need to use them, but I take it there if it's beyond my capabilities.

 

[veefer800canuck]

That would kind of defeat most of the point of buying a newer (if not new) vehicle.

Mine is a '94, hardly dealer worthy for any repair due to $$$

And buying a new vehicle is financial suicide. Better to get a 2 year old vehicle with low miles and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

 

[adsm08]

And buying a new vehicle is financial suicide. Better to get a 2 year old vehicle with low miles and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

No, constantly buying new vehicles is financial suicide. And if you have enough money it is ok to buy a new one every few years.

I agree that it is better, for the average person, to buy a low mileage used car that is two or three years old though. Better yet if one has the presence of mind to drive their old car for a while to save up and pay cash instead of taking out a loan.

 

[tony314]

Thanks for that.

Don't paint us all with the same brush.

* man hugs you *

 

[doorgunner]

Mine is a '94, hardly dealer worthy for any repair due to $$$

And buying a new vehicle is financial suicide. Better to get a 2 year old vehicle with low miles and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

I try to buy a new one every 20 years...but my last 2 have been used vehicles....as long as I'm under $100-a-year-average for repairs...I'm good...

annnnnnd yes there are excellent/honest mechanics and some fair dealers......send me the names of all 3 of them when you get a chance....

 

[adsm08]

Another reason not to trust dealer mechanics or dealerships ( doesn't matter what company either ).

Yes, and you never hear about independent shops who charge for hundreds of dollars of work and do nothing.

We never hear about accountants, investment brokers, police officers, soldiers, lawyers, government officials, gas station attendants, or priests who do dishonest things.

I have dealt with a lot more dishonesty in independent shops than I have ever seen in dealership shops. I dealt with indy shops for 4 years before I started learning to do my own work. I have worked in dealerships for just about 6 years now. Frankly most of the things we do in the dealer shop that get people like you going are done to protect us from even worse reactions. If we tell someone we can't find the problem, you get pissed. If we tell you we did find the problem when we couldn't and just went to the most common fix to appease you and we are wrong, you get even more pissed. Then you call the owner, scream bloody murder, and we get it from both ends.

I agree that the guys Jim has been dealing with were in the wrong. That is why I advised him to take his business elsewhere. If he was close enough I'd tell him to start bringing it to my shop and I'd do his warranty work myself.


But you go and label us all as crooked just because we choose to work for the manufacturer, and not a mom and pop shop that has inferior diagnostic capabilities, less training, and uses lower-quality parts. So thank you for that. I really appreciate that indictment in light of the fact that my boss hasn't even acknowledged my presence for a week now after a long term customer has decided to take his business elsewhere after Down the Road Tire and Auto told him his truck "should pass state inspection no problem" but didn't put a sticker on it. I then found brake pads separating on both axles and an exhaust leak that they missed, both perfectly provable upon proper inspection and fully rejectable under PA's motor vehicle code and informed him of the needed repairs. I am now in trouble for running off a long-term customer because the tire shop down the road (probably the kind of guys you would go to) didn't do their job right but I did do mine.

I see you have a US Military banner in your profile. I bet you'd be awful pissed if I went and said that all soldiers are power-drunk, abusive, criminals over the few who were involved in the Guantanmo Bay, Quran burning, and Abu Gharib scandals.

That is basically what you have done to my profession. Slandered us all, rather severly, based on the actions of a select and non-representative few. To that end I will also have you know that I work hard for what I make. I upsell infrequently because nobody wants to do anything but the absolute minimum, I antagonize over every potential mistake I could have made, to the point that I sometimes don't sleep well at night, even though I am very good at my job. I sweat, and bleed, and this time of the year frequently end the day on a note of dehydration and heat-sickness despite drinking over 2 gallons of water and probably almost as much gatorade through the day, and still at the end of the week I couldn't support myself on what I manage to bring home. We live off my wife's income. Mine paycheck accounts for our emergency funds and student loan payments.

 

[Grey_04]

adsm08, i agree with you. wish i could give ya rep but i must spread the wealth first.

 

[Ozwynn]

rapped him for ya

 

[Grey_04]

rapped him for ya

cool tks

 

[aspevacek]

Mine is a '94, hardly dealer worthy for any repair due to $$$

And buying a new vehicle is financial suicide. Better to get a 2 year old vehicle with low miles and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

Financing a vehicle is financial Suicide. Pay cash for what you buy. I own 3 vehicles and have 3 titels in a lock box at my house. Each oen was paid for the day I took it off the lot. Using credit to make major purchases is a huge problem and cause of the problems America is havign today. Most people in America do not have money in the bank to cover 6 months worht of exspenses if an emergency happens. I have been out of work since October 2010 because of a work related accident. I was terminated when i filed Workers Comp. They toyed around with my workers comp monies over and over again. The only thing that kept the wife and I afloat and able to deal with the issues is the fact we have been debt free. Living on 40 to 50% of your normal income is hard to do but with out unneed exspenses such as car payments and credit card debits it is alot ewasier to handle.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You guys are that underpaid there adsm? That sucks brother. Our shop isn't flat rate, we are hourly and we are a union shop. I bring home over 60k a year.

 

[Ozwynn]

sorry bro... but I am self employed........ short term loans are a way of life. I have a $20,000 line of credit for major repairs and another $10,000 line to buy fuel for 3 weeks in the event I got a slow paying customer.... but when the FMCSA allows my customers 90 days to pay I have to make expenses for 90 days....... for me thats about $40,000.

now because of this...... I don't finance anything I can't just write a check to pay off but I have to have a payment on something or my credit score goes down and my interest rates go up.

 

[doorgunner]

annnnnnd yes there are excellent/honest mechanics and some fair dealers......send me the names of all 3 of them when you get a chance....

awwwwww ads_.........me & my buddy Prozak was just yankin your chain...sorry bout the bruises on your neck.....


(don't reply to this...I'll forget that i even posted in this forum....the little red face is the only thing that got my attention in the first place...)

annnd another thang...all this cryin/whinin about gettin ripped off by mechanics/dealerships...apparrotly, nome of you met my 1stwife yet...

 

[Jraymer360]

awwwwww ads_.........me & my buddy Prozak was just yankin your chain...sorry bout the bruises on your neck.....


(don't reply to this...I'll forget that i even posted in this forum....the little red face is the only thing that got my attention in the first place...)

annnd another thang...all this cryin/whinin about gettin ripped off by mechanics/dealerships...apparrotly, nome of you met my 1stwife yet...

Lol this guy is cracking me up

 

[adsm08]

You guys are that underpaid there adsm? That sucks brother. Our shop isn't flat rate, we are hourly and we are a union shop. I bring home over 60k a year.

No, I personally am. It has very little to do with my hourly rate and much more to do with my position in the shop.

We are a flat rate shop and up until recently we barely met the minimum requirements for maintaining shop competency with only 3 out of 9 techs actually having any Ford certification, the shop foreman who isn't allowed to work on cars at all, our head diesel tech who only works on diesels and is still a month behind on his work, and me. We recently hired a second diesel tech and a guy for major gas engine and auto trans who are both master certified, but do mostly customer work because of their particular specialties.

Guess who does about 90% of our tech-competency warranty work. Until these two recalls on the 11 and 12 Focuses came out I was averaging about $325 bring home. My last two paychecks were around $450 because everyone who comes in for the recalls wants their oil changed and tires rotated, if I really bust my butt I can get the 12b37 updates, the wiper plug recall, and a Works done in about 35 minutes. At my old shop I could hit $500 easy.