WTF is it with car dealers?

[marc11]

I mean really, when will the day come that dealers just sell honest cars at an honest price? Why do you always feel and often find like you are being bent over for a few bucks? Nevermind the ads in the paper, which are laughable when you read the fine print, but here is my story....

I had been looking for a used pick up for a few weeks, I knew I wanted something no more than 5 years or 80,000 miles, extended cab, v6, 4wd and prefered manual over auto. Looked at A LOT of trucks, most were trashed, one even had brand new GREEN coolant in the overflow, but Motorcraft GOLD in the radiator and the dealer was telling me it was okay...

Anyway, I find my now new to me 2004 FX4 with everything I wanted right in town at the local Ford dealer, now keep in mind, I live in a RURAL area, only a few thousand people in my town, but there are three other Ford dealers within 40 miles of me at least.

So this truck is not perfect, a few burn holes in the interior, it was dirty, but the body was perfect, no Carfax reported problems and mechanically it was sound, with just 64k.

I had one issue which was at about 4k to 4500 RPM the battery light would flash. I tell the dealer before we make a deal about this and he confirms it will be checked and or fixed, and rights it on the deal paperwork. A few days later I pick up the truck and he says the alternator "checks out" and they could not reproduce the problem.

I drive home, sure enough it does it again. Now normally I am not revving the engine past 4k, but I wanted to see if it was fixed and during the test drive I wanted to be sure there was no smoke or knocks or what have you.

So I call him and he says he'll call me back. Which he does and tells me "you're over revving the engine and over charging the battery". I call BS on this and hook a voltmeter up to the truck, at 4500 RPM the volts drop from 14.1 to 11, clearly the regulator or something else in the alternator is crapping out.

So I bring it back and they keep it for an entire day. They call me and ask "how do you rev the enging that high", I am like what? They say at 4k RPM the rev limiter is kicking in and that is the problem.

I tell them now freaking way, the engine makes peak power at 5250, and the rev limiter is at 6k. This is a FORD DEALER, and they do not know the rev limiter of a 4.0 motor?

I got into a shouting match with them, took my gear and told them I will take them to court.

But really, over what, a $100 part? I mean I only talked them down $300 when I purchased the truck it wasn't like I bent them over. But for $100 to $200 they are going to screw over a customer, in a small town, from a Ford dealer that is clearly hurting and should do all they can to bring business in. Especialy in the days of the iternet, where parts and information are so available, there are no more mysteries.

Rant over, I just can't imagine ever buying a Ford from them or using them for any other service, including parts.

 

[Jspafford]

Some dealers are just not all there. I would take it to another dealership who knows nothing of the problem, have them diagnose it and write you an estimate, then take it back to the selling dealer, hand them the "Genuine Motorcraft" estimate and tell them to call you when it's done.

 

[marc11]

I thought about that, but at this point, I do not want them touching anything on the truck. My wife said something really interesting, she mention imagine how they screw people who know nothing about cars? I mean, I have been building and tuning motorcycle and car engines for 20 years. It isn't like I do not know what I am talking about.

 

[dirtsquirt]

They all do it, save a buck, loose a sale,

Last night i went to help a friend of my wifes, she is a single gal, not really car smart. she was in the proccess of buying a car, i had looked it over for her, told it needed breaks, and 2 new rear tires, other then that it looked to be okay. So she makes an offer, with breaks to be done and 2 new tires. I took her there last night to pick it up, First thing i noticed brake dust on all 4 rims, so i investigate closer.

breaks had not been done But according to the dealer they had replaced the pads and turned the disks, I told them with what how and when did u do these breaks, So he gets the paper work from the service department how they had been done, My exact words where ( well u better rip your service manager a new ass) jacked up the car, took tire and break disks off handed it to them and asked them to bring me any new pads that were down to the sqeakers..... So of course i told her to walk away from the deal, now they will not give her deposit back!!! so i took some photos and today she will be talking to a lawyer...

SO just think about how many other like your wife said get scammed every year. ( and the best part) they told me they rotated the brakes)

 

[kennykenny]

( and the best part) they told me they rotated the brakes)

HA yea they drove it around the lot...and things rotated.

 

[marc11]

My mistake was taking delivery of the truck. I should have refused to pay for it and take delivery until it was fixed. No matter, alternators aren't expensive and will take no more than 30 minuts to swap out. Maybe I will "send" them my old one....

 

[snake]

Dirtsquirt, That is freaking unreal. You bust them open in a LIE and they won't give her the deposit back? What a bunch of scoundrels!

I bought an older honda from a friend for 1K- I was going to fix it up and sell it. They got it from an elder relative that had passed away. There were receipts in the glovebox, the honda stealership charged her NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS for replacing the two CV joint/axles (both sides) about 9 months earlier... funny, one of the CV boots was split open because of age and it was obvious that nothing had been replaced. Seems like there was another for a radiator that wasn't installed as well. What a bunch of theives!!

 

[Ozwynn]

not me. when I sold cars I would not sell a car I wouldn't drive. and they guy I worked for when we got the used ones in they got what ever they needed. what ever we found wrong got fixed, or if it was not cost effective to fix it either got shipped to mexico or sold as parts .......... I bought teffie's minivan from him and we haven't had too many problems, just things like having to put new brakes on it and I had to give it a tune up. He even gave me back the $60 for the battery I had to buy 2 days after we bought it.

 

[97BlackBetty]

My room mate just got a steal, personally I really like small town used car lots. Now you know that the guy is making a buck or two, but he is also willing to make you happy if he gets a return customer out of it.

My room mate just bought a Chevy Tahoe with 80,000 on it. The body is immaculate and the engine is sound, the whole drive train is good to go, and the dealer lubricated all of the suspension and changed all of the fluids before he left with it.

On top of that, my buddy got it for $4000 out the door. Brand new tires, and the brakes were new. The great part was, he didnt have the full 4000 when he bought it, he had 3 grand but was waiting for his next G.I. Bill to come in, so the dealer let him take it with a hand shake saying he would pay off the rest ASAP.

 

[dburton07]

some of the guys at the dealer down the road are just plain retarded. i needed lug nuts so i could put my center caps on. i was like, is there a difference in the lugs from my 93 and the 01 rims i had on (im just talking about the taper at the end) "ohh yea theyre different and wont work, the thread pitch is different......" are you stupid? i went back to my school where i was living for the summer, took a lug off an 03 and well wtf do you know....IT WORKED.....i still havent gone back to tell him to just quit his job cuz i know more than him.....