BEWARE: Dealer labor w/ Reward Points accessories

[I-gor]

Scored a hood air deflector and rear bumper protector using FordPass Reward Points only from accessories.ford.com. Didn't pre-purchase labor but saw it would be about $36 total for installation. Local dealer installed the same this afternoon...and wanted almost $400 in labor. Showed the service manager Ford's official website prices and he *very* begrudgingly obliged after about 20 minutes of back and forth. Said he was losing money and would stop installing accessories after I ruined it for everyone else (may have changed that last part about why he was stopping). So, pro tip: if you get accessories using FordPass Reward Points, confirm the dealer's labor price ahead of time. My guess is if you pre-purchase labor, you're going to to hunting for a dealer willing to do the work.

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[I-gor]

Bonus info: I was only there for about 90 minutes. Installs look great.

 

[davidg4781]

I've ordered a couple of accessories from Ford and had them sent to my local dealership. Wouldn't they come included and they just install it?

I wonder if they get any profit from the sale.

 

[I-gor]

I've ordered a couple of accessories from Ford and had them sent to my local dealership. Wouldn't they come included and they just install it?

I wonder if they get any profit from the sale.

Good question. If they did, it wouldn't be much. Total retail for both parts is about $200. Had everyting shipped to me and planned to do the installs myself but the unending heat wave changed my mind.

 

[Jmuns]

I've ordered a couple of accessories from Ford and had them sent to my local dealership. Wouldn't they come included and they just install it?

I wonder if they get any profit from the sale.

They definitely aren't installing accessories free of charge. They are going to always charge for the labor involved if they pull your car into a bay.

 

[I-gor]

They definitely aren't installing accessories free of charge. They are going to always charge for the labor involved if they pull your car into a bay.

Agreed. The issue encountered was the dealer trying to charge almost $400 in labor when Ford’s website quoted $36.

 

[Hat3]

Had the same type of deal happen to me at a GM dealership….so its not just a Ford dealership issue.

 

[Tigger]

If you want installed by Ford, then when purchasing the accessory include the installation. It is always cheaper than what a dealer charges.

It’s just like warranty work. Ford pays the dealerships less than what the dealerships would charge.

edit: also, if you pre-pay for the labor, the dealership has to do it at that price. Again, just like a recall, they must do it at what Ford pays them.

But, your dealership is not wrong in that they pay their laborer more than Ford is paying them, so they lose money on those installs.

 

[I-gor]

If you wanted installed by Ford, then when purchasing the accessory include the installation. It is always cheaper than what a dealer charges.

It’s just like warranty work. Ford pays the dealerships less than what the dealerships would charge.

Service manager actually said that if l’d prepaid for the installation he wouldn’t have honored it.

 

[Jmuns]

Service manager actually said that if l’d prepaid for the installation he wouldn’t have honored it.

They have to accept the install regardless of how they feel about it. When you prepay you choose the dealer at checkout. You'd probably have to make some calls to Ford customer service, but they would honor it eventually.

 

[Tigger]

Service manager actually said that if l’d prepaid for the installation he wouldn’t have honored it.

He is incorrect and would have installed. Parts department and general manager assure that or they are in trouble. But, I understand why he said it and hopes you do not do it in the future.

 

[I-gor]

He is incorrect and would have installed. Parts department and general manager assure that or they are in trouble. But, I understand why he said it and hopes you do not do it in the future.

Definitely planned to get the GM involved if the service manager hadn't "done me a favor" as he put it. Turnover for his job is so high at the particular dealer, I'm pretty sure when it's time for 10k mile scheduled maintenance in a few months he'll be gone and I won't have to worry about the ol' screw job if I go back there again. Still a really big if, though.

 

[Mark S.]

Local dealer installed the same this afternoon...and wanted almost $400 in labor.

LOL! Some of these people are shameless...

 

[db7512]

My dealership went so far as to have themselves removed from the order/ship to drop down on the accessories website. The parts department did order what I wanted but wanted to charge more for the accessories and labor than was listed on the website. I challenged it with management and they did eventually honor the listed prices for the accessories to include the listed labor charges. I paid with my points.

 

[HomePeace]

Agreed on the labor issue. Had the front deflector ordered. It arrived and they wanted me to drop off my car for an entire day and maaaaaybe they might get to it. Did it myself in 5 mins and ate the 17$ labor charge. Granted the dealership that would even do the labor was 4 towns over so that played into it.

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