With all the threads on negative Ford service...

[Bronco III]

My dealership has been great from ordering my OB through service and recalls. I had my first oil change at their Quick Lane and later found they didn’t put enough oil in, wouldn’t even show on the stick. When I called the dealer, they had me bring it in and ended up doing another oil change because they couldn’t determine how much to add. My thought is, Quick Lane is a service, not a shop, and the guys doing the work are not mechanics but employees who are shown how to change oil, rotate tires, etc. I’ll be getting my oil changes at a local garage from now on.

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[PugDad]

Advised me to buy a different brand vehicle?
Just kidding Ford Motor Company!!!

 

[Weston52]

My 2021 BB is my first new car purchase since 1976 so I haven't been in the dealer service mode. In fact I skip right by the dealer and go to the independent shop I've dealt with for 25 years for all my cars. However, in the past 6 months I've had three dealer service experiences at Jim Ellis Ford in Atlanta/Sandy Springs.
The first in the spring was for the fuel injector recall. Once they finally had the parts, I called and they offered to pickup the car and return it when done. Very easy good experience.
In early July it was time for an oil change and my wife was out of town so I thought I'd try the dealer pickup thing again. Again everything went well and I was happy to tip the driver when returned. As a constructive comment, I'll mention that when you do this the date seems to be at least a week away, if not more, and you will get gobs of texts saying they're coming in advance. I also asked for "The Works" not entirely sure what that entailed and couldn't determine what the cost was on-line when scheduling it. In any event, everything went well as before. The tab was about $110 compared to $78 at my regular shop for full synthetic. Apples to oranges comparison? I dunno but it was a good experience.
The third time was the past couple of weeks. I experienced a rough loss of power under hard acceleration and got a check engine light. Ford texted me twice within a 1/2 hour about the engine miss and urged service. That was the Sunday before Labor Day weekend so thinking I had a warranty case I called the dealer on Monday and best I could do was that Friday at 7:30 am. I was told to expect to leave the car for a week. Turns out the 7:30 appointment was really just getting in the queue to have someone lay his hands on it later to determine the problem. The following Thursday I got a video from the tech holding up a critter chewed coil. So much for warranty work! The next day the service writer called to say they didn't have the coil in stock so it would be Monday. And indeed it was with a tab of $382 including the $28 coil.
Mixed feelings about that experience. On the hand, everything went well but the idea that I had to wait 4 days to get in, then a week to diagnose, and then another weekend to get it done seems kind of ridiculous for what I imagine was about two hours labor.
BTW, when you have a miss in a BB, you've lost 1/3 of your engine and it is noticeable!

 

[Bucko]

In reading through the responses so far, It makes me appreciative of what I do to perform my own repairs and maintenance whenever possible. Over the years, I've had lots (and lots) of vehicles in various conditions. Its a hobby of mine to buy and fix/restore them. having parts availability seems to be a common issue, and a major holdup in getting a vehicle repaired.

It saves me a lot of coin, but I also realize that not everyone likes to work on a vehicle, so the dealers and repair centers need to work on a way to get a vehicle in and get it repaired in a reasonable timeframe.

I say again, I hope these dealers or manufacturers glimpse through these sites for valuable feedback from buyers.

 

[MJE]

Wow some great stories here! & some sadly not so great…
Purchasing for me was excellent my sales guy I would surely use again. Even if I found them basically because I can walk there quicker than I can drive there.

Really though for service I have 2 main things that standout & would get me to buy from them again (Advantage Ford).

1. My biggest complaint about the BSBL has been the seats. They actually changed out the seat bottom on mine under warranty to make sure it was a driver problem & not a vehicle problem. I would’ve told me to go pound sand, but they humored me more than most would’ve. FWIW it’s a driver problem, the fix made no difference.

2. Not the BSBL, but the Explorer previously. Heater went out under warranty, middle of winter, so not ideal. My last long road trip was rather miserable but it happens. I wasn’t planning on anything more than short city trips though so refused a rental/loaner when it was offered. Yes, a problem which didn’t take my car off the road, I was still offered a loaner for. & that was for some extended unknown period of time because there were no parts available. Sorry to all who can’t get one when asking even when you’re without a drivable vehicle.

 

[mtrm100]

I've always found my local dealer to be pretty efficient and honest. They've fixed one thing quickly on my warranty, service time is great and this last time they even collected and delivered my car back to me on service day. I don't think I have much to complain about.

 

[Flash]

I’ve had all positive experiences albeit no major issues.

edit : There’s not much quick about quicklane but it’s hard to find good help anywhere.

I agree completely. Went quicklane for the first time, was third in line at 7AM for an oil change and it took them until 4:30 PM to get it done. Turns out that if you want Quicklane to be quick you need to have a reservation for service. I did that on subsequent oil changes and I was in and out in an hour.

But back on topic, I've had two recalls taken care of in less than an hour each in my driveway and I can't complain about that.

 

[petegee77]

I agree completely. Went quicklane for the first time, was third in line at 7AM for an oil change and it took them until 4:30 PM to get it done. Turns out that if you want Quicklane to be quick you need to have a reservation for service. I did that on subsequent oil changes and I was in and out in an hour.

But back on topic, I've had two recalls taken care of in less than an hour each in my driveway and I can't complain about that.

From 7am to 4:30 pm ?!!!?! Totally exceptable ! So much for the Quick in Quicklane. I had a similar experience. Called up for an oil chang at 5K. "bring it in anytime" I was told. Got there at 8:30 only to be told, "I could probably get you in at 4 " I was planning on waiting so instead I uddered something like "bite me" and went to a Valvoline right down the street from my house. In and out in 1/2 hr. I'll try to dealer next time but I'll call for an actual appointment. That way I can use some of my 42000 points.

 

[bozer]

There was an excellent Ford dealership/service dept. in Escalon CA, but unfortunately, they sold the dealership back to Ford and Ford didn't reopen it. So, I took my Bronco Sport to Tracy Ford to have a recall done for parking lamp flicker. I'm heading back to the dealership today for the 3rd time because now the headlights aren't working. Fingers crossed they get it right this time, but my confidence in them is gone. I have a recall that needs to be done on my F250, but I don't think I'll be taking it there. It's so hard to find a good service department.

Update: I brought it back to the dealership for the 3rd time on Tuesday morning and didn't get my Bronco Sport back until Friday afternoon. I have an air tag on my vehicle, and I could see it just sat there for 4 days before they started working on it. It looks like they got it fixed this time, but it took a total of 6 days and 3 trips to the dealership just to get a fairly simple recall done. So, my search continues for a better service department.

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