I Agree With Farley - Dealerships need to change

[missileboy]

Sure there is, when a defective vehicle is sold and a rental is paid for because the defective vehicle is now getting fixed. Cheaper now?

you assume the dealership will give you a rental. More and more rentals or lenders vehicles are not being offered, just a ride home and/or a pick up.

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[v8440]

you assume the dealership will give you a rental. More and more rentals or lenders vehicles are not being offered, just a ride home and/or a pick up.

That is very true. However, ford can't count on a dealership NOT giving a rental. When this happens, it increases the cost to ford for a defect pretty substantially. That's what I was getting at earlier.

 

[B-real]

Well, neither the dealer or Ford is legally required to provide a loaner or rental vehicle. Loaner vehicles are at the expense of the dealership, hence why many went away from providing those. Sometimes if a warranty repair is going to be over a day or more Ford will cover the cost of a rental, but that also seems to be less and less common. Gotta cut those costs somewhere so that the shareholders still get their returns since the EV scene hasnt returned anything for them.

 

[Pelican]

These are vehicles that have never been sold, there is no rental involved. I don't get where you think it's short sighted because it's the truth, (I doubt the instructor lied to me).

If Ford had to shut down it's assembly line for every vehicle with a problem, it would get very expensive VERY fast so I can understand why they do it from a financial stand point. Doesn't make it right or better, it is what it is.

I'm not questioning what you shared. I have no reason not believe you. I believe you may have stopped short. Let me explain... if Ford decides to roll a defective vehicle off the line, transport it to a dealer for sale and the dealer sells it before making the repairs, then it has been sold and would require a rental.

I'm certainly not claiming to be an expert on manufacturing, but if part suppliers are failing to QC test enough of their parts before they make it to the assembly line and a defective part gets installed, then it's time to find a new supplier.

This whole thing reminds me someone going to a doctor and telling the doctor ...you know everytime I do "x, "y" happens. The doctor says, I have pill for that. Prescribing instead of or without trying to find the root cause of the issue is just putting band aid on it. That patient will be back to the doctor just as the buyer will to the dealership. What a waste of precious time, not to mention money and reputation. Just my 2 cents - although, it's may be worth a lot more now with some retailers paying for pennies.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

this is it right here in a nutshell

I suppose it always has to do with what market you’re in.
I’ve only had my truck in for a couple things, but it hasn’t been more than a week before I was able to get it in
Same thing when I had the Toyota.

One must keep in mind that dealerships are privately owned. For grilling does not have a huge amount of control over said dealerships.

If you’re in a big city, yeah you might have issues getting your stuff in to get worked on. You’re in a more rural setting like I am. It’s really not too hard to get it in to get almost anything done.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

Well, neither the dealer or Ford is legally required to provide a loaner or rental vehicle. Loaner vehicles are at the expense of the dealership, hence why many went away from providing those. Sometimes if a warranty repair is going to be over a day or more Ford will cover the cost of a rental, but that also seems to be less and less common. Gotta cut those costs somewhere so that the shareholders still get their returns since the EV scene hasnt returned anything for them.

well, that really depends on if you have an extended warranty. An extended warranty, and quite a few cases has a rental car clause that Ford has to comply with.

 

[rtf150]

Sharing the article and the quote...

State Franchise Law Carjacks Auto Buyers | Mercatus Center

Virtually all states require auto manufacturers to sell new vehicles through local franchised dealers, protect dealers from competition in Relevant Market Areas (RMAs), and terminate franchises with existing dealers only after proving they have a “good cause” to do so. These state laws harm consumers by insulating dealers from competition and forestalling experimentation with new business models for auto retailing in the twenty-first century. A pro-consumer policy would make franchising, exclusive territories, and termination protections voluntary rather than mandatory. Under voluntary contracting, these business practices could still survive when their benefits to consumers exceed the costs.

 

[RLXXI]

I'm not questioning what you shared. I have no reason not believe you. I believe you may have stopped short. Let me explain... if Ford decides to roll a defective vehicle off the line, transport it to a dealer for sale and the dealer sells it before making the repairs, then it has been sold and would require a rental.

I Didn't stop short, we had to repair those vehicles BEFORE we could put them on the lot to be sold. Hence why I stated for the other guy, NO RENTALS INVOLVED.

Every new vehicle has to undergo a (PDI) Pre Delivery Inspection, we did that to make sure our customers did NOT get a defective vehicle off the lot, we checked them for NVH concerns, removed all shipping plastic, made sure everything worked, THEN it get's washed and put on the lot. This is a dealer standard that is paid to dealers by Ford to catch such things.

 

[WalterMitty]

No disrespect intended, especially since I agree with you 100%, but in the last 4.5 years I have avoided the dealership for ANY kind of service other than the ONE warranty claim for a sheared Max Tow axle bolt.

No way will I do elective business with them. (tires/alignment)

For decades I gave them my elective business. Things deteriorated so significantly during/since Covid that they will have to earn my trust back. Not an easy task.

And it is not just the Blue Oval dealership service department.

THIS!

I bought my truck from Granger, which for me is 338 miles away, so there wasn’t a chance to use them for any service. I did the first oil change myself, just to get to learn the truck a bit, and just for the heck of it. Since then, I take my truck to a Ford dealership that isn’t that far away, but I there are half a dozen that would be closer. I have been lucky with the current one as they do great work at a fair price.

Recent example was the engine air filter. I almost always do this myself in all my other vehicles since it’s so easy and the up charge by dealers or even oil shops is ridiculous. My Ford dealer was maybe a few bucks more than a what I could buy the filter for so I said go for it.

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