Xar

Last night my "low oil level" warning went on, called the dealer.... no answer... this was 2 hours before they closed... Got home, called again... no answer. Checked the oil, low - check oil life, 26%. I'll call for an oil change in the morning.

Called up, got service, told them the issue, said bring it on by, got an appointment for Saturday for the oil change.

Went there after work, pulled in, service desk on the left. Two older trucks are there, 6 blue shirts. I park and get out, not greeted. I figure they must be busy and they need the car to rest 10 min to check the oil level anyhow so I check my work phone for e-mails.

15 min later someone asks if I need help, I say yeah, explain the issue. He looks me up in the computer, points over to Jim and says, "Jim has paperwork on you, he's the guy on the phone". Fine... I go stand by Jim. He gets off the phone 2 min later, is dumbfounded about any paperwork, looks me up, says he's my guy for Saturday... so basically the first guy didn't want to do any work... I sigh, say ok... what do you think...

This is the fun part.

Jim - There is no way your car is low on oil.
Me - well, the oil level warning is going on every time I start the car
Jim - that's the oil life
Me - no, it's not
Jim - looks at me like I'm an idiot, yeah it is
Me - Here, start the car and see for yourself

Jim starts the car reluctantly, is shocked to see I can actually read? Looks through the screen to try and reset the warning... finally finds the reset button, resets the screen, kills the engine, starts it again....

Me - Hrm.... looks like the warnings still there, wanna check the oil level
Jim - yeah, sure... give me 10-15 for the engine oil to settle, but these things shouldn't be low on oil after 4k...
Me - yeah, well, lets check it and see

Jim is gone doing god knows what for 20 min, comes back... here's the kicker - doesn't know where the dip stick is... I have to show him....

Guess what? it's LOW ON F'N OIL! Had you checked the oil level when I got there you wouldn't have wasted my time....

Jim then takes another 10 minutes to get the oil, I make sure it's the right oil - obviously Jim is rather clueless.... It is, I let him fill it up and off I go...


I don't like to compare, but.... - wife and I have bought 2 other cars from another dealership (not Ford), when we show up, they work hard to keep my business, work me in if I have an issue, and LISTEN... I just bought a 40k car from this Ford dealership 2.5 months ago, has the art of customer service left for this dealership, or is this a Ford thing in general?

Should I just contact the service manager about my complaint, or should I take this up with Ford Corporate.... Or am I being a overly sensitive...

I'm also not happy that when I bring it in next Saturday they won't let me supervise their work (insurance thing).... is that BS or real... There are 2 other Ford dealers near by, maybe I should take it to them....


Oh, and once he found out it was really low on oil - he asked me if I was driving it at excessive speeds. I told him yeah, I've had fun but only for short periods. He tells me they have guys come in who are driving 120-130, and the computer keeps track of your top speed. I look at him and tell him I drive spirited, not stupid, I haven't tracked it, I have not gone that fast. So, he basically blames me on the oil thing for driving fast.....

Thoughts?

Supra

Its not a "ford" thing. And It doesn't matter where you go, theres always gonna be "those" guys that you deal with sometimes that are of absolute no help whats so ever.

And in his defense he is a service writer, not a tech of any sort so I wouldn't expect him to know where to check the oil or what kind of oil it needs. His job is to deal with customers, and yes it could be argued that he didn't do a good enough job.. But im really not too sure what your complaining about?? His lack of knowledge on the car?

And the insurance thing is true. And as an ex tech I hated having the car owner over my shoulder when im working on a vehicle.

2k7gtcs

Stupid question...

Can an owner not check the dipstick in these new cars?

Xar

I did check the oil that night before I called ford, I just wanted to pop by and pickup a quart of oil and put it in myself, they insisted on doing it for me in the morning when I called, I said ok, it was the experience at the dealership that was not as I had expected.

I take it I'm being a bit over sensitive with the issue so I'll see how Saturday goes...

2k7gtcs

I wouldn't say you were being too sensitive. ****ty service pisses me off.

But I'd have just put a quart in and saved myself the hour or so. I'd expect on any given day to probably experience the same at my dealer. It sucks. But I can always go in to the GM since I know him though I never have as of yet.

Flagstang

I would say bad service is a dealer issue and not a ford issue. I have had service at many dealers and found issues at most. I have had work done at 7 ford dealers here in AZ and will onyl use two of them again. I have used 3 dodge dealers here in AZ and will never go back to any of them EVER! I could say the same for BMW, chevy, nissan and mitsu.


think of it this way... ford and all other car firms what a dealer to give amazing world class service.. and that means selling and working on the car. it makes them look good and sells more untis.

SD CALSPCL

You should get a survey from Ford. Drop a dime on them. Believe me, Ford and the other companies all read those surveys. Several years ago, I took my new Passat GLX in for an oil change. When the car came out, I had oil stained beige carpets, leather door panels and steering wheel. It was bad. I went right back to the service manager and had it taken care of immediately. They put three people on it. Very apologetic.

So, VW calls me and asks about the service. I tell them all that happened, thinking I was giving the dealer a kudo for the way they handled it. Well, VW didn't think so, the dealership owner called me on Monday and asked if I would stop by. When I got there he had an e-mail from VW Corporate giving them 24 hours to talk with me and insure I was a happy customer. I explained I did not make a complaint, but thought I was just telling VW what a great job they did after the fact. I had the owner, service manager and tech in the meeting. They used the "incident" as a learning experience for all the techs.

Long story short, do the surveys. Sorry for running on....

Xar

Thanks all - I'll do the survey.

Although my job doesn't deal with people, I manage a group that is basically customer service for the rest of the production part of my manufacturing plant (we take orders for product to be delivered and coordinate it, inventory control of every aspect basically). To me, even if another department in my own company gets bad service by my team I talk to the offending individual. I understand what my team goes through, but we are service oriented inside our own plant, our customers need to still be treated that way.

I'm sure that's why I found the experience sub-par. I would have just bought a quart of oil from the parts department had I known it was going to be an issue... lesson learned.

yugoboss

The first thing i would have done being the dealer is have a tech check the oil level. Pretty simple, then go from there. The service advisors are about as dumb as they get, no car knowledge what so ever.

cdynaco

Engine yes. Auto trans NO.

POS VETT

Argh, this kind of story makes me not want to bring mine in and it needs several things already.

I've been searching for a local Ford technician who belongs to a local forum/board to no avail.

firetruck

no free oil changes for me. I'm 62 yrs old and still change my own oil. I can simply do it better with more TLC.

Rather B.Blown

I'd be more upset about the fact that my brand new $40K car was using enough oil for the warning to come on than what happened at the service desk.

AzPete

Were you talking to and dealing with service writers or the tech that works on the car? The service writers are so limited on knowledge it would not surprise me. If it was a mechanic...there are bigger problems with that dealer.

The dealer I use is pretty good. Any issue in the service writers area is addressed by a tech supervisor with me right there. In fact, today the service writer said he prefers not to get dirty as he called a tech for another vehicles problem. I had an oil change and cabin filter change done in 20 mins. from the time I pulled in.

MyStang2010GB

wait.... the 2013 has a low oil sensor now??

UnrealFord

Hmmm ,they must have added that because the 5.0s use oil, especially during its first 10,000 miles..

MyStang2010GB

My 2012 Boss could have used that feature !!

AzPete

I guess checking the oil level every once in a while has gone out of style.......rely/wait for a light and then drive it more....

Mustang Freak

I definitely agree with that!!! Where did the oil go!?! But definitely fill out the survey and good luck on the leak!

Rather B.Blown

I guess they decided that a message on the cluster was a better warning than the loud knocking that the '11-'12 had to let you know it was low.