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AIBU?

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Original poster

To question Ford's morals...?

37 replies

Liquoriceallsort · 09/04/2014 18:03

Took my car in for a service and mot. It is a proper dealership. They phoned at lunch to say they recommend I have 4 brake pads and 4 brake disks replaced along with 2 tyres, the air filter and the washer bottle. Total of £1,000 plus £250 for the service and mot. I asked him to give me an hour to think about it, phoned dh who said that seemed excessive. I phoned back and asked if had actually failed the mot and they said it hadn't but probably would due to the brakes. I asked him to do the mot anyway. It passed.

Today I took the car into my local garage with the list of ailments Ford had given me and they said they would check it and let me know what they need to do. They had already ordered in all the parts anyway just in case.

Got a call an hour ago to say the car is fine, it has two brand new sets of brake pads and disks at the back and the two at the front are 50% worn. No charge and they even cleaned my car. I can't think of a reason this garage would be lying to me, surely it is in their interest to do work and charge me for it?

I actually feel disgusted that Ford tried to rip me off so royally! Should I write and complain or just learn my lesson and never darken their doors again?

Sorry for the long and rather boring rant!

OP posts:
ddubsgirl · 09/04/2014 18:10

had this with ford too fault could only be fixed by ford and they tried ripping me off oh boy did I let rip at them!

ddubsgirl · 09/04/2014 18:13

they wanted £150 for new battery Angry knew it wasnt that so we got a new for much less and oh guess what it wasnt the battery!!!

Original poster
Liquoriceallsort · 09/04/2014 18:14

Did you go back to them? I feel so enraged, I think I'm going to have to say something.

OP posts:
goodmum123 · 09/04/2014 18:27

I stopped using ford when my car was out of warranty. I was charged about 500 for a service, mot, clean and air con refill (which I felt they ripped me off as stopped working after a day but too much on to get it sorted!). I was not impressed and just never went back. Local garage fantastic and fair.

ddubsgirl · 09/04/2014 18:43

it was a fault with the immobiliser so only ford could fix it and fucked off that the warrenty didnt cover it!! I told ford what it was and still took them 5 days messing us around and saying its £100 a day as they couldnt get the pc to hook up to car Angry should have cost 800+ I finally lost it and cost 350 in end

Thymeout · 09/04/2014 18:46

I bought a 1yr old ex demo Ka. At its first service, at the Ford dealer where I'd bought the car, I was rung up and told 'the brakes are dirty'. It had only done 9,000 miles at that point, on normal roads.

I agreed to them doing the work, but wrote to Ford and asked if it was reasonable to expect that it would need doing at this point.

They rang me up, asked a lot of questions and said they would be in touch with the branch and tell them to refund my money. I then received a cheque in the post. Or rather, I didn't, because the manager had marked the envelope 'first class' and 'forgot' to put a stamp on it, so I had to collect it from the Post Office. His petty revenge, I guess, for getting him in trouble with HQ.

I think sometimes branches are under pressure to meet targets and he thought I'd be fair game, unlikely to query something as important as brakes needing repair. Ford might be interested in your experience.

littlemisssarcastic · 09/04/2014 18:49

I've never used a dealership for servicing or MOT on a car that's no longer under warranty.

I took my old banger to vauxhall a while ago to have a software update carried out. They quoted me one price on the phone, which I repeated back to them twice to clarify, only when I arrive with my car, it was suddenly double the price.
They swore blind that the lady on reception who quoted me the cheaper price wouldn't have quoted that price under any circumstances.

The lady in question who did quote me the cheaper price had gone home sick.
I then asked to speak to a manager, who came out from his office and quoted me even more!!!! Shock

I made such a fuss that it was done at the original price I was quoted.

They then didn't do the update because their machine was saying my car had the latest software, so I was charged £58 for vauxhall to put my car on a machine.

Due to the problems I had not being down to outdated software, I had to have the car put on the diagnostics machine. (My own mechanic advised vauxhall do this because his diagnostics machine didn't show anything up.)
Cost of diagnostics machine £120.

The service centre manager reduced this to £60 because of the bad experience I'd had so far and the problem was diagnosed.

3 weeks later, my car suddenly began overheating. I rushed it to my local garage and my mechanic scratched his head and asked me why I had removed the clips which clip the water hose on??
I hadn't removed anything.

I'll let you come to your own conclusions about what happened to my hose.

Thymeout · 09/04/2014 18:51

I bought a 1yr old ex demo Ka. At its first service, at the Ford dealer where I'd bought the car, I was rung up and told 'the brakes are dirty'. It had only done 9,000 miles at that point, on normal roads.

I agreed to them doing the work, but wrote to Ford and asked if it was reasonable to expect that it would need doing at this point.

They rang me up, asked a lot of questions and said they would be in touch with the branch and tell them to refund my money. I then received a cheque in the post. Or rather, I didn't, because the manager had marked the envelope 'first class' and 'forgot' to put a stamp on it, so I had to collect it from the Post Office. His petty revenge, I guess, for getting him in trouble with HQ.

I think sometimes branches are under pressure to meet targets and he thought I'd be fair game, unlikely to query something as important as brakes needing repair. Ford might be interested in your experience.

Thymeout · 09/04/2014 18:52

Sorry for double post!

craftynclothy · 09/04/2014 18:56

We always check whether it will actually fail on any of the things they suggest. Ours had to go on the diagnostic machine a fe weeks back at an extortionate cost to be told "Yeah it's probably a faulty circuit making the light come on £15 to fix". At the same time they do a general check of the car and it said that 2 of the tyres needed replaced (still legal but quite low and MOT was due this month). We got them replaced via Tyres On The Drive.

Dh then takes car in for service and MOT. What do they say? The other 2 tyres are getting low and will need replaced soon (along with quote for the work). They're bloody miles away from being illegal.

sazzle82 · 09/04/2014 18:56

It's a problem with main dealers in general. Not all main dealers but lots. Part of the company I work for sells 2nd hand cars. If something goes wrong customers always want to take thw car to a main dealer and not some 'back street' garage. We usually don't agree to this (unless only a main dealer can do it) because they are very expensive and will often quote for unnecessary but important items putting doubt in to our customer's head.

iloveeverton · 09/04/2014 20:27

Years ago a Vauxhall dealer quoted £1700 for repairs they couldn't even describe properly! We said no and took it to an independent garage for a full service and needed no repairs. Vauxhall garage now gone- surprisingly!

Same local garage came out last year, jump started my car (I'd left door open), towed it and charged it in the garage all afternoon. Wouldn't accept a penny- I paid in biscuits and tea bags! Car MOT and service by them today- new oil filter, oil change all less than £200.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 09/04/2014 20:37

Ford are on my shitlist at the mo. Three weeks they've had my car and they can't fix it because they can get the error code to come up on their computer. wtf happened to opening the bonnet and having a look? Hmm.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 09/04/2014 20:37

*can't

Molivan · 09/04/2014 20:44

I had exactly the same thing, was told I needed brake pads at a service at the dealership where I'd bought the car. I told them to leave it and I'd bring it back when I could afford it. Six months later it went through its MOT no problem with my local mechanic, who didn't even flag up a brake pad problem. I told him the Ford story and he said as far as he, and the independent test centre, were concerned everything was fine. Never went back to the dealership again.

DownstairsMixUp · 09/04/2014 20:49

I'd never use a dealership or Kwik Shit. DP is a mechanic so I am lucky because he knows how to fix cars and knows these places are a royal rip off! He sometimes helps friends and does their cars for a few beers if they get hold of the parts and you can see how much they actually rip you off. I get they need to make a profit but it's shocking how much they over charge on things. He doesn't have time to do it much anymore as he works 50 hours a week but he always recommends friends to a local garage here which is reasonable, facebook like pages tend to be helpful for finding local reputable ones to.

nutcasenan · 09/04/2014 21:08

Sorry to hear of these awful stories. We have taken our old Ford to main dealers very close to home and have been really lucky. I query brake pads each service and so far have been told all is well. Never been charged the extortionate prices you mention but this firm have been in area for many years. Just to give some hope to Ford customers..Perhaps it would be best to discuss prices before booking and if possible research opinions locally and on net.

pointythings · 09/04/2014 21:12

I must be the only person in the world who has never had a problem with main dealers... Mine is a mixed Ford/Nissan dealership, previously Rover, they have gone out of their way to minimise costs for me. To the point of telling me not to get my tires done there but to go elsewhere because it would be cheaper.

OohOod · 09/04/2014 21:27

Renault are horrendous.

The local Toyota garage is brilliant. They've done loads of odd bits and not charged too. Been going back to them for 8 years now. Bit sad not to be buying another Toyota but they don't have what I want :(

HauntedNoddyCar · 09/04/2014 21:33

I think a lot of main dealers are complacent and short sighted when it comes to customer service.

I put my Audi into a main dealer for a service. It was a few years old and I had had problems with a non Audi specialist wrecking something they were unfamiliar with. The Audi garage, when they eventually bothered to return my calls, tried to stiff me for a good 1500 quid's worth of necessary additional work. This included 'corroded fuel lines' which were so bad that they didn't think I should drive the car anywhere. I had to get shirty to get my own car back.

Managed to drive to another garage without bursting into a fireball where we put my car up on the lift and had a good look at my utterly unremarkable fuel lines. The car went through 3 more MOT tests without any of the work that was 'necessary'

Twats.

Woobeedoo · 09/04/2014 21:56

Me and the OH both drive Nissans. He has a Quamqat+2 and I have a Micra. I take mine to the dealership where I bought my car which is Vauxhall. OH takes his to a very large Nissan dealership near where we live.

My car passes its service in flying colours.
The OHs car always needs something doing to it plus on the past 4 occasions when he has got his car back, he's found some oik at the dealership has taken about £10 of £1 coins he keeps in his car for parking meters. Will he report the thieving little shit to the manager at the garage? No. Gah!

Noodledoodledoo · 09/04/2014 22:00

Very few Ford Dealerships are owned by FMC itself, they seriously impact on the brand name for them as some of the service is exceptionally poor.

Complain to Ford HQ and also to the Dealerships head office.

pointythings · 09/04/2014 22:27

The dealership I go to has a name in our area for being good quality, fair and reasonable - I reckon they sell a lot of cars as a result, it's only good business sense to keep the customer happy. I've been with them 12 years. Obviously not every dealership takes the long view, fools that they are...

CalamitouslyWrong · 09/04/2014 22:32

IME complaining to ford about shitty dealerships does nothing.

Original poster
Liquoriceallsort · 09/04/2014 23:14

Interesting and quite sad to hear these stories! It shouldn't be so easy to rip people off, it's shocking.

OP posts:
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