Hell, I'll go 400 miles away for a great deal. I have no need to put up with shitty local service from a bunch of country bumpkins who think working for a dealership somehow makes them special. want my money? Earn it.
On point: several weeks ago we got recalls on the brake booster / master cylinder leak from Ford on both the Expedition ELs (as some may recall, I paid to have the units replaced on my wife's because it was a total failure - which is quite alarming - you lose all front brakes when that happens). It was design defect, and Ford is currently "stocking up" on replacement re-designed parts, so they'll get to us who knows when for replacement. Ok; whatever. But we are also eligible for reimbursement of our replacement work before the recall (ok) but we have to have the local dealer inspect (to make sure the parts used were the newly designed part) and handle the paperwork. I went down and arranged to have the black EL with them for inspection the day before we were leaving town. They thought they'd have it back by noon if we dropped it the night before. I was courteous with them and had all my docs and paperwork ready to go. They seemed flustered, but whatever. So the day arrives, and the thing is not done even at 4 p.m., but they told my wife they'd get completed. I take her down and drop her off at 530; she goes in, they say its done, but won't give her any paperwork saying that was the case (I'm not going to drive away and leave her there on the word of these numbnuts). I tell her to get them to give her something in writing that proves the work was done. They know I am an attorney and I had them give me copies of all the paperwork they generated when I was down there last time (the docs tell the story, provide the truth). So she goes back in and tells them that - the service manager throws her hands in there and says "That's an attorney for you!" Besides being unprofessional, bad move in front of my wife. My wife lit her up (she did not raise her voice, there's none of that yelling bullshit). She waved me on and later told me what happened. They provided a signed document and my wife later tells me "we aren't buying anything from them."
My favorite was the service manager (and manager) told me part of the hold up was "we have to have a certified mechanic do the inspection since its warranty work" indicating that the bulk of the work on premises is not handled by certified mechanics. This dealership is generally a cluster - which is sad, considering 35 years ago it was a great place to do business and get work done. I even took cars there for body work rather than to dedicated body shops because they were so good. Never seen better free hand pen striping than came out of that shop. Anyway, nothing is what it used to be.
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