- Mar 11, 2013
- 6,904
- Boat Info
- Sara Belle
2005 Weekender 215
- Engines
- Mercruiser 5.0 mpi, Bravo III
I’m hoping to get some advice from you fellow Sea Ray’ers on what my next steps should be. I’m having issues with a Ford dealership and them getting my truck back from service. Sorry about the long post but it’s been 3 months and I’m at my wits-end.
I have a 2011 F150 Super Crew FX4 with the 1st Gen Ecoboost. My 1st new truck I purchased for my 1st new Sea Ray. It’s ran great over the past decade with just a few small service issues. Currently I winterize it and mainly use it for the boat in the Summer. It’s clean and only has 117k.
As some of you may know, we moved away from the disaster called Minneapolis/St Paul. In doing so we used the truck to haul household items back and forth to the new home we purchased in September. Truck handled as expected and made me appreciate owning one.
After a few weeks of moving into our new home, I noticed a gas smell whenever I parked, even though the truck still ran great. There is a local Ford dealership in the area and I wanted to bring the truck have them do an oil change (I usually do myself but no time with the move), so I thought they could look into the gas smell.
While there, I basically gave them my credit card. I asked to find the gas smell, clean the valves and fuel system, change the oil, they recommended changing the spark plugs, and I said go through the rest of the truck and let me know if there’s anything else. They called back a few days later and said they recommended the front struts be replaced because one was leaking, rotors and pads be replaced in the front, and that the 4wD hub wasn’t locking on the drivers side and to replace that as well. They said that the PCV valve had been stuck and that was probably where the gas smell came from and I would want to replace that. I said ‘great’, okay.
It was like you’d expect, the service manager stayed in touch but it took a few weeks to get some parts in. They called after complete and I went to pay and pick it up……then it went downhill.
After paying they gave me the keys. It was really cold out and we had some of our first snow on the ground. I went to start it and I heard what sounded like grinding, then when it warmed up a little it sounded like a diesel with a 4” muffler on it. I drove it directly back to their garage. The manager apologized profusely, took it to the back, and said it looked to be a hose that wasn’t in place. He said he’d like to keep it for a couple days and that he’d call me to come get it. After 1.5 weeks, because I never received a call, I started calling. They were not returning my calls. After week 3, I drove up there.
The service manager apologized and said he had been sick for two weeks and didn’t get a chance to call me back, and that I probably could have taken the truck home the day I left it there. However, the truck is in the back lot buried in snow so they’ll have to dig it out and asked if I could come back the next day. So I did.
The next day they gave me the keys, I started it and “phew”, all sounds good. I drive it out of the lot and then once I add throttle, the truck starts hesitating hard, like it’s missing. WTF?! So I turn around and back in the garage. I ask “Do you guys even test drive your repairs?!” ….more apologies…so I take them out for a ride, twice, and were able to replicate it. They also brought their head mechanic with.
They asked to keep it again. I explain to them that we’re in month two already and that it was ridiculous that no one could call me and that no one would return my calls. I said that I don’t need the truck because I have other vehicles but I do want to wash it and tuck it away for the Winter. More apologies…….
So here we are 3.5 weeks later….guess what - no phone calls. I called last Wednesday and told them this is absolutely ridiculous and I’ve been more than patient. The SM had said they wanted to replace some vacuum hoses and should have it done by Friday and would call me back….No call. So I called Monday morning …No call back. Then I called yesterday and got someone who got me to the SM.
9:00am“Yeah, we replaced the hoses and it seems to be running okay now. We have tech driving it around so you should be able to pick it up this afternoon.”
1:00pm (while I’m in a meeting). Voice Mail - “Well the tech said it might be still hesitating so we need to look into it more”
2:00pm - “Could you come to the dealership and we’ll take it for a drive and see if it’s still happening?”
At 3pm I show up and we go for a drive. It’s worse than it was and hesitating harder……more apologies and I’m pissed. He wants to keep it again and promised to call me today.
I told him, again, the truck ran fine before it came here with the exception of the gas smell. Did you put in crappy spark plugs - are they not gapped properly - did you get crud in the cylinders when cleaning the fuel system? It’s something “you” did. He claims they went over all of that and determined it wasn’t those issues.
Sorry about the long post, misspellings and punctuation (typing this on my phone), but I’d like to know your thoughts on what I should do now? It’s pretty clear these clowns don’t know what to do, and can care less about the truck now that I’ve already paid. It frustrates me because I have no confidence that my truck will be running properly and maybe cause something catastrophic down the road. The reason I decided to pay more at the dealership was for connivence and they’re supposedly factory certified with OEM warranties - please don't flame me for doing so, that can be different thread.
Thanks
Ollie
I have a 2011 F150 Super Crew FX4 with the 1st Gen Ecoboost. My 1st new truck I purchased for my 1st new Sea Ray. It’s ran great over the past decade with just a few small service issues. Currently I winterize it and mainly use it for the boat in the Summer. It’s clean and only has 117k.
As some of you may know, we moved away from the disaster called Minneapolis/St Paul. In doing so we used the truck to haul household items back and forth to the new home we purchased in September. Truck handled as expected and made me appreciate owning one.
After a few weeks of moving into our new home, I noticed a gas smell whenever I parked, even though the truck still ran great. There is a local Ford dealership in the area and I wanted to bring the truck have them do an oil change (I usually do myself but no time with the move), so I thought they could look into the gas smell.
While there, I basically gave them my credit card. I asked to find the gas smell, clean the valves and fuel system, change the oil, they recommended changing the spark plugs, and I said go through the rest of the truck and let me know if there’s anything else. They called back a few days later and said they recommended the front struts be replaced because one was leaking, rotors and pads be replaced in the front, and that the 4wD hub wasn’t locking on the drivers side and to replace that as well. They said that the PCV valve had been stuck and that was probably where the gas smell came from and I would want to replace that. I said ‘great’, okay.
It was like you’d expect, the service manager stayed in touch but it took a few weeks to get some parts in. They called after complete and I went to pay and pick it up……then it went downhill.
After paying they gave me the keys. It was really cold out and we had some of our first snow on the ground. I went to start it and I heard what sounded like grinding, then when it warmed up a little it sounded like a diesel with a 4” muffler on it. I drove it directly back to their garage. The manager apologized profusely, took it to the back, and said it looked to be a hose that wasn’t in place. He said he’d like to keep it for a couple days and that he’d call me to come get it. After 1.5 weeks, because I never received a call, I started calling. They were not returning my calls. After week 3, I drove up there.
The service manager apologized and said he had been sick for two weeks and didn’t get a chance to call me back, and that I probably could have taken the truck home the day I left it there. However, the truck is in the back lot buried in snow so they’ll have to dig it out and asked if I could come back the next day. So I did.
The next day they gave me the keys, I started it and “phew”, all sounds good. I drive it out of the lot and then once I add throttle, the truck starts hesitating hard, like it’s missing. WTF?! So I turn around and back in the garage. I ask “Do you guys even test drive your repairs?!” ….more apologies…so I take them out for a ride, twice, and were able to replicate it. They also brought their head mechanic with.
They asked to keep it again. I explain to them that we’re in month two already and that it was ridiculous that no one could call me and that no one would return my calls. I said that I don’t need the truck because I have other vehicles but I do want to wash it and tuck it away for the Winter. More apologies…….
So here we are 3.5 weeks later….guess what - no phone calls. I called last Wednesday and told them this is absolutely ridiculous and I’ve been more than patient. The SM had said they wanted to replace some vacuum hoses and should have it done by Friday and would call me back….No call. So I called Monday morning …No call back. Then I called yesterday and got someone who got me to the SM.
9:00am“Yeah, we replaced the hoses and it seems to be running okay now. We have tech driving it around so you should be able to pick it up this afternoon.”
1:00pm (while I’m in a meeting). Voice Mail - “Well the tech said it might be still hesitating so we need to look into it more”
2:00pm - “Could you come to the dealership and we’ll take it for a drive and see if it’s still happening?”
At 3pm I show up and we go for a drive. It’s worse than it was and hesitating harder……more apologies and I’m pissed. He wants to keep it again and promised to call me today.
I told him, again, the truck ran fine before it came here with the exception of the gas smell. Did you put in crappy spark plugs - are they not gapped properly - did you get crud in the cylinders when cleaning the fuel system? It’s something “you” did. He claims they went over all of that and determined it wasn’t those issues.
Sorry about the long post, misspellings and punctuation (typing this on my phone), but I’d like to know your thoughts on what I should do now? It’s pretty clear these clowns don’t know what to do, and can care less about the truck now that I’ve already paid. It frustrates me because I have no confidence that my truck will be running properly and maybe cause something catastrophic down the road. The reason I decided to pay more at the dealership was for connivence and they’re supposedly factory certified with OEM warranties - please don't flame me for doing so, that can be different thread.
Thanks
Ollie
