I think everyone has a bad attitude about ford dealers and their work, but what you guys dont realize is that its not as easy as you think on our side of the table. I was a tech for a few years and decided to be a servise advisor since im trying to make my way up to manager. I get irritated when i see a lot of the things posted on here, and rather than be an ass, i would rather clear these items up if possible.
1: a tech doesnt neccessarily love warranty work because it usually pays about half the actual mitchell book time-and if you were a tech, you would feel the same way. you have to look at all sides of the issue, not just yours. if you get paid 20 bucks an hour, would you like to get put on a new job for the day making 10 dollars per hour? i think not, but work is work and we all have to put food on the table! the bottom line here is that work is work for a tech, and i know my techs would never turn away work of any sort-warranty of customer pay!!
2: everything in todays cars is electronically controlled including the engine, trans-automatic that is, abs, etc. just because there isnt codes doesnt mean they cant do anything with it, but it really leaves the technician in a bad position because intermittent concerns are a pain in the ass, and 85% of the time you never can duplicate the concern even when you ask the customer to ride with and help you find the problem.
3: dealers cant just replace your parts because they want to. MOST everything that is warranty gets sent back to ford for inspection. if ford determines that the parts isnt defective, the dealer eats the cost of the part and labor. some items do make there way to the trash like the rear ends out of the 02' and newer explorers with the rear end whine.
4: there is such a thing as after warranty adjustments. its actually called a P-05. the way it works is basically each customer who bought a ford under factory warranty gets 1 "get out of jail free card" as i like to call it-BUT its not totally free! ford ALWAYS asks for a contribution from the customer. it may be 50 bucks, or 250, but you will have to pay something.
i think there is a lot of confusion about the way dealers work and the techs as well, but we all need to realize that tech's dont get paid for working 8-5pm. they only get paid for completing jobs. if they spend 8 hours diagnosing your mustang for a tick noise and never verify the concern, they would be lucky to be paid 1 hour for it. sad but true. so rememeber that next time you go see the dealer. im not saying there isnt a fair share of dealers that dont help there customer out like they should, because i know there is. but you cant condemn us all for others actions! if anyone is in the neighborhood of Mattoon, IL 61938, i would be glad to help anyone of you out with any problems you had, modified or not! i have 5 ford techs at my dealership, and 5 chrysler techs. 4 out of the 5 ford techs are senior master techs and have been here for 13+ years, and the other is already a master tech, and i am a master tech as well. feel free to check us out at
http://www.pilsonauto.com/ my name is frank so let me know if i can help anyone out! hope this clears up a little of the confusion!!
frank