2025 Lobo in the shop

[ramrodder]

Took my 2025 Lobo into Ford for a check-engine light and the trailer/towing recall. Not happy that a 1 year old truck with 10,500 miles on it needs to have it's engine checked, but here we are.

Dropped it off at Ford dealer on Friday at noon. After me calling 3xs and not receiving updates from my "advisor," finally got a call back and was told that Friday's appointment was just to drop it off for the advisor to process and get it ready to get checked out, which wasn't going to happen until later afternoon yesterday. As as of 10:20 AM, still not call with an update.

Since the dealership didn't have loaners, despite thousands of cars on the lot, here I sit with no vehicle and a FT job waiting for me.

Is it normal for a Ford dealership service department to have your vehicle for nearly 2 days without starting the work and expecting people to just be ok with being stuck at home?

First time with an American car and not impressed by the service.

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[Drew304]

Welcome to the new world, if you’re lucky they will have a seat in the waiting room. Hopefully they figure it out quickly. I’ve had terrible luck at almost every dealer unless I was actively throwing cash at them.

 

[Blue_Max]

That seems to be the post-pandemic norm. Dealerships require you to make an appointment, but will make no commitment as to when they will do the work (let alone when they will complete it), and won't give you a loaner.

 

[HeyBales]

And nothing to do with Ford or American made car (include Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, VW, Kia/Hyundai, others in there!).

Any brand can have problem dealers in any area.
Check out some other forum complaints for other brands - same comments just depending.

And yes - pretty annoying to set an appointment, that means nothing for when actual work will start.

Some pretty good software ability today for inputting on current appointments the approximate work time - which could allow an auto-contact to the following appointments saying what's up for a delay, and stretching that out to next day - don't even bother bringing it in yet.
That could be done.

It makes sense why it happens. Dead time is no-making-money time - think any business really. At least the Dr and Dentist and nurses are still being paid. But not your auto-tech most likely.

But how they deal with it is up to the dealership.
Mine would do a work dropoff if requested - but now no way back home, unless they really finished with repair that same day and did a pickup.

 

[NIKwithoutaC]

My wife's then-new 2025 Honda Odyssey had a seatbelt sensor that died a month or two into ownership. It took two trips to the dealership and a total of 12 hours of sitting in the waiting room for them to fix it. This problem isn't unique to Ford dealerships.

 

[ramrodder]

Thanks for the feedback. I feel better knowing that at least this isn't an anomaly. I try to be patient, but with a FT and one car, it's annoying.

I should have bought the helicopter instead.

 

[notfast]

Is it normal for a Ford dealership service department to have your vehicle for nearly 2 days without starting the work and expecting people to just be ok with being stuck at home?

As someone that worked at a dealership, that is an unfortunate yes. Dealerships aren't like dentist's offices where, if you make your appointment for 1:00pm, then you're gonna likely get seen at 1:00pm.

An "appointment" for a dealer is just a courtesy notice. I'd say a solid 30% of appointments are no-shows, and unlike doctor's offices, there isn't a penalty for not showing up.

Then you have the outliers the other way that show up two hours early and are disappointed that their vehicle isn't on the lift when their appointment time hits.

As for loaners, that is a program that was reimbursed by the manufacturer for dealers to purchase inventory to use as loaners then sell them as certified preowned. Some dealers offer loaners that the dealership themselves now pay for.

Sorta sucks to spend however many tens of thousands on a car, not have it work, and not get a loaner. If enough people complain then something ought to change. But for now, their legal obligation is just to fix the car. Warranty disclosures typically say now that they aren't responsible for anything outside of repairing the car itself, such as loss of use.

Not all dealerships are the same, and it goes in both directions. If the dealership isn't generally busy and there is no wave of work or carryovers from yesterday then you'll probably get seen early. But I've been at both kinds of shops...those that have are constantly slammed with a week-long backlog and those where we're polishing our toolboxes waiting for something to come in the door.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Many Ford dealerships operate on a "triage" system rather than a strict appointment time. Even if you have an 8:00 AM appointment, that often only guarantees a spot in the queue for a Service Advisor to check you in, not for a Technician to put your car on a lift.

If the advisor gives you vague answers, ask to speak to the Service Manager. Dealers are very sensitive to CSI (Customer Service Index) scores. Mentioning that you are "not impressed with the initial experience" often triggers a bit more urgency.

 

[Randorita]

The only brand I have had experience with that has loaners is Lexus. You pay for that luxury, but they sure treat their customers well. Our dealer was 60 miles away and when we made an appointment, they asked if we wanted a loaner while they did the work. If you waited, they had a plush room with comfy chairs and free drinks and snacks. My Ford dealer has remodeled recently, but neither their Ford nor Toyota waiting rooms are like Lexus. And no loaners.

 

[710-oil-614]

If it is just a check engine light you should use Forscan or an OBD2 reader to pull the code to see what the issue is prior to taking it to the dealership. If you don't have one or won't get one - autozone will also pull the code for you and provide a print out.

I'm guessing it is likely P0462 or something similar.

The great thing about the Ford Protect extended warranty is that it provides rental coverage for your vehicle while it is in the shop and that is valid from the day you purchase the warranty.

 

[SorryDad]

Welcome to the new world, if you’re lucky they will have a seat in the waiting room. Hopefully they figure it out quickly. I’ve had terrible luck at almost every dealer unless I was actively throwing cash at them.

That's unfortunate - especially in this day and age of great competition among all the vehicle manufacturers. Last Friday was my first visit to the dealer where I purchased the vehicle and while the dealership was nice and good amenities, there were definite gaps in the service that I had gotten accustomed to with my former Subaru.

 

[SorryDad]

Took my 2025 Lobo into Ford for a check-engine light and the trailer/towing recall. Not happy that a 1 year old truck with 10,500 miles on it needs to have it's engine checked, but here we are.

Dropped it off at Ford dealer on Friday at noon. After me calling 3xs and not receiving updates from my "advisor," finally got a call back and was told that Friday's appointment was just to drop it off for the advisor to process and get it ready to get checked out, which wasn't going to happen until later afternoon yesterday. As as of 10:20 AM, still not call with an update.

Since the dealership didn't have loaners, despite thousands of cars on the lot, here I sit with no vehicle and a FT job waiting for me.

Is it normal for a Ford dealership service department to have your vehicle for nearly 2 days without starting the work and expecting people to just be ok with being stuck at home?

First time with an American car and not impressed by the service.

Sorry to hear your new Lobo is already throwing a check-engine light. In my previous experiences, those are the most annoying errors that repair return rate was high. Hopefully, the vehicle will smooth itself out over the years and prove to be fun and reliable; that's what I'm hoping for with my Lobo. If it proves otherwise, I'll have no qualms about off-loading it to Carvana or some such. And as for buying another Ford, then that door will be closed.

As for the dealer experience, I had my first Ford experience last Friday for routine oil change/tire rotation. While the dealership's waiting area was modern and nice, the moment from check-in through final delivery was ok; there were some definite gaps in the experience. (My last car, a Subaru, had been far better customer service experience from the moment I checked in through the garage until final delivery.) Hopefully you have another Ford dealership you can try and hope for better experience.

Overall, wishing you good luck, though!

 

[tiktokbrainrot]

All dealers have declined in service, Ford in particular has had a very bad year or so of losing technicians at a rapid pace.

None of the ford dealers around me have a good reputation. Same with the Chevys. There's one reputable Dodge dealership, the VW dealership I use, and one of the three Toyota/Honda dealers i've heard is pretty good.

The moment my vehicles are out of warranty I get familiar with 3rd party shops. Got a couple of real good ones around me.

 

[babytruk]

I shop for vehicles and I shop for service departments. I have found a few good service departments but not always linked to the best sales pricing. I do lose the “loaner” deal if I didn’t buy the vehicle there.

 

[WJOHNM]

Took my 2025 Lobo into Ford for a check-engine light and the trailer/towing recall. Not happy that a 1 year old truck with 10,500 miles on it needs to have it's engine checked, but here we are.

Dropped it off at Ford dealer on Friday at noon. After me calling 3xs and not receiving updates from my "advisor," finally got a call back and was told that Friday's appointment was just to drop it off for the advisor to process and get it ready to get checked out, which wasn't going to happen until later afternoon yesterday. As as of 10:20 AM, still not call with an update.

Since the dealership didn't have loaners, despite thousands of cars on the lot, here I sit with no vehicle and a FT job waiting for me.

Is it normal for a Ford dealership service department to have your vehicle for nearly 2 days without starting the work and expecting people to just be ok with being stuck at home?

First time with an American car and not impressed by the service.

I had a appointment yesterday 5k second oil change I always dump oil at 2k its free dealer pays, needed state inspection and 3 recalls I only did 2 I didn't want them to take my dash apart for a clip so I elected out of that one, I figured change the oil and rotate the tires too, they had a $89 dollar special, inspection is always free at my dealer.
I could watch from waiting room as they worked on vehicle, tech let the oil drain a long time, he cleaned his area while oil was draining and dripping I used to do the same thing, I was happy to see, than rotated tires front to back took 45min for all that, than recalls all software 3hrs for that he kept checking to see if it was done, am assuming slow internet, tech worked on another vehicle while it was running checking laptop in my vehicle every so often. I was there for 4hours total.
At 1k I lost my power steering and all I mean all my warning lights came on, including check engine, obviously a software problem I waited a month for a loaner, I had no
power steering, warning lights mean nothing in most cases, I only drive a few miles a day, 5k a year. After a month waiting, I went to service manager had a car next day.
Took 3 days and they drove about 25 miles, guess to make sure it was ok, they did disconnect my camera wasn't happy about that didn't say anything just happy to get my truck back, it was cleaned and running well. Every dealer advertises loaner cars BUT don't say how long to get one. I always wait and bring donuts you be surprised how fast they get your vehicle done when you're waiting, when possible, they don't want you hanging around. Am happy with my dealer, considering a lot of the dealers suck, It could be because its my second maverick with them and they know I worked for a dealer and know the inner workings of a dealership; I always give them a beaming review when ford sends questions about your service, if you bad mouth them it goes right in your file, if you have a problem speak to the service manager.

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