Impossible Dream...

[cdm]

I was just wondering if anybody out there is 100% happy of the experience they have had with Ford and their vehicle? It seems that thus far we have 12 pages - and growing - of problems with the XR6T and numerous complaints (including mine) about dealerships and their treatment of owners/prospective buyers.

Has anyone yet been able to get there car on time, at a friendly dealer and without any problems?? I wonder if Ford has this target, or beleives that now they have a great product they can just pump them out with/without faults and with/without competent dealers...

[F6 RAPID]

I was quoted a mid March delivery for my car back in November and surely enough, that is when I picked it up.

The service was okay.

Apart from the (lack of) paint on the front bumper, everything (1700 kms only!) so far is great. Oh, the front wheels needed a balance which is pretty normal apparently.

[Falchoon]

Mine arrived on time (about a week early actually), it's just the salesman had very poor product knowledge about both the car and other Ford products (such as insurance, told me there was no such thing as FordInsure!).

It is defenitely Ford's weakest link, no good if they have the best car in the world for the cheapest price, no one is going to buy it if the sales staff are ignorant, rude or liars. I wonder though, if it is any different at say, a Expensive Daewoo dealer?

[bdennis]

CDM,

Mate. I ordered mine in December. Was told Feb / March build. I needed to sell the AU II anyway so was happy with that. All during the wait they kept me up to date. THe car was delivered late March. (The last week was the hardest!) Their product knowledge was not 100% but I think I am in the Geek league where I read everthing and probably knew more about the options off the top of my head then Sir Geoff him self!

I am more than happy with my (Small local dealer!) The service management are great (need to train the young chubby chick on the front desk) but we will get there!!

[Mondie]

No complaints here.

Ordered car beginning of Nov and picked up Dec 6th about a week earlier than l was told.

Managed to get around 6% discount.

Salesman had excellent product knowledge and was always truthful and honest, did what he said he would. Left the dealer recentley howvever :(

l am talking with the same dealer at the moment about a GT, l am waiting to see if they can do it again, if so we may just buy a GT

However l have been to several dealers that were just plain ignorant, rude and doing Ford a great diservice. A sort of arrogance that they believe the car is so good you will buy it regardless so they can treat you like sh*te.

[PURSUTE]

My experience was quite good.

The car ended up being a little later than quoted, by about a week and a half I think, and I had a couple of issues with the PD service, but they were fairly minor for the most part, and were delt with promptly.

As others have said, the sales staff seamed to have a below standard product knowledge, but remember that we are mostly enthusiasts here. My salesman however, realised this early, and was very happy to do any research I asked of him. He also freely admitted his lack of knowledge, instead of trying to BS his way out of it. Very commendable IMO.

I am yet to test the service department. My car is booked in on monday for the 3k check and a couple of warranty issues.

I'll get back to you after.

[Guest esky]

Very happy alround!

Picked mine up in Nov last year and now have 14500km on the clock.

esky

[Dagabond]

99.9% positive response from me not to much at all to whinge about from walking into the dealership to turning it off lastnight at 2am with 10,000k's under her belt.

[Guest Mercury]

I picked my car up January 2nd from Thomson Parramatta. It was full fleet discount and it came in 6 weeks early, they ammended my quote down as they paid for the car before the expected 2% Jan 1st price rise.

The spec is Mercury, 18's, premium brakes and audio, leather, towbar, mats, boot liner, side airbags, auto, adjustable pedals, scuff plates , aux plug and phone bracket - you might have seen me at the dyno day, (BXR06T $186 one off payment).

I had the oil and filter changed at 3k ($60) and now after 4k I can say I haven't had a single problem, I even have the footwell bulb sockets so I'll give that a go over the weekend. My 4 production photos came through a couple of hours after I requested them.

If I had to be picky, the only thing I've done is changed the headlight bulbs, they seemed a bit dull compared to may last car (Vectra), had the wheels balanced, they were a bit wobbly at 100kmh and the auto down window doesn't seem to work when the car has gotten hot sitting in the sun.

That's it so I'm completely satisfied with dealer and car.

[cdm]

Well, I am glad to hear that at least some people are having good experiences with their cars and dealerships. It's a shame that some dealerships let the side down with poor performance which leaves customers with a bad taste. Before I purchased my car, I shopped around and at one dealership I had to wait fifteen minutes for the salesman to finish his lunch before he would even talk to me. Then while he was talking to me a customer who had been looking at an XR8 for about the same time had a go at the other salesmen because nobody offered him any help as they were all busy eating lunch. Another couple of dealers never returned my calls when I was making enquiries about the XR6T and then I finally went with my local dealer, who ordered in the wrong car! Maybe I am in the same geek league as Bdennis, because it appeared that I knew more about the car and its options then every salesman I spoke to. Maybe I should work for Ford for a week? I would be out 'testing' cars all day :D