Your opinion on this....

[Hally]

A close work colleague last night picked up his brand new Territory from a nameless Melbourne Ford dealer.

When he picked the car up at 5.30pm, it had the following problems:

1. Flat battery - dealer said this was normal, jump started it and said 'she charge up on your way home'.

2. The dash (I believe it to be the display screen surround) has a crack through it.

3. The rear bumper bar has a deep gouge/scratch in it, down near were the mud flap would go.

My colleague is a chilled kind of guy, so didn't make a fuss, but if I paid $42k for a new car I would have spat the dummy big time.

Have any others had similar experiences?

[Laminge]

No

That wouldnt be acceptable, what did the dealership have to say for themselves?

There is no way a NEW car should be delivered in that condition.

[The Yeti]

I would have refused delivery.
Dealers love the 5.30 delivery they no A the lights not good so detailing floors dont look as bad and you generaly just want to get out of there so you will accept minor porblems. The old sorry about that we'll fix that up for you at your first service is the first line in the car sales hand book. then on the 1st service no one remebers it and they try and tell you you must have casued that scratch in the car park etc.

If its wrong take your trade with you and go home till its right if theres no trade get them to call you a cab andd give you a cab charge docet.

IF you cant tell this kind of thing s me, I actuly let a few things slide on the 5.30 delivery of my fairmont and will never do that again.

[GT-P BOSS]

I would have refused delivery and demand a new one.
He can use it as a demo model.

[Hally]

I agree with the comments above, and would have walked away and come back when the problems were fixed (the dash issue would have given me the most concern).

It is dissapointing to hear problems like this. I have been looking to buy a car over the last couple of months, and unbiasedly I must admit that Holden dealers have been a lot better than Ford dealers as it relatesto customer service, willingness to do a deal, advice on service back up etc. The best so far has been Honda though, who have been responsive without being pushy. A lot of promises have been made re service backup and at this stage could only be taken on face value. If we go for a Honda (likely) I wll give an update on there performance.

[HOON69]

wouldnt of taken delivery would of told em to get me a new one,or fixed it right then and now

gotta be P@ssed when they do that kinda crap :(

[Racecraft]

even a second hand car with a flat battery would have me jumping up and down for a new one.. The rest is also unacceptable.. what was the odometer reading when he took delivery?

[Hally]

7km.

Car was driven to panel shop to get the bumbers clour coded to the body.

[AWD Chaser]

Originally Posted by Hally

7km.

Car was driven to panel shop to get the bumbers clour coded to the body.

Isn't that a factory option?

[Ringo]

He shouldn't have taken it......

[2fishingdogs]

I would have kick up such a stink and demanded it be fixed or else

[henry 351]

Turned up at the local Subaru dealer to pick up a new STI a few years ago, I let them run through the whole "we love you, here is you new car " routine.

I then let them know there was one small problem. The car in front of me was white, not steel blue mica.

Needless to say, I left in the trade in... In Sweeney talk, eventually "it got sorted"

[Raptor]

Originally Posted by Hally

1. Flat battery - dealer said this was normal, jump started it and said 'she charge up on your way home'.

Maybe that is normal. Mine was exactly the same. Doesn't mean it's acceptable though. Despite my concerns I took it home like that, I'd been waiting too long to get it as it was and I also picked mine up late, so no service guys there anyway. The battery continued to give trouble during the first week and was promptly replaced when I complained (with a higher cranking unit as they readily admited the battery in them from the factory is marginal).

2. The dash (I believe it to be the display screen surround) has a crack through it.

I hope your mate at least made mention of this. A clear warranty claim.

3. The rear bumper bar has a deep gouge/scratch in it, down near were the mud flap would go.

Pretty standard damage given the monkeys they seem to have fitting these accessories. Mine had a butchered hole for the towbar.

None of it's acceptable and it all should be rectified without fuss.

Maybe one day Ford will realise their shoddy dealers are costing them return business. This sort of thing even gets a mention in the latest Wheels mag with their long term test TX.

[charles_wif_xf]

I would have done nothing less than walking and wouldn't turn up until they had a brand new untouched example. The audacity of some people. Which dealer was it? Would be good to know to steer clear from this mob

[Kenaz]

Personally I wouldn't care about the battery, but the other stuff would have me asking some serious questions.

[Hally]

Re the bumper, the car is an SR that didn't come factory with the colour coding, hence why the need for panel beaters.

[Smoke Pursuit]

50% of the reason why Ford will never see me again, no attention to detail and the sad part is most of the problems are there before the cars even leave Melbourne..

[vino3o2]

I would'nt have a problem in buying a new car with a flat battery, but the rest like the bumper, Id spit the dumby!! He shouldn't have taken it...$42 grand is alot to pay for a car, you'd expect a perfect car along with excerlant service from the sales people there..

[Nappa]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

I would have refused delivery.
Dealers love the 5.30 delivery they no A the lights not good so detailing floors dont look as bad and you generaly just want to get out of there so you will accept minor porblems. The old sorry about that we'll fix that up for you at your first service is the first line in the car sales hand book. then on the 1st service no one remebers it and they try and tell you you must have casued that scratch in the car park etc.

If its wrong take your trade with you and go home till its right if theres no trade get them to call you a cab andd give you a cab charge docet.

IF you cant tell this kind of thing s me, I actuly let a few things slide on the 5.30 delivery of my fairmont and will never do that again.

i dont know what other dealers are like but here the time of day makes no difference in how the car is presented for deliveries. Our cars go through PD and then we the salespeople check them over. when doing a late delivery we often are still there well after 6pm. We dont pack up and all the staff stay so that the customer doesn't feel like we are trying to get them out the door. if there is a hic-up we make sure the problem is documented so that the service depart knows what needs to be done before the car gets there for the first service.

But i guess it only takes one bad experiance to bitter the whole process of purchasing a car.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Hally

1. Flat battery - dealer said this was normal, jump started it and said 'she charge up on your way home'.

While the other problems are clear warrenty issues, the dealership claims flat batteries back to Ford Oz.

[BPXR6T]

I bought a second hand AU XR8 from a Ford Dealer in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne and had a similar experience. We test drove the car and agreed on a price. The dealer said while I go get the money sorted they'll take it down to the workshop for a free service.

I got back and waited for hours for the service being told they were just busy. So after four hours my car comes back. I jump in and head off to my parents place at Gembrook.

I get to Gembrook and my mum points out some significant damage on the passenger door and mirror. The damage wasn't there hours earlier when I bought the car. Someone in the workshop had crashed it. I called the dealer and they refused responsibility. So basically I was up for a $1000 repair bill.

[Marhleet]

I think if I'd just paid $42k for a new battery, I'd like it to be not flat.

[XRated]

Originally Posted by henry 351

Turned up at the local Subaru dealer to pick up a new STI a few years ago, I let them run through the whole "we love you, here is you new car " routine.

I then let them know there was one small problem. The car in front of me was white, not steel blue mica.

Needless to say, I left in the trade in... In Sweeney talk, eventually "it got sorted"

Hhahaha sorry! But that had me laughing!!

How did you end up with the GT? Your other rides sound unreal too.

[BENT_8]

My inlaws were the first in their country town to take delivery of the then new EF falcon sedan.
They bought a cardinal red GLi and when it arrived at the dealership everyone wanted a look.
We couldn't believe it when it rolled off the back of the carrier with scratches down the passenger side running the whole length. It looked as though whoever loaded it scraped it along the side of the truck.
As you can imagine my inlaws were spewin when they saw it and demanded a new car but they said as they were allocated by vin no. they had to have that one.
After some heated words the car was sent to be repaired and eventually delivered.
The last straw was when the car was returned under warranty for wind noise in the tops of the doors. The mechanic grabbed the door and bent the top inwards which i can assure you didn't go down well.
As a result of the way they were handled by the ford dealer they promptly sold the car and bought a 96 touring series vienta which was a very good car and wish they still had it.
As these people buy a new car every 2 years and this happened 12 years ago, Ford have lost considerably.

[coyote]

As has been stated I would nt take it would have written down the VIN number and made sure it was not represented, it is a second hand car and should be sold as such.

If you buy a new car it should NOT be touched up why pay new prices for second hand paint.

let them sell it as a demo.

These people rely on the emotions of the purchaser, let me tell you my emotions are simple I buy new NOT second hand. If I find a defect I will not accept delivery.

No car is perfect (and I know I have pre-delivered Fords holdens BMw's and Merc) But if you find such blatent faults and such poor attention to detail don't take it home.

[QualityCounts]

What your colleague went through is unacceptable. The dealer should have done the pre-delivery check and fix the faults. When I picked up my Rav4 two months ago, I spent more than an hour going through it and couldn't fault it. The only thing that caught my attention was what looked like a light scratch on the LCD display but on closer examination the scratch was actually on the protective peel-off film on the LCD. Well, I've done 1800 km so far and have nothing to complain about the Rav4. I remembered when I picked up my new Civic a decade ago, I couldn't fault it. However, I was upset with the Honda dealer when I found some scratches from them washing the car in my first service.

[RSgerry]

That is a large part of the reason why I sold my Falcon and bought a Mazda. It is disgraceful that any dealer should deliver a car in that condition. If the battery is flat, it should have been replaced beforehand. Just what do you pay $1000+ for dealer delivery for?

[BENT_8]

During my time as a pre delivery detailer with a northern Adelaide toyota dealership, it was part of my job description that when i wasn't busy doing stock cars, demo's, used cars and new deliveries i was expected to clean repaired vehicles for the crash repairer next door.
As the repairer had a contract with Holden's at Elizabeth to fix all the damaged cars that came off the line, it wasn't unheard of to clean 15-20 new Holden's every week. Now I'm talkin statesman's,monaro's,SS's and exec's even left hand drive exports destined for the middle east
I couldn't believe how many cars were damaged and how bad it was and still got fixed and sold as new cars.

I must say though, not many Toyota's came through with damage.

[qwigybo]

tell him to take it back and tell them to shove it up their clacker and demand a new one even specify a different colour so they can't try and flog off the same one again

[[Tonko]]

a mate of mine bought a second hand AU XR8 from a dealer in melbourne, when he went to pick up his new baby, they were taking off 2 stockies on the back and replacing them with the factory wheels, this was at 5:30 on a friday and they were doing this in the service carpark, when he checked the condition of said stockies they were bald as... the excuse...? they were old replacement tyres they put on incase the others get damaged, he took a few sly photos on the camera phone so they replaced them with the factory rims, my mate found a shatload of rubber under the guards and told head office and supplied the photos, he got it replaced with a series 3 XR8 fully optioned and with only 15000km on the clock...also the trainees responsible were fired...