European Car... not european service

Teki04 · 14-10-2005, 12:01 AM

What do you all think about this? I know when i bought my fiesta, i thought about how it was German engineered and built...... but now im rethinking.... i dont exactly get european service. Just a thought.

(btw, i post here because i think more people reply in the focus thread. How about having a small car pub section? Like, where both Fiesta and Focus owners can brag about their cars?)

Mick K. · 14-10-2005, 12:36 AM

My experience in this is mainly with trying to get Holden to diagnose a problem on my wife's Vectra - the philosophy of the dealership that I took it to (the same dealer the car was bought off and did the previous 7 services) was very much "we know a lot about Commodores and that's about it". They couldn't diagnose an electrical problem with the cooling fans that was causing overheating and a dodgy no-name-brand autoelectrician sorted it out for me in an hour or so.

Ford have been better in servicing my Focus, but I think they would know a lot more about the Falcon and Territory. I am seriously thinking of buying Aussie made (BA Falcon) to replace the Vectra - despite the size and fuel consumption we don't need - purely because of the servicing issues and parts cost / availability.

I used to have a VW Golf and there are 3 or 4 non-dealer VW specialists here in Brisbane I could confidently take it to for service and repairs at half the cost of the dealer and still expect a good result. I am yet to see a euro-Holden or euro-Ford specialist. I'd be happier buying another VW or Audi over a Vectra or Astra and be confident my servicing experiences would be better and cheaper.

MK

Teki04 · 14-10-2005, 01:13 AM

Im finding this out with my car usually going back a second time to fix something....

After a break in (see thread in pub and fiesta subforum), the passenger side panel has screwdriver marks, and they managed to snap a part... which has left the panel lifted up loosely...

Im finding alot of service places giving me this response: "i have never done that to a fiesta, so im not sure how long it would take"

Danny · 14-10-2005, 02:43 AM

Remember though theres the added reason being that the Fiesta has been in australia for how long? 2 years? Not even, so most places havent done much to Fez's. The guy was more interested in my Fiesta than some of the other beasts at the place where I got it lowered simply because he'd "never seen one before mate"

whippet_zetec · 14-10-2005, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny

Remember though theres the added reason being that the Fiesta has been in australia for how long? 2 years? Not even, so most places havent done much to Fez's. The guy was more interested in my Fiesta than some of the other beasts at the place where I got it lowered simply because he'd "never seen one before mate"

true. Think about the old Laser, Ford has no problems fixing those things becuase they had been around for ages and they had all had those years of experience in working on them.

I would expect that if the Fiesta and Focus stay as an ongoing model for Ford the servicing and technical knowledge base will develop.

mitch_lx · 14-10-2005, 02:16 PM

couldnt agree more, noone knows anything about the Fiesta yet.

and boy oh boy does it anger me when people, especially from ford say ''so its one of those new festivas isnt it?!''

Teki04 · 15-10-2005, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch_lx

and boy oh boy does it anger me when people, especially from ford say ''so its one of those new festivas isnt it?!''

haha yep... even seen this mistake in Drive.com.au!

I sometimes get asked if its a Focus as well..... argh some people! But yea, im finding that my car is becoming a test mule at my local service department. When i first got my car (and still does happen) the local bob jane take an interest.... i think one of the guys there wants one now too LOL

csv8 · 15-10-2005, 09:18 AM

Doesn't FORD have technical support ? Put dealership service dept on a training course???

0xyg3n · 15-10-2005, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch_lx

couldnt agree more, noone knows anything about the Fiesta yet.

and boy oh boy does it anger me when people, especially from ford say ''so its one of those new festivas isnt it?!''

Hehe I have a funny story. The printing company that I work for does heaps of stuff for Victoria Racing Club. I had almost finished printing a cover for one of the form guides at Werribe Racing Club when I noticed they had a fashions on the field with a grand total of prices worth $30k and one of em was a 2005 Ford Festiva LX from some dealer Lol. Told the boss and he said not to worry about it.

mitch_lx · 15-10-2005, 03:29 PM

hahah nice ;)

YAY LETS WIN A 30K FESTIVA !!!!! must be K-SPEC (korean spec) for that much ! is it engine powered?? instead of pedal powered now!!???

FOCUSonTHIS · 15-10-2005, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitch_lx

and boy oh boy does it anger me when people, especially from ford say ''so its one of those new festivas isnt it?!''

Well people have thought my Focus was a new Holden Barina.....I said no its not...also been asked if this is the car Mr. Bean drives....once again a big no....but wont do you expect from blonde females....I'm not one for stereotyping but its a bit hard not to now.

b2tf · 15-10-2005, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csv8

Doesn't FORD have technical support ? Put dealership service dept on a training course???

HAHA you must be kidding. Most Ford mechs dont know how many kws the cars have - Im not kidding!

Only training courses service depts do are in how to **** customers off and hide behind the blue oval while doing it.

Mick K. · 16-10-2005, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teki04

What do you all think about this? I know when i bought my fiesta, i thought about how it was German engineered and built...... but now im rethinking.... i dont exactly get european service. Just a thought.

I just bought a BA Fairmont (still got the Focus) yesterday so give me 6 months and I'll give you a comparison on how the Ford service compares between Aussie Ford and Euro Ford. :eclipsee_

MK

Teki04 · 16-10-2005, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csv8

Doesn't FORD have technical support ? Put dealership service dept on a training course???

LOL! yea, i called on thursday and asked if my car could go in on friday as i could not close the window (Someone broke in and broke a regulator).... i was told that the apprentices werent working today, so it would be difficult.

LOLLLLLL, how many apprentices must they have?!

:

FOCUSonTHIS · 16-10-2005, 05:43 PM

More than mechanic's

Timmeh · 17-10-2005, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick K.

I just bought a BA Fairmont (still got the Focus) yesterday so give me 6 months and I'll give you a comparison on how the Ford service compares between Aussie Ford and Euro Ford. :eclipsee_

MK

I can tell you our experience.

After two weeks of ownership, amount of problems in the vehicle:

LR Focus CL - 0
BA Falcon XR6 - 5

After four months of ownership, amount of weeks the vehicle was in Ford's workshops getting fixed:

LR Focus CL - 0
BA Falcon XR6 - 14

Our BA XR6 had 'uncurable' problems, Ford didn't know how to fix it, and wouldn't even give us a good deal on trading it in on another one. We sold it at a massive loss and will never buy another Falcon again, ever. We did, however, buy a second Focus to replace the familys Ford Laser, and neither Focus has ever let us down.

Just my experience of European vs Local Ford experience recently. Of course, I hope your BA experience is not like ours!

Tim

b2tf · 17-10-2005, 12:07 AM

I like my car but I find it is somewhat of an "unknown" among Ford, up here it is anyway. Anything other than a Falcon is given a bit of a puzzled "whats that thing" look sometimes, which annoys me to no end.

mitch_lx · 17-10-2005, 02:20 PM

The other day i rung the service manager about my immobaliser and he said ''ohh we really dont know what system they have in them sorry you will have to bring it in and we can have a look''... i was thinking

you have bout 10 fiestas in stock. ANYWAYYYY i took it down to them and drove into the service dept and he goess ohhh i thought you meant it was one of those Festivas.

After he realised what car i had he still couldnt help me with my problem.
I just needed a certificate from my new insurance company to be signed to say the standard immobaliser met the stated criteria.
The service manager said he isnt signing it because ford motor company doesnt need to prove anything to any insurance companies.

To be honest im less than impressed. I had been trying to chase an answer about if my immobaliser was 3 point or not and Ford moco head offices couldnt tell me and just kept repeating ''insurance companies should never ask that, we fit world class immobalisers to all our cars'' im like FFS just tell me if its 3 point of not !!!!!!!! :ticking:

so the guy from fo mo co told me to get in contact with my local service dept because ''theyd be able to tell you for sure'' i replied with the following....'' so ford motor company aus cant tell me what immobaliser i have, yet your saying that my local service dept can tell me, they dont even know what my car is'' and he then simply put me on hold and transfered me to service.

: Then service told me it does have a 3 point system but they wont sign the certificate. so they put me through to the head of service and customer relations at my local dealer, and i left a message on his answering machine, a week later after no response i rung again and left another message. still no response.

well well well the OTHER day i got a call from a lady at the dealership saying ''after a year of owning your car how has it been? any problems??'' i explained everything to her and she put the salesperson on the phone that sold me that car. within 3 minutes i had a definite answer about my immobaliser. FROM THE SALESPERSON. i was so relieved that i finally knew. Now i have to upgrade my immobalisers and im going to get an alarm aswell.

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