There's so much talk on these boards about all the horrible dealership experiences that people have, that I thought I would take time out to offer kudos to a dealership in MY neck of the woods that has thus far proven to be really top notch. I'm posting this for the benefit of Vancouver/Lower Mainland buyers who are perhaps determining where they should buy their Stangs, and it's partially prompted by twokidsnosleep's unfortunate experience with another Vancouver-area dealer.

I was at Cam Clarke Ford on the North Shore yesterday, talking to the parts and service guys about the mods I want to do and ordering the stuff. I have to say, I practically went into shock at how attentive they were towards me. Really nice guys, totally interested in my car...and both "car guys," in fact, the service guy races a Golf GTi and a Porsche he owns on weekends. The service guy was also SUPER knowledgeable about product. He gave me the skinny on certain mods to consider and others to stay far away from.

For example, one thing he told me to consider down the road if I get into any serious performance driving, is braided brake lines. He talked about how you can improve your brakes with that one simple mod, as opposed to going to new rotors, calipers or even pads. The normal brake lines are just effectively 'rubber hoses.' When the brake fluid heats up under heavy use, the rubber in the lines expands, and the amount of volumetric pressure being forced downwards is reduced, hence the soft, mushy feeling you get in the pedal after performance driving. The steel braided lines don't suffer from this problem.

Now I already knew something about this, but the fact that he took the time out just to "advise" me on the nuances of modding made me feel increasingly confident that I had made the correct choice with this particular dealership.

You could tell that these guys love talking cars, know their stuff, and enjoy being helpful and talking "shop."

I just thought I would re-emphasize that the dealership really makes all the difference.

 

My feelings exactally, Great post! I hope you enjoy the ride when you get it...best of luck!

 

WARNING: The above is for appearances sake only.

 

ROFLMAO... wow that was a great one......good luck when you get the ride!

 

So... there are approximately 4,300 Ford dealers in North America, right?

I propose we serialize this dealer as 1 of 4,300, and no competitors.

 

Presumably with "1" being the best?

 

And the only one.

 

Well, that ought to drive business up for not only the dealership, but all the local hotels, too.

 

Wasn't there a thread on this board concerning dealer recommendations, such as which dealers are good to deal with, have good service depts., etc. and which dealers to stay away from? If not, there should be!

 

And it should be a sticky if there was/is!

 

It's good to hear of a good experience.... I had a very similar experience when I recently purchased my 07 GT not too far south from where you are - in Kent, WA. Bowen Scarff Ford is well known in this area as the dealer with the "no-dikker sticker" (can you believe I had to mis-spell "****er" on purpose so it wouldn't be sensored?). What this means is they discount every car on the lot to a "sale" price, except for special editions, which they sell at MSRP. NO DEALER SECOND STICKER ON ANY CAR ON THE LOT!!! Subsequently (as you might expect), every special edition car they get is pre-sold.

And that's only the half of it.... they have a great service department! This dealership hosts the local Mustang club meetings, and puts on one of the largest and best Mustang shows in the area. They clear their entire front and back lots for one day a year so enthusiasts from all around the area can show off their late model and classic Fords and Mustangs..... while providing free food, drinks, kids entertainment, raffle prizes, trophies and live music. The Pacific Cascade Mustang Club and the dealer have a great relationship because the people that work at and run the dealership are part of the club. This is a great dealership filled with Mustang enthusiasts that really care!!

Thanks Bowen Scarff Ford in Kent, WA!!

 

Yes, but it was gone in 60 seconds.

 

Better initial response from dealer #2...we shall see next week if they can solve the problem. I am cautiously optimistic.
Does Ford do a satisfaction survey after a service????
Will they care what I have to say about what happened???

 

Hmm, other than great products, maybe if Ford had the majority of its dealers like this and the one described at the start of this thread, Ford could be... Oh, I dunno... SELLING MORE CARS? Wish we had a dealer like that here!

 

I question the importance of those Ford follow-up surveys. The last time I honestly answered one where the dealership experience was awful, the dealer called me up and basically yelled at me! Never heard a word from corporate Ford.

 

It's funny how those things happen.
The owner of the dealership and the GM knew me where I bought. I used to work there.
I've never gotten anything from them ever, not even an ad.
That dealership sends ads and junk mail to everyone (except me).
The locals hate them (which is why I don't work for them anymore).
The previous dealership is shown in my avatar.
.
The irony is that they did everything perfectly for me and the poor salesman kept telling me about how they lived and died by the surveys.
I would have given them an A+.

 

I'll chime in about two dealerships I have dealt with over a period of about ten years. I bought my '05 GT from Pendleton Ford in Pendleton, Oregon. Great place to do business with. Also bought our family truckster (Lincoln Town Car) there as well. The '05 was ordered from the factory because I couldn't find anything close to what I wanted in the Northwest. I didn't have to wait long for delivery (a little over a month) and there was no dealer mark-up. To be fair, there was no dealer discount either. But, that was OK with me because I got exactly what I wanted when a lot of people were shelling out a few grand over sticker for their '05s.

My local dealer is Russ Dean Ford in Pasco, Washington and I live about 3/4 of a mile away from them. I wouldn't buy a car there because their prices are far from competitive. Their parts and service people have gone up and down in quality (different people) but they are generally better than most. I have never had a problem with mods, in fact they did some of them on both my '96 and '05. I have always been up front with them. Never took anything off when I brought the cars in. And, they fixed a number of warranty problems on my heavily modded '96 with no hassle. The only thing I have had with the '05 is the leaking brake fluid reservoir that everybody else has. And, they replaced the thing. No more leaks.

So add two more "good" dealers to the list please.