I just moved to Columbia MD and was wondering if anyone knew of any good dealerships that I can trust. I took my '05 to Apple Ford my first week here and it took them 2 hours to change my oil. Now I read that others have had a problem with (cr)apple and I would like to avoid them if I could. Are there good dealerships in the area? Has anyone had experience with University Ford in Laurel?

 

I think you may be talking about Academy Ford in Laurel Md. I bought my car there. I find them to be pretty honest and a good dealership. I was there tuesday and it only took me 45 mins to get an oil change. They have been around for years and seem to be on of the few independent Ford dealerships not owned by some of the mega-dealerships in the area.

 

Thats it Academy. I pass it everyday on my way to the office. They have a nice selection of mustangs out front thats what made me think they would be good.

 

Look in front of the showroom there are about five sets of burnouts there. They also had a 06 with a shaker and cdc spoiler as 2900 dollar option. So I left there and ordered my car from Apple.

 

Hmm... seems I'll have to introduce myself at both and try and figure out which is less of a stealership

 

You might also want to check out Miller Brothers Ford in Ellicott City. I didn't get my car from them but I've heard they have fair prices and a pretty good selection of mustangs.

 

I bought my car from Len Stoler in Owings Mills. That might be too far away for you. Back in May of 05 I got my GT from them for $50 over invoice when most in the area where going for $3k plus on the sticker. I have had excellent experiences with their service dept. However the sales manager I dealt with isn't there anymore and they sold their first GT500 for $16k over sticker.

 

I had good experiances at Apple when I used to take my 95 there. Granted that was a long time ago now so I can't say how their service has changed.

I can tell you though stay away from the crooks at Bob Bell in Glen Burnie, I'll just leave it that.

Good luck.

 

I just moved away from Columbia. I lived right off of Snowden River Parkway and passed (cr)Apple every day. They refused to fix my gas tank even after I presented them with the TSB. Next I took it to them to have the fuel pump/hesitation problem fixed. Once again, came armed with the TSB. They told me they could not get the part that they needed (this was after other members here had had this fix done) and would call me when it was available. Not to my surprise they never called me back.

Stay away from (cr)Apple Ford! They are a complete rip off and horrible to deal with.

 

I wouldn't recommend Koon's Ford of Baltimore either. I bought my 05 GT from there in November of 2004 and was lucky to pay MSRP.

 

I've had great luck with Apple's sales (well one sales person who I have bought multiple cars from) however I did have one issue with their service. Most of the time however the service has been on par with other dealers. It really depends on the people behind the counter and in the shop. I bought a Firebird Formula from a dealer in Owings Mills and got great service until the service advisor that I was dealing with left. Then it went to pot quickly.

Apple was the only dealer in the area that would do XPlan for me last year when I ordered the first time. Miller Brothers laughed at me! Then when I had to cancel my order because of a bad accident they gave me 0 grief (granted the car probably sold in a couple of days). When I decided to order again in July my sales guy hooked me up again and has been watching out for my car since (Due in this friday!!). I know you aren't looking to buy, ut if anyone out there is, Gary Ovelgone is my sales guy. Very nice, up front and honest. Simply a pleasure to deal with.

Pittperson, where on Snowden did you live? I had a townhouse across from the Home Depot (the newer section to the left) that we sold about 3 years ago this Oct. We moved up to Sykesville where my wife and I are from.