I have a phobia about bringing any car back to the dealer. I've just had too many experiences where the original problem wasn't fixed, or it seemed like I was overcharged, or there was grease and fingerprints all over the car, etc.

In general, I'll only bring the car to the dealer for warranty work. I'll try to do the easy routine maintenance myself, like oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacement, etc. Once the warranty is over, I'll bring the car to an independent garage for stuff I'm not comfortable doing, like brakes, etc.

I also use the attached spreadsheet to record the maintenance. Anyone else use something like this, or have a better solution?

 

What to I need to open .xls file? excel? bah, dont have it on here. I use this pc for Gaming/movies

 

You need Mocrosft Excel.

 

I don't do anything to my Mustang myself, except drive it........... I'd rather spend my free time golfing.

 

Go to http://myford.fordvehicles.com/.
You have to register.
There you can enter your VIN.
All the work that is done by a dealer will be entered here.
You can also keep track of your own service.

Here is a snapshot of my personal service.


[attachmentid=29100]

 

I have taken the mustang back to the dealership for some warranty work (trunk cover housing) and for the first free oil change that was offered. Other than warranty work I prefer to take my cars elsewhere. I find the wait at the dealership particularily disturbing.

 

Warranty work only - and it's got to be pretty bad for me to take it in. I'll take a day off work if I ever need to take it in. I don't give anyone carte blanch to go joy riding in my car.

 

I have the dealer do it. I haven't had any problems with my dealer so far. They gave me a good deal and treated me well so I pay them back by having my car serviced there.

 

dealer only for warranty work, i have a shop, so i do everything else myself.

 

I didn't even go for the free oil change. Dealers stink.

 

Nobody touches my cars unless it's for body work, or maybe warranty work.

 

This is a very cool service! I can see where having all this great info will help a good deal in resale.

 

While its under warranty, I'll go to the dealer.

 

I cant pass up the free oil changes

 

My Dealer "fixed" my brakes........Riiiiiiight. Its embarassing to drive again.

I am currently in a fix about it-Closest Good dealer is 35 minutes from me.

 

Until the warranty runs out, I'm going to let the dealer do everything. That way, all the maintenance and repairs are them doing it and with good records. There won't be any wiggle room for non-compliance when warranty issues arise.

 

I would fix some things myself, but when it comes to major repairs, like a blown strut etc. I'll let Ford mechanics handle that one, mainly because I don't have ALL the tools necessary and why fix that large of a repair myself and buy the struts etc. when i could just take it over to the Ford dealer and have them fix it for free. heck part of this car's PRICE has the warranty figured into it. So in actuality i did pay for this 3 year warranty.