Dealership experience. How was yours?

[KeyWestEViking]

Good Morning Lightning friends,
I am looking to get some real world data for how people's experience's were at your Dealership. This could be anything from ordering, delivery, shopping on the lot, service visits, buying/installing accessories, or calling in asking a question.
I work at a dealer in Canada and am a part of the dedicated EV Team. I am hoping to use your experiences and feedback to better support our Guests, both those looking to purchase and those who already have.
We have seen a huge uptake in EV ownership in the last year or two and would love any feedback you have! I'd also love to be able to use real world examples to debunk EV myths and try and sway the naysayers.

Thanks in advance and stay charged!

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[The Weatherman]

My Dealer is Don Franklin Ford in Columbia, KY and I must say the experience of buying my last six vehicles has been excellent.

My salesman is now a family friend stills goes out of his way to check in.

The service experience has not been quite as outstanding, but good overall.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

My Dealer is Don Franklin Ford in Columbia, KY and I must say the experience of buying my last six vehicles has been excellent.

My salesman is now a family friend stills goes out of his way to check in.

The service experience has not been quite as outstanding, but good overall.

Excellent, that's what I like to hear. Is your Dealer fairly EV knowledgeable? We've noticed a trend where the sales experience was great, but some of the places around town don't seem to care about actually knowing the basics of EV's and how to get the best ownership out of them

 

[bub]

I'm in the lower mainland. I purchased at a dealer in Surrey, BC. Because I knew someone who worked there in some capacity. I'm not sure that was the right choice.

The salesman I was dealing with was great. But my experience went down-hill dealing with financing. I felt I was being pushed extended waranty's and other products that didn't make sense. In general it felt very aggressive and not tuned to what I actually needed.

After sales, just trying to get a service appointment for some CSPs seemed very difficult to do in a timely manner so I decided to try some other dealers.
From hearing peoples experience in various threads here about dealers. I get the impression A LOT of dealers have NO IDEA about BEVs. Its honestly quite scary.

I found positive reviews about the BEV team at key west, I assume that's you guys. So I took my truck there for the CSPs. It's a bit out of the way for me.

I must say, my first experience with you guys was to get the low voltage battery BMS replaced. I booked an appointment specifically for that. Confirmed on the phone a week prior when booking that they have the part. Showed up in the morning after a 1hr drive and was told they didn't have the part in stock when I got there. That wasn't impressive. After waiting around they managed to scrounge the part for me - not sure if that was from another vehicle or what. But that got sorted.

I have my first 8000km maintenance I need to schedule. I might aswell ask you guys what your opinion is on it. I know you offer a "the works" maintenance package for BEVs. But what all is that exactly?

Its my impression the only maintenance items are really:

• Checking fluids, coolant, windhsield
• Rotating tires
• ... That's it.. ?
  • Probably unnecesairy items like....
    • Cabin Filter
    • Wiper blades

 

[RickLightning]

I'm in the lower mainland. I purchased at a dealer in Surrey, BC. Because I knew someone who worked there in some capacity. I'm not sure that was the right choice.

The salesman I was dealing with was great. But my experience went down-hill dealing with financing. I felt I was being pushed extended waranty's and other products that didn't make sense. In general it felt very aggressive and not tuned to what I actually needed.

After sales, just trying to get a service appointment for some CSPs seemed very difficult to do in a timely manner so I decided to try some other dealers.
From hearing peoples experience in various threads here about dealers. I get the impression A LOT of dealers have NO IDEA about BEVs. Its honestly quite scary.

I found positive reviews about the BEV team at key west, I assume that's you guys. So I took my truck there for the CSPs. It's a bit out of the way for me.

I must say, my first experience with you guys was to get the low voltage battery BMS replaced. I booked an appointment specifically for that. Confirmed on the phone a week prior when booking that they have the part. Showed up in the morning after a 1hr drive and was told they didn't have the part in stock when I got there. That wasn't impressive. After waiting around they managed to scrounge the part for me - not sure if that was from another vehicle or what. But that got sorted.

I have my first 8000km maintenance I need to schedule. I might aswell ask you guys what your opinion is on it. I know you offer a "the works" maintenance package for BEVs. But what all is that exactly?

Its my impression the only maintenance items are really:

• Checking fluids, coolant, windhsield
• Rotating tires
• ... That's it.. ?
  • Probably unnecesairy items like....
    • Cabin Filter
    • Wiper blades

Opinions? Open FordPass, it shows you the maintenance schedule. Cabin filter is at 20,000 miles, otherwise it's tire rotation and inspection for quite a while.

 

[The Weatherman]

The service writers NO.

The EV service tech is very knowledgeable and competent.

Kentucky is not a hotbed of EV adoption. Sadly, it has been highly politicized here and this definitely a RED state.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

I'm in the lower mainland. I purchased at a dealer in Surrey, BC. Because I knew someone who worked there in some capacity. I'm not sure that was the right choice.

The salesman I was dealing with was great. But my experience went down-hill dealing with financing. I felt I was being pushed extended waranty's and other products that didn't make sense. In general it felt very aggressive and not tuned to what I actually needed.

After sales, just trying to get a service appointment for some CSPs seemed very difficult to do in a timely manner so I decided to try some other dealers.
From hearing peoples experience in various threads here about dealers. I get the impression A LOT of dealers have NO IDEA about BEVs. Its honestly quite scary.

I found positive reviews about the BEV team at key west, I assume that's you guys. So I took my truck there for the CSPs. It's a bit out of the way for me.

I must say, my first experience with you guys was to get the low voltage battery BMS replaced. I booked an appointment specifically for that. Confirmed on the phone a week prior when booking that they have the part. Showed up in the morning after a 1hr drive and was told they didn't have the part in stock when I got there. That wasn't impressive. After waiting around they managed to scrounge the part for me - not sure if that was from another vehicle or what. But that got sorted.

I have my first 8000km maintenance I need to schedule. I might aswell ask you guys what your opinion is on it. I know you offer a "the works" maintenance package for BEVs. But what all is that exactly?

Its my impression the only maintenance items are really:

• Checking fluids, coolant, windhsield
• Rotating tires
• ... That's it.. ?
  • Probably unnecesairy items like....
    • Cabin Filter
    • Wiper blades

I'm sorry to hear you had that experience at the other dealer, however I am glad our service team was able to sort out the part for your recall. We do our best to avoid unneeded trips if we can.
As for the EVWorks package, you are correct. it's a fairly simple check up of your brakes and fluids, tire rotation, and a 12V battery test. Ford recommends doing this once a year but due to the road conditions and weather we have in the Lower Mainland, we recommend it every 6 months or 8K (much like an ICE vehicle) Wiper blades are on a need basis and we recommend a new cabin air filter once every 2 years or at 32K, which ever comes first.
Hope that helps!

 

[KeyWestEViking]

The service writers NO.

The EV service tech is very knowledgeable and competent.

Kentucky is not a hotbed of EV adoption. Sadly, it has been highly politicized here and this definitely a RED state.

I have heard that. I am interested in getting to know more about EV adoption through out North America and I have heard both positive and negative. I appreciate you giving me some insight!

 

[Zprime29]

It's all been a crap shoot. Dealership I had my reservation at had zero interest in EV's. When I went to test drive the sales lady said she knew nothing about and didn't seem the least bit remorseful about that. She said anyone coming to look at it already knew so why bother.

Sales was a nightmare, since I was trying to buy around the time that everyone wanted over MSRP despite many places offering with no mark up. A local place flat refused to sell at MSRP and ended up shipping their one and only truck to CA. Ended up buying out of state, dealership was at least responsive but still had some difficulties with them until I posted a bad review.

Closest dealer had no loaners for CSP/recall work, had to switch. First CSP visit they were unable to get to my truck, despite 5 week out scheduling and 8am drop off. Then they tried to tell me that they would need to pull the battery apart for the SW update CSP (said they assumed it was same as a MachE recall when I called them out on it). Had to switch to a 3rd for the LVB CSP, but even they can't get a part in to come do the service.

This doesn't seem to be a Ford or EV problem though. My Subaru dealership sold me a car that didn't have an OEM windshield and never noted it. When I took it in for a window motor issue I asked them to fix the rear view mirror that had fallen off in the heat. They said it wasn't an OEM windshield so no go. The car was previously a loaner, best guess is someone got a crack and had it replaced without telling the dealer, who apparently never checked on their 50 bazillion point presale inspection.

Gunn Honda in San Antonio are the only place where I genuinely had a pleasant experience for everything.

 

[KeyWestEViking]

It's all been a crap shoot. Dealership I had my reservation at had zero interest in EV's. When I went to test drive the sales lady said she knew nothing about and didn't seem the least bit remorseful about that. She said anyone coming to look at it already knew so why bother.

Sales was a nightmare, since I was trying to buy around the time that everyone wanted over MSRP despite many places offering with no mark up. A local place flat refused to sell at MSRP and ended up shipping their one and only truck to CA. Ended up buying out of state, dealership was at least responsive but still had some difficulties with them until I posted a bad review.

Closest dealer had no loaners for CSP/recall work, had to switch. First CSP visit they were unable to get to my truck, despite 5 week out scheduling and 8am drop off. Then they tried to tell me that they would need to pull the battery apart for the SW update CSP (said they assumed it was same as a MachE recall when I called them out on it). Had to switch to a 3rd for the LVB CSP, but even they can't get a part in to come do the service.

This doesn't seem to be a Ford or EV problem though. My Subaru dealership sold me a car that didn't have an OEM windshield and never noted it. When I took it in for a window motor issue I asked them to fix the rear view mirror that had fallen off in the heat. They said it wasn't an OEM windshield so no go. The car was previously a loaner, best guess is someone got a crack and had it replaced without telling the dealer, who apparently never checked on their 50 bazillion point presale inspection.

Gunn Honda in San Antonio are the only place where I genuinely had a pleasant experience for everything.

I appreciate the feedback and am sorry you had to go through that. We've have heard some similar stories like that as well. I am glad to hear that you found a good place to go in the end

 

[Scott Libre]

Coggin Ford DeLand Florida. Purchased a 23 Lariat and the entire experience could not have been better.

From sales, to finance to service, so far everything has been great. What tipped my decision to purchase from their dealership was a fair offer for my trade. I already had a Lightning on order from another dealer and when I took my ICE truck in for service, they asked if I would trade it in with them. At first I said no, because I thought I could get more money as a direct seller than through a trade-in, but the trade-in offer was so good, I ended up canceling my other order and taking their offer.

 

[PFree]

My dealership runs like a machine in most facets but had what I would call only a general knowledge of the truck. By the time my Lightning arrived I’m pretty sure I knew more about it than the Salesman. They knew very little on the peripherals such as charger installation, adapters etc. I asked simple questions such as how long the ProCharger cord was and got blank stares. I sent them all the information I accumulated so they could assist future clients. To be fair they do not sell many EVs and I’ve been able to work through all of the issues I’ve encountered so far on my own, however a post sale technical support team would’ve been invaluable. As a comparison my Land Rover dealer sent a tech support person to my home and they spent as much time as I needed to insure I had the tech down.

 

[farmtruck]

My dealer is a family owned, one location dealer. The owners own multiple EVs. The lead tech for EVs is also an EV owner. If Ford has something to say about their EVs, I will probably hear about it from my dealer before Ford tells me. If I have questions about mine, the manager gets timely, live answers from Ford instead of waiting for a canned email response which may take several days. It is not uncommon to walk into the dealership to find multiple EV owners in the managers office talking about our vehicles. The conversations will cover anything EV, good, bad, or ugly and will cross brands. The dealerships biggest problem is Ford wants them to install L3 chargers and the EV traffic in the area will not support L3 chargers.
In summary, my dealership is very vested in the EV market even though they are very small and in an area that is not very conducive to EV ownership.

 

[Daragh]

My experience with Ford dealerships has been mixed, on my Diesels, first class, I guess this is because the dealer had a dedicated "commercial" office to deal with everything F250 and above and everybody I interacted with knew their stuff and was on a one to one relationship.

On the consumer side (F150 and other Ford vehicles) it's been pretty poor in my experience with the Lightning. Pretty much just a number and there is a huge lack of knowledge on the Lightning technically, they try don't get me wrong but nobody at the dealership is truly knowledgable to any reasonable level.

I really wish Ford would do away with the dealership as a sub contractor model (very wishful thinking), it removes all incentive to be proactive on anything for fear Ford won't reimburse the time and effort costs.

Thankfully my lightning is pretty reliable, aside from recalls its not had any issues needing a dealer visit (dealers in my locale won't update software, again because Ford doesn't reimburse them for doing so). Hopefully the reliability is long term.

 

[Adventureboy]

My dealer (McAlpine Ford) in Ontario has been excellent. The service team is on top of their game and they do what they say they are going to do. They keep me informed when things glitch along the way (ie, parts shortage for my onboard charger failure). They kept the truck running for me while they waited for the part for a few weeks.
Feedback for @KeyWestEViking - the most important factor for me, is honest communications. In some cases, the parts availability for EVs is challenging and working with the dealer and Ford Canada Customer Service needs to be aligned. My dealer did this for both my Lightning and my wife's MME.

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