Ford Service Department procedures?

[Kirby Baker]

I had my Explorer Sport serviced last week, or so I thought, and paid. But I'm wondering now if the service department did anything to my vehicle.

Reasons for my doubts:

1. No "sticker" on the windshield saying when the next service should be.
2. Oil life remaining counter in the instrument panel was still at 59%.
3. I couldn't find any evidence that anything was done to the car.
4. No itemized billing. I got an invoice that just stated "the works" or something similar, and a price of about $46.
5. On the owner.ford.com site, there are no service records showing for my vehicle. Shouldn't the Ford dealer be uploading data to the site? I speculate this because there is a comment on the owner site that states "Only vehicle owners of record can view dealer-entered service details."

So I'm sort of feeling like I just got screwed out of $46.

 

[broken strut]

Sounds like it.

 

[Kirby Baker]

Should I have received a detailed invoice? I assume the service tech should have reset the oil life counter?

I guess they were more concerned with what "software" I added to the car to make my 5" stub antenna work. No joke, I was grilled on this for several minutes. I explained the only software I used was my hand in a 'lefty loosy fashion to remove the old one, and a righty-tighty fashion to install the new antenna'.

Not sure I am going to trust the dealer service department tomorrow to re-flash my whole car to try and fix the GPS tracking problem.

 

[1995E]

Check your dipstick and see if your oil is clear or not. I mark all my parts to make sure things have been done on the vehicle. Especially the oil filter.

Ford uses semi-synthetic motor oil is what I've been told by my dealer in all of its cars. The oil is very clear when you pull out the dipstick. So make sure you check that. Dirty oil is very noticeable.

 

[Kirby Baker]

I'll check the oil when I get home. That was going to be my final check before I raise hell with them. And washer fluid would be another good one.

 

[peterk9]

Should I have received a detailed invoice? I assume the service tech should have reset the oil life counter?

I guess they were more concerned with what "software" I added to the car to make my 5" stub antenna work. No joke, I was grilled on this for several minutes. I explained the only software I used was my hand in a 'lefty loosy fashion to remove the old one, and a righty-tighty fashion to install the new antenna'.

Not sure I am going to trust the dealer service department tomorrow to re-flash my whole car to try and fix the GPS tracking problem.

Not sure what 'The Works' all consists of. When I take mine in for the oil change they list the items, do a free alignment check, free 99 point inspection and a free wash and dry. Cost $35.90 plus tax. All this is done with each oil change and a copy of the inspection repport is attached to the itemized invoice.

Peter

 

[Kirby Baker]

The works...

 

[cnsheets]

You should have received the inspection report showing tire tread levels, fluid levels, etc. Its a colorful report, you can't miss it, unless you didn't get it.

I would also mark the tires before hand to verify that they actually got rotated.

If you check the oil and it does in fact appear to have been changed, then you can reset the oil life indicator yourself in the setting screen. Sometimes they do forget, Or just don't know how.

Report would have looked similar to these....

 

[Kirby Baker]

Oh no, by no means did I get anything similar to that. The only similarity that my invoice had would have been it was on paper.

 

[Kirby Baker]

Oil pictures. Would you call this clean?

Washer fluid tank was full.

 

[cnsheets]

Since you said it was done "last week", from what I can tell in the pictures, it does appear to have been changed.

I'll let a few others weigh in with their opinions as well.

 

[Kirby Baker]

Yes, it went in last week on Friday. Daily commute is 15 miles. If I had to guess, I would say since the service, I have put on 100 miles. As this was my first oil change, it had a shade over 4000 miles on it.

 

[Motoarzan]

That oil is new. Would be totally black if it hadn't been changed.

 

[Kirby Baker]

Ok, thanks for the confirmation. Feel a bit better now that it was fully serviced. Going to call the dealer tomorrow and ask for the detailed report.

 

[1995E]

Ok, thanks for the confirmation. Feel a bit better now that it was fully serviced. Going to call the dealer tomorrow and ask for the detailed report.

Hmm, after 100 miles it looks like that? I'll check my Explorer tomorrow. I took it to the beach a while back and ocean city is about... 156 miles one way and I haven't driven it since. That oil to me looks a bit dirtier than usual. Telling from the dipstick. After 3,000 to 4,000 miles. The oil would be your color. Not to scare you with my comments. It's just my observation. To give a comparison, I'll take a picture of my dipstick tomorrow. Your dipstick looks like it has some stuff on it or maybe that's the lighting?

Also, you should have gotten those papers if your service was done. Especially the oil life monitor should have been reset. I would be very pissed if I wasted gas to go to the dealership and nothing was done on it myself.

This is my own paranoia ever since jiffy lube didn't change a damn thing on my dad's Econoline van for the oil and filter. I hope I'm wrong and that you actually got your oil changed properly.

 

[1995E]

Here is how my oil and dipstick looked after 300 miles. Wait, you have the Ecoboost, so maybe it would be that color after 100 miles. However, you should still be hard on the dealership and always check your dipstick.

 

[rmp301]

Chrysler did the same thing to me years ago ...... I had them bring the car in and service it a second time or I was calling corporate to pitch a *****. They gladly did so even though they said it was done initially!