Mustang Club of Maryland

I recently had a very disappointing experience at Len Stoler Ford when I went to have a new key made for my 2002 Mustang.

After several visits to have a key made it was suggested that I just come first thing in the morning to have the key made.

I took my car there bright and early and was told that the key would cost close to $175 as it had to be programmed and it has a transponder imbedded.

Although I felt the estimate was on the high side I still needed a second key so I gave them the ok to make me a new key.

About 20 minutes later the service writer came out to tell me that the tech performed a service inspection and that I needed to have my brake system flushed as it was extremely dirty. They also informed me that my battery was only putting out 240 cranking amps and not the 540 it should be cranking.

I told the service writer that I did have the brake fluid flushed when I bought the car in May. He insisted that the tech was adamant that the brake fluid still needed to be changed.

I declined the suggested repairs and took the car back to my regular shop, Hometown Auto Repair in Finksburg, where Darrin opened up the brake fluid resevoir and stuck his finger into the fluid which was perfectly clear! Boy was PO'ed! As an honest repair shop he took offense that a dealer would try to insinuate that they did not perform the work already done.

They then retested my battery and performed a computer readout which indicated that my battery was putting out 495 cranking amps!

I then returned to Len Stoler Ford to confront the service writer with the facts. He deferred to the tech and his supervisor who admitted that they did not physically check the brake fluid but merely "looked" into the resevoir which he felt looked dark.

I then removed the cap and stuck my finger into the brake fluid and wiped it off on a white paper towel and they must have turned two shades of red.

They retested the battery after I showed them my computer print out and their tester merely said that the battery was indicating a "good" rating.
No numbers, just a good reading.

Add to this that my engine compartment has been completely detailed for car shows and I have a clean sticker on the radiator indicating that the brakes, power steering, cooling system, auto transmission have all had a BG Service. The sticker also indicated that all of the differential fluids have been changed and the engine has been tuned up with new plugs, wires and the throttle body has been serviced.

This was an obvious attempt to sell me unneeded service work and was not at all appreciated!

The good news is the key "only cost" $129. The bad news is that they charged me $17.10 for shop supplies! When I asked specifically what shop supplies were needed to program a key, I was given the run around.

They eventually said that all repair tickets received this fee to cover their shop supplies and environmental refuse services.

Needless to say I won't be back there anytime soon for any service work!



Midnight Blue

_________________

Another option in a situation where the "throw away" parts would fill no more than a shoe box, would be to demand that you be given all parts to be discarded. Then they can never charge you for "refuse" services. Tends to keep 'em a bit more honest

Hello Ragtop and welcome to the forum!

In this case there were no old parts or used fluids to recycle or dispose. These dealer run shops have so much overhead built into their operating costs that it doesn't make sense to the average consumer to use them except for warranty work or some rare procedure that only a dealer can perform.

It certainly is not cost effective to have them perform an oil change, not when they are going to tack on another $17 fluid recycling fee.

I came in to purchase a new key and have it programmed. There wasn't even an old key to throw away!

The funny thing is that I was sent an email by the dealer asking how my service experience was at Len Stoler Ford. I was told that I may also be contacted by Ford for another opinion of my service experience.

After I answered their survey and added my additional comments I never heard anything back from Len Stoler and certainly not Ford as they would not forward my remarks to Ford.



Midnight Blue

Before I got spare keys for my mustang and my wife's explorer, I found out how much the dealer wanted for each key.
Not willing to pay that much, I went on to ebay, purchased 2 keys for I think about $20 each, took them to crouse ford , they cut the keys for me ( no charge) and the keys came with directions for me to program myself

_________________

"I think people are so passionate about Mustang because it gives you a sense of freedom. especially in a red convertible.

I will never use Len Stoler. I used to work in Owings Mills and a couple of people that worked for me bought vehicles there and had nightmare experiences. One gentleman purchased a Fusion and was convinced to purchase the "extended warranty". It was suppossed to extend the warranty from 3 years to 5. After he got home and actually had a chance to read thru the manual, he found out he got screwed. When he went back, they refused to refund him the money because of the finance agreement. He had to get a lawyer and take them to court.

ANY EXPERIENCES WITH PLAZA FORD IN BELAIR?

_________________
Dave

by , on Flickr
Some people are like Slinkys. They have no purpose, but they sure bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.