Ford Service in Phoenix Metro

[shutterbug]

Last Sunday while my car was plugged and charging, I started it (to fiddle with settings). Ten minutes into it I got POWERTRAIN MALFUNCTION / REDUCED POWER error. I turned the car off and didn't do anything Monday and Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday when I started it, I saw SERVICE VEHICLE SOON error. After a short trip and a 20 minute stop the error was not there. Several hours later, I went for another drive and the error was back. It was gone on the return trip. I scheduled an appointment at Camelback Ford for Friday and the error came and went several times over the next 3 days.

I showed up at Camelback on time for my appointment. The service guys wasted 2 hours of my time and then said they can't even look at it until next Thursday or Friday. I asked if I could re-schedule for when a tech could put it on computer and look at it. The service adviser said that the appointments are only for intake, and they would need to keep it for 3 days before looking at it. Also no loaners. I said that this wouldn't work for me. Took the car and left.

Once I got home, I started calling other dealers. First up, Autonation. They didn't have a service adviser available. Took my name and number. Didn't return my call for 3 hours, by which time I didn't need them anymore.

Next, Bell Ford. They followed the Camelback model: We're not happy till you're happy. They wanted to marinate my car for 2 day. Also, no loaners.

Next, Chapman Ford. The guy I spoke to said that he can't guaranty same day service (understandable), but if I brought on Saturday morning, they would perform some basic diagnostics and if not parts are required, they would get it done. I was there right before 7. At 7 my service adviser (Candice) walked out and greeted me by name. She listened wrote stuff down, and called over the Tech (Ian). He asked a few additional question and then took my car away. He came over 30 minutes later and said he needed to apply a few software updates, and one update wouldn't be ready till June. For the rest of the stuff, he needed an hour. Almost exactly an hour later, he came out again and said my car was done, and they will contact me when the other update is ready.

Needless to say, next time I need service, I'm headed to Chapman, and Warren Buffett and all of his companies can just suck it. Same goes for my next Ford purchase. Incidentally the following is what the did:

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[BMT1071]

The BH purchase of the Van Tuyl dealership group does not seem to have resulted in any changes.

 

[BMT1071]

Sanderson service was always pretty good when I used to take my company truck there a couple of jobs ago. They were kinda flaky over email when I started looking for MMEs to buy so I ended up ordering with Chapman due to the positive reviews on here.

 

[macchiaz-o]

TIL:

- Berkshire Hathaway owns three of the Ford dealers in the Phoenix metro area. (Crazy!)

- Positive reviews from me and others resulted in new business for Chapman. Should I switch careers?

- Sometimes you stumble into good service advisors and techs at Chapman. (From my own experience, I'll add that sometimes you get a ton of baloney from them.)

 

[BMT1071]

TIL:

- Berkshire Hathaway owns three of the Ford dealers in the Phoenix metro area. (Crazy!)

- Positive reviews from me and others resulted in new business for Chapman. Should I switch careers?

- Sometimes you stumble into good service advisors and techs at Chapman. (From my own experience, I'll add that sometimes you get a ton of baloney from them.)

Three for sure. I have my suspicions about another one or two. They do a good job of hiding who owns them. The number of BH dealers in the valley might surprise you.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Three for sure. I have my suspicions about another one or two. They do a good job of hiding who owns them. The number of BH dealers in the valley might surprise you.

I counted three using their own map, out of at least 28 dealerships that they own in Phoenix (again, that's a LOT!):

https://www.berkshirehathawayautomotive.com/locations/index.htm

It's possible there are more (just not added to map, or subsidiary companies, etc.).

 

[BMT1071]

I counted three using their own map, out of at least 28 dealerships that they own in Phoenix (again, that's a LOT!):

https://www.berkshirehathawayautomotive.com/locations/index.htm

It's possible there are more (just not added to map, or subsidiary companies, etc.).

I had not seen that website before. I was under the mistaken impression that Bell Ford was part of the group. Surprise Ford was one of my suspicions that proved correct.
I worked for Infiniti of Peoria during the buyout and was hopeful there would be some positive changes. There were not. They kept all the same management and all the same business practices.

 

[shutterbug]

My previous experience with Camelback service had been spotty, but it's been getting worse. In November, I had them replace a 12V battery in my C-Max. Long story short, 5 different techs had worked on it between then and March. For all I know it's gone bad again, but now it's Carvana's problem.

 

[shutterbug]

I had not seen that website before. I was under the mistaken impression that Bell Ford was part of the group. Surprise Ford was one of my suspicions that proved correct.
I worked for Infiniti of Peoria during the buyout and was hopeful there would be some positive changes. There were not. They kept all the same management and all the same business practices.

When Buffett acquires companies, he doesn't seem to change management or business practices.

 

[shutterbug]

Well, whatever Chapman tech did, did not solve my issues. I am still getting periodic Service Vehicle Soon errors and alarm system still acts possessed. So I'm headed back to Chapman on Wednesday.

Also after whatever the tech did, PAAK stopped working. I solved that by disabling PAAK and unpairing the phone. I then paired the phone, enabled Android Auto, and enabling PAAK. PAAK is now back in business.

 

[westcoastg8r]

Last Sunday while my car was plugged and charging, I started it (to fiddle with settings). Ten minutes into it I got POWERTRAIN MALFUNCTION / REDUCED POWER error. I turned the car off and didn't do anything Monday and Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday when I started it, I saw SERVICE VEHICLE SOON error. After a short trip and a 20 minute stop the error was not there. Several hours later, I went for another drive and the error was back. It was gone on the return trip. I scheduled an appointment at Camelback Ford for Friday and the error came and went several times over the next 3 days.

I showed up at Camelback on time for my appointment. The service guys wasted 2 hours of my time and then said they can't even look at it until next Thursday or Friday. I asked if I could re-schedule for when a tech could put it on computer and look at it. The service adviser said that the appointments are only for intake, and they would need to keep it for 3 days before looking at it. Also no loaners. I said that this wouldn't work for me. Took the car and left.

Once I got home, I started calling other dealers. First up, Autonation. They didn't have a service adviser available. Took my name and number. Didn't return my call for 3 hours, by which time I didn't need them anymore.

Next, Bell Ford. They followed the Camelback model: We're not happy till you're happy. They wanted to marinate my car for 2 day. Also, no loaners.

Next, Chapman Ford. The guy I spoke to said that he can't guaranty same day service (understandable), but if I brought on Saturday morning, they would perform some basic diagnostics and if not parts are required, they would get it done. I was there right before 7. At 7 my service adviser (Candice) walked out and greeted me by name. She listened wrote stuff down, and called over the Tech (Ian). He asked a few additional question and then took my car away. He came over 30 minutes later and said he needed to apply a few software updates, and one update wouldn't be ready till June. For the rest of the stuff, he needed an hour. Almost exactly an hour later, he came out again and said my car was done, and they will contact me when the other update is ready.

Needless to say, next time I need service, I'm headed to Chapman, and Warren Buffett and all of his companies can just suck it. Same goes for my next Ford purchase. Incidentally the following is what the did:

I think my car may be having this exact same issue and I have an appointment at a dealer tomorrow. Thanks for the details, hopefully it will help with my visit tomorrow.

Question since one of the updates won't be ready until June, are you still getting the service vehicle alert after the other updates were applied?

 

[BMT1071]

Well, whatever Chapman tech did, did not solve my issues. I am still getting periodic Service Vehicle Soon errors and alarm system still acts possessed. So I'm headed back to Chapman on Wednesday.

Also after whatever the tech did, PAAK stopped working. I solved that by disabling PAAK and unpairing the phone. I then paired the phone, enabled Android Auto, and enabling PAAK. PAAK is now back in business.

I would ask for a list of the modules that were checked/programmed and compare it to the service bulletin that is posted on here. It's possible the tech missed a module. Possible that the software that is in development might correct the SVS message.

 

[shutterbug]

I think my car may be having this exact same issue and I have an appointment at a dealer tomorrow. Thanks for the details, hopefully it will help with my visit tomorrow.

Question since one of the updates won't be ready until June, are you still getting the service vehicle alert after the other updates were applied?

Yes. Still getting it.

 

[BMT1071]

Yes. Still getting it.

What is the alarm doing?

 

[westcoastg8r]

Yes. Still getting it.

Thanks, you've saved me some time. I'm going to cancel the appointment and just wait until June. I'm 95 percent sure this is exactly the issue I have since I experienced problems with DC fast charging as was described in the bulletin.

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