Until 2008, I had a 1995 Taurus and a 2003 Honda Odyssey. I had each serviced at their respective dealerships. The differences between the Ford dealership and the Honda dealership were like night and day. The Ford dealership was like walking into a third world country. The Honda dealership experience was first rate.
The Ford dealership reps didn't have computers, you got out of your car in a dark cold wind tunnel area, the waiting room was dingy with an old TV, shuttle service was one time, one way only, and if you needed any type of body service (leaky sunroof) they told you to hike down to the body shop where everyone just stares at you and ignores you. (After five tries they never did fix the leaky sunroof.)
The Honda dealership has a nice enclosed bright warm area for you to get out of your car. The reps have computers with complete information about your car and the parts inventory they have on hand for repairs. Oil changes are while you wait. They even wash your car at each service. The waiting room is bright and they offer coffee, doughnuts, free newspapers, and satellite TV. Plus the shuttles run often. (The little coffee maker at the Ford dealership finally broke and they didn't replace it.) The shuttle drivers give you their business cards which has their cell phone numbers on them. You can call them directly for pick up when you need a ride back to the dealership. The Ford dealer doesn't do pickups.
From which dealership do you think I would want to buy my next car.
To be fair the Ford dealership in the final days I owned the Taurus did finally enclose an area for you to drop off your car. The reps now have computers at the drop off point, but not much else has changed. The customer waiting area has been about to be remodeled for over an year. Still nothing had happened at the time I sold the Taurus. The coffee machine was still broke, the TV was on its last legs, the furniture was still deterioating, the magazines and car brochures were from a prior year. The feeling of yuck was still strong. I did not consider a Ford for the replacement of the Taurus.
The 1995 Taurus had been a very sound car mechanically, but the rest of the car was mediocre. Knobs fell off, the sunroof leaked and couldn't be fixed, and other things failed. And I couldn't stomach the dealer any longer.
I hope things improve for the US car manufacturers but a lot has got to change if they're to survive.
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