In my book, they owe you new body panels. Period. End of discussion. You paid 25-30k for a NEW truck, not one with holes drilled in it.... ESPECIALLY being in Alaska!! You don't get much more 'into the snow belt' than that! I'd demand it be fixed, and stop making payments until the problem is rectified.

Un-believable! Before you know it, they'll be pop-riviting signs on the doors! Amazing...

-Joe-

 

Well all,
Called the dealer after 5pm today, mistake. My salesman wasn't there and I spoke to the sales manager. That was a complete waste of time. He semi-sympathized, but said he had no control over it and to call the GM tomorrow.
Which, believe me, I will do.
I can't beleive I'm the first person to complain about this. Maybe no one else ever tried to take them off?

I'll keep you posted when I actually hear something substantial..

 

Rock, I can't believe that you're getting the run around from the sales manager. To me it should have been a non-issue, "you don't like it, then we'll fix it". That is just plain ridiculous to hear. I would definately give that GM a piece of your mind and then some.

Tell him he can do it the hard way or the easy way... The hard way will be you pushing for a new truck without holes from the badging, the easy will be a visit to the body shop.

Good luck!

 

I have great sympathy for you. You will find, unfortunately, that the word "runaround" is going to part of your vocabulary for a long time to come, and the situation likely will not get resolved to your satisfaction. I had this same problem years ago when buying a vehicle from a dealer whose logo is a big, friggin' silver star. Perhaps some of you know who this is. After I've negotiated the price, and the salesman is ready to send me to F&I, I tell him that final approval is contingent upon removal of all dealer logos and labels. This has USUALLY worked like a champ, and I get delivered a vehicle completely clean of "advertising". One dealer argued with me, and I walked, but not before he came after me, yammering incredulously, about why I'd sour a deal over "a couple of stickers". I hope you get the satisfaction you deserve.

 

In my opinion, it sounds like they voided your body/exterior warranty.

 

I bought mine used and it had THREE dealer stickers on the tailgate. I would be at the dealer causing a big stink if I bought a truck with holes drilled in it! Go get em,Rock!,,,,,,98

 

This is so over the top.Is this dealer planning on paying for advertising?I hope you get this fixed.

 

Everytime I have bought a new vehicle I close the deal by saying that I will not accept delivery if there is any sticker or permanent badge on the vehicle. I massage them a little by letting them put their license tag frame on. I take that off later. Around here (Houston) I don't think anyone puts permanent tags on any new cars. Some of them actually forbid it and publish that in their "Pledges" to their customers. There is a dealer in a suburb south of Houston... a Pontiac dealer who puts their family name on the cars they sell. The name is "GAY." How'd you like to drive around with that all the time? (not that there's anything wrong with that!) <g>

 

What's even worse is what the name of the suburb it's in,eh Kenster,LMAO,,,,98

 

98SCREAMER: LOL It definately goes with the dealorship's name

 

I would be pissed and I would park it in front of the showroom with logos removed so prospective customers could see what they were buying. Put yellow arrows pointing to the holes and stand in the bed waving at everyone in the showroom. Be a squeaky wheel until they fix it. Do not do anything illegal or you will lose.

 

Rock, interested in hearing if you received any sympathy from the GM.

 

All,
Thanks for the ideas and support. I haven't been able to follow up on this as work has been booming lately. I'm helping produce the oil that makes the gas for us all to drive our beloved trucks. And things are BUSY. ANyhow, things are slowing for this week, so I plan to call tomorrow. The Sales Manager told me the GM keeps "banker's hours" i.e 9-3, no weekends, etc. I'll definately write when I hear something.
One unfortunate part of this equation is that the selling dealer is 3 hrs from my home. I didn't use the local dealer 10 mins from home, because I wasn't happy with the salesman's attention and they didn't want to deal. Therefore I thought I'd get the last laugh by going somewhere else. Little did I know. I shouldn't bad mouth too much until I talk to this guy..they may make it right after all.... Maybe.
I DO still love my truck though!!

Thanks again all,
Rock

 

Well guys,
First I must admit the guy at least spoke to me in depth. I had him on the phone immediately after calling the main phone # for the dealer and we talked for at least 20 minutes.
I got some sympathy, but no real resolution to having holes in my fenders.
I started out with complimenting the salesman (who was first rate) and the general treatment prior to sale.
Then...I asked about the practice of drilling holes to install the dealer badge. This is where we didn't see eye-to-eye (imagine that). He stated that he had been doing it for 20 years that way and a very small fraction of people had expressed concern. I politely indicated that doing it for 20 yrs does not make it right. He asked what I wanted and I said "New fenders..no holes" No way he said. I then went into my arguement of the fact that I ordered the truck, what right did they have to decide for me that I wanted holes in it! He stuck to his story, and told me that it was not my truck , it was theirs until I took delivery. (he might be right there).
Oh, then he says if I didn't like the badges, I should have said something on acceptance. I argued that I am supposed to suspect that these badges are put on by drilling?? I asked if I was supposed to crawl under and pull all the fill plugs and check for myself the fluid levels prior to driving off?? I know it is not the same, but I was trying to make the point that one cannot possibly imagine or check EVERYTHING during acceptance.

I then went to the point of possible corrosion. He said it had never been a problem (no, they don't paint or seal the holes) in the past. He did quantify that statement by saying "not to say that won't change". All in all, he said he would honor any corrosion that came from the area with the holes. BUT when I asked for that in writing, he refused. I argued the fact that I move frequently in my job, what am supposed to do if I'm in Texas or somewhere 5 yrs from now and it starts rusting? The local dealer will take care of it? I don't think so (and they shouldn't have to). He said "WE'll deal with that when it comes". Not too happy with that reply. I also asked "OK, you're word on the corrosion, what if you retire, or quit or whatever when I come back with an issue?" HE indicated that we would "have to have faith that management would be smart enough to put someone in that position to honor a previous spoken word" Please..I was born, but not yesterday.
We ended up with me EXTREMELY unhappy and him telling me to stop in (I live 3 hrs from dealership) and he would consider doing something to keep me happy (new fenders would make me happy). So I guess as far as he is concerned, he'll toss me an air freshener for free and we'll be all square..what bullcrap.
Sorry this is so long, but I needed to vent. My next plan is to write someone in Ford Corporate with a complaint. ANyone know the proper channels?

Thanks for letting me rant on and on..
Rock

 

RockOFFROAD,

I didn't imagine this would become such a headache for you. What it sounds like is that if the dealer replaces your fenders then he becomes liable and may need to replace the fenders of anyone who asks in the future.

If you really want the new fenders you could certainly turn to Alaska's Small Claims Court. http://www.prairielaw.com/articles/a...1463&x=16&y=12

http://www.state.ak.us/

I've been to court a few times as a witness for clients of the company I work for and it's not a big deal. Small Claims court is simply a judge listening to your story in simple terms (no legal motions) and deciding whether or not the dealer was wrong. Just tell the judge what's happend and show some pictures of the holes in you beautiful new Lariat. You may even be able to find a few cars from that dealer with rust on them from the holes of you drive around a few of the parking lots in town.

The filing fee is $25.00 and the forms are free. If you called the clerk for the county the dealer is in they'll mail them to you. Since you need to file in the dealers district, what you could do is ask to meet with someone in the dealer and bring along the court papers telling them that your next stop before returning home is the court house.

The dealer would need to convince the judge that it's normal and acceptible to put holes in your new fender and you would need to explain that this lowers the value of your truck and that the dealer mislead you into beleiving they were just stickers; which all common sense would dictate they are when looking at them. I've never heard of a dealer drilling holes in new cars to mount dealer badges. Would the judge himself want this on his F-150???

If you do this, you'll find it's a heck of a lot easier than going to the dentist.

Remember also: the Small Claims Court was set up for just this sort of thing.

Good Luck!!!