My car is sitting at my local Ford dealer getting fixed. Its been a week now and they havent been able to track down the problem. It was explained to me that Ford dealers dont get the money to give out rentals where as a Lincoln dealer gets an "allowance" for rentals during repairs. Is this true ? Have you guys been getting free rentals from Lincoln when you take your car in for factory warranty work ? If so, what have they given you ? I had to get on the Ford dealer hard to get me a rental and when they do its a crappy ass Taurus. Are there any other benefits to taking your car to a true Lincoln dealership vs. a Ford dealer ? Are the Lincoln techs trained differently/better than Ford techs regarding cars like the LS ?
Benefits of a Lincoln dealership ?
- Thread starter Fla02LS
- Start date
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
As a Lincoln owner, you are entitled to a free loaner car while your vehicle is undergoing warranty repairs. They usually give me another LS, a Town Car, or a Mercury Sable.
Since the LS has some very specific parts, I would say that a Lincoln dealership is your best place for repairs on the LS.
Why are you going to a Ford dealer?
Since the LS has some very specific parts, I would say that a Lincoln dealership is your best place for repairs on the LS.
Why are you going to a Ford dealer?
I dont know, i am starting to ask myself that now. Actually the Ford dealer is about a 3 minute drive, the nearest Lincoln dealer is about a 30 minute drive. I figured that since the new Tbird is essentially the same mechanically as an LS they "should" know how to fix it. But this crap about not being able to fix whatever is wrong with it and having to drive a Taurus is starting to get to me.ToddG said:Why are you going to a Ford dealer?
n8bachelor
Dedicated LVC Member
I am the second owner of my LS and the dealership is aware of that. Every time I have had the car in for a repair they have given me a loaner or taken me to Hertz and paid for a rental. I have gotten a loaner 3 times (one continental and twice a grand marquis) and 3 times a rental. The rentals have been nothing compared to the LS (a ford focus, a pontiac vibe, and a chevy cobalt) but at least they were free. My warranty is going to expire by the end of the year so I will likely not be getting a free rental anymore.
Hopefully the LS is all better but I am still concerned about a noise coming from the passenger front tire. I hear a "clunk" when making a left turn at parking lot speeds. Of course the dealer could not replicate the problem so they dont know what to fix.
It might be up to the dealership weather or not they provide loaners.
my 2¢
Hopefully the LS is all better but I am still concerned about a noise coming from the passenger front tire. I hear a "clunk" when making a left turn at parking lot speeds. Of course the dealer could not replicate the problem so they dont know what to fix.
It might be up to the dealership weather or not they provide loaners.
my 2¢
Bodyshield
Active LVC Member
aslong as the car is under warranty, u get the loaner car, u just pay for tax's on it
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
Fla02LS said:
While they share many parts, the T-Bird and the LS do have some differences. Your issue may be specific to the LS. The Lincoln techs are trained on Lincoln cars, so they will be in the best position to diagnose your problems. I'm inclined to believe you'll get better service all the way around if you go to the Lincoln dealership.
You should give the Lincoln dealer a try on the next service and see how it compares with the Ford dealer for service. I would schedule your appointment a week or so in advance, and request a loaner car.
Ford only offers loaners if you have an extended warranty or "RentalCare" (or something like that), according to the sticker on my parents' Freestyle's Owner's Guide folder.
According to the The Benefits of Owning a Lincoln guide that's in the packet with the Owner's Guide, Lincoln offers "Transportation Assistance" which will "help offset the cost of alternate transportation, and may even cover the cost completely."
This may or may not cover owners who are not the original owners of the car; the Benefits guide says to contact your dealer for details. I can say that I've not yet had a request for a loaner denied by my dealership.
According to the The Benefits of Owning a Lincoln guide that's in the packet with the Owner's Guide, Lincoln offers "Transportation Assistance" which will "help offset the cost of alternate transportation, and may even cover the cost completely."
This may or may not cover owners who are not the original owners of the car; the Benefits guide says to contact your dealer for details. I can say that I've not yet had a request for a loaner denied by my dealership.
HyeLifeLS
Dedicated LVC Member
As long as the car is under warranty they should provide you with a loaner car. Even my Mercury Mystique when it was still under factory warranty Ford dealer would give me a Taurus, F-150.
When the LS was under warranty Lincoln dealer still paid for a rental car from Hertz.
When out of warranty sometimes they provide you with cars if they really want to. Once my LS was in Lincoln dealer for about 9 days and they couldn't find a part for it so they gave me an Aviator to ride in for a whole week for free.
I think some Lincoln dealerships have great service (their service department), I always get discounts for service and on time service.
It would be better for you to get the car to Lincoln dealer although 30 minutes away.
When the LS was under warranty Lincoln dealer still paid for a rental car from Hertz.
When out of warranty sometimes they provide you with cars if they really want to. Once my LS was in Lincoln dealer for about 9 days and they couldn't find a part for it so they gave me an Aviator to ride in for a whole week for free.
I think some Lincoln dealerships have great service (their service department), I always get discounts for service and on time service.
It would be better for you to get the car to Lincoln dealer although 30 minutes away.
Jim Henderson
Dedicated LVC Member
Osaín said:
I am a second owner and have been in twice for warranty work. Both times the rental was coverd, about 1 week each time.
Maybe it depends on the dealer?
Jim Henderson
PaulJK
Active LVC Member
I just had my 2003 LS 6 to the Lincoln dealer where I bought it. The car has remaining factory warranty from the 1st owner and I bought an extended warranty. I bought the car with 31,400 miles and was told the 30k service had been done. I later checked the air filter and it looked like the filter from a shop vac. I complained to the service manager and they did the 30k service for $200, instead of he usual $450 .
I was waiting for my car and sat with 2 nice 'grandfatherly-type" guys in the waiting area. It was stocked with pastries, coffee, magazines and TV. The were NO noisy kids runing around and the place was neat, clean and pleasant. Because of the people who buy Lincolns, I would expect this - I would NOT expect it from a Los Angeles Ford dealership that sells many different type vehicles to a different audience.
When I was informed that the front rotors needed to be replaced and the rears needed "turned" (they did this for free), they gave me a Town car to use. Later they called and said they discovered a broken trim piece on the seat while they were replacing the seat filters and needed to order a new one (also free). They actually replaced the entire seat back including the leather pocket, which is now nice and tight ! They also said my trans needed a firmware update and performed that for free (I would expect no one else but a Lincoln dealer to know about or perform this). I ended up having the Town car for 4 days at no cost, was treated like I had value, and my car was like new when I got it, freshly washed.
a few years ago i had a Jaguar XJ-R, a car that originally cost SOMEBODY 80 grand. I used to take it to a dealer most of the time for service, to make sure I got the proper parts and service, including the 9 quart synthetic oil changes. I had experience at a Jaguar dealership in Torrance, CA and a Jaguar -Aston Martin dealership in Santa Ana. Both places were elegant, especially the Jag-A.M. ! BUT no matter what the car needed, the Torrance dealerhsip gave NO free loaners and the Jaguar Aston Martin dealer gave standard-size rentals from Enterprise. (When my car needed an $1100 service on the exhaust manifolds, they gave me a Jeep Liberty !!!!!!!!!) Nice job when the cheapest car on the lot was a $75k Jag and $180k Aston Martins were in the showroom. Wanna complain and make a scene, you'll get escorted to the door.
I once had a Toyota Supra - top-of-the-line for Toyota. BUT, when I took it in for service, I waited in a crowded place infested by low-lifes that bought bottom-of-the-line cars that were were wrecks, with dirty, noisy kids running around like some third-world zoo and the waiting room was a dump because of it. The service writers treated me like I knew Nothing and would believe and buy whatever they tried to sell me - like a typical sucker. NO MORE toyotas of ANY kind for me.
I used to buy GM cars all the time, but honestly got tired of being treated like a sucker by dealerships In Many States that I will no longer even Consider ANY new GM product, let alone their service. I have a fiero "hobby car" but take that to a local fiero club member. If I ever need to go to a Pontiac parts dept., i just smile when I'm reminded about why I'll Never buy their new cars or service.
This is my first Lincoln and I'm Very happy with the car AND the dealership, and (at this point) would not even think about going anywhere else even though the dealership is almost 50 miles from my home.
.I was waiting for my car and sat with 2 nice 'grandfatherly-type" guys in the waiting area. It was stocked with pastries, coffee, magazines and TV. The were NO noisy kids runing around and the place was neat, clean and pleasant. Because of the people who buy Lincolns, I would expect this - I would NOT expect it from a Los Angeles Ford dealership that sells many different type vehicles to a different audience.
When I was informed that the front rotors needed to be replaced and the rears needed "turned" (they did this for free), they gave me a Town car to use. Later they called and said they discovered a broken trim piece on the seat while they were replacing the seat filters and needed to order a new one (also free). They actually replaced the entire seat back including the leather pocket, which is now nice and tight ! They also said my trans needed a firmware update and performed that for free (I would expect no one else but a Lincoln dealer to know about or perform this). I ended up having the Town car for 4 days at no cost, was treated like I had value, and my car was like new when I got it, freshly washed.
a few years ago i had a Jaguar XJ-R, a car that originally cost SOMEBODY 80 grand. I used to take it to a dealer most of the time for service, to make sure I got the proper parts and service, including the 9 quart synthetic oil changes. I had experience at a Jaguar dealership in Torrance, CA and a Jaguar -Aston Martin dealership in Santa Ana. Both places were elegant, especially the Jag-A.M. ! BUT no matter what the car needed, the Torrance dealerhsip gave NO free loaners and the Jaguar Aston Martin dealer gave standard-size rentals from Enterprise. (When my car needed an $1100 service on the exhaust manifolds, they gave me a Jeep Liberty !!!!!!!!!) Nice job when the cheapest car on the lot was a $75k Jag and $180k Aston Martins were in the showroom. Wanna complain and make a scene, you'll get escorted to the door.
I once had a Toyota Supra - top-of-the-line for Toyota. BUT, when I took it in for service, I waited in a crowded place infested by low-lifes that bought bottom-of-the-line cars that were were wrecks, with dirty, noisy kids running around like some third-world zoo and the waiting room was a dump because of it. The service writers treated me like I knew Nothing and would believe and buy whatever they tried to sell me - like a typical sucker. NO MORE toyotas of ANY kind for me.
I used to buy GM cars all the time, but honestly got tired of being treated like a sucker by dealerships In Many States that I will no longer even Consider ANY new GM product, let alone their service. I have a fiero "hobby car" but take that to a local fiero club member. If I ever need to go to a Pontiac parts dept., i just smile when I'm reminded about why I'll Never buy their new cars or service.
This is my first Lincoln and I'm Very happy with the car AND the dealership, and (at this point) would not even think about going anywhere else even though the dealership is almost 50 miles from my home.
Well my car is still at the FORD dealer. They have it all taken apart. So far they replaced the entire throttle body and 5 coils. My steering wheel is off the car. Fixing something thats "loose". In the meantime i have a Ford Escape XLT. Its like a little Matchbox Truck. Atleast it has a sunroof, leather and a satellite radio. Also gives me the ability to go grab a tree with it this weekend. I'm gonna have the Escape till atleast monday. So far my LS has spent 11 days there. I defintaley am gonna take it to a Lincoln dealer next if it still craps out on me again.
GWL
Dedicated LVC Member
I am in a small town and take mine to a Ford, Lincoln Mercury dealer. The only time my LS was in overnight, the dealer apologized because he had no comparable car to loan me. I got an F 150 for the night. (But I did have to get past the Sales Dept who claimed not to be aware of the Lincoln loaner policy) I went higher up to get info and explained that I was going to check with Lincoln Customer Service to find our why my dealer did nor loan a vehicle while mine was in overnight. Suddenly I found someone who knew about the policy,Fla02LS said:
Rodewaryer
Dedicated LVC Member
I have to say something and apologize in advance for any insult this will cause to anyone defensive of "Dealerships" of Ford. I will not cut 'Ford' any grief because I love my LS and my SVT Focus both. However, the worst dealership related automotive experiences of my life (my first new car purchase was 1982, so I have been around dealers a little while.....) have been all 5 Ford dealers I have been unfortunate enough to try. I won't go into long disertation about how I'd like to shake the engineers hand and punch the dealer service manager square in the face, at each FORD dealer, suffice it to say I have HELLISH stories....
I take my Focus to my Lincoln dealership.....man, talk about night and day difference. They welcome me and actually didn't mind working it (maybe because it's not a garden variety Focus....?) and visits remind me of my days at SAAB dealers (when they were real SAABs) and my current experiences at Land Rover dealers, i.e. treatment like a real human being.
It is almost inconcievable that a Lincoln owner would use a Ford dealer, in my view anyway. I would say this is ill advised at a minimum.....
My most recent purchase back in May 2006:
What I call the Daily Driver:
I take my Focus to my Lincoln dealership.....man, talk about night and day difference. They welcome me and actually didn't mind working it (maybe because it's not a garden variety Focus....?) and visits remind me of my days at SAAB dealers (when they were real SAABs) and my current experiences at Land Rover dealers, i.e. treatment like a real human being.
It is almost inconcievable that a Lincoln owner would use a Ford dealer, in my view anyway. I would say this is ill advised at a minimum.....
My most recent purchase back in May 2006:
What I call the Daily Driver: