Best Ford Dealer in Adelaide for Warranty Service

[MoreHPformyXR6]

I have only used Adrian Brien Ford & the warranty service has been ok but the have missed a couple of little things so I have to arrange to re-book again.

Noted some of the above Dealers have multiple sites so if you would like to be more specific please reply to thread.(& state which site)

Thanks

[max]

I also went to Adrian Brien Ford at St Marys they were average, but one day I booked into their service joint in Ashford– no, Keswick(almost the same thing) a very different story. The guys there were really good. Smaller place, more direct face to face service and attention. I was very pleased. All these things were during warranty period though.

[Perana]

MT at both Port Adelaide and Mt Barker are pretty good...

Would not recommend Stillwells at all...

[Wokkas]

Bought my car from Adrien Brians, and am mates with one of the new car dealers there. I'm pretty happy.

I had a problem with rattly front brake calipers when I first got the car. I took it back and complained, and one of the young lad apprentices plugged it into the computer, and said "hhmmmm, there doesn't seem to be any problems with the computer, maybe it's just road noise". Yeah, good one kid. I guess you've got to learn sometime though. Other than that, very good work. They don't seem to give a rats about the car being modified.

If you go there for maintenance/ warranty, ask to have Woodsy work on your car, or do it during night shift (no apprentices).

[DOC]

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

Would not recommend Stillwells at all...

Any reason or just gut feel ?

[WASP]

I use Jarvis Ford at NORWOOD only. The GT they have been fantastic but on the Focus I can't say the same thing. It's been a battle all the way.

[thefargo]

bought a festiva (oh did I really) from stillwell, they charged through the nose for any service.
bought the territory from wayne phillis, very happy with customer relations and service.

[XRchic]

I go to Maughan Thiem far and above any of the others. They are the ONLY ones in Adelaide who will work on a car with ANY mods, as far as I know NONE of the others will. Adrian Brien will NOT work on a car with mods - they would not TOUCH mine with a Unichip (even after it was removed) and I have heard similar complaints from others. BDT, the local performance place, wont have anything to do with them either, for similar reasons. They recommended MT for me in the first place. And it is a LONG way from them/me too.

I have been to MT at Port Adelaide, and tonight I got my car back from the Mt Barker MT Ford, and so far the work seems good. MT at Port Adelaide treated me very well and did good work on my car. I have heard the same about Stillwells - avoid them.

For the record, my other half is a fully qualified mechanic at Adrian Brien (he knows Woodsy and agrees with the above comment). However my other half worked just as hard as a fully qualified mechanic as he did as an apprentice and I think that a lot of the young blokes at dealerships doing their apprenticeships get the rough end of the stick with people making assumptions about their dedication, skills, etc. My partner tells me that many of the apprentices he has known/worked with are really good blokes and know their stuff. They are often treated very badly, paid very badly and quite often blamed for a lot of things they didnt do or for something that wasnt their fault. He speaks from experience as he did most of his apprenticeship in a large dealer in Geelong and the last year of it here at Adrian Brien.

Give the apprentices a break.

But my partner agrees that MT are the best, especially for warranty work and especially if you have modifications. He confirms Adrian Brien wont touch modded cars under warranty.

Cheers

Jac

[MoreHPformyXR6]

Originally Posted by XRchic

I go to Maughan Thiem far and above any of the others. They are the ONLY ones in Adelaide who will work on a car with ANY mods, as far as I know NONE of the others will. Adrian Brien will NOT work on a car with mods - they would not TOUCH mine with a Unichip (even after it was removed) and I have heard similar complaints from others. BDT, the local performance place, wont have anything to do with them either, for similar reasons. They recommended MT for me in the first place. And it is a LONG way from them/me too.

I have been to MT at Port Adelaide, and tonight I got my car back from the Mt Barker MT Ford, and so far the work seems good. MT at Port Adelaide treated me very well and did good work on my car. I have heard the same about Stillwells - avoid them.

For the record, my other half is a fully qualified mechanic at Adrian Brien (he knows Woodsy and agrees with the above comment). However my other half worked just as hard as a fully qualified mechanic as he did as an apprentice and I think that a lot of the young blokes at dealerships doing their apprenticeships get the rough end of the stick with people making assumptions about their dedication, skills, etc. My partner tells me that many of the apprentices he has known/worked with are really good blokes and know their stuff. They are often treated very badly, paid very badly and quite often blamed for a lot of things they didnt do or for something that wasnt their fault. He speaks from experience as he did most of his apprenticeship in a large dealer in Geelong and the last year of it here at Adrian Brien.

Give the apprentices a break.

But my partner agrees that MT are the best, especially for warranty work and especially if you have modifications. He confirms Adrian Brien wont touch modded cars under warranty.

Cheers

Jac

Thanks for your reply Jac (as i said i have only used Adrian Brien so far) & the only mod i have so far is F6 snorkel & F6 2nd CAI & Adrian Brien did work on my car under warranty. But i feel sure they didnt note the very subtle mod. I have more mods planned for car & have always heard great feedback about MT & it looks like i while use them in the future.

Thanks

Scott

[falcon91]

Bought a new fairlane from Stillwells 9 years ago, was the worst after sales service you can imagine. Apart from them not wanting to know you as soon as i drove away, the service dept sucks, took forever, charged like a wounded bull and still never fixed all the probs. Years later I still avoid the place like the clap!

[Group C]

Originally Posted by falcon91

Bought a new fairlane from Stillwells 9 years ago, was the worst after sales service you can imagine. Apart from them not wanting to know you as soon as i drove away, the service dept sucks, took forever, charged like a wounded bull and still never fixed all the probs. Years later I still avoid the place like the clap!

sounds very much like a certain Ford dealer on the outer east of melbourne, that shall remain name-in Lilydale-less...
8 times they've looked the noisy steering rack in my BA, and it's still the same.
but that's just 1 of a mile of probs., with more than 1 car of ours too...

[Wokkas]

Originally Posted by XRchic

However my other half worked just as hard as a fully qualified mechanic as he did as an apprentice and I think that a lot of the young blokes at dealerships doing their apprenticeships get the rough end of the stick with people making assumptions about their dedication, skills, etc. My partner tells me that many of the apprentices he has known/worked with are really good blokes and know their stuff. They are often treated very badly, paid very badly and quite often blamed for a lot of things they didnt do or for something that wasnt their fault. He speaks from experience as he did most of his apprenticeship in a large dealer in Geelong and the last year of it here at Adrian Brien.

Give the apprentices a break.

As a tradesman who was an apprentice too once (in mechanical engineering, which has aspects not too dissimilar from mechanics), I can tell you it doesn't matter how hard you work during your apprenticeship, as a general rule your work will always be second rate to a qualified tradesman. Its all about knowing your job, and learning the skills. Learning all the tricks of the trade if you wish.

That being said, many mechaincs get bored and complacent as time goes on, while many apprentices are still very keen and motivated. There's good and bad in EVERYTHING, but mechanics needs to be mastered with time and experience.

It's interesting what you say about Adrian Brien. At the end of the day, the service department makes a profit from any warranty work, so I would have thought they would take what they could, mods or not. But obviously they have to cover their backs.

I was actually encouraged by a mechanic at Adrian Briens to get the edit for my XR8. I wonder if it was your husband? :nutsycuck:

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by Wokkas

As a tradesman who was an apprentice too once (in mechanical engineering, which has aspects not too dissimilar from mechanics), I can tell you it doesn't matter how hard you work during your apprenticeship, as a general rule your work will always be second rate to a qualified tradesman. Its all about knowing your job, and learning the skills. Learning all the tricks of the trade if you wish.

I don't agree with this at all. It all comes down to the individual, and his or her passion and dedication to thier work. Sure, and apprentices knowledge might be second rate to a good qualified tech with years of experience, but the workmanship carried out is all down to the individual. As long as the apprentice isn't working out of thier depth with no supervision, theres no reason why a qualifed tech can change brake pads any better than an apprentice for example. Providing an apprentice works under supervision of thier superiors, and has the dedication and workmanship to ensure everything they do is correct, they will continue to learn and improve. Someones raw abilities should not be compared to the quality of their work, they are two totally different things. The former is down to experience, the latter is down to the attitude of the individual.

That being said, many mechaincs get bored and complacent as time goes on, while many apprentices are still very keen and motivated. There's good and bad in EVERYTHING, but mechanics needs to be mastered with time and experience.

You basically summed up my point from my previous comment. Comes down to the individual.

It's interesting what you say about Adrian Brien. At the end of the day, the service department makes a profit from any warranty work, so I would have thought they would take what they could, mods or not. But obviously they have to cover their backs.

They do make money from Warranty work, they just don't get reimbursed with the same labour rate from Ford as someone off the street who paid for the same work to be carried out outside of warranty. As for taking the warranty work, I believe if there is a warranty claim being made my a customer, and the vehicle as modifications, the dealer needs to submit a prior approval to Ford before they carry out the repair. It's at Fords discretion as to whether they accept or decline the claim. And generally if it has an exhaust mod, they driveline warranty will be void.

I was actually encouraged by a mechanic at Adrian Briens to get the edit for my XR8. I wonder if it was your husband? :nutsycuck:

It definitely wasn't me as I don't remember speaking to any customer about an edit. I definitely would encourage an edit though, they are wonderful things.

P.S. I'm not XRchic's husband, but you never know what the future holds! :

[Wokkas]

Originally Posted by Cobra

I don't agree with this at all. It all comes down to the individual, and his or her passion and dedication to thier work. Sure, and apprentices knowledge might be second rate to a good qualified tech with years of experience, but the workmanship carried out is all down to the individual. As long as the apprentice isn't working out of thier depth with no supervision, theres no reason why a qualifed tech can change brake pads any better than an apprentice for example. Providing an apprentice works under supervision of thier superiors, and has the dedication and workmanship to ensure everything they do is correct, they will continue to learn and improve. Someones raw abilities should not be compared to the quality of their work, they are two totally different things. The former is down to experience, the latter is down to the attitude of the individual.

Looks like I've been told

I guess I'm not exactly saying that an apprentices skills or work ethics are necessarily second rate, just that there are many aspects that can only be mastered with time. For example (and this is just my personal opinion), I would rather have someone with 5 years experience up their sleeve, rather than a 1st year apprentice do jobs to my car such as setting up cams and timing chains, balance tailshafts, pre-load bearings, and set back-lash of gears. Also can a I assume it would be safe to say that general fault finding is a skill that takes time to learn?

But as you say, if they are properly supervised for such jobs, then there's no reason why thier work should be of a lower standard.

This also leads to justify why workshops charge the same rate for work done by apprentices.
It annoys me when my customers ask why they were charged the same $60 an hour, when the person doing the job is only getting paid 1/4 the rate of a tradesman. What they don't undersatand, is that quite often an apprentice will run at a loss to the company in their first few years. As you say Cobra, usually a tradesman will have to be supervising them while they learn. Add that to tool allowances, time at trade school, the cost of trade school (and in my trade the cost of stuff ups and broken tools), and you'd be surprised at what little profit margin we run at.

[kinksta]

got my XR6 from stilwells, great service personally, they phone up and ask how the cars going monthly. dads got mates there tho because he bought fairlanes from them in the 90's. but i dont get services there.......too slow!

[stera]

I think it depends on individuals... Like anything... There are to55ers everywhere sadly...

I bought my car from Graham Cornes, purely because not only did I get a good deal, but they treated me like a human, not some to55 after test drives.

I found Ford, GENERALLY to be a bunch of lazy c*nts... But have been reasonably happy with North East Road when looking to try FPV mags on, a couple guys were happy to fiddle around after hours, but services hit the pocket!!

[XRchic]

Originally Posted by stera

I think it depends on individuals... Like anything... There are to55ers everywhere sadly...

I bought my car from Graham Cornes, purely because not only did I get a good deal, but they treated me like a human, not some to55 after test drives.

I found Ford, GENERALLY to be a bunch of lazy c*nts... But have been reasonably happy with North East Road when looking to try FPV mags on, a couple guys were happy to fiddle around after hours, but services hit the pocket!!

A service at a Ford dealer can cost up to double (or more) what it would cost at a regular mechanic. They over charge something shocking, but because people keep going back, they keep charging like wounded bulls.

Example:

4th year apprentice mechanic gets paid around $13 an hour, but a customer gets charged around $93 per hour for the same apprentice mechanic's work.

Service advisors also get commission on selling more parts and work to customers. One bloke I know of made over $50K in commissions in ONE MONTH and bought a Typhoon, mainly from telling stories to customers about why they needed air con services on new cars, or why they needed an injector flush etc... it is criminal.

If it isnt in the Ford manual, then dont do it, even if they suggest it.

It is a shame though, because the mechanics are the one who cop the worst of a bad reputation for these places, when in reality they slog away every day, do a good job and get treated very average.

[460cixy]

Originally Posted by XRchic

Example:

4th year apprentice mechanic gets paid around $13 an hour, but a customer gets charged around $93 per hour for the same apprentice mechanic's work.

Service advisors also get commission on selling more parts and work to customers. One bloke I know of made over $50K in commissions in ONE MONTH and bought a Typhoon, mainly from telling stories to customers about why they needed air con services on new cars, or why they needed an injector flush etc... it is criminal.

If it isnt in the Ford manual, then dont do it, even if they suggest it.

It is a shame though, because the mechanics are the one who cop the worst of a bad reputation for these places, when in reality they slog away every day, do a good job and get treated very average.

oh so very very true how ironic that im talking to a friend on msn about how we are treated ect i try and upsell as little as posable so the service advisor gets as little as posable. as for the injector service and aircare service i hate doing those and normaly get them to call the customer and tell them it does not need it or make up a bull excuse as to why i cant do it like the fittings have been lost or in the case of ba it will root the h.i.m unit in the dash and thats a dash out job to fix. our bonus system is also structured as such the service asviser gets around 1500 a month team leaders ger 8to900 and mechanics like my self will see about 90 or so bucks and then its taxed. oh how i hate service advisers thay also over book us by around 30 hours a day so instead of haveing say 1.1 hours for a service or 2.0 hours for a service on a turbo. we have to do it in around 20 mins or less and simply dont have the time to spend to get the job done right .

[MoreHPformyXR6]

Originally Posted by 460cixy

i hate service advisers thay also over book us by around 30 hours a day so instead of haveing say 1.1 hours for a service or 2.0 hours for a service on a turbo. we have to do it in around 20 mins or less and simply dont have the time to spend to get the job done right .

20 mins for a 2hour service no wonder things are missed

[Perana]

Lets just say a number of bad experiences with both the sales and service areas

[anto]

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

Lets just say a number of bad experiences with both the sales and service areas

I would second that...overcharge and poor customer relations in my experience..

[Hotwire]

Maughn Thiem for the win!! Long time sponsor of many ford clubs, excellent service, and even helped me with getting my new Mazda through City Mazda which they manage ;)

Dad bought his XR6-T at Maughn Thiem and had nothing but good service, and prompt fixes. Never question when query waranty just fixed straight up.

[MoreHPformyXR6]

Originally Posted by Hotwire

Maughn Thiem for the win!! Long time sponsor of many ford clubs, excellent service, and even helped me with getting my new Mazda through City Mazda which they manage ;)

Dad bought his XR6-T at Maughn Thiem and had nothing but good service, and prompt fixes. Never question when query waranty just fixed straight up.

MT does seem like a clear winner 2me i have never heard a bad word about them.

[BA GT-HO]

For what it is worth Maughn Theim were very good fixing/servicing my old XR6T. They even picked it up and dropped it off to and from my work for some warranty work so it did not inconvience me.

The only negative was trying to get a loan car as I had not 'booked in advance' (yeah, like I was going to know when a solenoid in the auto box was going to go!) but I eventually got one once I made a little fuss.

I would recommend them.

[MightyXR6Turbo]

I'm going to say from my experiences, Rebel Ford have been great! I got my XR6 Turbo 2nd hand from the Pooraka branch, they were helpful generally, when any problem that occurred when I was test driving it was happily fixed prior to sale to me. As well as anything that has needed to be fixed now after I bought it, they are happy to fix it, and are doin some more work on it on Tuesday. Provided a loan car no worries as well (be it a junker BA wagon on the lot, but it beats walking!)

Also I have had my old car serviced down there, again they were very good, provided a loan car for the day, can't complain.

However, Stillwells service dept are very hot and cold, when my old man was having his last car (ED GLi) serviced there, it was fine when he was with one group, however any other group and it was crap, they'd not fix things he asked, not replace things properly, just generally were crap!

[460cixy]

yeah the turbo is suposed to have all the bolts on the exaust manifold and turbo checked for tightness every service. thats the only reasion it has that much time booked out and im yet to see any one check them because there simply is not enough time instead thay come back for warranty with a real ****ed off customer and broken or missing studs.
its ford that sets the times for the jobs and allow heaps of time for most things. but the dealer gets gready and over books and times simply go out the window.
as for our apprentices we have one thats useless and wont listen to instructions. another one that smells real bad and works slow but gets the job right first time. and a 3rd year that i have seen pull a rear end out of a ba replaced the center fitted it and had the tailshaft ballenced in just on 3 hours he is the gun and will go places im sure. haha this is getting real off topic now hey lol

[MoreHPformyXR6]

Originally Posted by 460cixy

one that smells real bad

That could be another thread topic 460cixy "a work mate that smells bad"
thats not a good start if you have to work to closley with this bloke eg within smell shot

[460cixy]

yeah its prety bad his real fat and unfit he cracks a sweat just opening the bonnet i think. but i dont have to work with him much his right out the back of the workshop

[SP.UTE1]

Maughan Thiem Ford at Port Adelaide gets my vote. I have purchsed 3 new Fords through them and every delivery experience was a pleasant one. Any minor problems were dealt with expediantly and professionaly. They have never questioned any modifications to any of my cars, and even have mechanics on hand who are experienced in gaining more HP out of Ford vehicles.
Regards Bob

[t08]

a bit out of the city but Lynas Valley Ford at Tununda have done my warranty work and have been very good