Covert Ford of Austin

The letter I sent to the Better Business Bureau sums it up: Dear Better Business Bureau: I am submitting a claim against Covert Ford in Austin Texas. I had purchased a Ford Explorer from them. On 1 up: Dear Better Business Bureau: I am submitting a claim against Covert Ford in Austin Texas. I had purchased a Ford Explorer from them. On 10/20/07 my O/D light came on. I had 59,500 miles on the vehicle and it was less than 5 years old. I took it to Covert Ford on 10/22/07. They charged me $89.99 to tell me that the transmission was completely bad. Something I already knew from reading websites before I took it in. The 2nd and 5th gears had gone out. They wanted $3200 to $3500 to fix the problem. I claimed that this should have been covered under warranty, or at least partially covered. A transmission should last longer than 59,500 miles. I took very good care of the vehicle. I have all my receipts for all servicing. Covert Ford also did the complete 30,000 mile checkup. I have receipts to back up. Covert Ford claimed that there was nothing they could do – that I would have to pay the $3200-$3500 to get it fixed. Apparently, there was nothing unusual in their mind having to pay $3200-$3500 less than 5 years after purchasing the vehicle for $32K. Believe me, had I known a big expense like this could occur and not be covered, I wouldn’t have purchased the vehicle. I decided to take it to a transmission specialist – B&M transmission. They charged me just under $2200 to have it fixed. I then called Covert Ford back and complained that I believe they should have been able to help me. At that point the manager, Kenny Covert claimed that had I contacted him he could have helped me. But now it was too late since I had it serviced somewhere else. That was an unacceptable response to me. First of all, it undermines his service managers if they are not empowered to help me. I shouldn’t have to speak to the general manager of the facility. Secondly, I offered several ideas how he could make the situation better without having to reimburse me directly. Ideas such as: provide an extended warranty, give me credit at the service department for future repairs, reimburse the amount at trade in time if I purchased a new vehicle etc… I kept sending him emails asking for a response, but no answer. I then mentioned that I would contact the better business bureau – at which point he said he couldn’t help me. More

Several items to mention: I bought a new '97 F-150 in Several items to mention: I bought a new '97 F-150 in April of 1996. The sales approach just blew me away. Sales guy saw me on the lot, came running Several items to mention: I bought a new '97 F-150 in April of 1996. The sales approach just blew me away. Sales guy saw me on the lot, came running out, told him I wasn't ready to buy, he said fine, gave me his card, wished me a good day and went back inside. Note:sales managers get pissed when this happens and sales guy will get fired for this at any other dealership. I had some service issues with the truck that required a few trips but service advisors never gave me any hassle and diligently worked with me to find/fix problems, even when I had to return 3 times to finally pinpoint an intermittent problem. In '98, I was ready to buy a new Explorer. It got down to the wire and then we discovered a difference in the motors (4.0liter V6 vs 4.0liter V6 overhead cam), big power difference. They didn't have the OHC model and reluctantly sent us on our way without trying to pressure us into buying the other model. We found it at another dealer, one that I will never shop at again. This vehicle also had some service issues. I id'd an issue that service was too lazy to find and on the third return I called up and chewed out the butt of the service manager saying the problem existed but their technique of finding it obviously wasn't working too well. That service manager took his chief mechanic for a drive in my car, called me back 30 minutes profusely apologizing saying the normal procedure would never have found it. Moral of the story: I would have never had to do this at Covert. In '99 I needed to buy an F250 crecab SuperDuty diesel, and went back to them again. They didn't have the model I wanted as those trucks were selling out as soon as they hit the lot. Again, they didn't try to push me into anything I didn't want and I had to go elsewhere to purchase it, to another dealership it turns that I will never shop at again. Service issue: when I bought the vehicle it had some paint damage from removing a prior dealer decal since it was a dealer trade (something they denied even though I found the other decal under the rear seat). They promised to fix it. I don't call putting 2 dabs of paint on the spots, then buffing it out, and leaving all the wax residue on it "fixing it". Moral of this posting: I NEVER had any service or sale issues with Covert Ford and would gladly take my business there again. When servicing the Explorer and F250, they NEVER gave me a hassle about not purchasing the vehicle there and they were _always_ completed in a timely manner. More