Dealer forgot to bolt on my tire

[Beachin 74]

OP, I'll bet you won't get the "How did we do" survey from the dealer.

Sponsored

 

[Air Biscuit]

As a former tech for Mercedes and originally starting out in a mom and pop tire shop at 17, I saw this from the tire shop to the dealer. It all comes down to the individual themself (tech). Doesn’t matter, independent shop or dealer. Anyone can get distracted and forget to tighten a wheel, or anything for that matter. Techs are paid flat rate, the more you produce, the more money you make. This leads some to be less thorough then others.
I can honestly say in my 8 years in of working on cars before jumping ship to the railroad I never left a wheel loose. Road tested everything when I was done w it. And if for some reason I had any doubt I didn’t tighten the wheels, I’d check my torque wrench to see if it was left in the tightening direction, or just go back out to the car in the lot and check them again so I could sleep at night lol. OCD? Maybe, but I knew what the severity could be of loosing a wheel, not to mention the humiliation of being the guy who left the wheel loose.
Best words of advice, if you’re capable, just do the easy stuff like oil and tire rotations yourself.

 

[Robs]

I had some fordpass points left over and took my Bronco in for its third oil change. Previous two were at the same dealer using the same fordpass points. I was getting a simple oil change + tire rotation. Should have been fine, right?

Wrong.

The tech at the dealer forgot to tighten the lug nuts on my front driver's side wheel. They just started them on by hand and completely forgot to tighten them.

The wheel was making clunking noises, rattling against the studs as i drove it off. I bet it was clunking as they drove for me to pick up, and they just ignored it.

Luckily, i decided to check the lug nuts before drove to far and ended up tightening them on the side of the road, next to the dealer's lot. I called the front desk and told them about it, and by the time I was done fixing their shit, a service tech ran out with an impact gun to try and help me, lol. I may have ended up yelling at him a little bit.

Dealers, amirite?

Needless to say, I'll be changing my own oil from now on.

And my tire guy used an impact and torqued the spare to 100 ft-lbs. Gadzooks!

 

[wjtinfwb]

I had some fordpass points left over and took my Bronco in for its third oil change. Previous two were at the same dealer using the same fordpass points. I was getting a simple oil change + tire rotation. Should have been fine, right?

Wrong.

The tech at the dealer forgot to tighten the lug nuts on my front driver's side wheel. They just started them on by hand and completely forgot to tighten them.

The wheel was making clunking noises, rattling against the studs as i drove it off. I bet it was clunking as they drove for me to pick up, and they just ignored it.

Luckily, i decided to check the lug nuts before drove to far and ended up tightening them on the side of the road, next to the dealer's lot. I called the front desk and told them about it, and by the time I was done fixing their shit, a service tech ran out with an impact gun to try and help me, lol. I may have ended up yelling at him a little bit.

Dealers, amirite?

Needless to say, I'll be changing my own oil from now on.

I know dealers, of all brands, are independent businesses, locally owned and managed. BUT. Ford, your Blue Oval hangs above the doors, both front and garages. Your reputation is either improved or diminished with every interaction. And while a customer may buy 5-10 Ford’s over their lifetime, they'll have dozens of opportunities to have their vehicle serviced during ownership. And every service interaction either builds or chips away at their loyalty to your brand. I own 3 Ford’s. I’d rather light them on fire than patronize my local dealer for service. Their rudeness and indifference to customers is only eclipsed by the incompetence of the service advisor and the never ending quest to sell you products and services of zero benefit will simultaneously botching repairs and maintenance prescribed by the manufacturer. It’s not just Ford of course, the Acura dealer returned our MDX with a flat tire after an oil service and requested tire rotation and inspection. I now do all my own routine services or use a trusted local garage. I’ve always understood the service and parts operations to be the financial lifeline of a dealer, well, the patient is on life support and it’s about to expire.

 

[Area51BS]

Best thing is to always double check anyone or even your own work before driving off.

 

[sonofhammer]

OP, I'll bet you won't get the "How did we do" survey from the dealer.

I actually did

 

[kr_1315]

Thread number “1000” reinforcing why I perform all my maintenance.

 

[RustysBronco]

I had some fordpass points left over and took my Bronco in for its third oil change. Previous two were at the same dealer using the same fordpass points. I was getting a simple oil change + tire rotation. Should have been fine, right?

Wrong.

The tech at the dealer forgot to tighten the lug nuts on my front driver's side wheel. They just started them on by hand and completely forgot to tighten them.

The wheel was making clunking noises, rattling against the studs as i drove it off. I bet it was clunking as they drove for me to pick up, and they just ignored it.

Luckily, i decided to check the lug nuts before drove to far and ended up tightening them on the side of the road, next to the dealer's lot. I called the front desk and told them about it, and by the time I was done fixing their shit, a service tech ran out with an impact gun to try and help me, lol. I may have ended up yelling at him a little bit.

Dealers, amirite?

Needless to say, I'll be changing my own oil from now on.

And this is why I make DIY Help videos so people can do their own videos and blast poor dealer service in the process.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

Had that happen to me once on my Jeep at discount tire - rather they put two hub centric rings on one wheel and it came loose. Look out the passenger side mirror and the wheel was wobbling. They had to replace 5 studs and a wheel.

My grandfather always said pull over and double check the lug nuts.

 

[Derbystud]

OP, I'll bet you won't get the "How did we do" survey from the dealer.

Ford sends them out not the dealers choice who gets them. They always seem to send them to the worst customers that are mad that they have to pay for repairs, everything should have a lifetime warranty.

 

[Derbystud]

Anybody that says that is why I do all my own work is flat wrong. Everyone is human and if you do enough of your own work eventually it will happen to you also. Nobody is perfect. The only difference is that if a shop screws it up they usually will accept fault and pay for it. You screw it up you pay for it. It can get expensive real quick.

 

[Razorback]

Not tightening lug nuts? Them's rookie numbers. I got mine back after trying to fix the 360cameras in the side mirrors. Had a sensor zip tied, missing bolts, and both coolent hoses with broken clips and running down beside engine block.

 

[jehines3]

I have expensive aftermarket wheels and have explicit instructions for the dealer (when doing "The Works" oil change) to not rotate nor remove the wheels for any reason.

I also tell them the same and I keep my RTR spline tool in my back pack during the service. Dealers are a bit of a funny one when it comes to custom wheels. I have a the perfect torque stick set up for my wheels and also do a five wheel rotation every 5-6k

 

[helifino16]

These service guys are only given a certain amount of time to do a regular maintenance and they have to do so many in a given shift and then some service departments will ding a tech who takes longer than allocated. In that environment, it's not surprising that mistakes are made.

Sponsored