Ford, PLEASE let us buy parts direct, sick of (some) greedy dealerships.

[604Bronco]

Should have ordered through @flip

Sponsored

 

[Jdyount]

Do you think you were driving it outside of its limitations?

It doesn't matter if I was or wasn't, with aftermarket coil-overs and 37" tires they have an out for the Warranty.

"Damage caused by alterations of the vehicle" is completely subjective. They can just have their tech "determine" that was the most likely cause and deny warranty coverage.

My dealer didn't even look at my Bronco, service guy just said "based on what I see in OASIS it isn't going to be covered under warranty".

 

[STLDAVE]

It's not just the Ford dealerships. Went to Frank Leta Honda near St. Louis for a timing belt/water pump replacement. They wanted almost 2000 to do it. I asked them to break it down to labor and parts costs. I had checked my go to online source for the parts I thought they would be changing and the total with shipping was $441 for six parts. Dealer wanted over $900 for four of those parts. Their prices were about 30% over MSRP while my source, an out of town dealer, was 25-30% below MSRP.

 

[antman92]

its wild hearing these stories about dealers. I recently started (2 weeks ago) at the #1 dealer in canada, my parents and I have purchased 6 vehicles here over the years including my bronco and my moms 1 day old bronco sport. purchasing has never been an issue, the service department is questionable at best (ill give you guys that lol). I am in parts, and just yesterday morning I opened an account for the Local club @Ontario Bronco Club and all purchases are %20 off.

As much as selling parts is how I make money, I understand the struggle of how expensive EVERYTHING is these days so may as well scratch each others back.

 

[Calm horse]

Don't see anything out of norm here...someone walked into my business to buy shit , I'm gonna charge my mark up ...if it's 400 my cost I'm charging atleast 950 for it...business 101

 

[flip]

its wild hearing these stories about dealers. I recently started (2 weeks ago) at the #1 dealer in canada, my parents and I have purchased 6 vehicles here over the years including my bronco and my moms 1 day old bronco sport. purchasing has never been an issue, the service department is questionable at best (ill give you guys that lol). I am in parts, and just yesterday morning I opened an account for the Local club @Ontario Bronco Club and all purchases are %20 off.

As much as selling parts is how I make money, I understand the struggle of how expensive EVERYTHING is these days so may as well scratch each others back.

It's the old adage, something is better than nothing. Obviously, Ford's margin on parts as a whole is many times that of ours. Any sane business model has a point, with expenses figured in (credit card processing), where you start going backwards. Each business is different and has unique views on what profitability looks like. There should be be absolutely no shame with making a fair profit on your service, it's really the only way anyone makes a living.

 

[rtaylor]

Talking to them, they wanted $465 for the cv and the diff seal (which they suggested replacing as well).

I probably wouldn't bother replacing the seal if the CV end was still snap-ringed in the diff and there isn't signs of wear or leaking. Perhaps more risk of leaking after DIY seal install without the Ford tool than leaving the original seal in a low miles truck.

 

[Rick Astley]

IMO, another prime example of why the third-party dealership model is broken and we should be able to buy vehicles and parts directly from Ford.

So, I broke my driver's side CV this weekend wheeling. I'm on 37's with a Eibach Coil-over lift. I think I hurt it on a super hard trail where I had to bump it over several ledges, finished it off on a super steep downhill where I was wedged against a tree with my rock rail and had to try and reverse under load. Broke off right at the wheel bearing but the stub in that end had enough to keep the wheel bearing pre-loaded, left the stub shaft in the diff side. I was able to drive home almost 3 hours (with no ABS, traction control, or cruise).

Anyway, got home and was looking at replacement parts on Tuesday. Warranty was almost immediately denied by the dealership I use (didn't really push it at all, I understand). Talking to them, they wanted $465 for the cv and the diff seal (which they suggested replacing as well). SO, knowing MSRP on the CV is $406 (Flip posted a screen shot of it last week on another thread), I asked if they could help me out on that price a little, this is how that conversation went:

Me: "Hey, I know MSRP on that CV is like $400, any way you could help me out on that a little?"
Parts guy: "No, we don't normally do anything like that."
Me: "It's an over-the-counter part, not sure why you'd charge me full retail. There are websites where I can order that part for like $280."
Parts guy: "Well that's what you should probably do then."
Me: "Really??? Ya, I'm not asking you to match that price, just asking for a little break given you're not having to do anything with the part but order it. Seems like you could meet me somewhere in the middle."
Part guy: "We're not getting labor on this either. The price is the price."

I ended up ordering it online for $280, $310 shipped. I'm guessing the cost for the dealer on that part is somewhere around $200. MSRP on the Ford Performance M210 CV Set (Part: M-3429-BR) is $495 and that is BOTH sides and they're painted.

I just don't understand why a dealership wouldn't work with a customer who spent $65k on a vehicle from them. I'm not an entitled person AT ALL but damn, NOTHING, they're out here trying to make $200 for a couple of mouse-clicks? I would have been happy with a 10% discount, didn't expect them to price match a whole-sale price at all. The other thing was the disrespect, guy couldn't be bothered to even have a full conversation, basically told me to F-Off without saying it...

My sales guy was awesome, I bothered the SHIT out of him waiting on my Bronco for so long. I told him I'd definitely do business with him again but wouldn't be using the dealership for service moving forward.

Dealership owner or manager has a policy of how they price parts and sticks to it.

You have the freedom to buy anywhere and did so.

Where is the issue in this thread beyond your setup having too aggressive of a CV angle?

 

[KyTruckPlant]

I know that when I go to my dealership for parts or service, best I can manage is 10% off of parts for being a Ford employee.
Get this though, I get 10% off of parts AND labor being a veteran.
I imagine that differs from dealership to dealership though.

 

[Jdyount]

Dealership owner or manager has a policy of how they price parts and sticks to it.

You have the freedom to buy anywhere and did so.

Where is the issue in this thread beyond your setup having too aggressive of a CV angle?

I don't think it was the CV angle that got me, it was more than likely the added rotational inertia of 89 lb 37" tires (vs 55 lb stock SAS tires).

 

[Layman]

OP, just curious as to what makes you think that if Ford sold parts direct, they would sell those parts below MSRP? Maybe they would, but I think it is a bit of a stretch to assume so.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[indio22]

I'm a long time vehicle hobbyist, but increasingly feeling less interested in vehicles. Partly due to rising prices and aggravations. Along with remote work meaning I can go a week without driving a car. Part of me feels like it's time to unload most of my vehicles. The Bronco if it shows up for me, might be the last vehicle I buy in a long time.

I was reading this article today, about how dealers hold their grip on being the intermediary between customer and manufacturer, in terms of vehicles and parts: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/rich-republicans-party-car-dealers-2024-desantis.html

 

[Jdyount]

OP, just curious as to what makes you think that if Ford sold parts direct, they would sell those parts below MSRP? Maybe they would, but I think it is a bit of a stretch to assume so.

Just my 2 cents.

It benefits Ford to keep part prices low. Cost of ownership is and should be an important consideration when buying a car. Ford sells more cars when part prices are lower.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Dealership owner or manager has a policy of how they price parts and sticks to it.

You have the freedom to buy anywhere and did so.

Where is the issue in this thread beyond your setup having too aggressive of a CV angle?

That's similar to what I was thinking ... he voted with every one of his dollars.
Problem solved.

 

[Jms1]

Their cost is NOT MSRP. Their cost on the part is probably a lot closer to $200. I bought the part from a different dealership who has an online shop for $280. My whole point is they wouldn't even have a discussion about coming off of MSRP.

The whole problem is they want to make $200 for being a parts middle man, why can't I just order the part from Ford?

This somewhat goes along the lines of when people say we need to buy local. Well the dealership can charge what they want and we can buy where we want. More and more people are buying online for this reason and eventually parts department like this will only survive by warranty work. I believe dealerships will adopt the Tesla model eventually. Sadly

Sponsored