Decided to cancel my maintenance contract today

[Virtual_Insanity]

When I bought my Mustang in October 2004 I decided to get a maintenance contract that would cover all of my oil changes,tire rotations,coolant flush and transmission service for 3 years or 36,000 miles whichever came first.That way I just pull up to the service dept. hand them my maintenance contract and they do the work plain and simple.NOT SO FAST!!! Declined oil change and tire rotation last month because it wasn't 6 months yet.So I called them up and speak to a customer rep and ask when can I go and have this taken care of? She said anytime this month but then said,"Wait no the next time would be this October because you did the oil changes early(based on time not mileage since I don't drive much).Long story short I said I bought the contract so I wouldn't have to pay and was told that I was expected to pay inbetween the covered oil changes,etc.
So I cancelled the maintenance contract since it wasn't what it was suppose to end up being.

[igor2]

nice to know they try to rip you off there as well.. sorry you had to find out for the rest of us.

good luck..

How much of the price did they give you "back" or did you simply stop paying the monthly $20 or however much it is?

Igor

[reitz]

I almost got gypped on my service contact, too. I bought my truck with 18k on it and a fresh oil change and figured I'd just change it at 23k, 28k, 33k and so on.... until one dealership tried to tell me I could only get it changed between 19k and 26k or between 24k and 25k. WTF??? Yes, I pulled my bitchy logic card on them and intimidated the service manager into getting my damned oil changed. Swore I'd never get a Ford maintenance plan again. It's given me nothing but headaches on several occasions. Unfortunately I paid for mine all up fron, so the truck is covered for another 25k

[Virtual_Insanity]

nice to know they try to rip you off there as well.. sorry you had to find out for the rest of us.

good luckhttp://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=29&article_id=10702How much of the price did they give you "back" or did you simply stop paying the monthly 420 or however much it is?

Igor

Thanks.
Since I used several of the oil changes and tire rotations already they naturally pro-rated the remaining amount back to me $262 which will be taken off the end of my loan agreement.Originally I paid $619 for the contract.

[rpvitiello]

A service contract like that makes NO sense to me. You are prepaying for a service for x amount of time, and you are rolling the cost into the financing of your car so now you are paying interest on your service contract! Plus you are locked into only going to one place/ one type of place, and if the service is shady you have little recourse because you already paid them before the work is even done!

Service contracts on cars are a bad thing, unless they are actually included in the MSRP and not an added option.

Just pay as you go, you don’t have to worry about “when” or “where” you change your oil, and if one place sucks you can just take your money elsewhere.

[Ducman69]

They sell these contracts to make money. Its not that you aren't paying for their services when you drive up, its that you already paid them. I don't see what the advantage is for just paying for it when you need it versus paying for it ahead of time. Extended warranties OTOH, yeahhhh its a gamble but if your car incurs more maintenance costs than the average vehicle does, then you come out in the green.

[reitz]

For me, it ended up actually saving money. I can't buy 12 quarts of oil (what my truck takes) for the price they quoted me for oil changes and tire rotations. It just ended up not being worthwhile because of the headaches and aggravation. & you can go to any Ford dealership.

[rpvitiello]

For me, it ended up actually saving money. I can't buy 12 quarts of oil (what my truck takes) for the price they quoted me for oil changes and tire rotations. It just ended up not being worthwhile because of the headaches and aggravation. & you can go to any Ford dealership.

Right an FORD dealer, you can’t just take it to an oil change only place that can have it done in 15 minutes, you have to make an appointment and drop your car off for a day, and do without your car just to do an oil change.

Also what price did it work out to per oil change? Also don’t forget you are paying more than you think. You were paying interest on the entire amount of the contract since you financed it, combine with the inconvenience of dealing with a ford dealer.



Honestly I wish I didn’t even have to take my car to ford dealers for the included warrantee work! The dealers SUCK and have actually pissed me off to the point I will NOT buy another ford.

[hkysk8r07]

wow what jerks doesn't bmw do it for free up to a year or something
. before they start charging you like 200 or whatever it is for an oil change now (like 120 for an hour of labor + mobil1 + expensive filter and whatever else)

[Virtual_Insanity]

wow what jerks doesn't bmw do it for free up to a year or something
. before they start charging you like 200 or whatever it is for an oil change now (like 120 for an hour of labor + mobil1 + expensive filter and whatever else)

Actually BMW includes free routine vehicle maintenance for the 4 year 50,000 mile warranty period of the vehicle and so does MINI,Mercedes Benz and a few other car manufacturers now.But they also limit the amount of time you can use it each year.I know it isn't free per se as I am sure it is lumped into the price of the vehicle.

[Rodewaryer]

Good decision to cancel, at the time I'm sure the decision was sound. I had one of these included on my Land Rover, and it only included oil changes at 7.500 miles, so I did double and did the extra ones myself. It still worked out as they did all the service work. This particular situation appears quite unbelievable and another sign that the system and dealerships are quite out of control. I have more horror stories just since the Focus has been on the market than I can remember. Not sure how such a corrupt system can continue but it does........

[tymeks]

I like how everbody lumps ALL dealerships into one. Like there are no crooked small shops out there. Anyways I don't want to fully indulge myself into this useless bashing an ALL dealerships but I will say this. I have worked as a service Advisor now for about 2 years at my dealership. And let me tell you, my techs and THIS PARTICULAR establishment are the most HONEST and respecting indivduals EVER. We run a VERY good shop here. Very honest and upfront.

Nevermind, I could go on forever.

[nilo]

No, I will venture and say all stealerships are crooks when they charge $100+/hour for labor.

[reitz]

Right an FORD dealer, you can’t just take it to an oil change only place that can have it done in 15 minutes, you have to make an appointment and drop your car off for a day, and do without your car just to do an oil change.

Also what price did it work out to per oil change? Also don’t forget you are paying more than you think. You were paying interest on the entire amount of the contract since you financed it, combine with the inconvenience of dealing with a ford dealer.

My nearest dealership has a quick lube lane (no appt) and they have been fabulous and accomodating (Haldeman Ford of Kutztown, PA) but I've moved 3 times since I bought my truck in New Mexico and I did not have such luck at State College Ford of PA.

Also, you assume I financed my vehicle... I paid cash. No financing.

I'd have to look it up again, but the going rate of oil at the time made the maintenance plan cheaper than buying the oil myself.

[usazx3owner]

my ford dealer, hinder ford in aberdeen maryland bent the hood and prop rod of my focus on my first oil change, and then denied they did it then admitted they did and called the dent doctor (who i said not to call), this was no little dent the hood was kinked and the hing was bent the right side of the hood had a 1 inch gap between the hood and fender, i demanded a new hood they said no, i callled national support they said dealers are independantly owned and operated, what a joke, i argue with the owner, he finnally offers to fix the hood at a real body shop but that he wont gurantee the paint matches, i said no freakin way, i finnally gave up as my only option was to sue, so i drove my foci with a slightly dented, swirl marked hood on it starting at 3,400 miles on the odometer, that was my first visit to the dealer after my purchase of my brand new car. It was the beginning of a nightmare for me, 5 warrenty repairs for crazy stuff, 13 reacalls, and a broken transaxle mount later i got out of the car.

from what im reading my experience wasent unique id lump most dealerships together as bad and numerous, with the good ones being the rare ones.