Will nothing go right?

[madlock]

4 days into my Transit Connect ownership, a vehicle I had been so much looking forward to filling the utilitarian hauling slot alongside my Flex and MKS, it's been one bad experience after another.

An arrogant and unscrupulous dealer transformed the buying experience into an exercise in bad faith selling.

The FWS Computer goes down more often than... well... nevermind.

and today..... I was rear-ended at a traffic rotary, smashing the rear bumper, hosing the reverse sensing system, and resulting in the right-side panel and door alignment now being "off".

Combine that with the Transit Connect being so new to North America that no dealer, let alone independent body shop, has any idea what a TC happens to be, let alone how to make it whole again.

At least nobody was injured, all are insured, and the other driver was determined to be clearly at fault.

What REALLY miffs me is that NONE of these problems are inherent to the model itself; I'm just waiting until I can start enjoying the damn thing. I'm almost at the point of writing-off this particular unit as "jinxed". If it hadn't been the only similarly-configured vehicle within 900 miles, you can bet I'd dash out to buy another to swap-out.

I bet they find Greg Brady's Tiki idol shoved inside one of the door panels.

Edited November 7, 2009 by madlock

[dago2732]

4 days into my Transit Connect ownership, a vehicle I had been so much looking forward to filling the utilitarian hauling slot alongside my Flex and MKS, it's been one bad experience after another.

An arrogant and unscrupulous dealer transformed the buying experience into an exercise in bad faith selling.

The FWS Computer goes down more often than... well... nevermind.

and today..... I was rear-ended at a traffic rotary, smashing the rear bumper, hosing the reverse sensing system, and resulting in the right-side panel and door alignment now being "off".

Combine that with the Transit Connect being so new to North America that no dealer, let alone independent body shop, has any idea what a TC happens to be, let alone how to make it whole again.

At least nobody was injured, all are insured, and the other driver was determined to be clearly at fault.

What REALLY miffs me is that NONE of these problems are inherent to the model itself; I'm just waiting until I can start enjoying the damn thing. I'm almost at the point of writing-off this particular unit as "jinxed". If it hadn't been the only similarly-configured vehicle within 900 miles, you can bet I'd dash out to buy another to swap-out.

I bet they find Greg Brady's Tiki idol shoved inside one of the door panels.

[dago2732]

Relax, I have had mine for about 3 mos. 5100 miles on it I like it better every day,we do a/c work and it gets 25 mpg instead of the 11 on my old van,get it repaired and find a better ford dealer to work on it,believe me you will love the vehicle.mark

[isellford]

Relax, I have had mine for about 3 mos. 5100 miles on it I like it better every day,we do a/c work and it gets 25 mpg instead of the 11 on my old van,get it repaired and find a better ford dealer to work on it,believe me you will love the vehicle.mark

Sorry to hear about your problems. I now have 5100 miles on mine as well and am getting a combined 24.2 mpg. I have the van with Work Solutions. The Market Manager for TC told me that the W/S computer can be retrofitted into ANY TC thru your local Ford dealer which makes sense. My TC was built in May and arrived in the US in June; however I did nor get it until the beginning of Sept. What I found out was that the W/S in TC was not available until 8/4 so my TC sat at the Port until the W/S could be installed. Wish you had contacted me prior to your purchase, you probably could have bought one closer to home and had the W/S installed. I too hate those slam bam dealers who give us all a bad name. I've been doing this 28+ years and I run into it almost weekly.

[REC]

4 days into my Transit Connect ownership, a vehicle I had been so much looking forward to filling the utilitarian hauling slot alongside my Flex and MKS, it's been one bad experience after another.

An arrogant and unscrupulous dealer transformed the buying experience into an exercise in bad faith selling.

The FWS Computer goes down more often than... well... nevermind.

and today..... I was rear-ended at a traffic rotary, smashing the rear bumper, hosing the reverse sensing system, and resulting in the right-side panel and door alignment now being "off".

Combine that with the Transit Connect being so new to North America that no dealer, let alone independent body shop, has any idea what a TC happens to be, let alone how to make it whole again.

At least nobody was injured, all are insured, and the other driver was determined to be clearly at fault.

What REALLY miffs me is that NONE of these problems are inherent to the model itself; I'm just waiting until I can start enjoying the damn thing. I'm almost at the point of writing-off this particular unit as "jinxed". If it hadn't been the only similarly-configured vehicle within 900 miles, you can bet I'd dash out to buy another to swap-out.

I bet they find Greg Brady's Tiki idol shoved inside one of the door panels.

Mad,

I think you got one of the ones with the invisble target on the back. That is 2 that I've seen/heard of that got pooper popped. I don't believe the parts will be an issue based on how quick the shop here got a set of back doors, bumper parts, and the rear body & sill. You just need to find a decent dealer!

That is what strikes me odd here.. There are five dealers I was working with trying to locate mine, two of them more than the others, and four of them have been continually in touch with me ... even SINCE I got the TC. The one I bought from though deserves a compliment both for the service and for the sale. (Mullinax Ford, North Palm Beach) I had never dealt with the "fleet" dept of a store until now. Like our site founder here, this guy was excellent too.

One of the five sounds a bit like your dealer. The one that when I gave them ALL the information on what I wanted, I was then told I "needed" to come inspect their inventory because I would likely buy something I wasn't looking for anyway. I left them alone.. (They had none at the time anyway)

It stinks that the dealer you purchased from has no customer commitment, and seems to be a bit out of touch with the reality of today. Many businesses that have crashed here won't be missed for just that reason. They stunk from the start. There were others though who didn't offer poor service and bad customer relations, and those were ones you never heard about. Unfortunately, they're gone now.. Bad service is something that gets the word around pretty quickly, good service is only mentioned when someone asks...

Good luck with the repair side, and I really hope you get this straightened out. I can't believe your luck so far...

Roland C.

Happily Transiting

[madlock]

Maybe them Turkish final assemblers put magnets in place of the reverse sensors. Who knows?

The problem is that most dealers know very little about the TC and Ford hasn't been great about getting ahead of the info curve. Add-in the dealers who see their franchises as localized monopolies that only make vehicles more expensive to buy and less profitable to make, rather than stewards of the relationship and reputation of the manufacturers whose products they sell, and it leaves some very black holes.

The TC I wanted was a tough combo to find, a White XLT Wagon WITH FWS Computer. Only about 5 or 6 of those existed; and by the time I added in my other wants, like 255 doors, reverse sensing, and DTRL, and there was literally two units within 1,400 miles. For one located in Flordia, the local dealer was willing to play dealer trade "hide and seek", but they wanted $1,000 more just to consider the deal before adding transit fees (to make-up for the holdback lost because they wouldn't be sending a unit back), but it ultimately couldn't be sold in NJ because it didn't have proper emissions specs.

For whatever reason, the unit I found didn't appear in the dealer network inventory database, most probably because it had 500 demo miles on it (as they later revealed). But it also included the factory Remote Start and Splash Guards, items I would have added anyway. Even so, 350 miles is "doable", and since first class airfare was $149, I made the fly-out/drive back decision. Mine had the second-most expensive sticker in the Eastern U.S. (the MOST expensive among XLT Wagons).

I probably should have just bought a 510A locally and had the FWS retrofitted, but most dealers know so little about the TC, let alone its computer, that several told me it would be about $3,000 "because we have to order about a dozen individual parts and then install them", a default response I knew to be not true after having contacted both Magneti Marelli and the company that makes and supports ToolLink for Ford and DeWalt. What that really told me was that I didn't want a service department hammering and yanking to put in a system they didn't understand, even though I knew the price would be roughly comparable to the factory option.

In retrospect, I'd have not chosen the computer at all. I already have a very capable Samsung Q1 that's an actual "full" PC, but having been spoiled by my Flex and MKS, I liked the idea of an in-dash solution. Unfortunately the FWS Computer is rather inelegant, amateurishly implemented, and stocked with "freeware" versions of word processing and spreadsheet software rather than the McCoy. I'm still reconsidering whether to replace the computer with the stock head unit and Nokia BT system given how unstable my computer has been. Anyone want to work a trade?

I'd actually owned and driven a European Transit Connect since 2006, so I new exactly what I was waiting for, and I'm sure I'll be just as satisfied with this one... eventually. Though at the moment, given the combination of factors, once mine's fixed, I'm considering starting over, buying another, and selling-off the first one in January. Given the recovery stimulus tax credit, I'd still probably come out even.

The worst part about the dealer experience was that they had tried to pull nonsense like booking the sale 4 days prior to delivery to log the October sale. Had they even hinted at asking if I'd agree to help them, it would have been no issue whatsoever. But when they feigned that their "paperwork" couldn't be "redone" (which I suspect they'd already reported to Ford) in light of other issues that needed to be accounted-for once I saw the vehicle in-person and discovered certain other aspects weren't as they were represented, it was very clear whose interests they were intent upon serving without regard for any others.

I'm sure most can and do appreciate the principle of gladly giving a dollar to anyone who asks, but wanting to break the arm of anyone who tries to take a dime. That sums-up my experience with this particular dealer. And I suppose that's what the CSI surveys are for. I'm actually very disappointed, as I quite enjoy giving 5 stars across the board whenever I can.

Good dealerships are becoming rare commodities nowadays. I understand times are tough, but the sheer number who seem to continue to believe their only path to viability lay in the wrenching of nickels and dimes, while leaving thousands of dollars in low-hanging fruit to wither on the vine, simply astounds me. Of the thousands of GM and Chrysler dealerships who found their franchise contracts summarily abrogated through bankruptcy, and as unfortunate as some of those individual circumstances indeed may be, the only side of the story that's heard is how many "profitable" dealerships had been usurped. The unspoken truth is that a dealer operating profitably is an entirely different proposition from being an agent who contributes to the profits of the manufacturers whose products they sell, let alone representing them well.

While the best of dealers are both, many have very little appreciation for the distinction between the two, and had it not been for 17M vehicles being sold every year in North America to carry them along, many couldn't retail their way out of a paper bag. Now that Ford has gotten the product and perception pieces of the puzzle squared away, I hope they begin to focus as keenly upon improving the quality of their dealership network to the same extent, both for the benefit of customers and the premier dealers like isellford, and as part of preserving the brand they're building which already has enough challenges given the $50B tailwind gifted to its primary competitors and having to concern itself with such trivialities as actual debt repayment.

The dealer quality nut is going to be a hard one to crack given the restrictive nature of state franchise laws and the absence of bankruptcy as a vehicle to clear-out the "dead wood" like GM and Chrysler have had. Far too many dealers use these laws as swords rather than shields while running protected, substandard businesses. Perhaps most frustrating of all is the number of dealers who will refuse to allow a willing customer to simply buy a vehicle without subjecting them to the process of "selling" it to them. I could and should have been this dealer's dream customer, someone who contacts them from out-of-market, agrees a price within 5 minutes, offers them the opportunity to up-sell an ESP based upon meeting a fixed-price, willing to leave an immediate deposit, with cash-in-hand, ready to wire and pick-up the vehicle as soon as it can be prepped, yet they still couldn't manage to keep out of their own way.

While I'm sure exceptions (like isellford) exist, when it came to the TC, I didn't encounter a single dealership whose staff (all the way from sales associates to the general manager) was either as knowledgeable as I was as a customer, or as I'd insist upon as a manufacturer whose product I'd entrusted to them to represent on my behalf.

Sure, this may sound a little Quixotic, but as an owner, shareholder, taxpayer, and American, I have a vested interest in Ford's success; and being in the fortunate position we enjoy, we've delivered upon what we feel is our very real responsibility to actually buy the products of the companies we hope will survive. (How any American can buy a GM or Chrysler and indulge the folly that's stood every established principle of commerce on its ear both goes to show how quickly Americans are willing to squander their future for a momentary "bargain" and is another matter entirely). We made the decision to trade-in two low mileage vehicles (a 2006 and 2007) that certainly didn't need to be replaced any time soon, largely because we wanted to support Ford at a time when it needed (and had earned) our business most; and I added a Transit Connect to the fleet because we found a way to make it feasible to do so. We don't expect or feel we deserve ANYTHING beyond the use and enjoyment of the vehicles we've purchased, but we do become easily frustrated when the crew aboard the boat we're helping to bail can't seem to be bothered enough to step away from the buffet.

Getting rear ended has just been the cherry on this particular sundae. :(

/end_of_rant

Wow! I actually feel a little better after venting a bit!

[REC]

Maybe them Turkish final assemblers put magnets in place of the reverse sensors. Who knows?

The problem is that most dealers know very little about the TC and Ford hasn't been great about getting ahead of the info curve. Add-in the dealers who see their franchises as localized monopolies that only make vehicles more expensive to buy and less profitable to make, rather than stewards of the relationship and reputation of the manufacturers whose products they sell, and it leaves some very black holes.

The TC I wanted was a tough combo to find, a White XLT Wagon WITH FWS Computer. Only about 5 or 6 of those existed; and by the time I added in my other wants, like 255 doors, reverse sensing, and DTRL, and there was literally two units within 1,400 miles. For one located in Flordia, the local dealer was willing to play dealer trade "hide and seek", but they wanted $1,000 more just to consider the deal before adding transit fees (to make-up for the holdback lost because they wouldn't be sending a unit back), but it ultimately couldn't be sold in NJ because it didn't have proper emissions specs.

For whatever reason, the unit I found didn't appear in the dealer network inventory database, most probably because it had 500 demo miles on it (as they later revealed). But it also included the factory Remote Start and Splash Guards, items I would have added anyway. Even so, 350 miles is "doable", and since first class airfare was $149, I made the fly-out/drive back decision. Mine had the second-most expensive sticker in the Eastern U.S. (the MOST expensive among XLT Wagons).

I probably should have just bought a 510A locally and had the FWS retrofitted, but most dealers know so little about the TC, let alone its computer, that several told me it would be about $3,000 "because we have to order about a dozen individual parts and then install them", a default response I knew to be not true after having contacted both Magneti Marelli and the company that makes and supports ToolLink for Ford and DeWalt. What that really told me was that I didn't want a service department hammering and yanking to put in a system they didn't understand, even though I knew the price would be roughly comparable to the factory option.

In retrospect, I'd have not chosen the computer at all. I already have a very capable Samsung Q1 that's an actual "full" PC, but having been spoiled by my Flex and MKS, I liked the idea of an in-dash solution. Unfortunately the FWS Computer is rather inelegant, amateurishly implemented, and stocked with "freeware" versions of word processing and spreadsheet software rather than the McCoy. I'm still reconsidering whether to replace the computer with the stock head unit and Nokia BT system given how unstable my computer has been. Anyone want to work a trade?

I'd actually owned and driven a European Transit Connect since 2006, so I new exactly what I was waiting for, and I'm sure I'll be just as satisfied with this one... eventually. Though at the moment, given the combination of factors, once mine's fixed, I'm considering starting over, buying another, and selling-off the first one in January. Given the recovery stimulus tax credit, I'd still probably come out even.

The worst part about the dealer experience was that they had tried to pull nonsense like booking the sale 4 days prior to delivery to log the October sale. Had they even hinted at asking if I'd agree to help them, it would have been no issue whatsoever. But when they feigned that their "paperwork" couldn't be "redone" (which I suspect they'd already reported to Ford) in light of other issues that needed to be accounted-for once I saw the vehicle in-person and discovered certain other aspects weren't as they were represented, it was very clear whose interests they were intent upon serving without regard for any others.

I'm sure most can and do appreciate the principle of gladly giving a dollar to anyone who asks, but wanting to break the arm of anyone who tries to take a dime. That sums-up my experience with this particular dealer. And I suppose that's what the CSI surveys are for. I'm actually very disappointed, as I quite enjoy giving 5 stars across the board whenever I can.

Good dealerships are becoming rare commodities nowadays. I understand times are tough, but the sheer number who seem to continue to believe their only path to viability lay in the wrenching of nickels and dimes, while leaving thousands of dollars in low-hanging fruit to wither on the vine, simply astounds me. Of the thousands of GM and Chrysler dealerships who found their franchise contracts summarily abrogated through bankruptcy, and as unfortunate as some of those individual circumstances indeed may be, the only side of the story that's heard is how many "profitable" dealerships had been usurped. The unspoken truth is that a dealer operating profitably is an entirely different proposition from being an agent who contributes to the profits of the manufacturers whose products they sell, let alone representing them well.

While the best of dealers are both, many have very little appreciation for the distinction between the two, and had it not been for 17M vehicles being sold every year in North America to carry them along, many couldn't retail their way out of a paper bag. Now that Ford has gotten the product and perception pieces of the puzzle squared away, I hope they begin to focus as keenly upon improving the quality of their dealership network to the same extent, both for the benefit of customers and the premier dealers like isellford, and as part of preserving the brand they're building which already has enough challenges given the $50B tailwind gifted to its primary competitors and having to concern itself with such trivialities as actual debt repayment.

The dealer quality nut is going to be a hard one to crack given the restrictive nature of state franchise laws and the absence of bankruptcy as a vehicle to clear-out the "dead wood" like GM and Chrysler have had. Far too many dealers use these laws as swords rather than shields while running protected, substandard businesses. Perhaps most frustrating of all is the number of dealers who will refuse to allow a willing customer to simply buy a vehicle without subjecting them to the process of "selling" it to them. I could and should have been this dealer's dream customer, someone who contacts them from out-of-market, agrees a price within 5 minutes, offers them the opportunity to up-sell an ESP based upon meeting a fixed-price, willing to leave an immediate deposit, with cash-in-hand, ready to wire and pick-up the vehicle as soon as it can be prepped, yet they still couldn't manage to keep out of their own way.

While I'm sure exceptions (like isellford) exist, when it came to the TC, I didn't encounter a single dealership whose staff (all the way from sales associates to the general manager) was either as knowledgeable as I was as a customer, or as I'd insist upon as a manufacturer whose product I'd entrusted to them to represent on my behalf.

Sure, this may sound a little Quixotic, but as an owner, shareholder, taxpayer, and American, I have a vested interest in Ford's success; and being in the fortunate position we enjoy, we've delivered upon what we feel is our very real responsibility to actually buy the products of the companies we hope will survive. (How any American can buy a GM or Chrysler and indulge the folly that's stood every established principle of commerce on its ear both goes to show how quickly Americans are willing to squander their future for a momentary "bargain" and is another matter entirely). We made the decision to trade-in two low mileage vehicles (a 2006 and 2007) that certainly didn't need to be replaced any time soon, largely because we wanted to support Ford at a time when it needed (and had earned) our business most; and I added a Transit Connect to the fleet because we found a way to make it feasible to do so. We don't expect or feel we deserve ANYTHING beyond the use and enjoyment of the vehicles we've purchased, but we do become easily frustrated when the crew aboard the boat we're helping to bail can't seem to be bothered enough to step away from the buffet.

Getting rear ended has just been the cherry on this particular sundae.

/end_of_rant

Wow! I actually feel a little better after venting a bit!

Mad,

What emissions specs does NJ follow? I have only seen two sets of specs, Federal and California, and I may have just learned something new.

I can relate to the knowledge of the dealer personnel, though I did get lucky with the one I started with and the one I ended up doing the deal with. Both of these guys had worked together in the past, and both were very "up to the game" on the vehicle. The others were either not as interested, or had not the interest other than answering "yeah, we have one/some" and trying to sell you what they had. I'll branch here to a name to clarify - Anthony was the guy I first encountered, and he had the right answers to the questions. He just didn't have any of the vehicles in his inventory other than XL models with nothing additonal. Dennis (his former associate, now at the other dealership owned by a different group, was also VERY knowledgable and who at the time my other car turned to a soot pile, had six XLT vans in stock and was able to come up with as close to what I wanted as I could find. It was more a case of either buy something you don't really want (another car) or but whatever Transit you can find that would come close to what you want.

I called Anthony from the lot when I found the one I bought and asked him if he had gotten the invoiced ones in yet, he said no, and asked where I was that they had some. I told him, and he recommended that I speak to Dennis in regard to the purchase, if I had to do it right now. (as I was closer to walking than driving, right now was a must.) I bought it that night (Friday), and darned if Anthony didn't call me first thing Saturday and tell me the silver one I had wanted had just arived. Arrrrgggh!. Oh well, I got a white one. For ha-ha's, the silver one was exactly what I wanted. Mine has 255* rear doors that I would have rather not have had, but now that I have them, I guess they're OK. Other than that, they were the same. My former Crown Vic was silver, and I guess I had come to like the color. I wasn't too keen on the end of the car, but the rest of its' life was not a problem. That smoky ending was not something I ever want to experience again. Breathing burned car is not one of the more pleasant life experiences I've had.

Mine was alos a last days of the month purchase, but there was no pressure to "get it on paper right away" from anyone invloved. In fact, had I not already decided that I didn't want to rent a car for the weekend (a week ahead of Labor Day), I would have waited for the silver one a little while longer.

Keep us posted on the repair time/parts situation. I have just ordered a couple of pieces for mine that got botched in the sound upgrade - rt door trim panel, and a piece of the dash. I was told they would be in by Tuesday afternoon - even though ordered on Friday afternoon around 3:00PM. It will be nice if they make it! The radio guy is gonna be paying for one of them anyway - a rather expensive lesson for them on which door to remove the front seats through! They really screwed the right one up - the left one too, but not to the point I will have to replace it. The surround for the radio also got a little nick in it. I may have done that one myself though when I was messing with the tools to get the radio out right after receiving them.

Thanks,

Roland C.

Happily Transiting

[madlock]

Mad,

What emissions specs does NJ follow? I have only seen two sets of specs, Federal and California, and I may have just learned something new.

I can relate to the knowledge of the dealer personnel, though I did get lucky with the one I started with and the one I ended up doing the deal with. Both of these guys had worked together in the past, and both were very "up to the game" on the vehicle. The others were either not as interested, or had not the interest other than answering "yeah, we have one/some" and trying to sell you what they had. I'll branch here to a name to clarify - Anthony was the guy I first encountered, and he had the right answers to the questions. He just didn't have any of the vehicles in his inventory other than XL models with nothing additonal. Dennis (his former associate, now at the other dealership owned by a different group, was also VERY knowledgable and who at the time my other car turned to a soot pile, had six XLT vans in stock and was able to come up with as close to what I wanted as I could find. It was more a case of either buy something you don't really want (another car) or but whatever Transit you can find that would come close to what you want.

I called Anthony from the lot when I found the one I bought and asked him if he had gotten the invoiced ones in yet, he said no, and asked where I was that they had some. I told him, and he recommended that I speak to Dennis in regard to the purchase, if I had to do it right now. (as I was closer to walking than driving, right now was a must.) I bought it that night (Friday), and darned if Anthony didn't call me first thing Saturday and tell me the silver one I had wanted had just arived. Arrrrgggh!. Oh well, I got a white one. For ha-ha's, the silver one was exactly what I wanted. Mine has 255* rear doors that I would have rather not have had, but now that I have them, I guess they're OK. Other than that, they were the same. My former Crown Vic was silver, and I guess I had come to like the color. I wasn't too keen on the end of the car, but the rest of its' life was not a problem. That smoky ending was not something I ever want to experience again. Breathing burned car is not one of the more pleasant life experiences I've had.

Mine was alos a last days of the month purchase, but there was no pressure to "get it on paper right away" from anyone invloved. In fact, had I not already decided that I didn't want to rent a car for the weekend (a week ahead of Labor Day), I would have waited for the silver one a little while longer.

Keep us posted on the repair time/parts situation. I have just ordered a couple of pieces for mine that got botched in the sound upgrade - rt door trim panel, and a piece of the dash. I was told they would be in by Tuesday afternoon - even though ordered on Friday afternoon around 3:00PM. It will be nice if they make it! The radio guy is gonna be paying for one of them anyway - a rather expensive lesson for them on which door to remove the front seats through! They really screwed the right one up - the left one too, but not to the point I will have to replace it. The surround for the radio also got a little nick in it. I may have done that one myself though when I was messing with the tools to get the radio out right after receiving them.

Thanks,

Roland C.

Happily Transiting

Believe it or not, not all TC's come with "50 State" (i.e. "California") emissions, something handfuls of additional states both respectively require or ignore.

I'm at a point at which, given all that's happened with THIS particular TC, the "love" is gone. I was very nearly serious about simply buying another, and parking this one until the beginning of the next tax year and unloading it for the nominal depreciation loss which, after the ARRA pays-off on my April taxes, will still leave me cash-positive on the whole affair.

I admittedly can't make a fair judgement about the FWS computer since its version of Windows continues to repeatedly crash minutes apart. Even so, I honestly find it very amateurishly done, and more of an "as little as we can get away with" rather than "as much as we could" ham-fisted implementation. I think those to whom it remains most appealing would be those for whom the notion of mobile computing remains a bit "star wars".

What I find MOST remarkable is that a system with a 4GB maximum capacity that requires an SD card to be inserted for the navigation to be functional doesn't provide a thumb drive or other means of affecting a "blank sheet" re-installation. There's no reason why it couldn't be downloadable. I'm seriously considering a swap out for a stock head unit and just starting that from scratch, letting it be what it is. I'm sure the FWS computer wouldn't last long on eBay or to another forum member whose needs are more consistent with what it delivers.

While I have to have my existing TC fixed after the rear-end damage, it would also be an ideal time to have the other "upfits" done, which include creating the "hybrid" cargo-looking wagon by plugging the side windows which is pretty-much a one-way street once the industrial adhesives set, not to mention the Sortimo floor, shelving, and semi-bulkhead, and the rear-view mirror-based backup camera that will be part of the final configuration; but I'm going to hold-off until I'm really sure that this is the (particular) TC I want to keep.

For those who may be amused, I'll provide updates as the insurance saga moves along.

[isellford]

I understand where your rants come from. I have been selling Fords for going on 29 years now and have seen a lot from both sides. A lot of salespersons at dealerships are in the dark on how things actually operate with regards to orders, etc. They are taught to sell what is on the lot and if they can't get a person into what the dealership wants to sell, then at a last resort, try to locate one. Like Roland brought up, he settled and the next day exactly what he was looking for showed up. I can't believe that the salesperson did not check what was coming in; that's almost as important as knowing what you have in inventory.

I spent 25 years at one store before retiring. I held almost every job from floor sales to New Truck Manager, New Car Manager, and Used Car Manager. It was a pressure cooker from the GM and Owner plus I missed the direct customer interaction [besides i love to sell and build relationships]. I took over the Commercial Department in 1991 and made it into one of the biggest in our Region [in fact there were months when we outsold the New Truck Dept] The harsh Midwest winters finally took its toll on us and I decided to retire and head South. I was extremely fortunate to find the Dealership that I am now at. We area small Commercial Truck Store, no cars and very few SUV sales. We specialize in F150-F750 trucks and are the only Ford "Truck only" dealer in the Houston area. Most of our sales come from referral, repeat, and prospecting. We are in a very heavy industrial area on a major thoroughfare and get very little drive in traffic. We have 5 salespersons, each treated like an independent contractor. Because we are Truck Pros, we are empowered to work the entire sale process without the game playing that goes on at most stores. Our commercial customers appreciate that as do the retail customers that we sometimes sell. They find it very refreshing not to have to play games and go back and forth.

As far as product knowledge, our dealership requires that we all become Master Certified in our training.

Heres one of my peeves. I get a call or email from a prospect about a vehicle; in this case a TC. He asks all the questions and I educate him as best that i can and direct him to my website for additional information. He decides that he wants an XLT wagon but cannnot find one. I tell him that we have several in stock and he shows up to test drive. We spend a lot of time and they decide that they want silver. I tell him that i have one coming in 2 months and that i have a red, black, and blue due any day. I offer to locate one which I did and; 2 of them actually and tell him we can have it in a day or so for him. We agree on a price and he says he will come in but it is such a long drive [around 40 miles]. I tell him we can do everything by email/phone and i will deliver the TC when it arrives to save him the trouble. After a few days he says that they found a silver one at a local dealership that is due to arrive any day. No one there could tell him anything about the TC. It was one of the 2 that I had found. He bought it from them for more money because they were closer even though I offered to deliver it. He did thank me for all of the information because he had contacted 8 dealerships prior to purchasing and no one seemed to know much about the vehicle or have an XLT wagon that he could see or drive. I told him about our terrific service department and if he had any problems at the other dealership, that we would be happy to take care of him. I then wished him good luck with his new TC. While I did not make a dime from this customer, at least he bought a Ford and hopefully if someone asks him, I will get a referral in the future.

As long as I treat customers the way I would like to be treated, I have no regrets. Everything else will take care of itself. I've had a very good career and am looking forward to many more years.

[madlock]

For those who may have been following along, I received the first repair estimate, from a Ford dealer body shop. It came in just north of $4,000 with a disclaimer that additional required repairs may be identified once the vehicle is disassembled due to the Reverse Sensing System malfunctioning and what appears to be short-related static in the audio system.

[madlock]

Well, the preliminary status for the required replacement parts has arrived.

It won't be until late December before many of the bumper and trim components are available (they're in Europe for the time being) and January until they're at the Ford Collision Repair Network shop for replacement.

Beware owners. If your TC is struck, there may be a long wait involved for parts. :(