Worthy dealership in Washington state?

[mustanggt500]

Okay, so I am getting my 2nd wife......errr my 2010 GT500 (same thing?) from MM in Georgia. I live in Tacoma/Spanaway area of Washington state. I've been to Lakewood Ford when I started window shopping for my new daily driver and quickly determined that the dealers there were totaly worthless. When MM delivers my car I want it to be delivered to a dealer close to me but at the same time I was wanting to have it delivered to a worthy dealer in regards to their service department.

 

My thinking on this is if I get it delivered to a dealer that I want to have it serviced at it will give them/me a sense of ownership/belonging. Too far fetched? Does it really matter?

 

Bottom line is this though, does anyone here have the first hand knowledge to endorse/support a specific dealer in Washington? If for any reason I need to take my new car in (when I get it) for a service or for a initial delivery quality inspection issue I want to have at least SOME comfort in knowing they will do the right thing. I am worried that because I am buying the car on the east coast and will eventually be getting services at a dealer that had no hand in the sale/profit of this car that I will get less quality costomer service than I deserve.

 

As a first time new car person I have no idea how this goes down, just my assumptions, so any input will be GREATLY appreciated.

 

Oh, one last thing, is there a site or way to find out all of the "factory advisory" things that tell you to bring your car in for this part or this issue that Ford fixes for free because there is a 'fix this' issue? Totaly brain cramping on what they are called..... TSP's or something like that? Just read it like 10 minutes ago too......

 

 

Nic

 

(uhg February is gunna get here way too slow)

[Grabber]

I know a great dealer in your area (Kent, WA) that you should talk to. He is in charge of the SVT stuff there and has been there for along time. He is also a member here.

 

His screen name is Five Oh B (Brian camp)

 

Here is the link to the dealership:

http://bowenscarffford.dealerconnection.com/ourTeam/

 

Brian is a friend of mine. Tell him Grabber sent you.

[mustanggt500]

Oh thank goodness! I am putting that in my folder RIGHT now so I can talk to him when I get home. Might have the car delivered there when it is done being built. That makes me feel soooo much more comfortable. TYTYTY!

 

 

Nic

[Torched10]

Its been my experience that when you bring a car into a dealer for warranty work,it doesnt matter if you bought the car there as far as level of service.It all depends on the quality of service that dealer provides in general.Ive had to switch service to a different delaer from where i bought it,to get good service at a better service dealer several times.So find out the best service dealer,and bring it there.

[Grabber]

Oh thank goodness! I am putting that in my folder RIGHT now so I can talk to him when I get home. Might have the car delivered there when it is done being built. That makes me feel soooo much more comfortable. TYTYTY!

 

 

Nic

 

If you want your car drop shipped to a different dealer you will need to let MM know right away. He has to enter that info on the order and if it's not entered before the factory processes the order (serialized) then it will be too late. The drop ship info becomes part of the window sticker.

 

You best hurry.

[mustanggt500]

Yes I will have to talk to him Monday on the phone. I think it will be finished in January but I will not be back to the states until February. I will be paying him in full in February so I think it has to get delivered to his dealership and then cover car carried to dealership in Washington. He can't have it drop shipped to me before I pay in full so as to protect himself from delivering a car to Washington and then something happen and the sale not go through for any reason. Understandable. Just a timming thing. Never know, things could change as the deal gets closer to a finish. I could get my money early, the car could get in a week or two later than expected. All in good time

[Grabber]

I have a feeling Five Oh B will chime in here soon.

 

:rolleyes:

[Five Oh B]

Grabber, thanks for the kind words.

 

mustanggt500, I have two recommendations for where to service your GT500 in the Tacoma area:

 

Lakewood Ford (Lakewood, WA) would be a good place for servicing your GT500. If you go there, please ask that Ryan does your servicing. Ryan is a Mustang enthusiast like the rest of us, and he has a very wicked Mustang of his own.

 

Bowen Scarff Ford (Kent, WA) would be a good place, as well. I'm the Internet Sales Manager and SVT Director for Bowen Scarff Ford. We've been an SVT dealership since 1992 when the '93 Cobras first came out and have been SVT certified for sales and service ever since. We delivered the very first publicly sold Ford GT on Earth back in 2004 and sold several 2005 and 2006 GT's (2 seat exotic, mid engined beasts!). We've sold countless SVT Cobras, Contours, Lightnings, Foci, etc., as well as quite a few Shelby GT's and GT500's. We sold more brand new Mustangs in calendar year 2008 than any Ford dealer in the entire Pacific Northwest. We've also won 14 President's Awards - Ford's highest honor for customer sales/service experience - including the last 9 years in a row. Only about 25 of the nearly 4,000 Ford dealers have won as many.

 

If you want MM to have your GT500 drop-shipped to us, we would have our fleet manager arrange that with MM for you. You would simply need to have your paperwork and monies handled with MM before we could release the car to you here. IIRC, our fleet manager charges $400 for "courtesy deliveries." I'm not sure how much Lakewood Ford charges, but you may want to ask them, as well.

 

If you have your GT500 sent to MM's dealership, then trucked to Washington, you can count on our service department to take excellent care of your car for any service needs. I trust Lakewood Ford would do the same.

 

We have an annual Mustang Show at our dealership every August. I hope you'll bring the GT500! Also, Grabber puts on a great Meet & Greet at his house in Battleground, WA every May (since 2007). I've been to 2 of the 3 he's thrown and highly recommend you make the next one he has!

[mustanggt500]

I talked to my wife and I think that we are pretty settled on the idea of going to your dealership in Kent. So the post you made just solidified that even more so.

 

How the shipping works is going to be a timming game for us. It will depend on what comes first, my money or the car. What is IIRC, 'our fleet manager charges $400 for "courtesy deliveries."'? I know I talked to MM about getting the car delivered from his dealership to one in WA and the fee for that. Are you talking about an additional backend fee that a dealer charges for having a car delivered to their dealership for someone to pick up? So I would have to pay the delivery fee from MM and then another fee at the local delership??

 

Yes, we will definatly be going to Grabbers event this comming year. And yours is on the calendar now as well cant wait to get this car out and show it off at every turn we can!!!

 

Nic

[FordFan1]

I've got nothing but good things to say about Bowen Scarff Ford (Kent, WA) after my recent dealership experience. Bryan Adams (service Manager) and Sharon (Service Writer) will take very good care of you!!!

 

1 of only 2 dealers in the State that I would even consider leaving one of my cars with.

 

Enjoy your new purchase, see you at Grabber's

[Grabber]

If your car is "Drop shipped" from the factory to Kent, MM's dealership will never see it. The Kent dealership will have to inspect, prep. and wash and clean and fill the tank. they will handle some of the final paperwork and give the keys to you and go over the new car stuff. This takes some time and is why they are charging you for it.

 

If you have the car shipped from MM's dealership to Kent....It will be already prepped and paid for and the paperwork will be done. That is a different deal and if you just want the car to go to the service center for pick up because that's going to be your service dealer for all future work...than that's a different deal.

[Five Oh B]

If your car is "Drop shipped" from the factory to Kent, MM's dealership will never see it. The Kent dealership will have to inspect, prep. and wash and clean and fill the tank. they will handle some of the final paperwork and give the keys to you and go over the new car stuff. This takes some time and is why they are charging you for it.

 

If you have the car shipped from MM's dealership to Kent....It will be already prepped and paid for and the paperwork will be done. That is a different deal and if you just want the car to go to the service center for pick up because that's going to be your service dealer for all future work...than that's a different deal.

 

You said it very well, Rob. Our fleet manager charges $400 for courtesy deliveries as our service department would be doing the PDI (pre delivery inspection), prepping/cleaning the car for delivery, fueling it, etc. This takes time, and time is money. This would save MM's dealership that time, so I don't know if he would be charging you a similar fee on his end for having his GT500 drop shipped to our dealership for you. On the plus side, you save money as you wouldn't be shipping the car cross country.

 

If the GT500 is sent to MM's dealership first, however, you would hire a shipping company to send your GT500 directly to your house - not a local dealership. If you need maintenance or service work done, we certainly look forward to assisting you.

[Five Oh B]

I've got nothing but good things to say about Bowen Scarff Ford (Kent, WA) after my recent dealership experience. Bryan Adams (service Manager) and Sharon (Service Writer) will take very good care of you!!!

 

1 of only 2 dealers in the State that I would even consider leaving one of my cars with.

 

Enjoy your new purchase, see you at Grabber's

 

Thanks for the kind words, Kerry. I see you're way down there in Vancouver near Grabber. What possessed you to bring your car all the up to our dealership for service? That's a 2 hour drive! I agree that Bryan Adams is an excellent service manager (he has overseen most of the mods & work done on my supercharged 07 Mustang GT), but 4 hours round trip is really going out of your way. Don't get me wrong, we really appreciate that kind of dedication, but that's a long trip to find a good dealer. In a perfect world, every dealership would offer excellent service.

[Michael Morris]

Just saw this and Yall did a great job answering everything!!!!

 

 

Found out on a GT500 a couple of weeks ago that Ford will let you change dealers real CLOSE to shipping!!!

 

 

MM

[Grabber]

Just saw this and Yall did a great job answering everything!!!!

 

 

Found out on a GT500 a couple of weeks ago that Ford will let you change dealers real CLOSE to shipping!!!

 

 

MM

 

That's great news.

 

It didn't used to be like that.

[mustanggt500]

Yes it is great news because the time I get my money will be right about the same time the car is estimated to be finished. Going to be right up to the end before I find out where I will get it shipped.

 

I've read on some posts here and there of people saying to just have the dealer do the inspection and not the cleaning and such. I would assume this is because people are concerned about the receiving dealership not being as carefull as owners in how they clean the paint and such? Is this a widely recommended idea or just new owner superstition?

 

Nic

[Grabber]

Yes it is great news because the time I get my money will be right about the same time the car is estimated to be finished. Going to be right up to the end before I find out where I will get it shipped.

 

I've read on some posts here and there of people saying to just have the dealer do the inspection and not the cleaning and such. I would assume this is because people are concerned about the receiving dealership not being as carefull as owners in how they clean the paint and such? Is this a widely recommended idea or just new owner superstition?

 

Nic

 

dude,

 

You can Trust Five Oh B to supervise the cleaning of your new car. The same thing goes for MM. They both bleed Blue like we do and know how fussy we are. No worries with these 2.

 

Drop shipping will save you some bucks. I hope it happens for you.

[66DNA]

Hey NW fellas!

 

Just wanted to chime in. I bought my 07 Shelby GT from Dick Hannah Ford in Portland (no longer exits, but has several other Dick Hannah dealerships in Vancouver, WA) and subsequently moved up to the Vancouver, BC Canada area!

 

Last week I purchased my second - a 2010 Shelby GT500 convertible....and in two weeks, my 2000 Cobra R arrives!

 

As a member of the Greater Vancouver Mustang Association, we put on two great shows; the first is our "Mustangs on Top" held in mid-May. This is a cool show! Held on the rooftop of a large parking garage in the historic Gastown area of Vancouver, BC - - and if it were to rain, we move the show one level down (to the 8th floor) and continue on with a "covered show and shine!" - The second great show is our "Thunder in the Valley" - held in August in Langley, BC - only 20 minutes or so from the border. Two excellent shows.

 

The website for the GVMA is: www.gvma.org where a posting of all of our own (and other) Northwest events are listed!

 

At least once a month, I drive from BC down to Portland and back. I've never made it to Grabber's famous outing, but would love to do so one of these summers!

 

Here's to keeping in touch and exchanging information!

 

 

Todd

 

dude,

 

You can Trust Five Oh B to supervise the cleaning of your new car. The same thing goes for MM. They both bleed Blue like we do and know how fussy we are. No worries with these 2.

 

Drop shipping will save you some bucks. I hope it happens for you.

[kahmann]

^ When I lived in Vancouver, WA, I purchased a car from Dick Hannah. The worst buying experience of my life and the worst used car I've ever owned. They were nothing but trouble. Their reputation in Vancouver has deteriorated for years and I would never recommend buying a pair of shoes from them, let alone a car.

 

Good luck with your search.

 

Ken

[Lgs ShelbyGT]

Nic,

It sounds like you have some good advice from others TS members.

Best of luck with the delivery of your GT500.

 

Our family has had excellent luck for decades with Van Cleve Ford, a small dealership in Morton, WA.

http://www.vancleveford.com/

For fun, click on the "Our Heritage" tab

 

When winter is finally over and the weather turns nice, take the drive to Morton via Highway 7 from Tacoma.

If Jim (just Jim now that his dad is gone) is around ask to see his GT500....or if he has begun his project on the Ford Fairlane he located last year.

 

Larry

[mustanggt500]

dude,

 

You can Trust Five Oh B to supervise the cleaning of your new car. The same thing goes for MM. They both bleed Blue like we do and know how fussy we are. No worries with these 2.

 

Drop shipping will save you some bucks. I hope it happens for you.

 

 

Okay awesome, thanks for that Grabber. I have never had a new car so I'm swimming in the kiddy pool on all of this so you guys have just continued to be heeps of help.

 

Nic

[youngbull]

I purchased my 2010 from Ford of Kirkland and cannot say enough positive things about how great they were to work with. Jim Wallen is the General Manager and Raleigh Fouch was the fleet manager I coordinated with. Both are awesome! Very responsive and fair to deal. I live in Alaska and they arranged to have the vehicle drop shipped cheap. I strongly recommend them. Kurt H

[Five Oh B]

dude,

 

You can Trust Five Oh B to supervise the cleaning of your new car. The same thing goes for MM. They both bleed Blue like we do and know how fussy we are. No worries with these 2.

 

Drop shipping will save you some bucks. I hope it happens for you.

 

Shelbys (and other high profile cars) are only prepped and detailed here by our senior detailer. He's older than me and incredibly meticulous - anally retentive is an understatement. I trust MM has someone similar at his place, and same is likely true of Lakewood Ford.

[Five Oh B]

Nic,

It sounds like you have some good advice from others TS members.

Best of luck with the delivery of your GT500.

 

Our family has had excellent luck for decades with Van Cleve Ford, a small dealership in Morton, WA.

http://www.vancleveford.com/

For fun, click on the "Our Heritage" tab

 

When winter is finally over and the weather turns nice, take the drive to Morton via Highway 7 from Tacoma.

If Jim (just Jim now that his dad is gone) is around ask to see his GT500....or if he has begun his project on the Ford Fairlane he located last year.

 

Larry

 

Larry, good referal for Van Cleve! They are a good dealership, even if they are very small volume and located in the middle of nowhere. Steve Van Cleve is quite a Mustang enthusiast. He and I both bought new 2003 Mach 1's about the same time. The Van Cleves are big into Roush Mustangs, as well - surprising given that they are smack dab in the middle of truck/farm country.

 

I've never in my life heard a bad thing about Van Cleve, so there's another good option for the OP for a drop ship from MM.

[Five Oh B]

I purchased my 2010 from Ford of Kirkland and cannot say enough positive things about how great they were to work with. Jim Wallen is the General Manager and Raleigh Fouch was the fleet manager I coordinated with. Both are awesome! Very responsive and fair to deal. I live in Alaska and they arranged to have the vehicle drop shipped cheap. I strongly recommend them. Kurt H

 

Ford of Kirkland is one of our biggest competitors and they seem to be a decent place. I don't know much about them from a customer standpoint, but I do know that Raleigh is one heckuva nice guy. If you contact that dealership, be sure to look up Raleigh!

[FordFan1]

Thanks for the kind words, Kerry. I see you're way down there in Vancouver near Grabber. What possessed you to bring your car all the up to our dealership for service? That's a 2 hour drive! I agree that Bryan Adams is an excellent service manager (he has overseen most of the mods & work done on my supercharged 07 Mustang GT), but 4 hours round trip is really going out of your way. Don't get me wrong, we really appreciate that kind of dedication, but that's a long trip to find a good dealer. In a perfect world, every dealership would offer excellent service.

 

Let's just say I had a failure while out for a drive in your area and was lucky enough to have spent the day with others that recommend calling Bryan for assistance-

 

 

 

(Lgs ShelbyGT @ Dec 1 2009, 11:12 PM)

Nic,

It sounds like you have some good advice from others TS members.

Best of luck with the delivery of your GT500.

 

Our family has had excellent luck for decades with Van Cleve Ford, a small dealership in Morton, WA.

http://www.vancleveford.com/

For fun, click on the "Our Heritage" tab

 

When winter is finally over and the weather turns nice, take the drive to Morton via Highway 7 from Tacoma.

If Jim (just Jim now that his dad is gone) is around ask to see his GT500....or if he has begun his project on the Ford Fairlane he located last year.

 

Larry

 

Yep a visit to Jim Jr's place was the other I had in mind, I stopped by in September (awesome drive) on my way home from picking up the SGT after the repair-

Not that it matters but Jim and his head tech took a long hard look at the Griggs setup under my car. They were very impressed compared to some of the other setups they've been installing...

 

Jim and I go back a few years, we use to have something in common

 

Hey NW fellas!

 

Just wanted to chime in. I bought my 07 Shelby GT from Dick Hannah Ford in Portland (no longer exits, but has several other Dick Hannah dealerships in Vancouver, WA) and subsequently moved up to the Vancouver, BC Canada area!

 

Last week I purchased my second - a 2010 Shelby GT500 convertible....and in two weeks, my 2000 Cobra R arrives!

 

As a member of the Greater Vancouver Mustang Association, we put on two great shows; the first is our "Mustangs on Top" held in mid-May. This is a cool show! Held on the rooftop of a large parking garage in the historic Gastown area of Vancouver, BC - - and if it were to rain, we move the show one level down (to the 8th floor) and continue on with a "covered show and shine!" - The second great show is our "Thunder in the Valley" - held in August in Langley, BC - only 20 minutes or so from the border. Two excellent shows.

 

The website for the GVMA is: www.gvma.org where a posting of all of our own (and other) Northwest events are listed!

 

At least once a month, I drive from BC down to Portland and back. I've never made it to Grabber's famous outing, but would love to do so one of these summers!

 

Here's to keeping in touch and exchanging information!

 

 

Todd

 

Hey Todd,

Small world!!! nice to see you on here, you know I've got my calendar already marked for next May's show... so sorry it didn't work out last year..

Hope you can make it down to Grabber's this coming year.

 

Give me a call on your next fly by on I-5 and we'll grab lunch

[Five Oh B]

Let's just say I had a failure while out for a drive in your area and was lucky enough to have spent the day with others that recommend calling Bryan for assistance-

 

 

 

Ah, yes, I remember seeing your SGT in our service department for a week or two recently. Pressure plate and/or clutch lining came apart, or something like that, on a less-than-public road. Glad our shop got it all handled for you.

 

I drag race my supercharged 07 GT at Pacific Raceways regularly and have adopted a warranty-be-damned attitude about modding and racing (gotta pay to play). Luckily, the only failures I've had in my last few Mustangs have been truly warrantable and not race-related.

[Lgs ShelbyGT]

Jim and I go back a few years, we use to have something in common

 

Hey Kerry,

Did Jim happen to show you his Fairlane project car that sb in the back body shop?

Maybe you need to find one too, then it could be like the good old days drag racing together.

lg

[FordFan1]

Hey Kerry,

Did Jim happen to show you his Fairlane project car that sb in the back body shop?

Maybe you need to find one too, then it could be like the good old days drag racing together.

lg

 

Not this time, so I guess I better make another trip up that way..

Jim's 9 second S/S 427 Fairlane was a out of my league, but his mom's '67 was fun to run against

 

 

=-=-=-=-===-=-=

[maulem5210c]

Newbie here, Thanks for the great posts. I just picked up my new 2010 GT500 Sterling Gray w/ Black Stripes and also am looking for a local dealer (live in Puyallup) for service work. Have a friend that has a 06 GT that gets his work done a the Enumclaw dealership and seems to like them.

If you see me driving around the Tacoma/Spanaway/Parkland area stop me and say hi. Looking for people to learn from, as I said I am new to this car thing and want my 9 year old son and I to have lots of fun this thing.