[PStallcup]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this... but here goes.

I just recently took my 2020 GT500 in for first service.
I took it back to the dealership where I purchased it, and except for some scheduling oddities --- everything seemed to go fine.

They tried to convince me to wait because I was only at about 3,000 miles, but being the first service I wanted to do it early.
Now I wish I hadn't.....

After getting the car back I did a once around the outside and inside just to assess any potential scratching. Everything looked good, so away I went.

A few miles down the road, the Climate Control kicked on and I noted a heavy oil smell.
I hadn't noticed any oil residue inside the car (another bad oil change experience once), I thought, maybe just the air in the shop. Opened the windows and drove for a few miles to my next stop.

After coming back to the car, I was hit with the heavy oil smell when opening the door... ok, this isn't right.....
I opened the hood to find oil splashed all over the left side of the engine bay.

WTF? They made a huge mess --- ok, back in the car and back to the shop to complain.

When I brought them out to look at the mess, the service advisor looked oddly at the engine bay and that made me take a closer look.
They forgot to put the oil filler cap back on.
So, the oil was all splash out of the oil fill neck from the engine running.

So, long story short - they had the cap, the tech literally forgot to put it back, and they did a mediocre job of cleaning up the mess. Sprayed some god awful smelling air freshener in the car, now a few weeks later after adding my own air freshener my wife says she can still smell a slight oil smell --- I figure it just has to wear off.....

I didn't have a screaming fit, although I felt like it.
I don't have any reason to believe this is a normal occurrence, but I've thought about it a lot and I just can't bring myself to take my car back there. I'll take it to another dealer, where I've had cars serviced and who hasn't, yet, burned my confidence.



I have to include, 90% of what was wrong with my '13 GT was caused by the dealer, including front quarter panel scratching and some severe internal door jam scratches (even over the light up mustang door sill panel) from seat replacement... So I'm pretty sensitive to service, and tend to err on the side of them proving over my trusting --- this hasn't helped lol.


Side note --- anything else on first service beside an oil change and general inspection? I thought that was weird, but I don't find anything specific in the Owners Manual either. I mean it lists tire rotation too, but the staggered directional tires rule that out.

 

[Goose17]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this... but here goes.

I just recently took my 2020 GT500 in for first service.
I took it back to the dealership where I purchased it, and except for some scheduling oddities --- everything seemed to go fine.

They tried to convince me to wait because I was only at about 3,000 miles, but being the first service I wanted to do it early.
Now I wish I hadn't.....

After getting the car back I did a once around the outside and inside just to assess any potential scratching. Everything looked good, so away I went.

A few miles down the road, the Climate Control kicked on and I noted a heavy oil smell.
I hadn't noticed any oil residue inside the car (another bad oil change experience once), I thought, maybe just the air in the shop. Opened the windows and drove for a few miles to my next stop.

After coming back to the car, I was hit with the heavy oil smell when opening the door... ok, this isn't right.....
I opened the hood to find oil splashed all over the left side of the engine bay.

WTF? They made a huge mess --- ok, back in the car and back to the shop to complain.

When I brought them out to look at the mess, the service advisor looked oddly at the engine bay and that made me take a closer look.
They forgot to put the oil filler cap back on.
So, the oil was all splash out of the oil fill neck from the engine running.

So, long story short - they had the cap, the tech literally forgot to put it back, and they did a mediocre job of cleaning up the mess. Sprayed some god awful smelling air freshener in the car, now a few weeks later after adding my own air freshener my wife says she can still smell a slight oil smell --- I figure it just has to wear off.....

I didn't have a screaming fit, although I felt like it.
I don't have any reason to believe this is a normal occurrence, but I've thought about it a lot and I just can't bring myself to take my car back there. I'll take it to another dealer, where I've had cars serviced and who hasn't, yet, burned my confidence.



I have to include, 90% of what was wrong with my '13 GT was caused by the dealer, including front quarter panel scratching and some severe internal door jam scratches (even over the light up mustang door sill panel) from seat replacement... So I'm pretty sensitive to service, and tend to err on the side of them proving over my trusting --- this hasn't helped lol.


Side note --- anything else on first service beside an oil change and general inspection? I thought that was weird, but I don't find anything specific in the Owners Manual either. I mean it lists tire rotation too, but the staggered directional tires rule that out.

We have seen our share of threads like this through the years here Philip. Sorry they got you. Unfortunately, this can almost be expected when leaving your car unattended. The oil tech is usually inexperienced... the “new guy.” He probably hasn’t seen a 2020 GT500 before. We have seen many threads here where dealers put in the wrong amount or wrong viscosity oil.

For me, I don’t let them “get me.” I insist that I drive the car in/out of the service bay and that I babysit the car while it is getting serviced. If sitting with the car is absolutely not possible. I do a full inspection, including the engine bay before driving off. Having said that, it has been years since I’ve had a car worked on where I wasn’t sitting there watching.

They will not treat your vehicle as good as you do. Expect them to screw it up, scratch it, not put everything back, etc.

 

[PStallcup]

Yeah I figured I couldn't be the only one this stuff happens to.... although it feels like it sometimes.

More venting than anything else.

 

[NoSlowGT]

Dang sorry to hear. I once had a porter go to take my '14 GT500 from the drop off spot, pop the clutch, spin the tires a little and almost rear end another car. I immediately said stop and told him to get out so I could move it. Like Goose said, they will not treat your car as good as you will, which is unfortunate.

 

[CollectedDust]

This has me so scared, yet I’ve never changed the oil in a car on my own. I now have a lift, so there is nothing stopping me.

So... who is more likely to screw it up, inexperienced me or the dealer? Lol

 

[Goose17]

This has me so scared, yet I’ve never changed the oil in a car on my own. I now have a lift, so there is nothing stopping me.

So... who is more likely to screw it up, inexperienced me or the dealer? Lol

If you are unsure of your abilities, a couple of options... watch my video and see the process or take the car with your own oil and filter to an oil change place. Sit there and watch them work.

 

[Rjstevens]

This has me so scared, yet I’ve never changed the oil in a car on my own. I now have a lift, so there is nothing stopping me.

So... who is more likely to screw it up, inexperienced me or the dealer? Lol

I say the dealer is more than likely going to be the one to get it wrong, you will doublecheck and triple check yourself and take your time.

 

[PStallcup]

It's like you're teasing me with that --- I put the cap back on line --- lol....

Actually, after watching this I'm more nervous that they left something else off... like the access panel. It looks like you can see if it's there from the top maybe?

 

[Goose17]

It's like you're teasing me with that --- I put the cap back on line --- lol....

Actually, after watching this I'm more nervous that they left something else off... like the access panel. It looks like you can see if it's there from the top maybe?

Turn the video camera on in your phone. Lay the phone shooting up (use the light) on a towel and pull it through with a string or rope. You should be able to capture it. I'm guessing the door is there, but you'll probably see oil seeping out since the tech most likely didn't prevent it from running onto the belly pan.

 

[2stroke800]

If you are unsure of your abilities, a couple of options... watch my video and see the process or take the car with your own oil and filter to an oil change place. Sit there and watch them work.

Question for ya!! How tall of a floor jack can you fit under your 20’ shelby? I have a 3ton snapon lo pro jack that i used under my sti, and its right at 4”. I like to do all my own maintenance, and am hoping it wont be too big of a pain to do my own oil changes on the shelby without a lift.

 

[Goose17]

Question for ya!! How tall of a floor jack can you fit under your 20’ shelby? I have a 3ton snapon lo pro jack that i used under my sti, and its right at 4”. I like to do all my own maintenance, and am hoping it wont be too big of a pain to do my own oil changes on the shelby without a lift.

This should help... I did this video of all the ground clearance measurements back when I had my base mode.

 

[JSHACK]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this... but here goes.

I just recently took my 2020 GT500 in for first service.
I took it back to the dealership where I purchased it, and except for some scheduling oddities --- everything seemed to go fine.

They tried to convince me to wait because I was only at about 3,000 miles, but being the first service I wanted to do it early.
Now I wish I hadn't.....

After getting the car back I did a once around the outside and inside just to assess any potential scratching. Everything looked good, so away I went.

A few miles down the road, the Climate Control kicked on and I noted a heavy oil smell.
I hadn't noticed any oil residue inside the car (another bad oil change experience once), I thought, maybe just the air in the shop. Opened the windows and drove for a few miles to my next stop.

After coming back to the car, I was hit with the heavy oil smell when opening the door... ok, this isn't right.....
I opened the hood to find oil splashed all over the left side of the engine bay.

WTF? They made a huge mess --- ok, back in the car and back to the shop to complain.

When I brought them out to look at the mess, the service advisor looked oddly at the engine bay and that made me take a closer look.
They forgot to put the oil filler cap back on.
So, the oil was all splash out of the oil fill neck from the engine running.

So, long story short - they had the cap, the tech literally forgot to put it back, and they did a mediocre job of cleaning up the mess. Sprayed some god awful smelling air freshener in the car, now a few weeks later after adding my own air freshener my wife says she can still smell a slight oil smell --- I figure it just has to wear off.....

I didn't have a screaming fit, although I felt like it.
I don't have any reason to believe this is a normal occurrence, but I've thought about it a lot and I just can't bring myself to take my car back there. I'll take it to another dealer, where I've had cars serviced and who hasn't, yet, burned my confidence.



I have to include, 90% of what was wrong with my '13 GT was caused by the dealer, including front quarter panel scratching and some severe internal door jam scratches (even over the light up mustang door sill panel) from seat replacement... So I'm pretty sensitive to service, and tend to err on the side of them proving over my trusting --- this hasn't helped lol.


Side note --- anything else on first service beside an oil change and general inspection? I thought that was weird, but I don't find anything specific in the Owners Manual either. I mean it lists tire rotation too, but the staggered directional tires rule that out.

Yeap, first trip to dealership for same reason, oil issue-9.5 quarts, redo oil change, then ding in the door, that had car at body shop for 2 weeks. Then the air bag recall, replaced driver side, next day got a call, they put in wrong part, back to dealership again to correct that.

 

[LivingEZ]

Not sure if this is the right place to put this... but here goes.

I just recently took my 2020 GT500 in for first service.
I took it back to the dealership where I purchased it, and except for some scheduling oddities --- everything seemed to go fine.

They tried to convince me to wait because I was only at about 3,000 miles, but being the first service I wanted to do it early.
Now I wish I hadn't.....

After getting the car back I did a once around the outside and inside just to assess any potential scratching. Everything looked good, so away I went.

A few miles down the road, the Climate Control kicked on and I noted a heavy oil smell.
I hadn't noticed any oil residue inside the car (another bad oil change experience once), I thought, maybe just the air in the shop. Opened the windows and drove for a few miles to my next stop.

After coming back to the car, I was hit with the heavy oil smell when opening the door... ok, this isn't right.....
I opened the hood to find oil splashed all over the left side of the engine bay.

WTF? They made a huge mess --- ok, back in the car and back to the shop to complain.

When I brought them out to look at the mess, the service advisor looked oddly at the engine bay and that made me take a closer look.
They forgot to put the oil filler cap back on.
So, the oil was all splash out of the oil fill neck from the engine running.

So, long story short - they had the cap, the tech literally forgot to put it back, and they did a mediocre job of cleaning up the mess. Sprayed some god awful smelling air freshener in the car, now a few weeks later after adding my own air freshener my wife says she can still smell a slight oil smell --- I figure it just has to wear off.....

I didn't have a screaming fit, although I felt like it.
I don't have any reason to believe this is a normal occurrence, but I've thought about it a lot and I just can't bring myself to take my car back there. I'll take it to another dealer, where I've had cars serviced and who hasn't, yet, burned my confidence.



I have to include, 90% of what was wrong with my '13 GT was caused by the dealer, including front quarter panel scratching and some severe internal door jam scratches (even over the light up mustang door sill panel) from seat replacement... So I'm pretty sensitive to service, and tend to err on the side of them proving over my trusting --- this hasn't helped lol.


Side note --- anything else on first service beside an oil change and general inspection? I thought that was weird, but I don't find anything specific in the Owners Manual either. I mean it lists tire rotation too, but the staggered directional tires rule that out.

Let me assure you coming from an ASE master certified technician that your 3k service was not done by an inexperienced new guy #1 it is a service so it requires an ford certified tech and more then likely a specific tech certified to work on the gt500 (little fact is in order for the dealer to sell a car like this they need to have a full time certified tech to work on them just like the viper, chargers, challengers, corvettes and camero's) #2 we are all human and forget things , technicians work on cars day in and out, it is very easy to get complacent. #3 like previously mentioned no one is going to take care or know your car better then you. #4 it sounds more like a quality control issue at your dealer. There are some advantages to taking your car to a dealer, they know your and what is common to fail on them, knowing the latest TSB's and recalls as well as liability when something goes wrong that they caused, I am not saying that everyone should be taking their vehicle to the dealer I am just saying there are advantages. My suggestion would be to contact the dealer and see if they will make it right, then stay or find another dealer, when you find a dealer that you like remember the tech that did the work a stick with them even as they move around, loyalty goes a long way in this field if the tech knows you are loyal to bringing your car to only them they will be loyal to you by being meticulous and by doing quality inspections, after all your money is putting food on their table (your not just some banana head with a coupon). Again just a thought from your local ASE master certified technician.

 

[REMIX]

In shop class way back in the olden days they taught us to place the oil cap over the hood latch mechanism so we wouldn't forget it. This approach has worked for me flawlessly for over 30 years.

 

[RockChalk]

Dang sorry to hear. I once had a porter go to take my '14 GT500 from the drop off spot, pop the clutch, spin the tires a little and almost rear end another car. I immediately said stop and told him to get out so I could move it. Like Goose said, they will not treat your car as good as you will, which is unfortunate.

Funny you should say that - about the porter. My dealership, Bob Allen Ford, has done well by me. One of the times I had the '13 GT500 in for oil/filter change and standard service, I was standing there waiting to bring it up front to me. My tech asked one of the shop porters to go get my car. Then a second later, he told the porter to stop, and he himself would go get it for me. I don't think he was comfortable with that guy to go get the car. My understanding is that Bob Allen Ford has certain mechanics who work on the Shelby, Bullitt, Ford GT cars - the halo cars. In fact, they tell me that they take the halo cars back to a different area to work on them. I don't know if it true or not, but so they tell me. It certainly helps if your service adviser is also a nut about Shelby Mustangs himself.

 

[03reptile]

I'm so fortunate. I have been a customer at my Ford dealership for 37 years! The owner has become a personal friend over those years. He has secured all my Taurus's, Mustangs and Shelbys over those years. I've grown to know the sales personnel, service writers, technicians, and parts department personnel. Most of whom I'm on a first name basis. It is so comforting to know I can literally leave my Shelby at the dealership with no concerns about it being mistreated or damaged. I've seldom had to do that, but it's nice to have that level of trust. It's not a large conglomerate dealership and as such, you get the feeling that you are a valued customer and not just a number. I sympathize with those of you who feel like you're on the outside looking in. The Dealership is Century Ford in Mt. Airy, Md.

 

[SuziQ]

I have a friend that is the manager of the service dept. at a local Ford dealership. He lets me go back with my car. Thankfully I have not had to take it to the dealership, but a couple of times. I never let it out of my sight! I have a personal mechanic that does my maintenance though. Oh and Tim helps me too!😊 Never trust the Ford dealership unless you can stand and watch them the entire time!

 

[BLKwRD14]

We’ve been fortunate to find a great dealership we’ve used for the past 20 years. First names used for a long time now. But there are definitely bad apples out there. My family used the same one for as long as I can remember and I ordered my 2013 GT500 from them back in 2012. When I found out they had sold it to a guy in NY for who knows how much mark-up that was the straw. I very loudly let the GM know he would never see me or anyone from my family ever again. And he hasn’t.

 

[PStallcup]

Yeah I've unfortunately ended up bouncing around between dealers for each of my car purchases. However, at the dealership where we bought my wife's Expedition I spent a large portion of the day talking Mustang's with one of the Sales Managers. This dealership has a free oil changes for life deal, and free engines for life, if the maintenance is done there... so we've been back several times. They've always done right on the Expedition maintenance with no issues. I wanted to order my GT500 from them, and we tried really hard, but they couldn't get another allocation and I ended up catching a break on mine, it was already on order at this other dealer.

The same guy has been there, and always comes and hangs out and talks mustangs with me every time, I'd consider him a buddy. He's going to introduce me to some of his regional mustang friends when warmer weather arrives lol.

So, right now I'm likely just going to switch over to using them for the GT500 service. They met the requirements to be a golden ticket dealer, I saw that car after it was sold (blue with white stripe CFTP, very pretty), so I'm confident they meet the requirements for service --- it just sucks they are about an hour and a half away.

But I take your point LivingEZ --- I need to give the dealership feedback as to why I won't be using them. Right now their only 'make it better' offer is the next oil change free (yeah I know, not insignificant given the amount of oil).

 

[SnakeCollector]

i only take my car to a specialty / Mustang shop that works on these cars daily. The mechanics at those places tend to be car nuts themselves and usually take pride in their work. I’ll never let a dealership touch my car if I have the option... Heard and seen waayyyy too many horror stories.