Ford Dealership Does What It Wants

I would be disappointed with this expensive "catch". Tires being
rotated and oil changes need to be done on a regular basis and are no
big deal to do.
I could see requiring this if the service being provided could
compromise or could have been compromised by other vehicle faults, but
if that were the case, every oil change company would require an
inspection before they changed your oil.
$400 is a lot, and putting on 30,000 miles is probably a yearly
occurrence. I can get about 15 oil changes for that price, but at
30,000 miles would require 10 or less. It seems like this promotion
would cost you the 1 1/2 times the price of what it would cost not to
use it.
I would have expressed to them that it would cost you more to have the
"free" oil changes for the life of the car, than it would for you to
pay for an oil change every 2000 miles. Seems pretty shady, especially
considering your car is still under warranty and where I bought my car
from inspections were covered by the warranty.
Now if the inspection was $100 and required that would seem somewhat
reasonable for the deal.

371 dollars will buy a number of oil changes. Yes you need to do
maintenance. Hope you have something in writing or they will beat you
out of it. Good luck.

Before I read the comments to a letter, I play a little game of "Guess
What The Bullying Minions Are Going To Latch Onto To Blame The OP".
It's a sad but oddly amusing game. Often they surprise me. They'll
find some obscure passage in the letter (usually irrelevant to the
larger issue), or barring that, they'll get creative and make up
something. But this time--the old "because the company can" excuse?
You're slipping, guys. You can do better than this.

To Lisa: do you have anything in writing explaining the terms of the
program? And did they say anything that specifically contradicted
those terms? If no to the first, or yes to the second, you may have a
cause for fraud.

If you did receive the program details in writing and they were
forthcoming about them, just chalk it up to Karma for buying an SUV.

If you're in Columbus, why didn't you buy the car from Ricart?
(http://www.ricartford.com/Ricart) Masheter is small potatoes compared
to them.

Secondly, this is very odd to me. Ford has no program in place that
gives free ANYTHING to buyers, even on new cars. My presumption is
that this car was purchased used (based on the mileage and the year of
the car). Somewhere your "understanding" of the program was
misinterpreted

It sounds as if they offered you a "program" so long as you abide by
the terms of the program (and pay any applicable "fees"). They want to
keep you coming in so they can make up for the cars they sold at
invoice, so they act like they're "giving" you something.

I hate to state the obvious, but there's no such thing as a free
lunch. No way no how is a dealership (or a maunfacturer) going to
front all the costs of maintaining your vehicle free of charge, no
matter what your "understanding" was.

Don't want to pay their exorbitant rates, then don't! But don't
expect them to foot the bill to keep up your car for you.

& the added conjecture about Ford's financial standing is pointless
and completely irrelevant to your letter. It's like calling a
schoolyard bully a "doodyhead."

It's Ford. They're in trouble. All car dealers do this type of deal.
You do have to do maintenance you know. It's part of keeping your
car in good running order, regardless of oil changes which you should
be doing every 3-5 thousand miles.

And being a loyal customer for 20 years doesn't really mean much
anyway. How many new cars can you possibly purchase in 20 years
unless you buy a new one every few years which wouldn't be too
fiscally responsible considering they depreciate by 20% once you drive
them off the lot.

Keep going back. Deep down inside you know you're loyal on some
level.

You are not being duped or held hostage - - these free oil change
deals from auto dealerships have strings attached and in the long run,
it's less expensive to search for coupons and other deals to get
mantenance work done.

These "deals" usually aren't as "free" as the buyer thinks they are.

Most of these type promotions require that you have your regularly
scheduled maintenance done with that dealer. So, they aren't giving
you the apparent "perks" for free or just for being their customer.
Over the life of your car, the items you mentioned could add up to
$600 or so. That is the sort of money a dealer won't (can't) give
away if you have bargained for a good sales price.

I believe that if you had asked when you bought the car what terms
there were with that promotion, you would have found out the
restrictions.

It may or may not be in the fine print somewhere, but the bottom line
is anytime you think you are getting something for nothing, it pays to
ask and make sure.

Just change the oil yourself, its not that hard, and you don't have to
deal with scams like you are participating in.

I never do the 30,60,90k things at dealers. Most of it, the average
person can do themselves, visual this and that, lubricate doors, and
hood prop, sheesh, what a joke.

If you cant do it, take it to your local garage and have them do it.
It will still be cheaper than a dealer.

Good Day

Ford does not own, operate, or control Dick Masheter Ford.

Dick buys cars from Ford. He then resells them at any price he wants
and services them as he pleases. (Within the confines of the law).

Ford also licenses their name to Dick. While they don't want their
name tarnished by a dishonest dealership, manufacturers do not revoke
the license to use their name unless the "crime" is particular
egregious.

You say that you were "given a card from ford and was told it would
provide me with free oil changes and tire rotations for as long as I
owned the vehicle." Was the card from Ford (the car maker) or from
Dick Masheter. Unless Ford issued the card, they cannot be held
responsible for it.

Regardless, I'm struck by your phrase "the way I understood it." Is
that what you assumed? What the card said?

If the card makes no mention of any terms and conditions, such as
you've experienced, then you need to raise this with Dick. He'll need
to show you where he's indicated that you're required to pay for the
service.

I'm guessing that somewhere, he's got something that shows this. It
may be on a sign posted in the service center. It may be in tiny
letters on something your signed. Or it may be on the card itself.

If not, then Dick's got some 'slaining to do.

You have not been duped. These free oil changes for life promotions
are a way for the dealership to ensure they get your maintenance
business. Work done at the dealership is always more expensive, it's
a fact of life.

As someone else pointed out, other manufacturers do the same thing.

A lot of times, those offers are made by the dealership. My sister
bought a Toyota that had a 'free tires for life' promotion, but you
had to get ALL service work done, per the dealership's schedule, at
that dealership. As far as I know, Toyota as the manufacturer,
doesn't offer free tires for life, that's something the individual
dealership does to get your maintenance business.

You say you want Ford to honor the oil changes without the strings
attached. Did you read the details of the policy. All of those free
services for life plans that I've seen have had those strings
attached.

You really should be writing this to the dealership where you bought
the truck.

All car dealerships follow this practice. My friend has a kia. She
gets free tires and oil changes for life....if she follows up on the
services on the car.