Thread: I think we might have sorted the Ranger...

Originally Posted by BRADS

While under warranty none of the new utes will cost ya 10 though.
You obviously love ya ranger that's very clear but you've dropped 10k on 25k ute once you've got that mindset you keep pouring money at it until one day you realise you've spent 30k on a 25k ute
Reminds me off a john deere I had.
If we all listened to others on what utes to buy
We'd all walk everywhere for fair of them blowing up.
I wouldn't judge other makes just make up your own mind.

Well said. A lemon is a lemon and lemons can be horribly expensive in the long run if you don’t get rid of them at the first available opportunity. The flipside to this is that there are literally thousands of lemons hiding in the used car market, because owners that understand this principle get rid of them to unsuspecting buyers. You can never be too careful.

Regarding Ultimate Ford and dealers in general. You already know that I am a Toyota man. Based simply on high mileage in numerous LC, Hilux and other models in crazy places around the world. I bought two brand-new Toyotas for me and the wife in Australia in Perth, both did high mileage in their first two years all over the place, so I got to experience a lot of different dealerships for in-warranty servicing.

I’ve just looked through the service book for my Hilux and reminded myself that only 2 of the first 10 dealership services were satisfactory. The rest were half-assed shoddy efforts, including two where they blatantly lied about what they had actually done.

For example, I had been forewarned that the Alice Springs dealership was notorious. I put a little bit of clear sellotape on the back of the brake fluid reservoir cap, and filled the differential drain plugs with wet mud which was rockhard by the time I handed the vehicle over. Took photos of all the places I expected them to go according to the service schedule, noting that everything was covered in mud, dust and cunning bits of tape. I had a fantastic row with the service manager about all the things that have been ticked in the book but not even fucking touched by the “technician”. He was a bit taken aback by the measures I had gone to to catch them out. I caused a big stink right in the middle of his reception. I won.

In Mackay in sugarcane country the dumb cunt drained the sump without removing the ARB underbody bash plates. When I turned up in the evening to collect the vehicle there was a big puddle of oil underneath the truck, it was still fucking dripping! I’ve got photos of that somewhere. I had a look in the engine bay and blow me down he hadn’t even changed the oil filter, it was the exact same one that I had marked on the corner… and taken a photo of. I blew my stack and nearly thumped the guy but luckily the service manager was a GC and sorted it out, making the technician fix there and then after hours,b with me standing right next to him, growling. That was fun.

There were other annoyances along the way but those were the highlights. But also we’ve encountered really good bastards, usually in much smaller dealerships, like the guy in Devonport in Tasmania who went out of his way to help me fit some accessories and mods on a Saturday morning just because he was enthusiastic. When he gave me the bill it was a fraction of what I expected. Our local dealer in Paeroa has been fantastic and the young service manager who’s been there for years regularly helps me out with diagrams, suggestions and advice now that I do everything myself. Plus I get all my parts at trade which helps.

Unfortunately dealerships are a law onto themselves and I’m a firm believer that it very much depends on the culture and attitude of the leadership team. Bigger, generally iffy, smaller, not so bad. Not many of them pay the respect to the brand that they should and we are the ones that pay for that.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Well said. A lemon is a lemon and lemons can be horribly expensive in the long run if you don’t get rid of them at the first available opportunity. The flipside to this is that there are literally thousands of lemons hiding in the used car market, because owners that understand this principle get rid of them to unsuspecting buyers. You can never be too careful.

Regarding Ultimate Ford and dealers in general. You already know that I am a Toyota man. Based simply on high mileage in numerous LC, Hilux and other models in crazy places around the world. I bought two brand-new Toyotas for me and the wife in Australia in Perth, both did high mileage in their first two years all over the place, so I got to experience a lot of different dealerships for in-warranty servicing.

I’ve just looked through the service book for my Hilux and reminded myself that only 2 of the first 10 dealership services were satisfactory. The rest were half-assed shoddy efforts, including two where they blatantly lied about what they had actually done.

For example, I had been forewarned that the Alice Springs dealership was notorious. I put a little bit of clear sellotape on the back of the brake fluid reservoir cap, and filled the differential drain plugs with wet mud which was rockhard by the time I handed the vehicle over. Took photos of all the places I expected them to go according to the service schedule, noting that everything was covered in mud, dust and cunning bits of tape. I had a fantastic row with the service manager about all the things that have been ticked in the book but not even fucking touched by the “technician”. He was a bit taken aback by the measures I had gone to to catch them out. I caused a big stink right in the middle of his reception. I won.

In Mackay in sugarcane country the dumb cunt drained the sump without removing the ARB underbody bash plates. When I turned up in the evening to collect the vehicle there was a big puddle of oil underneath the truck, it was still fucking dripping! I’ve got photos of that somewhere. I had a look in the engine bay and blow me down he hadn’t even changed the oil filter, it was the exact same one that I had marked on the corner… and taken a photo of. I blew my stack and nearly thumped the guy but luckily the service manager was a GC and sorted it out, making the technician fix there and then after hours,b with me standing right next to him, growling. That was fun.

There were other annoyances along the way but those were the highlights. But also we’ve encountered really good bastards, usually in much smaller dealerships, like the guy in Devonport in Tasmania who went out of his way to help me fit some accessories and mods on a Saturday morning just because he was enthusiastic. When he gave me the bill it was a fraction of what I expected. Our local dealer in Paeroa has been fantastic and the young service manager who’s been there for years regularly helps me out with diagrams, suggestions and advice now that I do everything myself. Plus I get all my parts at trade which helps.

Unfortunately dealerships are a law onto themselves and I’m a firm believer that it very much depends on the culture and attitude of the leadership team. Bigger, generally iffy, smaller, not so bad. Not many of them pay the respect to the brand that they should and we are the ones that pay for that.

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That is a terrible photo FB. I would have gone ballistic.

Yeah, I like dealing with the Richards boys at Valley and TR Toyota. Good parts men, not the cheapest, but they will stand behind their product. I had a previous Hi lux that the alternator crapped out just after 100, 000kms. Out of warranty, but still replaced no questions asked.

These little things keep you going back.