Leaving with a Smile

The past two days have involved dropping my Explorer off at Capital Ford, getting a rental car for the day (thankfully they have an inhouse Enterprise), and picking up my Explorer. On Tuesday I took my Explorer to the shop to fix two problems: 1) it's been making a loud humming noise when going straight and turning left but it would go away when turning right and it was getting very annoying and 2) the four wheel drive lights have been flashing.

The first problem was diagnosed as a broken left hub and bearing assembly which is kind of what I thought so I told them to fix it and hoping that would fix the four wheel drive as well. I picked up the Explorer Tuesday afternoon and it was like night and day driving as the noise is completely gone! Unfortunately I turned on 4wd Auto and the lights started flashing again. Arghhhh. I immediately made another appointment for yesterday.

Yesterday I dropped the Explorer off before work and got a rental car. The service manager recognized me and helped me immediately and appologized for not fixing both problems after I explained to him how I was pleased with the hub repair. Since I was carless again I rented another vehicle and the Enterprise guys were great as usual and even recognized me. Yesterdays repair was a new front speed sensor which only controls the four wheel drive, so I thought about not fixing it but decided what's the point of having the capability if you can't use it. I returned to Capital Ford after work and as I walked into Enterprise and chatted to one of the employees as he checked out another customer and the guy who helped me during the morning walked in and greeted me by name which was very impressive and I told him so. I then headed to the service cashier and she said, "You're back again?" I must leave an impression. I explained that not all of the problems were fixed but I was happy with one of the repairs. I also asked if they'd cover some of the cost on the rental car for the second day since they didn't fix all of the problems and she told me that I'd have to talk to the service manager. I went over to him and asked him about it and apparently I should have told him I was renting both days but he pulled up my order without any fuss and reduced the labor billing rate and it ended up taking more off the bill than my rental for the day! This was on top of the 10% discount you get for renting if you're car is in the shop. I was very pleased and thanked him for the great customer service and the repairs.

It's not often you get great service, especially leaving an auto repair shop. I walked out of the service department with a smile on my face.

If you're in the Triangle I highly recommend Capital Ford for all of your Ford product repair needs.