Santa Margarita Ford — Attraction in Rancho Santa Margarita

Update (as of 09/17): Gina was able to reach out to me today, and I finally felt that my concerns were finally addressed. When she first called me and identified herself from RSM Ford, I have to admit that I was initially annoyed and defensive during our conversation.

However, during that call she allowed me to gain her trust and I was able to express my experiences (the 3 visits so far). I felt that she understood my concerns and she's an excellent active listener.

I mentioned that I have nothing personal against the Service Advisor who (tried to) assisted me, however the customer experience I went through can be greatly improved.

At first, I decided to go have my SUV serviced at RSM Ford due to the convenience factor; it's nice to know that if I wanted to make an appointment, it can literally be done same day (which is kind of unheard of when it comes to other dealerships)!

After talking with Gina to finally air things out, I now do not think discrimination took place; it was just a misunderstanding with the Service Advisor who unknowingly didn't know how to de-escalate situations.

Gina has restored my faith in this dealership, and I may give them another chance during my next service visit. If this momentum continues, I may seriously consider SM Ford for my next vehicle purchase (hopefully the new Bronco within the next 2 years).

Because of Gina, I'm updating their rating from 1 to 4 stars. Review is for the Service Department...

A few months ago, I recently leased a 2020 Explorer ST from another Ford dealership. I currently live in Lake Forest, and the dealership I leased it from is in Orange (closed to where I used to live).

Since Santa Margarita Ford is my nearest dealership, I decided to take my SUV over here since it seems they're not busy (just calling in for an appointment, I can drop it off whenever).

I visited this dealership 3 times: 1st - Had a hyperblinking issue on the left turn signal that bothered me ($60k for a brand new car having this issue, and wanted to get it corrected). Please note this issue was not resolved by SM Ford, and that I had to have my originating dealer resolve it for me (even though SM Ford knew of the problem, but didn't want to help me since they're stating that it may not be covered under warranty).

2nd - Reverse camera intermittently is non-functional (displays blue screen). Please note that this issue is not currently resolved, but SM Ford technically ignored the problem and told me to wait for recall notice. I got my originating dealership involved, and they are ordering me a new reverse camera.

3rd - Broken seat panel caused by my second visit to SM Ford. During that visit, I noticed upon picking up my car that the power driver seat panel was slightly hanging. I briefly dismissed the issue because I thought the mechanic had to go under the seat (for reasons unknown) and forgot to clip the cover back on. Flash forward a week later when I cleaned my card, and discovered that a plastic clip was actually broken. Mentioned it to my Service Advisor and he misled me regarding the timeline (initially said the part will come in later that week, but upon my follow-up call today he's now stating the end of this month).

My overall experience at Santa Margarita Ford has been very negative, including the broken seat panel issue. I'm writing this review because I just got off the phone with SM Ford's Service Advisor (please note that I had to call because he hasn't been following up with me), and he now states that the part in question is on backorder and they should expect an update by the end of the month. Very non-confident on his part. By that point, I expressed my frustration to him, and even called him out on excuses he's been stringing me along to.

I just gave up at this point, and called my advisor at the Orange dealership regarding the broken seat issue that SM Ford caused, and he told me to bring it in and will take care of...

4/14/2025 Another great service experience with Santa Margarita Ford and Jay Lara, service advisor. I had an appointment to have my Bronco serviced after a long road trip and also check the wiring harness on the hitch. Jay was superb as always and he is my go to service advisor at the dealership. Jay is professional, knowledgeable and kind. Great customer service and top notch dealership. Highly recommended.

3/19/2025 Called Shervin Hashemi, Finance Manager and discussed purchasing an extended warranty for my 2023 F150 Supercrew FX4. My wife and I met Shervin during the purchase of our Ford Bronco Wildtrak and he provided amazingly thorough and professional service and has a great personality that you don't always find in dealership finance departments. Shervin is friendly, down to earth and very fair. He doesn't push anything on you and simply explains all options and outlines what he knows based on experience what most customers lean towards. I bought a Ford Protect extended warranty for my truck as the bumper to bumper is up March 2026 and I wanted to secure a quality warranty at a fair price. Shervin made it happen. I highly recommend Shervin and the RSM Ford family as they care and provide the utmost in customer care and service! Thanks Shervin!

3/14/2025 through 3/18/2025 Took my truck in for service due to some issues with connectivity with the Sync 4 system and some of its associated features. I had an appointment to see Jay Lara on Thursday morning and the ultimate professional. His knowledge, expertise and customer service skills are stellar. Jay Lara is my go to service advisor! Jay was aware of the problems that Ford has had with the Sync 4 system and connectivity concerns. Jay also recommended the cabin air filter replacement and condensor unit cleaning. Jay explained that the updates to the trucks software took over 6 hours to upload. All the other service was completed and as promised I picked up my truck at 4:30 p.m. The truck was brought back in on 4/18-4/19 as a few more updates regarding the AC needed to be completed. Jay once again knocked it out of the park and the truck is home and we are satisfied. Highly recommended.

2/24/25 What a fantastic experience at Santa Margarita Ford. My wife and I had originally been looking at Jeep Wranglers for the sole purpose of eventually towing behind a motorhome. We decided to go see Vinny at Santa Margarita Ford today as we met him in 2023 before we bought our Ford F150 FX4 Supercrew. My wife spotted a few Broncos and need I say more. We began talking Broncos and We went back to the dealer and started talking to Vinny about numbers. He was very kind, honest and transparent. Eric the Sales Manager on duty was a true professional and was crunching the numbers to meet us in a happy place, dollar wise. Eric's oversight with Vinny's perseverance and our insight made the numbers and deal come together. Once we agreed on the numbers we had the opportunity to meet Shervin who is quite the finance guru. His expertise in putting the paperwork together, explaining each important deal and helping us with an amazing extended warranty is truly appreciated and his skill and expertise is highly commendable. We are so thankful and are planning to take the vehicle on a nice road trip. Santa Margarita Ford gave me top dollar for my Mercedes-Benz trade in and offered me a very competitive price on the Bronco. Highly recommended

1/6/2025 Took my truck in to Santa Margarita Ford due to an issue with the rear passenger window. Jay Lara is professional, kind and knowledgeable. While I was there I requested a full service synthetic oil change. I also asked that they check out the battery system. The window switch was replaced under warranty and the oil change service was completed...

My experience with Santa Marguerite Ford was exceptional from my initial website inquiry to a follow-up service appointment I had post-purchase.

My first contact was with Mike and he was responsive, friendly and very helpful. Upon my arrival at the dealership to look at the Mustang Mach-E, I met Matthew who was assigned to help me because of his expertise on the Mach-E. He has one of his own and effortlessly answered all the questions I threw at him. I left feeling confident that I had all the details I needed to make a decision. The next evening, I brought my husband to see the car and to drive it, just to make sure we were on the same page. Again, Matthew provided a ton of detail for him and answered any remain questions we had. It was late and close to closing time, so decided to return the next day to completely the purchase. I had a tight timeframe because I had some work calls I needed to lead. Matthew was waiting for me when I arrived and was ready to start paperwork. He notified Dave in finance of my timeline. When I entered the finance office, Dave was fantastic. He thoroughly went through all the paperwork with me and still got me out on time. The experience was phenomenal from beginning to end.

Fast forward two days. I was driving the new car and a tire pressure sensor notification came up. I happened to be driving right near the dealership after 6pm on a Sunday (past closing). I pulled into the parking lot and Dave and Matthew were leaving. They saw me, came over and asked how they could help. After a few minutes of looking at the car, they told me to call service first thing in the morning so they could take a look. Tire pressure was good so I went on my way.

Early Monday, I called service, even though the warning had gone away. They said to bring it in and they would take a look. I pulled up and spoke to Freddie who immediately took the car back and had it looked at. He didn’t believe there was an issue but wanted to plug it in and check for codes. Sure enough, everything was in the clear. They reset everything, made sure tires were filled to the proper levels and I was on my way home in about 10 minutes.

I have to say that I think I’ve touched about every part of the dealership and they provided an incredible experience every step of the way. I cannot thank everyone there enough. I will definitely recommend Santa Margarita Ford to anyone looking...