Marshal Mize Ford — Local services in Chattanooga

My recent visit to Marshal Mize Ford was a mixed bag, but one staff member’s behavior and the condition of my trade-in that is now for sale warrant this 1-star review. Attached photos show my trade-in vehicle still filled with trash and garbage, which is unacceptable for a professional dealership and knowing that they are charging 599.99 for a polyester coating that needs to be applied after a vehicle has been detailed or it voids the warranty and they are aware of this. That is the definition of fraud. Any business that post pictures of a vehicle for sale on their website has no pride whatsoever.

Ian Williams, the salesperson, was exceptional, patiently addressing my questions with expertise and ensuring my needs were met. Ariana, the Finance Manager, was equally outstanding, clearly explaining financing, offering money-saving tips, and applying them before finalizing my loan.

However, Mike McArthur in finance was deplorable. He didn’t introduce himself, demanded a down payment, and falsely claimed I couldn’t use my credit card for the dealer fees, citing tvfcu policy. I called my TVFCU loan officer to confirm this was untrue stating that the bank had no issue with it, I asked Mike to wait five minutes after I waited 3 hours to meet with him. He refused, saying he “didn’t have time for games,” and repeatedly told me to “go away and take care of myself” in a derogatory manner. I could’ve responded more calmly, but his emotional outburst was unprofessional. He escalated as I tried to leave, requiring the sales manager’s intervention. This shows Marshal Mize does NOT value their customers time or business.

The car’s $5,000 below NADA value kept me there, but Mike’s conduct was humiliating and Unprofessional . One rotten apple shouldn’t ruin the bushel, but I urge Marshal Mize Ford to address Mike’s behavior and vehicle handling standards to match Ian and Ariana’s professionalism.

The vehicle I purchased was not detailed and the polyester coating was NOT applied. Which again is fraud. Charging 599.99 for a $50 dollar bottle of ceramic coating spray that they are not properly applying or applying at all.

The photos below are of the vehicle I sold to Marshal Mize you can see that they took no effort in making the vehicle ready for sale and that they are not following the proper procedures for the Poly steel warranty. These are photos from their own website as shown in the address bar at the bottom of the photos.

I urge whoever is looking at purchasing a vehicle from Marshal Mize to...

Update. I took my car to another dealer. The fob from this dealer was the wrong fob. That was the issue. I cannot believe a certified ford tech didn’t bother to check this. I would have been without my car for days. I also would have had to pay a $179 plus tax diagnostic fee that wasn’t necessary. I have the paperwork to back this up. I was able to return the wrong fob and get that refunded. No apologies from anyone. I have an issue with my 2013 Taurus limited. My only and original key fob is shot. Went first to batteries plus and they tried but couldn’t program their new fob. I called Marshall Mize and to my shock the oem fob was actually $100 cheaper. They had to order it. It was in the next day. Took it in Thursday 02/14/25. Was there when they opened. First thing they ordered the wrong fob. They ended up having one in stock. But they didn’t charge me for the key that fits inside. Another $30 plus tax. About a hour and a half later Jaime our advisor came and informed me that they couldn’t program it. I would have to leave my car. There is something electrical with the car that is causing that problem. I was told I needed to leave my car with them. There would be a 180 dollar diagnostic fee. I told them that I couldn’t that day. Make me an appointment so I could drop it off and get it right in to be fixed. They gave me 12:30 on Monday 2/17/25. Had to call around 3pm and they hadn’t even pulled it in the shop. Told me would have it in today. Heard nothing again so I called around 3pm today and was informed it may be days due to having 6 cars ahead of mine. They also would not even give me an estimate on time. This is unacceptable. I went and picked up my car and took it to another ford dealer and my car will be ready tomorrow. I have been driving for over 40 years and dealt with dealerships the entire time. I never had an experience like this. Absolutely the worst experience in my lifetime. I would recommend to go anywhere but here. No one in the service department attempted to do anything. When I told them I am coming to pick up my car and take it somewhere else Jaime actually stated it was probably a good idea. What they didn’t know we are looking for a new car. So not only did they lose whatever it was going to cost to diagnose and repair they lost a new car customer. I will never go there again. Absolutely terrible service. Do not take your car there. I would give them a zero if I could. Just wanted...

--Here we go again! (August 25th, 2021)

I had my vehicle in for service and they would be keeping the vehicle for the day, which is normal. Typically, with an ESP, they will provide one with a loaner vehicle. But, due to the current environment with vehicle manufacturing, they didn't have loaners available. So, they had a setup with Enterprise where they'd pay a certain amount per day for a rental. (I believe the amount was either $30/$35.)

I get a rental from Enterprise, pay my portion of the remaining balance (minus Ford's portion) and go on about the day.

This morning, I received an email from EHI, which is a collection agency on behalf of Enterprise. They state that Marshall Mize DENIED their due portion of the bill.

This is unacceptable in a variety of ways and is a poor indicator of the honesty of this dealership.

Pictures of email invoice and correspondence with their representative attached.

Final Update: Mitchell, the Service Manager, saw to it that my wheels had the adhesive properly removed and had their collision center repaint them. I appreciate the efforts on their behalf to resolve this in an acceptable manner. I only add that, perhaps, the service advisors should never say "that's normal" to a technician causing damage to a vehicle.

Update: The Service Manager called me back. I'm bringing the vehicle by next week for him to see. The 1 Star Review still stands until this has a resolution.

I took my 2020 Explorer ST in to have new tires (purchased from Marshal Mize) mounted and balanced. Upon retrieval of my vehicle, all four black wheels had significant marring inside the wheels where the Tech performed a hack job in his miserable attempt to removed the previous lead weights. He also failed to remove the previous adhesive.

I took my vehicle to three other tire shops and they were all equally appalled by this damage. The service tech that I showed the wheels to (at Mize) said that this "WAS NORMAL".

The Master Tech, Mitchell, will not return my calls to try and let Marshal Mize resolve this issue. If something isn't done soon, FoMoCo will hear about this.

This is seriously the most unprofessional mounting and balancing job I have ever...