Ford Country — Local services in Henderson

Since I’m new to the Las Vegas/Henderson, NV area, I don’t have a trustworthy auto mechanic to lean on for service and repairs. So when I discovered my car had a minor engine oil leak, I decided to put my trust in the local Ford dealership, Ford Country in Henderson, NV. Unfortunately, my trust in Ford Country proved to be misplaced. I recommend anyone dealing with their service department to keep your scam-detecting radar on the high setting.

This review is not a complaint about inflated dealership service pricing. We all know that’s the state of affairs. Keep reading to see why it seems like the repair of a simple oil leak ended seeming like just another attempted scam on an elder American.

I brought the car in (strictly) for diagnosis of the leak. The Service Writer, Sarah B. quoted me $200 for the diagnostic service. That seemed high but I didn’t have viable alternatives.

I discussed with Sarah the specific parameters needing to be present for the oil leak to take place; the car had to be facing downhill, shut-off, etc. I additionally noted that the oil leak, which was no more than 1-2 tablespoons of oil for a 24-hour period, definitely had a specific location within the engine area from which it was seemingly emanating. Although not an expert, I suggested a loose oil filter or perhaps a leaky gasket at the oil pressure sensor were potential causes of the oil leak.

I handed over the car keys and left my beloved Mustang in Ford Country’s hands.

After a couple days, Sarah B. called. She coolly told me the water pump was the cause of the oil leak and the installation of a new water pump would be $2,300. I was shocked; the cause made little sense and the price of the repair seemed comically exorbitant. I advised Sarah to not proceed with the repairs and I would pick-up my car. Oddly, she stated she would “need some time” to make my car available for pick-up. I complied, mostly because I was in shock regarding the estimated repair cost.

So, in the meantime, I did some research…and some math: According to official Ford documents, a water pump removal and replacement for a 2015 Mustang should take 3-4 hours. Presuming a shop rate of between $120-150 per hour, the technician’s time should cost absolutely no more than $600. (Even if the rate is a New York, Los Angeles or Bay Area $200 per hour, my total labor charge should not exceed $800.) Additionally, replacement water pumps for a 2015 Ford Mustang have a retail price of approximately $100. Throw in $300-400 of dealer mark-ups and miscellaneous parts at the job and its maximum charge should be absolutely no more than +/- $1,200.

I went to dealership and paid my $199 diagnostic fee. And to say I was surprised would be an understatement: according to the invoice I was given, the technician’s exact comments regarding his/her diagnosis were, “INSPECTED AND FOUND AFTER MARKET OIL FILTER TO BE LEAKING…” Wait, what?!?! The technician also noted the water pump showed “seepage” and recommended it be replaced. However, unquestionably, the oil leak I wanted diagnosed was being caused by a loose oil filter.

Moreover, even if Sarah believed the water pump needed to be replaced to somehow fix an oil leak, how did she get to a $2,300 repair bill? It wasn’t based on the actual cause of the oil leak, it wasn’t based on the technician’s diagnosis and it wasn’t based on official Ford documents to estimate repair costs for water pump replacements.

I can’t help but feel I was marked as the “dumb old man,” and targeted for unnecessary repair costs to line someone’s pockets. I placed my trust in Ford Country and this was clearly a bad decision. I will not return to Ford Country, for service, parts or auto purchases and I recommend you avoid them, as well. From Kelley Blue Book: From https://www.kbb.com/ford/mustang/2015/water-pump-replacement/ Total: Parts: $347-$391/Labor: $526-$582

UPDATE: I brought my car to an independent mechanic. The oil filter was still loose and the "seepage" was totally...

I bought a truck from these guys in late September and payed it off right then and there ($35k) it was a used 2016 f150 i bought the full premium care warranty etc. They sold it to me with 1 key and i ended up needing another key to turn off their stupid MYKEY feature that was left on when they sold me the truck, my speed was limited to 70mph and the radio volume only turned up to half way. They insisted they couldn't do anything about it since they weren't given the 2nd key and I had to pay a locksmith $180 to get another key since ford told me they would be charging me around $500 for a replacement key and just recently i had water "leaking" into my truck after it rained damaging the BCM making my trucks electronics go haywire , horn blaring cant turn off my emergency flashers. I took it to ford country the next day to get it looked at. They charged me $200 for an inspection and told me i needed a new windshield and to replace the BCM. I thought it would be covered by warranty since i just bought the truck and only put about 9000 miles on it since i bought it, NOPE. Told me the windshield was aftermarket which they didn't tell me about when i bought the truck and since it was the windshield that caused the leak they weren't going to cover a single penny and told me it was going to be $2900 to replace. I went home and did some self investigating on the leak and I looked where they found water which was under the passenger side front running board and noticed the PUDDLE of water that they found. They didn't even bother to clean up the water and threw the cables right back into it. I cleaned it up and noticed a bunch of corrosion and a little bit of surface rust. if you ask me, rust doesn't form in 2 days. I've been going back and forth left and right with the dealership. They told me to talk to their sales team and the guy who sold it to me and see what he can do about it. Turns out he doesn't work there anymore. Some sales team manager said i could have taken it through carwashes etc. trying to blame me and after telling her i have no paperwork or anything about it being an aftermarket windshield she says "Well there is a chance not even the guy who sold it to you knew it was.".....HOW IS THAT MY FAULT. I assume they wont help me with the windshield since they cant prove I didn't put it on since buying the truck, But i mean you can look at the seals of the windshield and tell that the windshield has been on the truck significantly longer then 6 months. I get in contact with the guy who I've been talking to in service and he tells me hes going to see what he can do and he will call me back tomorrow after talking to some more people. I didn't receive a call back from him after 3 days. Come to find out he ALSO doesn't work there anymore, Which im not surprised since he sat in my truck to get photos when i went in for the inspection and he looked at my seatbelt light when it was on since he didn't have his seatbelt on and says "Was your airbag light always on?" after telling him that's the seatbelt light he looks at me like I'm stupid and puts on the seatbelt and it turns off and says "Oh i didn't know this year had those." keep in mind this guys wearing a shirt that says MASTER CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN which is absolutely unbelievable. This water problem has been happening for 2 weeks and i haven't been able to drive my truck and i have to disconnect my battery whal its parked since i cant turn the flashers off. I haven't drove my truck since and have received an ounce of help from anyone there. I feel like i bought a money pit of a truck that ive only had for 6 MONTHS and im running in circles with these people and have yet to receive any ACTUAL help just dead-end...

First of off our sales person Antonio was awesome. He is very professional and really easy going guy. We knew what car we wanted to test drive and walked right up to it and checked it out. Antonio got us the keys and we took it for a test drive. We were really interested in it and got a bottom line price that they would go for the car. We went to our credit union same day got approved and went back to the dealer that evening with a check to purchase the vehicle. We did all this in less than 12hrs. The next day we tried to use heated and ventilated seats and they didn’t work. Also we tried usb ports that were in center console and those didn’t work as well. We went back to dealership to let them know and they asked us to bring car back a few days later so they could look at it. After looking at car in regard to these issues they discovered that our vehicle didn’t come equipped with these features from the manufacturer. Right…same thought we had what the hell do you mean…both us and the dealer were mind blown that there were these buttons but it didn’t come with heated or ventilated seats. I know we should’ve check these before buying car but really who does. They said a previous owner changed out the 4.2 screen for an 8” screen to have a bigger screen but wouldn’t have the heated and ventilated seats. Why would someone do this beats me. The finance director Luciano offered to installed aftermarket heated seats because my wife likes to use it during the winter months. As for the ventilated they weren’t able to put those in. He also said they could fix the usb ports. Get a call vehicle is ready and we go to pick it up and I ask if anyone checked to see if heated seats worked and the sales manager Mel was like I think Antonio did and he didn’t. I went to check for my self and it did work. I was driving home and was adjusting my driver seat and the lumbar was working. I turned around and headed back to the dealer to speak with Mel and Antonio. Mel couldn’t believe it that no one checked it out to make sure everything was functioning since they sent it to an aftermarket shop to have heated seats installed. Again needed to leave our car there so they hey could send it the next day back to the shop to have they fix lumbar. Finally we get to pick up our car and hopefully everything works. And guess what nope. They tell us that the usb ports couldn’t be fixed. Mel said because the previous owner installed a different screen and usb it wasn’t compatible with the computer of the car. It makes no sense because it’s a ford part that was replaced with a ford part that is plug and play. The only things that wouldn’t work would be the heated, ventilated and dual zone ac. All these features didn’t originally come with the car. At this point I’m done with this dealership. During all this happening we’ve had our car for about 3weeks since buying it and it’s been at the dealer for half that time for these issues. I appreciate the effort and accommodation that Mel and Antonio have given us but it’s was such a frustrating journey. We’re suppose to be enjoying our car we purchased not fixing things.

Update 4/10/24 Took dash apart where the 8”screen sits and removed it to check if any wires were loose. It seems to be the usb wire has a little play which causes usb port issues with charging off/on. It was just a loose wire which caused usb not to function. They tell us they’re unable to get it working because it’s not compatible with the vehicles computer. BS big time…SMH…I also attached some pics…I guess that upgraded unit and usb port is compatible with our...