One of my other vehicles (needed for horses and stuff) is a 2007 Ford Expedition. It has about 67,000 miles on the clock and today the drivers side window stopped working. OK, I make an appointment to get it taken care of, so I dropped it off after work at the Ford dealer here in town. In addition to the stuck window glass, I decided to get the coolant changed (never been done), since winter is just around the corner. There is also a door spring recall that's going to get taken care of at the same time. Anything else sir (Ford service technician)? So I ponder, yeah, lets go ahead and change the brake fluid as well. I get this blank stare..... Uh, we've never done one of those before. I snort with a big laugh and ask if they are kidding me. Uh, no..... Let me check with someone..... Gone for 15 minutes...... One goes away and two come back..... New guy want's to know why I want my brake fluid changed..... I respond that it's a 2007 and the fluid is hygroscopic and over time collects moisture...... Two blank stares back at me..... One fella then says, Uh, we don't know what to charge for that and we don't even think we have the necessary tools..... So I'm thinking..... No way in hell do I want someone working on my brakes that has never changed the fluid before.... So the second guy say's maybe we could use the vacuum machine that is used for the coolant change..... WRONG So I decided at that point NOT to have the dealer change my brake fluid.... Looks like I will be adding to my tool collection..... Always wanted one of those handy dandy Motive Products brake tanks.... Is this like a lost art or something?
It's a 4 year old Ford....the dealer normally doesn't see anything that is out of warranty because his prices are too high:wink: C'mon Chuck, don't think so shallow:biggrin5:
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Thanks Chuck.... I've really been wanting an excuse to get one. Gotta see if I can get the appropriate cap that fits.... The MINI, the Ford, the MB, and hopefully the Mitsubishi shop truck. I'll have to call some vendors to find out how many caps I'll need.....;D
Welp, just picked up the truck. Pretty good service. Dropped it off at the dealer at 5:00 and they had it finished at 8:00. Flushed the coolant, replaced the switch in the door (regulator was fine), replaced some springs in the door pulls (warranty). Total came to $159.00. Somehow it think the MINI would have been more....???
Parts Changers "GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR" You gotta just love these dealers now-a-days. They only hire parts changers because they don't want to pay for a real mechanic. Metalman, I sure hope you check your car good when you pick it up and be sure it is not leaking around the drain plug. The oil change monkey they keep around for such jobs usually likes to use the air wrench to tighten the drain plug. Also be sure that it has oil in it. It sure is hard to believe they can't change your brake fluid. :eek6:
Yup, I do all my own oil changes in all the vehicles. And yes I did pop the hood and checked the coolant level before I drove off. This is the first trip back to the dealer since the truck was new. The only reason I took it in today was because I didn't want to pull the door panel to figure out why the window wouldn't work (worked on a cold beer at home instead). And since they had the truck anyway, I figured I was too lazy to change the coolant myself. It's got one of those dual heaters / air conditioners where a second one is in the back, so it takes quite a lot of coolant.
Really, I use to not believe this stuff. But now I hear it so much I almost have trouble trusting that they actually did something right.
I got ya beat. A buddy of mine has a F250 with a 7.3 powerstroke Diesel. HE was having a cold start problem last winter. I've got the same truck and had the same problem, so we check his glow plugs. Remember, it's a diesel. Sure enough, two were bad, so we hop in the Clubbie and head to the local Advance auto parts by the shop. I head over to the KID behind the counter. We tell him we need a couple of glow plugs, his reply "We call them spark plugs". Well, not in a diesel ya don't skippy! After an in depth discussion on internal combustion and compression ignition engines, I "think" he knows the difference. Maybe!
This is just frightening to hear :frown2: Oh, and Metalman- the hubby's got that speed bleeder for his Jeep