Carriage Ford

Visited the parts department while on a trip from VA. Great service and friendly folks here.

I’ve taken my car, which is still under warranty, to Carriage Ford twice to be serviced. They are apathetic toward their customers and their documentation is subpar.
I took my car into Carriage when the check engine light came on. They returned the car to me afterwards without going over any of the paperwork. They literally just told me that they had replaced the Catalytic Converter, handed me my keys, and told me that my car was somewhere out back. When I checked my account on Ford’s website I learned that they had charged repairs to the Transmission, Clutch, and Axle to my warranty even though they never mentioned any of these repairs to me.
The very next day the scheduled maintenance light came on. I was more than irritated that they had failed to mention that it was due for service. When I called and talked to the service manager he absolutely did not care about my concern. I asked him to schedule me an appointment for scheduled maintenance and he refused because apparently Carriage doesn’t schedule service appointments for scheduled maintenance, they are all walk in only.
I took my car back for the scheduled maintenance a few Saturdays later. I always get «The Works» which is supposed to include a battery test, oil change, tire rotation and pressure test, filter check, belt and hoses check, brake inspection, and several other services. There is a standard Ford form that I am always given that shows all of the inspection results. However, the employee at Carriage did not give me the form or tell me the results of any of the checks. When I asked he told me that they had staff who were off that day so they would have to mail the form to me. It hasn’t arrived and I’m not holding out much hope that it will because I checked my Ford online account and they don’t show that I ever took my car in for scheduled maintenance.
Carriage is by far the most conveniently located dealership but I’ll be skipping them in the future because I just can’t stand their overall apathy and disorganization.

I test drove a truck and was quoted a price by a salesman. Needed a day to think about sale. When I called to set up a time to come in to purchase the truck, I was quoted a price that was much higher. Salesman said a mistake was made and he was sorry. Called owner (Marty Book) and complained and he would not stand up to the quoted price. Bait and Switch! Be careful dealing with this Dealership. There are plenty of Ford Dealers in the area.

While on vacation, the back latch on my Escape went bad. I took it to service and they said I needed a new latch. It was under warranty but the part would take a day or two and we were moving on. They found a dealer down the road and gave them the part number.
The Carriage people were friendly and helpful. Thanks to Melanie Uhl in service!

If you really want to hear someone’s crappy story keep reading, I’ll try to keep it short…
I had a dead battery at 5:30pm on a weekday. I called Carriage Ford about getting a replacement battery and they told me to call Ford roadside assistance. They said they only handle temporary fixes and that I’d need to talk to the dealership. By the time I called Carriage Ford back it was 6pm and everyone had gone home for the day. I bought a replacement battery so I could get home that night and to work the next day. Carriage would not reimburse me for the battery. They did give me a new battery after I dropped off my old one but it took 5 business days and I couldn’t return the one I’d bought from the auto parts store. The service tech said that it takes them 2 hours to test a battery… it only took Auto Zone 2 minutes. So I asked them how I could get the $ 120 I am out because they offer no help after 5pm when the service department closes. They actually suggested installing the replacement Ford battery in my car (myself) and taking the one I bought back to the store and lying to them that it was bad and demand a refund from them. Basically ask them to do what Ford would not.
I wouldn’t go back here if my car was on fire. :)