University Ford Durham

Reviews 3

AL

Allison Paysour

6/17/17 - My fiancé and I went to see a CPO car that he wanted as a daily driver. We walked into an extremely quiet, empty & rundown showroom. I asked for an available salesperson. Liam came over and introduced himself to us with a smile. We walked to his area and he introduced himself to us again (maybe he was nervous - so we went with it). At this point, he was friendly and joking around. He proceeded to get my fiancé’s information and told us he was going to make a copy of his license and pull up the car. I asked him if he had to make a copy and he said he did for insurance purposes. He did not get permission to pull a credit report so I hope for his sake he didn’t. He brought the car up, we looked it over and went for a test drive. My fiancé liked the car. Liam asked, with a smile, what it would take to get him into the car and drive away today. The answer was that he had to have a better price. We looked over the car more and then went to talk numbers. Liam came to us with a document with the original price listed for the car (even though a lower price was on the windshield). He could have easily come back with the lower number but didn’t. He had not tried to do better on the price. We talked to him some more and he was given a price to go and ask his manager for approval. Liam could have easily said something like "Ill go and check on that or I’m not sure what we can do”. He did not. He wrote the price down and asked for an initial. He said that he needed it to go to his manager. We asked if it was to say yes I will buy for that amount or just if that was the amount we were asking for. Liam did not answer clearly (more of “I need it to go to my manager” response) and at this point his demeanor had changed from nice to serious and quick worded. I asked, "Liam, are you asking him to initial to say that he will buy the car for that amount today or are you saying initial this to say this is the price we are asking for?" He answered that we would be agreeing to buy the car. He was told by my fiancé that he would not initial and he needed to find out if they would approve the price (about $900 less than the window price). He said again that he needed it initialed to go and talk to his managers. We told them we would not initial. He sat there for about 30 seconds w/out saying a word and then silently got up, ROLLED HIS EYES and walked away. My fiancé and I sat there confused as to what had just happened. We decided to leave. On our way out we spoke with Jamie and were introduced to Dan and Mike. We told them everything that had happened and that how everything was going fine until he got upset, disrespected us and walked away w/out a word. They simply said “he shouldnt have done that”. After a few more exchanges with Jamie, Liam apologized on his own. They were all told that we had 2 other cars to look at that day and if we did come back we would NOT purchase from Liam. Jamie pulled up the Carfax and talked about that away from the manager’s desk. He said if we did come back to talk to him. We decided to see one car after that because of the awful experience. After looking at that car (with a great salesperson) my fiancé decided that he liked the first car better and was going to give them another chance. He called and asked to speak with Jamie. Unfortunately, Jamie had left for the day but Dan was available and was one of the managers that was there that morning. He was asked to give the best price he could. Dan came back with the price that was written on the windshield. That was very disappointing. I hope this dealership learns from this. I also hope that if a salesperson makes a huge mistake like this, they make up for it. I’m sure it is frustrating to sell cars but that doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful when things don’t go your way. This is not striving "to provide the best customer service" as they claim. We have since purchased a car from another dealer.

BR

Brian S

Shopping at University Ford was not the experience I expected at car dealership. Terrence Joseph was my salesman, and he has thoroughly impressed me with his professionalism, patience and great attitude. He never gave me the impression that he simply wanted to sell me a car at any cost (as Ive come to experience with other salesman at other dealers). His priority was helping me find the right car. In the weeks following the purchase, Terrence also served an exceptional role as a liaison regarding any concerns I had with the vehicle or other matters that needed to be addressed, and always pointed me to the right person if he was unable to find the answers himself. All the other employees Ive been in contact with have been pleasant and helpful as well. So far so good with the service department, they communicate well and are very reasonable when discussing warrantee items. I will follow up after my first service there is complete. Update: Unfortunately I have to drop my review to 3 stars after finishing up my service. The car was nearly flawless when I took it in. The bumper needed to be removed for a trailer hitch install. The technician clearly didnt protect the finish of the bumper and got scratches all over near the license plate, and a 4-5 inch gouge in the paint off to the side. The bumper cover was not re-attached properly on one side and popping out near the wheel well, and looked terrible. The trim around the hitch was forced on improperly, causing some of the tabs to bend and almost break. Inside, a body panel covering the lift gate hydraulics was similarly forced on. It was clearly not affixed properly and had some tabs bent and broken. To top it all off, theres now a quarter-sized dent in the hood. In hindsight I should have looked over the vehicle more carefully when I picked it up, but I was in a hurry and wasnt expecting so many problems. So to sum it up, the sales staff, financial staff (Mike), and even service advisers (Durwin) that I worked with were excellent. Unfortunately the workmanship of the service, not so much. Update #2: Well, now were at one star after discovering tonight that the technician left bolts off of the trailer hitch receiver where it meets the frame, and cross-threaded another one and left it halfway in. The threads on the frame had to be repaired.

AN

Angela Lambert

BEWARE Ford Warranty Customers! I dropped my 2014 Ford Fiesta ST with only 13,000 miles on it at University Ford Dealership, Downtown Durham on a Thursday in April around lunch for an electrical issue and to get a quote to repair a scratch (about an inch) and a loose body panel. I was told I would have to leave my car there overnight, which I expected because I didn’t make an appointment. I was sure I would get a call the next day at some point to let me know what was going on. When 4pm rolled around on Friday and I still hadn’t heard anything, I decided to call over there before I was left without a vehicle all weekend. I was told that they had reset the electrical under warranty but no explanation for why it had occurred in the first place. I then asked about the quote for the body work and was told the mechanic had that information and they would call me back before closing. That person never called back. Monday I call over in the morning, at first they told me they didn’t have my car. I reminded the person that we had already spoken about this car on Friday. I asked if that quote was finally ready and if I could pick up my car during my lunch break and he said he didn’t know and would have the mechanic call me back. I never got that call. I called over again on my lunch break and I was told that now the mechanic was on his lunch break. As a result of never getting that call, I had to skip my lunch because I needed to use that hour to pick up my car. At the end of the work day I decided to just go get my car and take it somewhere else. When I walked in, I was handed an outrageous quote (1/8 of the cars worth) and was asked if the mechanic had ever called to go over the quote with me. I told him that I never even once received any incoming calls from anyone on their staff, took my keys and left. In a nut shell, their customer service in addition to their outrageous quotes is crap. This was brought to their attention and they didn’t seem to care. I still have the scratch but was able to fix the panel on my own for about $10 in parts. I feel that they abuse that fact that local Ford customers have to use their auto shop because they are the only certified Ford auto shop in Durham. Next time I will make the commute to Cary or Hillsborough.