[gamiller]

Some of you know my bad luck with shops. Well, this is the first time I have decided to publicly warn everyone about Cherner Lincoln-Mercury of Tysons Corner. They deny that my car was damaged while in their possession!

[rant]

After having my car aligned at Goodyear on Sunday, I brought my car to Cherner on Tuesday to get a wheel bearing replaced under warranty. They called mid-day to say that they couldn't work on my car because they couldn't get it on the service lift. I shrugged and came to pickup my car before they closed. I was shocked that they returned my car to me with the bumper broken free from the passenger side fender!

I asked my Service Representative to see what had happened. He said, "You brought it here like that." BS! I asked the Service Manager to see the damage. "Old damage. It didn't happen here," he said. I was astounded that these guys were giving me the run-around!

Reluctantly, I took possession of my car and tried to find somebody to take these guys on. I called Mercury Customer Service. They took down my complaint and said they would contact the dealership. Not much help there. I called NADA AUTOCAP to seek arbitration. The guy was friendly, but couldn't do much besides take my statement and forward it to the dealership.

The next day I thought I had an epiphany. The Service Manager suggested I contact my insurance, since that's what insurance is for. He was right! I should contact an insurance company, but not mine. I called Cherner's insurance agent to file a claim. Unfortunately, they refused to investigate because Cherner denied that anything happened.

Finally, I gave in and called my insurance, Progressive. They took down my statement and sent an adjuster to look at my car. The adjuster said it was obvious I hadn't hit anything and that the bumper looked like it had been torn free from the car by getting caught on something. Perhaps ramps or a lift?!? Anyways, I was finally building a case against Cherner. Hopefully Progressive can convince Cherner's insurance that their insured is liable for the damage. Otherwise, it's off to small claims court.

The moral of this story is: don't go to dealerships! No, it's really TRUST NO ONE. I recommend taking snapshots of your car when you drop it off which put the date on the picture. My car has been damaged at three shops, so take me seriously here.

[/rant]

 

[Guest]

Good god Gary....

Will it ever end !?

I am so sorry dude!!!!

 

[gamiller]

yeah. i've had problems with shops before:

* cracked sideskirt
* broken strut
* scratched wheels

but i've never had a shop deny that the damage happened on their premises. *sigh*

 

[Spade]

I can't believe that they denied that it happened! But then again, this is the same Cherner that dropped a garage door on the roof of my dad's Grand Marquis one time.

 

[DanG]

Dude. You need to keep away from stealerships... Have me do all your work for you! If I damage the car, at least I'll own up to it!

 

[gamiller]

Originally posted by: DanG
Dude. You need to keep away from stealerships... Have me do all your work for you! If I damage the car, at least I'll own up to it!

would you have replaced two wheel bearings, a hub assembly, and an ABS sensor for $104.50?!? believe me, once my extended warranty runs out (25K), i will never set foot in a dealership again.

 

[RiceRanger666]

Gary, i was telling my father about your problem tonight and he said just call up cherner and ask for Mr.Cherner. there is always 1 of the 2 cherner brothers around the place. they arent as nice as their father was, but im sure they would be glad to listen to your issues with their unprofessional service department.:thumbsup:

 

[gamiller]

Originally posted by: RiceRanger666
Gary, i was telling my father about your problem tonight and he said just call up cherner and ask for Mr.Cherner. there is always 1 of the 2 cherner brothers around the place. they arent as nice as their father was, but im sure they would be glad to listen to your issues with their unprofessional service department.:thumbsup:

thanks for the advice! i thought about doing that, but the Service Manager told me he was in Florida at the time. anyway, i've got so many different people involved now that he will have heard about the case.

 

[gamiller]

today, NADA AutoCAP called to say that Cherner [still] denies liability; however, they offered me $100 as a "good will gesture" if i release them from all damage claims. sorry, but $100 doesn't even cover my deductible.

i'm still awaiting a visit from the adjuster representing Cherner's insurance. i hope this isn't like awaiting a visit from the tooth fairy.

 

[girlfriendal]

Dealerships suck and they know they can screw you and there is nothing you can do about it, so what incentive do they have not to suck.

I took my car into Safford Lincoln Mercury for a body shop estimate on a crack in the front bumper. Went to lunch and came back to find my car had been driven over a severly high curb and when they backed it off the curb scraping and crunching the whole way, their comment to me was that I needed a new bumper anyhow due to the crack. No respect.

My husband took his Cougar into Manhattan Lincoln Mercury with a bad fuel pump and after not being able to fix it and claiming the problem was aftermarket accessories, and a whole lot of other :bs: we got from them, the service manager finally even admitted his techs really had no experience working on Cougars.

I have yet to have a remotely good experience at a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealership and I've been to plenty. I am close to my 20K service time and am not even sure where to go anymore because I don't trust anyone. And the Ford Customer Service number you can call, you might as well save your time and breath because they are useless and rude.

I bought my car at Cherner Lincoln Mercury Annandale after Tysons sent me there. I met one of the "Mr. Cherner's". As he shook my hand he made some comment about buying the sweetest car on the lot. They should treat them like the sweet cars they claim to think they are.

*Funniest Lincoln Mercury dealership experience to date - driving home from the beach stopped at a random dealership looking for some part (don't even remember what, but something for the radio). Told the guy at the parts counter what kind of car I had and he looked confused and said, "Cougar....Cougar....that some kind of truck or somethin?'*

 

[skater]

This is probably out of the way for most of you, but I work near there, so: I go to Sheehy Ford in Marlow Heights (exit 7 off the beltway), and they've always treated me quite well. They aren't cutting any breaks on prices, of course, but they do take care of the problems, keep me informed, and are just generally nice people. Some of the service writers recognize me when I go in there, which I'm not sure is a good thing, but it does make things a bit easier. ("You're the guy with the red Cougar, right?" "How are you doing?" "Haven't seen you in a while!")

Their body shop repaired my Cougar after I hit a piece of flying sheet metal once, and they did a great job on it.

One time I called to check on my car after I got a flat tire near there. I asked what the lifetime on one of the donut spares is, because I knew mine had around 50 miles on it, but I didn't mention that. His immediate reply was, "Yeah, that spare does have quite a few miles on it, doesn't it?" It's scary that they know my car that well.

--RJ

 

[tnkgurl]

I have never had a bad experience with Brown's Lincoln Mercury in Fairfax. We did have to get some body work done for my husband's Explorer that took longer than they said, but the work was quality and the truck came out sparkling. I have dealt with the service counter only and those guys are always really nice and the stuff gets done on time. Again, no price breaks, but anything under warranty that I have a complaint on gets fixed almost immediately. Then again, most of my body is stock.

 

[DanG]

Tnkgurl:

Your key word there was "stock". Brown's body shop did a great job of repair when my Cougar was hit within 3 months of my purchasing it... But once I lowered it (a measely 1.5", mind you), and installed the wing, taillight covers, and Visteon kit (which they refused to paint for me, by the way- Said it was "too much trouble" after they painted my wing and taillight covers), they won't touch the car at all- Warranty work or otherwise. Rick Hunt in Warrenton is the one I use, but even they charged me an extra 1/2 hour labor on what was supposed to be covered warranty work (alternator) because of "vehicle modification".

 

[tnkgurl]

Yeah, when I told my service advisor of Cougarfest and the mods, he sternly told me not to do any mods. A strut bar and an intake later, and here I be! I have to take it in for an oil change soon so I'll let you know if they refuse me service!

 

[gamiller]

Also, there's a big diff between a service shop and a body shop. The dealerships around here have highly-rated body shops. It's their service shops that scare me!

 

[Rikenbomb]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I take my car to a auto service place for any work to be done. Bunch of good guys there.

 

[gamiller]

well, four weeks later, and the insurance adjuster is finally coming to checkout my car. he better be fair about this!

 

[gamiller]

i love happy endings!

six weeks after the incident, i got a check in the mail from Cherner's insurance company. :biggrin:

 

[Guest]

I bet the check was for more than $100 :thumbsup: