Review of Cowles Ford, Inc

3 years ago

Purchase

Purchase
Looking at the used inventory on Cowles Parkway Ford's website, and with a few adjustments, I decided to look at a 2015 Ford Fusion and a 2016 Ford Fusion. On an unsettled weather day, the first Saturday of June, a journey to Cowles took place. Mr Luis Escobar, my salesman, showed me the cars which seemed in line with the website specifications. Luckily, I was able to get the test drives in prior to the cloudburst. Both cars handled well and Ford changed out a few standard equipment items. I do suspect some blemishes or broken bits were replaced with the non-standard parts but they enhanced the vehicles rather than distracted from the appearance. Being very knowledgeable about the vehicles, Luis showed me a few shortcuts with the operation of the cars. Luis's enthusiasm and keen sense of getting down to business while making the experience fun was the highlight of this entire process.

Having agreed to the purchase price for both cars (yes, I bought two cars at once), the 'necessary' trip to finance was started. Note, this was a cash sale, no financing needed. Since the cash had to come from a finance institution and it was the weekend. I signed a promissory note and was allowed to take the vehicles and leave the trade-ins. This was a pleasant surprise. The finance fellow did attempt to sell me, in my opinion, a much overpriced extended warranty package which I told him the cash on the table was all Cowles would get. As the vehicles still had some warranty left on them, I felt this was not necessary at the price quoted.

Service
Both vehicles had some dings and chipped paint which Luis arranged to have repaired. This was a quick and painless process. There was a recall issue on the 2015 Ford Fusion which had not been repaired while it sat on the lot. Not sure why Cowles would try to sell a car with an outstanding recall since it was a serious safety issue. This had to be brought in for a fix. Six weeks after the purchase, Ford announced another recall for this car on a bushing which keeps the car in Park. As of yet, this issue has not been repaired. This car also had a low tire pressure indication three days after purchase. Cowles put more air in the tire but two weeks later, I had to add air due to low tire pressure. After a third reoccurrence, the car was taken in. The service department said there was a small nail in the tire which was removed and the tire patched. The puzzling thing is why this was not checked when taken in the first time not caught while on the lot. Oh, and I was charged $28.65 to repair the tire...which should have been repaired the first time and at no cost.
The 2016 Ford Fusion lost its Bluetooth capability several days after purchase. The service department said the Accessory Interface Protocol Module (APIM) was defective. A replacement was ordered and it was replaced (another trip to the service department).

Keys
The 2015 Ford Fusion only came with ONE key. Luis said another one could be made and he would arrange a discounted rate of $135 for another key. Apparently, an outside party comes into Cowles to make the keys. The gentleman making the coded key said he was charging $175 and did not work for Cowles. Needless to say, I did not have the other key made. This is a HORRIBLE business practice. It would seem after dropping the amount of money spent for two cars, Cowles would ensure each vehicle had two keys. Not a major expense for a company and an easy way to build customer satisfaction, as well as loyalty.

Overall,
Luis and his enthusiasm during the sale were the highlights of this experience. As previous visits to Cowles has shown (see my previous review), the service department could be more efficient and customer-focused. The key issue is troubling and should be addressed. I recommend Cowles, with some reservations, so be aware that you may need to have a checklist of items to be looked over when making a purchase.

A more complete version of this review and a previous review can be found on Yelp.