Jason Callan

Review of Lasco Ford

My experience is a mixed bag. Stevie was our sale...

My experience is a mixed bag. Stevie was our salesperson and did a nice video walk around before we drove 72.7 miles to look at a CPO 2018 Ford F-150 Raptor. Unfortunately, there are some issues with the truck that were not identified/repaired during their "CPO" process. I had never driven a Ford Ecoboost 3.5L powered vehicle before my test drive of the Raptor, so I was not aware of what the car should sound like at start-up, etc. I noticed the first time I started the vehicle, it had a loud rattle (like a diesel) for about 3-5 seconds before it completely disappeared. The rest of the test drive was great, and I felt the sales process was smooth with a few minor hiccups (plate transfer issue) that were corrected when the sales manager Alex stepped in, which led to my purchase of the vehicle on 23 Dec 2019. After we got back to our home city, we ran a couple of errands around town. Each time I started the truck, I noticed the rattle noise. Once we got home and settled in for the evening, I began to research whether or not the sound was typical. I learned that this sound is a well-known issue with Ford 3.5L Ecoboost involving the variable cam timing (VCT) and addressed in Ford's Special Service Message 48272. I immediately parked the truck in the garage and scheduled the first available service appointment (6 Jan 2020) with a dealership closer to where we live. My new vehicle sat in the garage from 23 Dec 2019 until the date of service (6 Jan 2020) with a whopping 85 miles driven since purchase (72.7 miles were driving it home from the dealership). I purchased it with 41,672 miles and took it to the dealership this morning with 41,757. The local dealership diagnosed and confirmed the VCT issue and will repair it under warranty. They also identified a front pinion leak and will repair it under warranty. A great sales experience at Lasco was tarnished by two significant service issues that were not identified and corrected as part of their 172 point CPO inspection of the truck. All I can say is thank goodness I purchased a CPO since it significantly extended the power-train warranty and provided me the opportunity to buy a factory-backed extended warranty. I would have rated my experience 4 or 5 stars if the issues with the vehicle didn't exist.

UPDATE 16 Jan 2020: The post-sales service is dreadful. My 2018 Ford Raptor has a check engine light due to an aftermarket CAI (cold air intake) that was installed by the previous owner of the vehicle. What is the problem you might say? Well, the Raptor is sensitive to modifications, most CAI cause the truck to throw CEL UNLESS there is a tune done to the stock PCM. I did not find out until after purchasing the vehicle that the CAI on the vehicle required a tune to work properly. Once I identified that the truck might have a tune, I became concerned about my CPO warranty and extended warranty. I reached out to Alex, who proceeded to tell me that manufacturers of aftermarket parts put the statement about needing a tune to cover themselves. In most cases, Alex would be right, most cars do not need a tune for a CAI, the Raptor does! He said that the owner knows the previous owner, and they'd be willing to see if he has the stock intake to switch out. I told him that would be great and that I'd know more once the warranty work was completed at my local dealership since they'd likely discover if the vehicle had a tune or not. After a more competent dealership completed the warranty work, I again reached out to Alex (10 Jan 2020) about taking him up on the offer for the stock intake. He said he would reach out to the owner and get back to me. I emailed Alex again (13 Jan 2020) and told him the vehicle did indeed have a tune, it was reflashed to stock as part of the special service message, which caused a check engine light. Alex has not responded in any manner, so I'm moving on. No one should have to beg to have a dealership to fix their mistake. Stevie said she was trying to earn a Lasco customer for life. You, sir, have demonstrated the exact opposite.