Jim and the gang, I'd be up for a factory pickup & tour, any time. The tour & lunch should be free...it is at the only other car factory tour I've taken, namely Jaguar in Coventry, but if they want to charge a small fee like I think Boeing does in Everett then maybe $25 would be reasonable, per person. The accomodating nearby dealer should be able to earn about $100 for doing the paperwork. I don't think BMW charges extra for picking up a new car at their factories, either here in the US or in Germany, and I'm pretty sure they throw out the welcome mat and even a driving course in the case of their...where is it--S Carolina?...operation. Admittedly, their profit margins are certainly bigger for a number of reasons, some of which I discussed in my "Rant" a couple days ago. This is a good example of how our domestic companies need to upgrade their service to increase customer loyalty. Car buyers have way too many choices for the factories to pass opportunities like this. In Ford's case, the new Shelby Mustang the only thing they've done in 38 years that's made me interested in buying one of their products, while I've spent approximately $375k on new cars since the last Ford (my '67 GT500 purchased new in '68). Here's their chance to get me back and even though I'm partial to the new GT500, there's a chance that if they handle this properly then I'd be a Ford buyer in the future for other new cars. In my business (a tourist area motel) just about all we think about after quality issues is customer loyalty. The top car companies do too. If Ford is ever again going to be successful, which they certainly are not now, then they're going to need to pull out all the stops to improve their loyalty factor. I hope they do. Roger H =================== It's from Roger and Jane!
My last Ford was such a poorly designed car and I was treated so badly trying to keep it on the road, Ford lost me as a customer about 15 years ago. In my garage sets two Ford Mustangs, my 68 GT 350 and a 66 coupe next to my Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4 and my wife's Subaru. We've easily spent over $120,000 on cars in that time, all of them Japanese. Yes, it would be nice if Ford could do something that would attract me to one of their cars again. I actually would like that. I've looked at and driven the newer Ford Mustangs over the last few years. Didn't buy one. Couldn't bring myself to go through that again. And I almost feel bad driving my 3000 GT to the local club meetings cause its not a Ford. Heck I won't even take my Mustangs to a Ford dealer for service anymore since I got taken advantage so badly the last time, 10 years ago. Not even for an oil change. Dennis Roger wrote: > Jim and the gang, > > I'd be up for a factory pickup & tour, any time. The tour & lunch > should be free...it is at the only other car factory tour I've taken, > namely Jaguar in Coventry, but if they want to charge a small fee like > I think Boeing does in Everett then maybe $25 would be reasonable, per > person. > > The accomodating nearby dealer should be able to earn about $100 for > doing the paperwork. > > I don't think BMW charges extra for picking up a new car at their > factories, either here in the US or in Germany, and I'm pretty sure > they throw out the welcome mat and even a driving course in the case > of their...where is it--S Carolina?...operation. Admittedly, their > profit margins are certainly bigger for a number of reasons, some of > which I discussed in my "Rant" a couple days ago. > > This is a good example of how our domestic companies need to upgrade > their service to increase customer loyalty. Car buyers have way too > many choices for the factories to pass opportunities like this. In > Ford's case, the new Shelby Mustang the only thing they've done in 38 > years that's made me interested in buying one of their products, while > I've spent approximately $375k on new cars since the last Ford (my '67 > GT500 purchased new in '68). Here's their chance to get me back and > even though I'm partial to the new GT500, there's a chance that if > they handle this properly then I'd be a Ford buyer in the future for > other new cars. > > In my business (a tourist area motel) just about all we think about > after quality issues is customer loyalty. The top car companies do > too. If Ford is ever again going to be successful, which they > certainly are not now, then they're going to need to pull out all the > stops to improve their loyalty factor. > > I hope they do. > > Roger H > > */===================/* > > */It's from Roger and Jane!/* >
