In our Service Department at Mike White Ford, one question we often get is why we need to keep your car all day for a service visit.
We understand how important your car is to you. You use it daily to run various errands and rely on it to be there when you need it. Any car problem can disrupt your routine. However, when you better understand what is involved in a service visit, we hope you can see that our process is designed to provide all our customers with optimal service.
The Service Process at Mike White Ford
A service appointment may be for anything from our The Works oil change service to diagnosing and fixing an engine problem. If you are scheduled for The Works, we generally get the service done in about an hour. We have dedicated service bays and technicians for that one function, and that routine service is relatively easy to keep on schedule.
But if the service appointment is for a more serious problem, we schedule an entire day to complete the service because a lot more goes into the procedure than you might imagine.
In the first place, we take in several cars in a given day. However, we limit the number of appointments we schedule each day to ensure, to the best of our ability, that we have enough technicians and service bays to get the work done on all the cars we take in. This calculation is an estimate based on our experience over the years of what we can accomplish in a given day with the resources we have. Sometimes a car repair can take a long time, and sometimes a short time, depending on what we find. Because we often do not know what we will find, we do not “over promise” and tell you that your car will be done at a specific time earlier than the end of the day.
People sometimes wonder why a car repair can take all day because there is a common misconception that all the computerized monitoring systems on today’s cars make diagnosing and fixing problems easy. While it is true that cars have computerized monitoring systems, there is no getting around the fact that cars are mechanical devices. When you experience a problem with your car, fixing it entails much more than just “plugging” the car into a computer, waiting for it to spit out an answer, and then replacing a part.
Our diagnosis system does not monitor every part of your car, nor do they pinpoint the exact problem in detail. In some cases, we may indeed find an easy fix. But more often, the system will provide a variety of codes indicating where the problem may lie. This is extremely helpful, but knowing where the problem is is different from understanding the nature of the problem and what may be required to fix it.
In addition, even if you may have come to us with a specific issue you wanted us to address, our diagnostic system may have found that multiple issues must be investigated. Either the problem you identified is due to several factors, or some problems went undetected by you or were masked by a more noticeable problem. When you come into our service department, we won’t just fix the problem you complained about – we aim to fix every problem that might affect the safety and driveability of your vehicle.
Accordingly, the real work is just beginning when we run a computer diagnosis. For all of their technological features, cars are functionally mechanical. They have lots of parts, including hundreds of moving parts, that can wear out over time or get damaged from stresses due to weather, driving habits, road conditions, and other events. No matter what information the computer system provides, our service mechanics must go in, hands-on, and investigate. That may require looking at a lot of different things, tinkering a bit, or even going for a short test drive. When a problem is especially thorny, our technicians often consult other mechanics; sometimes, we must do some online research.
However, even for a relatively simple problem, the work may still be time-consuming. The part of the car we need to work on may be difficult to access, and it takes time to take things apart carefully and put them back together again. If there are parts we need to replace, our service technicians need to identify the exact part number for that particular vehicle’s model and year. Then our parts department needs to find that part to ensure the right technician gets the correct part.
Now and then, we may finish early, and we will give you a call to let you know that your car is ready. At other times, we may find something that takes more than a day to fix. For example, although we stock thousands of Ford factory parts, sometimes we may not have the particular part we need to fix your vehicle. If so, we will also call and let you know that.
Whatever the issue, our goal with every service visit is to return your vehicle to you in good working order. Sometimes that takes time and effort.
Call Mike White Ford for Service On Your Ford Vehicle
We know our customers count on their cars to make their lives run smoothly, and it can be frustrating when a car problem throws a wrench into your daily routine. As much as we wish it were not the case, car problems are one of the facts of modern life. That being said, our goal is to make servicing your vehicle as painless as possible and do our utmost to ensure your vehicle is back on the road and running safely and reliably as quickly as possible.
To minimize inconvenience, we offer a shuttle service to our customers to take them to and from work or home. We also provide a welcoming and comfortable lobby with WiFi and coffee for those times you may have to wait. If your Ford vehicle needs service, contact Mike White Ford. We offer competitive prices, and you can always rest assured that we will use genuine Ford parts.