Bruce Titus Shelton Ford

Terrible Service Department I bought a used 2006 F250 truck with 6.0L diesel engine at a used car place in Lynwood and the first thing I wanted to do was to take it to a service I bought a used 2006 F250 truck with 6.0L diesel engine at a used car place in Lynwood and the first thing I wanted to do was to take it to a service place that was familiar with the model to do a complete service as well as run a complete diagnostic routine on it. As far as I was able to tell, the truck had absolutely no mechanical issues, but I wanted to set a baseline since I didn't know anything about the mechanical history of the truck. I called Gillis and spoke to the service administrator(?), Aaron, and explained what I wanted. He said, no problem, they had a mechanic familiar with my truck model that could do a complete service and status check. I dropped the truck off in the morning and called back later that afternoon and Aaron told me that the mechanic had found some $10,000 worth of needed repairs! Leaking fore and aft crankshaft seals, leaking valve cover gasket, leaking water pump, bad ball joints, bad steering rod, bad suspension rod(?), bad fan clutch and bad brake calipers. I was doubtful that it needed all this since I had observed no leaks, the truck drove fine, braked fine, steered fine and had made no unusual sounds. On the other hand, I needed to tow a heavy excavator the following week so I certainly didn't want any problems with the brakes, steering and suspension, or problems with overheating, so I told him to take care of the suspension, steering, brakes, fan clutch and water pump, but do nothing about the oil leaks. I live thirty miles away so it wasn't practical to come see the failed/worn parts before they were removed. Instead, I told Aaron to save all the parts that were taken off so that I could look at them to confirm that they were in fact worn out. Let me emphasize, the truck was driving absolutely fine when I took it in- the only way in this situation that a customer could know that any work was actually needed, was to actually see the worn out parts after they were removed. Three days later, at 4:30 PM, Aaron called me to say that the mechanic would be finished by 5:00 if I wanted to come over and pick up the truck. I came immediately and the first thing I wanted to see was the removed parts. But guess what? They had thrown them all away. Somehow, just before I arrived, someone had taken all my used parts to the dump. How does this happen by accident? The only thing they had to show me was 4 used brake calipers, only one of which actually looked like it had a worn out shoe. I don't know how most auto repair services operate, but it would seem to be a good standard operating procedure to ALWAYS save the removed parts to show (or even return to) the customer if he/she requested them. And in my case, since there were no known issues with the vehicle before it was dropped off, it was imperative, as the only proof that repairs were even needed, for them to save them. AND, I HAD SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED THAT ALL THE REMOVED PARTS BE SAVED! The total cost of their work (I won't call them repairs, because, who knows?), was $5305 before taxes. I was furious, but what could I do? I thought of refusing to pay, but then what? Imperil my credit rating? Gillis is the party at wrong here. So, a very negative review. Either their service department is run by idiots or they are a ripoff. More

what a ripoff Where do I start. Owning a 73' Dodge Challenger and 78' Ford F-250 and living in Shelton, WA since 2002 I have bought many OEM parts from Gillis throu Where do I start. Owning a 73' Dodge Challenger and 78' Ford F-250 and living in Shelton, WA since 2002 I have bought many OEM parts from Gillis through the years. I took my 02' Ford Taurus to Gillis for the 100,000 mile tune up. They broke the windshield wiper fluid hose, but being a hotrod mechanic I know how things happen and didn't say anything. At 134,532 miles on the Taurus it needed a heater core. I took the Taurus in to Gillis and took 2 days off of work for the repair to be done. Approximately 7 mos. later when doing a oil change in my shop I noticed fluid dripping from the drain grommet on the firewall, and the antifreeze reservoir was empty. I took the Taurus back to Gillis and told them the new heater core was leaking. I made them supply a rental car, since they have no loaner cars, saying I was not going to take anymore time off work. Upon picking the Taurus up, they charged me for the loaner car and billed me $874.34. They said it was the evaporator core leak seal...? The evaporator core has nothing to do with the missing antifreeze, it deals with the Freon in the AC. I called Bowen Scarff Ford and talked to the Service Manager. He said he had been a mechanic for 30 yrs and had never had to replace a evaporator core leak seal and had to look it up to find out what it was. Asking around Shelton, WA I found everybody went to Olympia, Renton, etc. to purchase their new trucks and cars because of Warranty problems at Gillis Auto Center. I now know why. More