Planet Ford

Where do we start? The sales process was cumbersome and way too long (should have walked away when my gut was screaming at me). We arrived at the dealer at 10AM on September 2, 2013. We had lunch for 1 h way too long (should have walked away when my gut was screaming at me). We arrived at the dealer at 10AM on September 2, 2013. We had lunch for 1 hour. We ended up leaving the dealership at 7:30 at night. The sales person, Jake, sat with us for several hours while we waited on someone to become available in the finance department. They had over 50 sales people and only five finance people. Jake had already lost several sales that day due to the wait. When we were finally called into the "finance department", we sat down and a sales pitch began for after market items instead of finance (complete waste of time). After our first visit to the "finance department", we were called back to a real finance person about 45 minutes later. We informed him that we needed to get this done quickly as we had been at the dealer all day and it was nearing our kids' bedtimes. Finally success at 7:30 when we got out truck delivered. When we walked the vehicle, we discovered a ding in the front driver's side door. We were informed to set up an appointment and bring the truck back in on Thursday to have the ding taken care of and KarTraxx installed. We brought the truck in first thing in the morning and asked for service advisor like we were told. We were informed that this service advisor does not arrive at 7:00 am. We were put into a small Enterprise rental vehicle while the ding was repaired and the vehicle location device was installed. Now, we begin the service history on the vehicle. After less than a month, we noticed a severe shake in the vehicle at around 40 and 55 MPH. We called and scheduled a service appt. The service department said to bring it in and they would look at the tires. They informed us it would only take about an hour since we were getting there at 7:00 AM. I took the vehicle in that morning at 7:00am and asked for Charlie like I was told to do over the phone. I was quickly informed that Charlie does not arrive that early. They took the truck back to look at the wheels. After two hours, I went to check on the vehicle since no one was giving us updates. They informed me that they were waiting on after market to approve a new tire. They put the truck on Road Force and stated that 3 of the 4 tires 'passed' road force. The driver's side rear tire was defective. They replaced the tire and I was finally out of there at 12:30. One the drive home from this service call, we still noticed a vibration. We contacted the service department and informed them of this. We set another service appointment. We inquired about a service loaner and were informed that we could get a car from Enterprise. After talking with sales, we set up a service loaner. They took the truck in put it on Road Force again. This time one of the three tires that has passed less than a week earlier failed. They replaced the passenger side rear tire. This service visit also included the body shop as rust (oxidation as the service department called it) was found around the bed bolts. They took the bed bolts out and put a rust inhibitor and seal coat on them and then reinstalled them. We left the dealership after this call and drove the truck for a couple of weeks. When I drove the truck out of town on the interstate, we noticed the vibration at 70MPH. After a week long trip out of town, we set up another service appt. We took the truck in and they put it on Road Force again, a little more than two weeks after the last service visit, they found that 2 of the 4 tires were out of balance. They adjusted it and sent me on my way after checking the vehicle out again. On the drive home, we noticed the vibration after 3 days again. We set up another service appointment and took the truck in. The Ford Field Service Engineer was to get involved this time. The radio had also blacked out for about a minute and then came back on. They were speaking with the FSE on the problem. I asked them to call me so I could come down to the dealership when the FSE arrived so I could ride with them. The FSE showed and reported there were no issues and the vibration was normal and there was no issue. They conveniently left out the fact that they had replaced the other two tires right before the FSE showed up. The vibration is stil there at 55MPH. It is not as severe as it used to be. Do not go to this dealership as I had to spend hours getting service loaners and getting updates on the truck. When I was finally able to reach Shawn Burns (General Manager) after several call attempts, I quickly learned whey this dealership is horrible. I asked him what they planned on doing with the truck with 4 attempts to fix the same problem in less than two months and with less than 3500 miles on it. He informed me that this had nothing to do with Planet Ford and that I would need to deal with Ford directly. All I wanted was a buy back or a replacement due to all the problems we had encountered in such a short time on a brand new truck. He informed me that the dealership would have to take a huge hit (since it depreciated so much when we drove it off the lot) and that this is why Ford provides a warranty. He also said that we were in good shape because we had bought the extended service plan. he clearly did not value the customer just the bottom line. I can tell you I will never step foot in this dealership again for the rest of my life. Do not buy the key replacement plans, maintenance plans or just about any service plan from this dealership as they are serviced by a company called Ethos (not Ford). I tried to move my service plans to Tomball Ford after all the horrible experiences with Planet Ford. When I contacted Tomball Ford, they said that did not accept Ethos due to slow reimbursement from Ethos for service agreements. The only way I could have transferred the service plan would have been to pay out of pocket and then wait to be reimbursed from Ethos. BUYER BEWARE...sorry for the long comment but I wanted to make sure everyone understands what they are getting into with the sales and service at Planet Ford. More

I had a bad complaint. I am retracting it now. I emailed the BBB and Planet ford spring is taking care of all my issues. They are treating me right now and I'm pleased. So now I would recommend this deale the BBB and Planet ford spring is taking care of all my issues. They are treating me right now and I'm pleased. So now I would recommend this dealership. More

I would really like to give this dealership a better rating because I've met some great staff there. They are typically friendly and ready to help. I will say that it seems that the service was much bet rating because I've met some great staff there. They are typically friendly and ready to help. I will say that it seems that the service was much better when I was a recent buyer as opposed to later down the line. My experience has led me to decide to never buy a Ford again and never return to this particular location. I can't say 100% that fault is on Ford or the dealer so I say in making a 15000+ purchase I will be safe and steer clear of both. I have had so many issues with this car that I almost cry thinking about it. The car dies on a regular basis, my AC died a few months ago...the service department hasn't found anything wrong and my check engine light just went off when my warranty ends after this weekend...and of course they are closed. I purchased a brand new vehicle about three years ago. Right away I started having issues. I would park my car somewhere and come back and it would be dead. This is so frustrating when you spend extra money on something new for the safety and security of it. I was afraid to go with a used car and have any sort of issues but I'm starting to feel like an idiot here because we've had a car from the 90s given to us by a friend that had less issues than this piece of junk. It's so embarrassing to leave a store or restaurant and not be able to start your car or have to call a tow truck. This happened numerous times and each time I brought it in they could find nothing wrong. I was told it was my mistake for starting the car again after it had died. That somehow if I had towed it in the error codes would have been readable. I know I'm not a mechanic but that just sounded ridiculous. I should have just left my car alone and not had it jumped, found a ride or cab? Really? I will say that they were nice enough to offer a free rental but that should be standard for a vehicle that is barely a few months old. Finally after this happening over and over they figured out what it was and fixed the problem. I was fine with that since the excuse was something about loose parts during manufacture and shipping process. Okay fine. My second key died on me after about a year. I was told to bring it in to have it programmed sooo I left it in my car so I would remember. After one of my many trips to the service department I couldn't find it again. I hate to blame the service department because I can't be 100% but when it was in my door's side pocket one day and not the next....anyway even after this I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe something else happened to it...whatever right? Maybe I'm just a gullible fool? I have another key and haven't needed the second one yet. I should have called to see if there was some mistake and it was left behind. Anyway next issue was with my air conditioner. My battery died after about 2.5 years and I decided to just get a replacement at a local shop since the dealership was closed. Right away my AC died. This was right in the middle of summer and it was shooting out air hotter than the air outside. I drove over to the dealership and was told that they were too busy. The guy kind of brushed me off. I mentioned to another employee that it was odd that this happened right after a battery change and wondered if there was any way that something went wrong when my battery was switched out. I know, I'm not a mechanic but it literally died on my way back from having my battery changed. The guy basically rolled his eyes, opened my passenger door looked at something and said no that's not the issue. The way he said this was a bit rude. Maybe it was a stupid question but again...I'm not a mechanic. I left but was told to stop in as soon as they opened the next morning. I did this and was there extra early the next day but was told they were backed up and that I should have scheduled an appointment. I literally cried...and I don't cry often but I was fed up. I will say the girl that is always outside receiving incoming cars is so nice and helped me get out since I was about to have a breakdown while being blocked into their little port by a bunch of other cars. I brought it back in another day (all week long sweating on my way to work!). Anyway they said maybe 2-3 days and it ended up being more like a week. Luckily I was off from work and could live without it for the time. I picked it up, they were nice and all when I arrived and my AC was super cold. Awesome. Just to give a fair review, I have to say that I used to come here periodically or oil changes and was always pleased with the service then. Oh and this was the first time I was offered the shuttle service. The drive was awesome and really friendly. My final issue... I have had many instances where my car has just died. I brought it in at least two times to be told that nothing was wrong once, and that they wouldn't be able to find anything since I had restarted the car after it had died. Well the car had died in the middle of turning into my subdivision in front of oncoming traffic. So yes, I restarted it and drove straight over. It would happen every once in a while but always when I couldn't really call somebody or go without my car so I just restarted it. Now this week it started happening more frequently. Today I made a trip into Houston and it happened at almost every stop once we made it into the city. I know I need to have something done but I hate to take it in since they will just keep it for a bit and tell me it's fine. Finally it happened on my way home today and my check engine light went off. Well, I have a 45 minute commute to work and it would be nice if my car that was purchased brand new could make the drive. I came home and looked up my warranty and of course it expires in like 3 days and since it's a weekend I have to wait for Monday to drop it off. You don't know how frustrating this is. I just started a new job and don't have the funds yet to waste on renting a car for a week while I hope that they can actually find something wrong with my car. Anyway sorry for the long review but I feel that a lot of times people don't give all of the details and this has been a really long and frustrating process. I can't remember if I wrote a review before but figured now that my warranty is up and I've gone through the full experience I should give the full story. This was my first vehicle purchase and I was really excited about this particular make and model. Now I feel like a complete idiot for making this purchase. I hate to imagine what this is going to cost me once it actually dies or once I take it to a mechanic that can actually do something about it. I'm going to try taking it in one last time and hopefully something can be done but at this point I really doubt it. Lesson learned for a very expensive price. More

I went into this dealer, down payment in hand, ready to buy. After 4 visits to the dealership and no paperwork on pricing being shown to me, I found myself in front of a finance manager that was ready for buy. After 4 visits to the dealership and no paperwork on pricing being shown to me, I found myself in front of a finance manager that was ready for me to sign paperwork that showed the pricing on a $20,000 had went up to around $35,000 with financing. Then he tells me how he had to take away the discounts to get a better deal on the financing! (Huh??) I already had a good deal from another car lot, but just decided to try for a ford instead- BIG MISTAKE! If you do decide to visit this lot, go in with your guard up and your pants fastened tightly b/c they will definitely try to screw you. More

I went into Planet- I-45 to do a trade-in Buy on a new Truck, after a few emails with a salesperson and getting reassurance from him that they could get me the deal I needed as I was about 2 hours away, h Truck, after a few emails with a salesperson and getting reassurance from him that they could get me the deal I needed as I was about 2 hours away, he had me come in to make the deal. Well I never got to see that salesperson, I got a totally new one that had new clue of our conversations and back and forth emails. So after well over 4 hours and talking to 3 different managers, one being extremely rude and pushy they could not get me the deal I had discussed with the on-line sales manager. In fact they did not even honor their E-Price online price and had a excuse whay that price wasnt valid. In no way would I recommend this dealership to anyone purchasing a new Ford in the Houston and surrounding areas..I totally wasted my day off work not to mention having to deal with very rude and pushy managers. More

Don't use the service department!!! Bumper to bumper warranty means nothing. They charged me to tell me the door handle is not covered under warranty and also to tell me why the brake light would come o warranty means nothing. They charged me to tell me the door handle is not covered under warranty and also to tell me why the brake light would come on every once in a while. I also had to $100 warranty fee to get the things that where covered. I am not happy and will NEVER buy or take another vechile to planet ford again. I will tell all of my family and friends and if I hear anyone talking about going to planet ford ill send them to Tomball ford not a happy customer. More

So i looked online for a car that fit my budget, and something that my family could afford, yet had good gas mileage and could fit my family in it. So i walk into planet ford, after being called 785423 something that my family could afford, yet had good gas mileage and could fit my family in it. So i walk into planet ford, after being called 7854230917389105324 times by their "sales manager" to inquire about the vehicle that i was interested in. Almost immediately, the "up-selling" began, with them telling me what i needed to be in. My first thought was, "how in the world do you know what i need to be in"?! So anyhow we just went with it, i was told immediately that i would not be able to be financed, but that "hey, there are some things that we can say and do to make the bank accept your loan". Needless to say, after speaking it over with my wife, we were done with this dealership. So, a friend of ours had mentioned just going next door to "have a look and see if you like anything they have". The next day i was over there, and they actually LISTENED TO WHAT I WANTED! Within hours they had me in a fairly new car, decent mileage, GREAT ON GAS MILEAGE(which was the main thing i was looking for), and fit the family perfectly. While im over there, i see the salesman/manager that i was working with peeking over the fence, seeing if i was over there trying to make a buy. About 10 minutes after i had talked to one of the other dealerships salespersons just asking what they had, my phone starts blowing up, with TEXT MESSAGES from the salesman slandering the dealership that i was at. Funny thing is, one of my friends who had recently purchased from this dealership BEGGED me not to even give them a chance. I just wish that i would have listened. This is the most unprofessional, overpriced dealership that i have ever seen in my life! I wouldnt recommend for my worst enemies to go to this dealership. Do what you can to stay away from them, they dont care about you, they dont care what you want, all they seem to be worried about is making that sale, and making the biggest one that they can, whether it is fit for you or not. STAY AWAY FROM THIS DEALERSHIP IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A DECENT EXPERIENCE!!! More

I went to Planet Ford 45 looking for a new 2012 Ford Focus, due to my car being totaled by a drunk driver. I was approached by a Mr. Lee Horn who showed me around the dealer and took me out on the lot Focus, due to my car being totaled by a drunk driver. I was approached by a Mr. Lee Horn who showed me around the dealer and took me out on the lot to help me decide which Focus was right for me. While walking out with Mr. Horn I had informed him that I was looking to buy a car within the next 3 days, and that I had cash $ in my hand, ready to spend. He was a nice man, unfortunately he wasn't too knowledgeable about the car I was looking at, and gave me a book to look at to help make my decisions. I left the dealer that day with plans to return on Tuesday to buy the car, assuming we agreed on a price. We traded phone calls over the next day since I was at work and didn't have the time to drive back to talk in person. He called me back to inform me he found a car that I wanted and the price was an amount I was willing to pay, and I asked him to please break down the price for me (the bottom line price, the tax, the title, the license and any other fees associated with the purchase). He responded to me with "Michael I am not going to keep running back wasting my time to give you the #s you're requesting, if you want to see the #s you can come see me". Let me add that this phone call took place around 1030am, I'm not sure how many people are in a dealer buying a car at that time, but that's just outrageous that he couldn't give me the simple #s I had asked for. So at that point I ended the phone call, jumped on Autotrader.com and located another car that I liked located at Champion Ford in Katy. I then placed a call and asked to speak to a new car salesman. I was connected with a Justin Mayer (503-943-9207 call him for a no hassle car buying experience). I informed Mr. Mayer that there was a car on his lot that I was interested in and offered him what I was willing to pay, and asked him to run a few #s for me and give me a call back. Within the hour Mr. Mayer returned my call with the bottom line price I could get the car for, plus the TTL and the other fee's and asked for my email so he could email me a copy of the quotes. After reviewing the #s I called Mr. Mayer back and said we had a deal. I then asked if I could come out in the morning to get the car due to traffic being to bad that same day to make it out to Katy. Mr. Mayer informed me that unfortunately his day off, but after a brief pause he replied with "how about I deliver the car to your office in the morning" DEAL. Due to the fact that Mr. Horn didn't want to give me a few simple #s and was a complete jerk I took my business elsewhere and am now enjoying my new Ford Focus SEL. To add, Mr. Horn just called me 5 mins ago to ask if I was still looking for a car, and I told him I had already bought another car elsewhere since he didn't want to give me a few simple #s, and yet again verbatim said "I didn't want to waste my time". For those of you looking for a new Ford, call Justin Mayer @ 503-943-9207, He will even work for you on his day off. I am totally offended at the way Mr. Horn handles business, maybe that's why he informed me that his landscaping business failed, poor customer service. More

Do not buy a vehicle from this dealership. They are dishonest, untrustworthy and their customer service is very poor. They tried on two different occasions to go back on the price they offered on thei dishonest, untrustworthy and their customer service is very poor. They tried on two different occasions to go back on the price they offered on their website. They tried to pass off the Buyer's Order with the inflated price after we had agreed on a lower price. There were also two charges included for $200 each, that they took off the bill just by me questioning them. They were rude, and at one point told me the "the world doesn't stop when you walk through the door". Look elsewhere to buy your vehicle, or be very careful when signing the paperwork, read everything carefully and don't let them pressure you. More