A Pleasant Morning at the Local Ford Dealership

[ri702bill 8,327]

I noticed that the windshield wipers on my wife's Ford needed to be replaced the other day - the wiping edge on both was starting to come apart. Have you priced aftermarket wipers at the Auto Parts stores lately - WOW - $30 EACH for sub standard junk made in "The Offshore" facility. Got online to see what specials the Ford Dealers were offering and there were 5 area Dealerships that offered a pair of OE Motorcraft replacement blades for $27 and change - installed for free if you wanted to wait. My local Dealer was not participating in that coupon special, their price was $36. I went there anyway, and asked the Service Advisor why they did honor that price - and she DID. Got them for $27 and change... sometimes it "pays" to ask.

Bill

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,326]

 Very true! I asked and my dealership matched tire prices from one of those discount tire shops for Michelins for my truck. Very happy with that! I did pay for balancing but I feel like those discount shops don’t care about precision and they balance tires to a “close enough spec”. 
 

[squonk 41,150]

I remember from my Napa days when someone would want to replace their wipers on their Chrysler Mini-vans. 28" blades at $29.99 ea. and this was around 1998! 

 

4 minutes ago, Sparky said:

 Very true! I asked and my dealership matched tire prices from one of those discount tire shops for Michelins for my truck. Very happy with that! I did pay for balancing but I feel like those discount shops don’t care about precision and they balance tires to a “close enough spec”. 
 

All tire shops have computer balancers. It would take a lot of effort to mess up a wheel balance.

 

I balanced a set of Jeep wheels eon's ago. Customer came in the next day squawking and flapping his wings like a Bantam rooster. It shook terribly. Put it on the lift and the inside of the wheels were packed with mud and snow. Seems he did a little "unscheduled off-roading!" 

[8ntruck 7,016]

Yup.  What is the worst that they can do?  Laugh at you and say no?

 

Snow in Jeep wheels.  Had that on my Cherokee this winter.  Was driving through some 8" deep snow.  Got in it the next morning and it shook like crazy above 30 mph.  Sure enough, snow was packed in the wheels.

Edited May 6, 2022 by 8ntruck

[ri702bill 8,327]

39 minutes ago, Sparky said:

dealership matched tire prices from one of those discount tire shops

I've mentioned this to stores that match prices and require YOU to provide a written estimate to price match. I tell them to BEAT that price, not match it!!

[ri702bill 8,327]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

All tire shops have computer balancers. It would take a lot of effort to mess up a wheel balance.

Yes, they do. I used to work at a local Goodyear store part time in addition to my regular job when the kids were young. That store also sold Dick Cepek off-road tires - had to bubble balance them FIRST, up to 12 ounces, in order to get them into the computerized balancer so that it would not reject them!

[JoeM 7,874]

Michelin tires not for me. Shelled out a grand for a set, worn out at 30K on a 60K warranty. Went back to the tire dealer and they said, yeah they are under warranty. Turns out the warranty is based on retail pricing. the 40% off a new set put the price just below what I paid! 

I walked out. 

Bought a set of Generals for less than the warranty offer from Michelin. The Michelins were always kind of soft.  The Generals ride and steer better plus I got 42K on the last set.  

My new tire guy says he doesn't do the warranty thing just gives a good discount price, and sells what is working. 

 

I tried the dealer thing but they were so slow. Appointments for routine work took hours longer than scheduled. They blamed it on a broken garage door. I ask a person I know that works there and they told me there wasn't even a tech to use that bay.

They advertise a "fast lane" service, I could imagine if I didn't use it, would have needed a camper. I must say prices were competitive. 

 

Yep got to check and ask.

[roadapples 6,983]

If you have an Ollie's near by check for wiper blades there. I've got brand name blades there for $6 each...

[squonk 41,150]

Pro rated warranties are all like that. It's based on list price. If a tire lists at a $100 and you buy it at $79.95 with a 60,000 mi warranty and it wears out at 30,000 you're paying half of $100 so $50. Same with batteries. I had a customer once who brought in a 4 yr. old battery with a 5 yr warranty. I told him it was cheaper to just buy a new one. He insisted on me running it thru on warranty. Ok. Cost him 8 bucks more that way! 

[ri702bill 8,327]

Yep - @squonk, pro rated warranties, for the most part, are a suckers bet. Unless the item rolls over and goes "paws up" in the first 3 months. it is a joke.

[ri702bill 8,327]

3 hours ago, roadapples said:

If you have an Ollie's near by check for wiper blades there. I've got brand name blades there for $6 each...

Check to see where it was made before you buy - any auto part made in "Cheaponesia" is usually not worth your money...

[lynnmor 7,307]

2 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Check to see where it was made before you buy - any auto part made in "Cheaponesia" is usually not worth your money...

 

Ollie's buys and sells excess and possibly outdated merchandise, the wipers may be OK depending on brand and age. 

[Ed Kennell 38,209]

5 hours ago, roadapples said:

If you have an Ollie's near by check for wiper blades there. I've got brand name blades there for $6 each...

Just replaced all mine with those $6 Ollie wipers.      Best cleaning blades I ever had and they don't squeak or chatter.

[squonk 41,150]

Wiper Blades. Don't make them like they used too. Again years ago at the parts store, we bought winter blades in bulk. 16" 18" and 20" . Still remember the part #'s 60-16-WB. Ect. Sold a crap load of them $4.99 ea. Boss had a mowing business. Old Chevy truck was his hauler. He had a set of winter blades on it that from when they made good blades. He refused to replace them. The new blades dried out from the sun after a year. He bragged and bragged about these blades. (He was really letting everyone know how cheap he was!)  Anyway one rainy day he went to lunch and on his way back a blade flew off just as he was entering the parking lot. He comes in and says "I'm here but I need to find one of my wiper blades!" So he's out scouring the lot. I see the blade sticking out from the hood cowl so I grab it and hide it. He breaks down and buys 1 blade. 2 weeks later I give it to him as I told him I just found it. He RETURNS the blade he bought as a defect! 

 

Then his Girlfriend comes in one day and buys him a pair of blades for Christmas stocking stuffer. He returned them too! 

[roadapples 6,983]

If it ain't broke, don't  fix it...

[ri702bill 8,327]

13 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

Best cleaning blades I ever had and they don't squeak or chatter.

Ed, sometimes you just get lucky and actually get what you pay for.

[ri702bill 8,327]

I learned my lesson about "Direct Fit" on wiper blades. The ones I just got came with 2 additional mounts in the packages - designed to mount to 5 different style arms. I had to switch the mount to fit the car and it was a true direct fit then - no issues. I once (and only once) bought a set of ANCO universal fit blades years ago OMG IF you were lucky enough to have the arm that the wiper had the hole for, no problem. My old truck had the hook at the end - you clipped in an ADAPTER into the hole that had the mate for the hook at the other end! So flimsy and they DID chatter and flutter at highway speeds. Absolute garbage.

 

Years ago, when FRAM was in RI in the 1970's, they tried to get into the wiper blade business. We were doing some contract painting at their facility and were given 2 sets of blades to fit the work trucks; we were to let them know how we liked them after 3 months of use. Did not have to wait 3 months, one blade flew off on the highway after a couple of days, the other pair streaked and skipped over the glass in 2 months. The Owner was beside himself for not keeping the old blades, thinking "If it's free, it's for me"!

[lynnmor 7,307]

Years ago, when there was some common sense, you could simply buy refills and use all of the original parts.  Now they want you to toss those well made stainless steel wipers and install plastic junk for a ridiculous price.  The last refills that I bought for my old van were from Amazon and were very old in faded packaging.  If anyone knows a good source for refills, please post it.

[ri702bill 8,327]

@lynnmor now there's a stumble down Memory Lane - I have not seen those in years. I do recall that you had to get the same brand refill as blade - ANCO did not fit Trico, and vise versa.

[squonk 41,150]

Another issue. Go into the parts store and there's 25 brands of blades there. Who needs all of those choices? Then another issue. They don't stock the water pump that fell apart on your truck because they have so much inventory dollars tied up in wiper blades! 

[ri702bill 8,327]

@squonk - right you are - seems nobody stocks hard parts on site anymore. BUT, they always tell you they can get it in a day... or so.

[Ed Kennell 38,209]

1 hour ago, ri702bill said:

Ed, sometimes you just get lucky and actually get what you pay for.

One of the rare times I got lucky.        I gotta admit, I was skeptial when I bought these blades for  Mrs. Ks 13 yo Grand Caravan.

   They didn't have a metal frame with the pivoting fingers to hold the wiper blade.    From day one when I bought this van new, and around a 1/2 dozen blades later,The 26"  drivers side blade on this van  always had a noisy slap when the blade reached the end of the stroke and flipped over and the last several inches never stayed in contact with the windshield.

This $6 Ollies frameless "Beam" type blade was a first for me and it is the first blade that ever worked perfectly on this vehichle.

I went back a bought a set and replaced the metal framed blades with these Beam type blades on my 12 yo F-150.

Quietest blades ever and the cleanest windshields ever made me a believer in the new beam design.

Now the question remains ....how long will they last?       But at $12 a pair, I can replace them often.

 

[ri702bill 8,327]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

Ollies

I looked online and the website looks VERY familiar. Same bad jokes & caricatures used by the now-gone Building 19 chain. Same idea - closeouts and occasional salvage items. Seems we have one up in the northern corner of the state - almost never get up that way anymore ...

As a kid I remember what the original (I think) retail store over the border in CT was called Railroad Salvage. They had no "regular" inventory, just saleable merchandise bought from insurance claims. Good prices, but almost never the same thing twice. Anybody remember "Choo Choo" in the commercials??

Edited May 7, 2022 by ri702bill

[Ed Kennell 38,209]

We actually have two Ollies stores here in York, Pa.      Yes, most of the items are close outs, salvage, and insurance claims.

There are sereval items that are usually in stock.    I can usually buy my lawn weed and feed at a good price,  and being an old dino, I still buy paper books.  Our store has an excellent book section.    We buy many childrens books for  gifts to encourage parents to read to their younguns.

[roadapples 6,983]

Beam style is all I buy any more...