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Mon 7 Dec 2015 11:27

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - scot22

I have seen a car I like on the Evans Halshaw website. It would need to be brought 'closer to me' by the £200 deposit scheme.

All I have ever read about the Dealership has been negative. Is that because generally people are quicker to complain than praise ?

If it is a good car with full service history are there still risks ?

Comments gratefully received.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 11:46

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - gordonbennet

I read lots of bad reports about EA on various forums, however..

my son bought a rather nice 57 plate BMW 325 petrol estate from them earlier in the year, it was very well priced had fairly worn but legal tyres on it and the brakes looked low from what he could see of them through the good condition alloys.

It was cheap enough that even if he re-tyred the thing (17" runflats surprisingly well priced) and got the brakes reshod himself that it was still well worth buying, good overall nick good history, so a deal was done.

It was due for the weekend as they were re-MOTing and servicing it, car did not turn up due to new tyres not arriving, fair enough, that was not expected and naturally we fully expected to find some unheard of Chinese cheapos to be the supplied rubber as even some premium brand main dealers are doing that regularly (he toyed with negotiating/contributing to better rubber but decided to wait and see), anyway couple of days later they deliver it, 4 x new Firestone runflats fitted, nice surprise that and upon closer inspection its had new brake pads all round and i'm almost sure he said at least one new set of discs, so they must have chucked at least £400 at an already done deal so no complaints here.

Car runs lovely, a coil pack started to fail last week causing a liss but no EML and his handy little indy slipped a new one in for roughly £80 all in, EA would probably have sorted that for him had he asked but as the indy was fitting his winter set of tyres he let the chap sort the coil pack too whilst convenient, so not detriment to AE there he'd got a good car from them and was many £hundreds in pocket so had expected to pay out for the odd foible.

His indy also changed axle and transmission oils (its a manual) plus changed coolant and fitted a new rocker gasket as they found a weep from that, its a keeper.

EA get a thumbs up here for this purchase experience alone.

Edited by gordonbennet on 07/12/2015 at 11:50

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 12:22

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - scot22

Thanks GB. It may be that Evans Halshaw are receiving a disproportionate amount of criticism. Looking forward to seeing what comes.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 12:55

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - RT

I've only had brief contact with EH - they advertise on TV to beat WBAC prices but then offered me £200 less - that's both after inspection so both firm offers - needless to say I didn't sell my car to EH.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 13:24

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Gibbo_Wirral

I imagine they're all just as bad as each other. A car is a signicifant purchase, and when things go wrong customers can get upset, but dealers tend to try and wiggle their way out of it.

I looked at a car at EH some years back. When they asked how I was going to pay for it (Tesco loan), they promised to match or beat it.

And they did, however they just lumped extra costs onto the initial and final payments to match the monthly payments the Tesco loan was. Making it at least £800 dearer overall. Their repsonse was to offer a full tank of fuel.

They wouldn't let me have 24 hours to think about the finance, nor allow me to take away any written documentation on the loan figures - even to the point of confiscating the piece of paper I'd hastily written the figures on.

And then two months later when the car had a problem, they dragged their heels. It was only needing a new starter motor.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 14:23

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Falkirk Bairn

Neighbour bought from EH - several issues with the nearly new car (8K miles) - bits missing (jack), service book missing, car was to be serviced before delivery (it was not) - dragged on for weeks - eventually fixed but no apology.

It seems they book the sale & profit - then try and avoid anything that costs them aftersales £££s. Car has been reliable but he won't be back!

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 15:08

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - scot22

I suspect that is a fair generalisation.

If only they realised that good customer relations are key to sustainable success. We all realise they have to make a living but a reputation of integrity I am sure would boost sales.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 17:37

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - oldroverboy.

Avoid at all costs.

cannot order parts correctly and cannot service cars properly.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 18:00

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - daveyjp

Most people don't buy cars very often and aren't very good at it, car sales staff do it every day and have to sell so will say anything to get that signature. No different to anyone else who sells.

Get a poor buyer with a good salesman and the buyer will feel robbed and complain.

A missing jack, service book, unserviced car are all reasons not to buy. How many would walk until everything was sorted? I suggest not many, hence why large chains get away with shoddy service.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 18:38

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - galileo

Most people don't buy cars very often and aren't very good at it, car sales staff do it every day and have to sell so will say anything to get that signature. No different to anyone else who sells. Get a poor buyer with a good salesman and the buyer will feel robbed and complain. A missing jack, service book, unserviced car are all reasons not to buy. How many would walk until everything was sorted? I suggest not many, hence why large chains get away with shoddy service.

I think you have hit the nail on the head; most people don't do the research before buying, many have little or no knowledge about cars, lots still believe the bogus EU mpg figures!

A significant number don't check things like spare wheel (or can of gunge), jack, wheelbrace, tyre tread, condition of discs and pads etc.

Many will choose a car based on its looks rather than more important features, then find the legroom or boot capacity are insufficient.

Some (many?) dealers will take advantage of buyers ignorance and naivety, personally I think the dealer principal is key to the honesty of the operation, whatever the name over the door.

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Mon 7 Dec 2015 19:38

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - scot22

Thank you for all of the posts which are very helpful and thoughful.

My professional world is education and I think far more education is needed where cars are concerned, e.g driving, buying and maintaining.

Finding this forum is the best thing to have happened to develop my car knowledge.

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 08:14

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - xtrailman

I have bought a car from EH, had service carried out by them, and would never use them again.

In fact they are the only company that i have reported to a Manufacturer. I found them incompetent.

Edited by Avant on 08/12/2015 at 12:56

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 08:44

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Bromptonaut

I have bought a car from EH, had service carried out by them, and would never use them again.

I came across them in previous guise as CD Bramall. Experience similar to above. It was however 2005 so perhaps not relevant to today's situation.

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Wed 9 Dec 2015 10:02

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Andrew-T

If only they realised that good customer relations are key to sustainable success. We all realise they have to make a living but a reputation of integrity I am sure would boost sales.

Why - if you can sustain success with only average customer relations?

But I suspect that in a chain there will be good and bad apples (sorry about the mixed metaphor). The local managers aren't all the same. And it must depend a little on how much local competition there is.

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Wed 28 Mar 2018 19:06

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Mark Robertson-Walker

This company in xxxx are without doubt the WORST garage I have EVER had the misfortune of dealing with. Move me closer took for ever! Sales staff are rude and pushy, making you sign a piece of paper to say that you will give them five stars. AWFUL. the service department is even worse. I purchased a car with 2800 miles and it developed a squeak, I told them that I had been advised that it was a rocker cover issue, asked to speak to a manager (never happened) totally ignored this and I had to travel backwards and forwards from xxxxt for repairs that were never going to solve the problem and guess what it was the rocker cover! If you have a choice to buy your car from somewhere else then do it.

(Edited: please read the naming and shaming guidelines.)

Edited by Avant on 29/03/2018 at 12:58

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 12:58

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Avant

Can we please be very careful what we say here. Apart from one word which I've edited out, so far everyone is - just - the right side of the naming and shaming guidelines.

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 13:42

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - oldroverboy.

Can we please be very careful what we say here. Apart from one word which I've edited out, so far everyone is - just - the right side of the naming and shaming guidelines.

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 13:43

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - madf

We bought a new car from EH in 1993..a Peugeot 106.

Before I drove away, I did my own PDI (yes I am OCDC about things like that) and found the light in the boot compartment did not work.- no bulb They fixed it while I waited. There were servicing issues when I was away on business - jobs charged for not done..

Never bought another car from them again and never will.

Edited by madf on 08/12/2015 at 13:44

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 13:48

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - oldroverboy.

So far everyone is - just - the right side of the naming and shaming guidelines.

My own experience was for 3 visits for two cars and ordering a steering column for another, Was told no delivery date available for this part but manufacturer supplied correct part number to them after being contacted.

No apology offered..

For me the future only lies in cars under maufacturers warranty, and let the manufacturer suffer the pain..

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 14:58

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - skidpan

Bought the wifes new Note from local Evans Halshaw. They beat the best broker deal I found without even being pressed too much, never actually needed to get the figures out. Salesman was fine, car delivered on the date agreed. No problems.

However, if you expect them to match or beat the WBAC offer forget it. On our initial visit the used car department offered £2700 for the Micra which was £100 more than WBAC so we thought we knew the worst case deal. 1 week later they told me that used prices had dropped and they could only offer £1700 despite WBAC price still being current. He would not budge and at this point pretended to know nothing about the WBAC price promise.

Sold it privately as originally intended but the website and truth are different totally.

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 16:04

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - scot22

Thanks for all the useful posts - they are appreciated.

It seems EH can be fine but there are a number of concerns. As was pointed out it does depend on the principal of a particular branch. Not read anything good about local branch ( not naming ).

As it is always - excercise caution and do homework.

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Tue 8 Dec 2015 16:31

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - RT

Thanks for all the useful posts - they are appreciated.

It seems EH can be fine but there are a number of concerns. As was pointed out it does depend on the principal of a particular branch. Not read anything good about local branch ( not naming ).

As it is always - excercise caution and do homework.

After nearly 5 decades of car ownership, this may be the norm across all franchised dealers, certainly has been at those I've used in my area.

Most of those still in business are on HJ's Good Garage Guide so I take that with a bucket of salt.

Edited by RT on 08/12/2015 at 16:32

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Wed 9 Dec 2015 09:44

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - jc2

It appears that EH also own a number of dealers and groups operating under their own names-some of which are excellent-speaking from personal experience.

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Thu 29 Mar 2018 19:15

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - MikeM100

My son bought a Ford Focus from them about 2 years ago. He noted on inspection that all four (matching) tyres were in good condition.

A couple of days later after collection he noticed that they had 'swopped' the two rear tyres with well worn tyres from another car. They denied it, of course

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Thu 29 Mar 2018 19:57

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - FP

Last summer, SWMBO and I went to a local branch of EH, having made an appointment to see and test-drive a second-hand Mazda CX-5.

Pleasant enough young salesman. The car, however, was a mess. It hadn't been cleaned for goodness knows how long; there was even the green stuff round the windows that you get when a car has stood outside, unwashed, for months on end. The inside wasn't much better. This is a car that had been advertised on the EH website for some weeks.

There was very little fuel in the car and we were told to keep the test drive short. Salesman vague about service history.

Given that neither the previous owner nor the dealer had shown any interest in caring for the car, we walked away.

I don't understand what was going on. What a lack of professionalism! Didn't they want to sell the car?

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Fri 30 Mar 2018 12:51

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - Engineer Andy

My son bought a Ford Focus from them about 2 years ago. He noted on inspection that all four (matching) tyres were in good condition.

A couple of days later after collection he noticed that they had 'swopped' the two rear tyres with well worn tyres from another car. They denied it, of course

If memory serves, EH own a lot of Ford and Vauxhall franchises, and given they seem (by reading reviews about Ford and Vauxhall dealerships) to vary in quality generally, tending towards more being poorer than good, then its not really a suprise that EH gets more complaints about those makes than the perhaps smaller numbers of (say) Far Eastern make franchises they run.

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Fri 30 Mar 2018 19:06

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - skidpan

We bought the Note from them almost 3 years ago and cannot complain about the deal we got, the effort the salesman made to get us the deal and the aftersales service.

What I will say is the EH deal to beat WBAC is b00110cks. When we asked for a price for the Micra we said we had been offered £2550 by WBAC which seemed OK for a nearly 8 year old car (it was in really good condition with below average miles). EH offered £2700 which gave us a nice fall back should our intended private sale fall through. We did sell privately and got £2800 but the following day EH rang to update us on the PX value, they dropped it to £1700 saying that the guide price had slumped £1000 in a month.

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Fri 30 Mar 2018 22:06

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - RaineMan

My son bought a Ford Focus from them about 2 years ago. He noted on inspection that all four (matching) tyres were in good condition.

A couple of days later after collection he noticed that they had 'swopped' the two rear tyres with well worn tyres from another car. They denied it, of course

Thiis happened to a colleague a number of years ago at a branch of Godfrey Davis.. He refused to complete the paperwork and they then swapped the wheels with a near identical model on the forecourt.

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Fri 30 Mar 2018 22:08

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - RaineMan

I nearly brought a car from them a few years ago but when I looked into it decided it was seriously overpriced but they would not haggle despite no P/X!

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Mon 2 Apr 2018 15:34

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - CK91437

EH - Don't go anywhere near them

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Mon 2 Apr 2018 17:43

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - argybargy

I used them recently, and have no intention of using them again.

As already reported on this site I was given a valuation/ price to change, then they reneged on it for the most spurious of reasons without any hesitation whatsoever.

Avoid at all costs.

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Mon 2 Apr 2018 18:26

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - Engineer Andy

EH - Don't go anywhere near them

...and this is because....

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Mon 2 Apr 2018 19:27

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - No ! - daveyK_UK

Went with a friend who sold his car to them via their buying scheme.

Price was better than we buy any car and we want any car, they honoured the email valuation and he was done pain free within less than an hour.

I’m not sure if his experience was unique to that sales girl or branch but a very good experience

Can’t really comment on buying from them other than they are a good option for a Ford if you want a PCP and they haven’t hit their individual and or dealership sales target.

Have heard first hand of people getting cracking deals if they are willing to close on the last day of the month, likewise have had a friend who was in the middle of a PCP on a Ford Focus, got asked to return it after less than a year in the September to be given a higher spec Focus, with an increased mileage allowance for £2 more a month!
He didn’t even have to pay for the first years service or for the damage he had caused to one of the alloys on the car he returned.

Edited by daveyK_UK on 02/04/2018 at 19:27

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Sat 11 Aug 2018 23:14

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Stephen Hall

No.
I saw a 2015 Peugeot 2008 diesel at a reasonable price low mileage one owner on Evans Halshaw website with a move me closer offer next to it.
Perfect, or so I thought.
Filled in the form online ,paid £200 on credit card , received confirmation e mail just had to wait for car to be delivered.
Two days later received phone call from my local EH branch, “sorry the car you had reserved has been sold to someone else”, apparently at exactly the same as I was reserving it. The guy from EH did offer to find me another car only to come back with similar car £2000 more expensive. I declined his offer and asked for a refund of the £200. “Ok no problem sorry again” and end of phone call
Next day just out of interest I returned to EH website there was another 2008 on a ‘65 plate slightly more expensive but not £2000 more . Tried to phone my local EH branch, got through and sat on phone for 9 minutes waiting for sales department guy to answer his phone.
Finally having explained previous move me closer payment and awaiting refund arranged for second car to be moved closer.
This time no e mail confirmation ,so phoned EH again (car still advertised for sale on website) sat for 16 minutes this time had to explain it all again because the guy I spoke to last time wasn’t there and had left no notes concerning my previous conversation.
Eventually got everything sorted, or so I thought , and was promised a phone call next day to confirm delivery date.
Next day no phone call ,went on website car still up for sale .I telephoned and waited for15 minutes,had to explain everything again,was transferred to branch where car was for sale waited again for 8 minutes explained to 4th salesman and was finally told it was reserved for me for delivery in 8 to 10 days.
10 days later and still no phone calls and no car ,yet another phone call more waiting on hold ,this time I’m told they can’t find the car on their forecourt,turns out they are searching for the original 2008 that had been sold when I tried to have it moved closer.
Decided at this point to give up and said so to salesman he apologised and promised me yet another phone call in an attempt to sort everything out.
Surprisingly I did get the call back, salesman tells me they can’t find the car and can’t contact the logistics company that moves vehicles for them.
Again promised another call back that didn’t happen so once more telephoned my local branch ,spoke to previous salesman who asked me when I had last visited their showroom (I hadn’t visited it) because someone with the same name as myself had ,amazingly ,gone there to buy a Peugeot 2008

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Sat 11 Aug 2018 23:31

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Stephen Hall

I had enough by now and requested a refund,salesman asked me to wait until weekend for yet another call back.
You’ve guessed it no call back ,surprise ,surprise, so I called into showroom,none of the 3 salesman I had spoken to were available and it was left to the receptionist to arrange the refund.
Evans Halshaw have lost a potential £9000 +sale and any future purchase from myself and friends and family.
I know this was a bit of a rant but anyone considering buying a car from this company think again,very poor customer service, salesman that seem to not know what they are doing,and generally not worth the hassle .

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Sun 12 Aug 2018 00:40

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Avant

Disappointing, isn't it, when people whose job is selling seem not to want to sell. I suppose this company makes most of its money from fleet sales, so doesn't care much if it loses a private sale. Which doesn't excuse them.

Try to find a dealer that's family-owned or part of a small group rather than a huge chain. You should get better after-sales service that way as well.

And unless you do a very high mileage, think about a petrol engine. There are many of us on here who might congratulate you on avoiding buying a 3-year-old French diesel.

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Sun 12 Aug 2018 02:03

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Stephen Hall

Really?My present car is a pug 207 diesel ,never had any problems with it ,get 50+ mpg, which is why I looked at 2008 1.6 hdi.
Evans Halshaw may rely on fleet sales but the local showroom to me is completely used cars only,so any lost sale at that branch is missing money for weekly/monthly sales targets.
Purchased my present car from pug dealership,at present they are way overpricing their stock of used cars so not really an option.

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Wed 11 Dec 2019 17:48

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - Owen Bashford

In a word No. I paid a £200 Deposit for a car, after a couple of weeks delays because they couldn't trace the service history they thought it was okay to email me the afternoon before I was due to collect the car to tell me they had accidentally sold it to someone else! Terrible experience with the Sales Leader promising to sort things but never did and the Dealer Principle was supposed to phone me and didn't bother. I'd go anywhere but there to buy a car personally.

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Wed 11 Dec 2019 19:46

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - bathtub tom

Went to look a Toyota they had advertised. 'Phoned beforehand to make sure it was still available. It was sitting outside the showroom looking like the bird poo it was covered in had a bucket of water thrown over it and with the engine running - alarm bells were already ringing. I reckon they sent me out on the test run with the youngest sales apprentice they had. He had no idea about the service history (it was less the five years old and would still have had Toyota's warranty if it had been serviced in accordance). They wanted full price for it, but only offered a quarter of the price in trade-in I subsequently sold mine for.

I walked.

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Wed 11 Dec 2019 21:08

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - S40 Man

I got my 16 plate Astra 1.6 turbo SRi from Evans Halshaw in Wolverhampton. I traveled up from Guildford as this model was £1000 cheaper than the South east. Car was ex mobile and had a dings on the door, which they sorted out. Also got new not and service. Nothing has gone wrong so can't advice on aftersalses but the buying process was great.

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Wed 11 Dec 2019 22:47

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - lucklesspedestrian

Some years ago we visited an EH showroom near Glasgow to view a car we had seen online. It was a bit over-priced so we asked the salesman what the best price he could go to was. He disappered for a minute or two during which time he could be seen in intense conversation with his senior in an adjacent office space. He duly returned and with a straight face informed us that he could not negotiate on price as that would compromise the integrity of the dealership.

To be honest that still makes me chuckle about 10 years on so it was probably worth the visit (and no, of course we didn't!)

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Wed 18 Dec 2019 12:14

Any good words about Evans Halshaw - MCM57

I bought a 2017 Fiesta from EH about 18 months ago, price was fair, and moved from Lancashire to Ipswich within 3 days. Had a couple of issues with the car, but all fixed under warranty at the local Ford dealer

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