LONG-TERM UPDATE 4 | We take our Ford Everest for its first service

Our Ford Everest XLT has been clocking up the kilometres since we took delivery of it earlier this year. Indeed, this burly seven-seater has been taken on quite a few extended road trips, including a Johannesburg-to-Cape-Town-and-back-again jaunt at the hands of yours truly. On the way back from the Mother City I happened to glance down at the odometer and noticed the all-important 15,000km mark was about to roll around. So after arriving back in Joburg I called Paul Maher Ford and booked the Everest in for its first-ever service.

The last time I made use of a Ford dealership (Fury Ford on William Nicol) was in 2010 when owned a Fiesta 1.6 Trend I purchased four years earlier. The service was pretty dire and I remember writing something about it on my now defunct TimesLIVE motoring blog The Wheel Deal. Nobody seemed to take any notice of this tirade, least of all said dealership. Fortunately, the Paul Maher experience got off to a far more promising start.

I was met on a rather chilly Tuesday morning by warranty administrator Dwayne Storey, who welcomed me to the dealership and set about checking the Everest into the workshop. He also asked if there was anything else, above and beyond the standard service procedure, that needed attention.. There was. I explained to him that over the last 100 or so kilometres I noticed an annoying shimmy in the steering wheel when braking at speeds over 50km/h. Storey made a note of this, then arranged to shuttle me back to my Melville abode. In the meantime, I was ushered into the waiting area where I could have ordered a cup of coffee or even a toasted sandwich had load-shedding put paid to my breakfast plans. After about 10 minutes one of the dealership’s drivers collected me and we were soon en route. 

So far so good. However, I did expect to do some telephonic chasing come midday just to see how things were going. You see, I like to be kept in the loop (particularly when it comes to car servicing) and I find that in SA this seldom happens — it’s always chase chase chase. So imagine my surprise when I received a call before the clock struck noon to give me feedback from the workshop. Short story made even shorter is that everything was golden on the Everest except for that steering wheel shimmy, which was apparently being caused by a set of warped front brake discs (a bit concerning on a vehicle still so young). The good news, Storey explained, was that this mechanical malady was covered by the Everest’s standard four-year/120,000km manufacturer warranty. As such the technicians were bolting on new front brake discs and pads, after which a freshly fettled KF30DJGP would be steered into the wash bay in preparation for collection.

Before hanging up Storey asked what time I would like the driver to pick me up. I told him 4pm and CJ arrived slap bang on the hour, even giving me a call when he was outside my premises. After arriving back at the dealership, Storey again talked me through what had been done to the vehicle, including the work carried on the brakes. Once satisfied, I was reunited with our Sea Grey Metallic Everest XLT that had been treated to an impressively thorough valet inside and out — very much needed after all the bugs, mud and grime it had picked up on my recent road trip. 

All in all the Paul Maher Ford service experience was stellar. From the friendly atmosphere to the excellent client-customer communication and attention to detail (my purposely emptied windscreen washer tank had been topped up with fresh liquid), I think you would struggle to find a more pleasurable dealership to do business with. If you own a Ford, I recommend looking them up. As for the Everest, well, she’s now being handed over to Sowetan motoring editor Brenwin Naidu. So watch this space for his long-term impressions.

FORD EVEREST 2.0l BiT XLT 10AT 4WD: UPDATE 4

PRICE: R796,200

ODOMETER ON DELIVERY: 7,256km

CURRENT ODOMETER: 15,050km

AVERAGE CONSUMPTION: 7.9l/100km

PRAISES: Incredible service from Paul Maher Ford makes servicing a breeze.

GRIPES: Seems odd that a pair of front brake discs warped so early into the SUV’s life. If you own an Everest and this has happened to you, email us and let us know.