Frederiek Toney changed customer service, not only at Ford and Lincoln dealers, but also throughout the industry during his tenure leading Ford’s parts and service operations.

Before Toney, Ford service centers sold one line of parts, Motorcraft, and worked on brands of vehicles made by one company — Ford.

After Toney, 66, who retires Dec. 1, Ford customers can choose between a good-better-best array of parts, a strategy that helps drivers of older cars receive factory level service with Ford-backed parts.

Before Toney, a Quick Lane service store could work on other brands of vehicles, but the stores had to buy repair parts for other marques from industry distributors.

After Toney, Quick Lane stores use their own brand of parts, Omnicraft, for other makes of vehicles, a change that came in 2017.

Before Toney, a Ford customer would have to drive to a dealer for service.

After Toney, many Ford stores offer pickup and delivery and mobile service, where a Ford authorized technician will drive to the customer.

Before Toney, some dealers sold tires and wheel services, while others did not. 

After Toney, virtually all Ford dealers aggressively sell tires and other wheel services and are competitive with local independent shops. Tire sales help dealers retain service customers.

Toney said the initiatives he pioneered or improved are rooted in one thing: enabling dealers to correctly repair vehicles and get customers back on the road as quickly as possible. “We strive to create 100 percent uptime for our customers, especially for our commercial customers,” Toney told Automotive News. “The winner is always going to be the one who serves the customer best, who makes it most convenient and who creates the most value.”