I have the worst luck.
1/13/12, 07:50 AM
#1
Mach 1 Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: January 12, 2012
Location: Suburbs of Dallas
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
13 Posts
I have the worst luck.
I've got to get this off my chest. I absolutely adore my new 12 Kona Blue Mustang, despite it being just a lowly V6. I really do love the car.
But I have had the WORST luck with it.
A week after making my first payment, I'm driving in rush hour traffic and some twit behind me didn't bother hitting his brake when everyone else did. Didn't hit me hard, but he did manage to do $800 in damage to the back bumper.
Fortunately the insurance claim was the easiest I've ever had. Had the wreck at 7:30 AM and by 10:30 AM they had already accepted responsibility and scheduled a time to drop it off at the body shop I chose. Kudos to USAA Insurance for a job well done.
I get the car back during a rain storm two days after Thanksgiving, so I couldn't really inspect the paint properly. When the weather dried out and I washed the car I found several problems with the buffing. Returned the car and had them rebuff the entire back bumper. (Other parts of the car also needed rebuffing, but I'll get to that in a minute)
Then comes last week. I had a hectic holiday, so I had waited until last week to get some minor warranty repairs done. A loose piece of plastic in the dash that was rattling, rebuffing some spots on the paint that Ford had done a poor job of at the factory, and I was having the famous 1st and 2nd gear shifting problems in cold weather with the MT-82 transmission. Having worked in the service department of an Infiniti/Cadillac dealership I knew these were easy repairs and the work should be done in a single day.
So, I bring it into the dealership and my nightmare begins.
First, I am informed that the state registration sticker that they gave to me actually belonged to an entirely different car. That of course makes my car illegal. Good thing I haven't been pulled over.
Then the Service Advisor writes my cell phone number down wrong. This means he doesn't call me back at all during the day, despite the dealership having my phone number on record via their sales department.
Then, their "Courtesy Shuttle" did not bother to pick me up from work, despite me filling out the signup sheet for it and talking to the driver about it when he took me to work in the morning.
After making several angry phone calls to the dealership they finally send their driver to pick me up, 45 minutes late. I get back to the dealership after the Service Department had closed and their workers have all left.
I am told that the TSB about the transmission fluid change doesn't apply to my car because it's a "GT only" fix. Well, I know that's not right. I ask what they've done to try to fix it then. Answer is...... not one **** thing, they didn't even drive it to test it.
I ask to see the car, and immediately see that the paint hasn't been buffed either. Turns out after 9 hours with the car the only thing they had fixed was the loose piece of plastic. I decide at that point that I would rather have a different dealership work on my car.
As I'm leaving the parking lot the Service Advisor begins yelling obsenities at me, all because the last thing I said to him was that I didn't like being lied to. Not exactly great customer service.
Now I'm not the kind of person who takes this lying down. I'm also not the "normal" type of person when it comes to my ability to locate specific people. Since leaving auto mechanics I've moved into an IT field with a company that specilizes in finding people. 15 minutes behind a PC, and I had the personal email address of the dealership owner. Sent a long, angry, but very professional email to the owner detailing all of my problems. To his credit he did contact me personally, apologize profusely for the problems, and then sent the general manager up to my work to pick up my car and left me with an identical black 12 Mustang to drive until I got my car back. This wasn't some used car either, it only had 17 miles on the odometer when I got into it. I wonder if they knew that I lived 30 miles away and would put nearly 70 miles on the car before I returned it. Either way I'm impressed that they actually brought me a brand new one to drive instead of some used Festiva.
To the owners credit I was treated MUCH differently the second time around. After much discussion about the transmission problem the dealer agreed to swap out the transmission fluid despite the fact that Ford wouldn't cover it because they claim the new fluid was included in my transmission from the factory.
Strangly, changing the fluid did fix the shifting problems.
They rebuffed and polished up the entire car. It's ready for a full Blackfire detail this weekend.
I've only had the car for 3 and a half months, but it's already been wrecked and been through a nightmare service visit. I love the car, but I'm a little shellshocked, wondering what else is going to go wrong with it.
But I have had the WORST luck with it.
A week after making my first payment, I'm driving in rush hour traffic and some twit behind me didn't bother hitting his brake when everyone else did. Didn't hit me hard, but he did manage to do $800 in damage to the back bumper.
Fortunately the insurance claim was the easiest I've ever had. Had the wreck at 7:30 AM and by 10:30 AM they had already accepted responsibility and scheduled a time to drop it off at the body shop I chose. Kudos to USAA Insurance for a job well done.
I get the car back during a rain storm two days after Thanksgiving, so I couldn't really inspect the paint properly. When the weather dried out and I washed the car I found several problems with the buffing. Returned the car and had them rebuff the entire back bumper. (Other parts of the car also needed rebuffing, but I'll get to that in a minute)
Then comes last week. I had a hectic holiday, so I had waited until last week to get some minor warranty repairs done. A loose piece of plastic in the dash that was rattling, rebuffing some spots on the paint that Ford had done a poor job of at the factory, and I was having the famous 1st and 2nd gear shifting problems in cold weather with the MT-82 transmission. Having worked in the service department of an Infiniti/Cadillac dealership I knew these were easy repairs and the work should be done in a single day.
So, I bring it into the dealership and my nightmare begins.
First, I am informed that the state registration sticker that they gave to me actually belonged to an entirely different car. That of course makes my car illegal. Good thing I haven't been pulled over.
Then the Service Advisor writes my cell phone number down wrong. This means he doesn't call me back at all during the day, despite the dealership having my phone number on record via their sales department.
Then, their "Courtesy Shuttle" did not bother to pick me up from work, despite me filling out the signup sheet for it and talking to the driver about it when he took me to work in the morning.
After making several angry phone calls to the dealership they finally send their driver to pick me up, 45 minutes late. I get back to the dealership after the Service Department had closed and their workers have all left.
I am told that the TSB about the transmission fluid change doesn't apply to my car because it's a "GT only" fix. Well, I know that's not right. I ask what they've done to try to fix it then. Answer is...... not one **** thing, they didn't even drive it to test it.
I ask to see the car, and immediately see that the paint hasn't been buffed either. Turns out after 9 hours with the car the only thing they had fixed was the loose piece of plastic. I decide at that point that I would rather have a different dealership work on my car.
As I'm leaving the parking lot the Service Advisor begins yelling obsenities at me, all because the last thing I said to him was that I didn't like being lied to. Not exactly great customer service.
Now I'm not the kind of person who takes this lying down. I'm also not the "normal" type of person when it comes to my ability to locate specific people. Since leaving auto mechanics I've moved into an IT field with a company that specilizes in finding people. 15 minutes behind a PC, and I had the personal email address of the dealership owner. Sent a long, angry, but very professional email to the owner detailing all of my problems. To his credit he did contact me personally, apologize profusely for the problems, and then sent the general manager up to my work to pick up my car and left me with an identical black 12 Mustang to drive until I got my car back. This wasn't some used car either, it only had 17 miles on the odometer when I got into it. I wonder if they knew that I lived 30 miles away and would put nearly 70 miles on the car before I returned it. Either way I'm impressed that they actually brought me a brand new one to drive instead of some used Festiva.
To the owners credit I was treated MUCH differently the second time around. After much discussion about the transmission problem the dealer agreed to swap out the transmission fluid despite the fact that Ford wouldn't cover it because they claim the new fluid was included in my transmission from the factory.
Strangly, changing the fluid did fix the shifting problems.
They rebuffed and polished up the entire car. It's ready for a full Blackfire detail this weekend.
I've only had the car for 3 and a half months, but it's already been wrecked and been through a nightmare service visit. I love the car, but I'm a little shellshocked, wondering what else is going to go wrong with it.
Last edited by Moustang; 1/13/12 at 07:53 AM.
1/13/12, 08:04 AM
#2
Bullitt Member
Join Date: May 3, 2010
Location: So Cal
Posts: 430
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Normally I'd say find a new Dealer ASAP, but it sounds like the owner is working to make everything right with you.
Keep your head up. These things are a pain in the ***, but these cars are too much **** fun to give up on.
Keep your head up. These things are a pain in the ***, but these cars are too much **** fun to give up on.
1/13/12, 09:17 AM
#3
Shelby GT350 Member
Dang man that is some bad luck. It must be the curse of the Kona. I've had some similar things go wrong too. At least the dealership stepped up, unfortunately it took an email to the owner though. You've probably helped out lot of future owners because I'm sure the owner is not going to let another customer be treated like that.
1/13/12, 09:34 AM
#4
NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE ON THIS SITE! DO NOT USE PM FEATURE!
Join Date: October 25, 2010
Location: Dearborn, MI
Posts: 5,279
Likes: 0
Received 16 Likes
on
14 Posts
Deysha
1/13/12, 09:44 AM
#5
Mach 1 Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: January 12, 2012
Location: Suburbs of Dallas
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
13 Posts
Well, it seems the bad luck trend keeps going. I just walked out to my car to get some info off it, and thanks to a good angle of light I noticed that there is still a large hazy spot in the paint on the rear drivers side fender. YAY!!!!
I guess it's going back to the dealership a third time now for the exact same problem. You would think something as simple as buffing out a hazy spot on the paint wouldn't be this difficult to fix. We'll see how Mr General Manager feels when I call up his cell phone and tell him that they still didn't fix it.
EDIT: Talking to the GM now. He's made arrangements for the manager of the paint and body shop to meet me at lunch and they will take care of it while I wait. A bit of a hassle to have to go back again, but I can't fault them for making the effort to get it fixed and back to me today.
I guess it's going back to the dealership a third time now for the exact same problem. You would think something as simple as buffing out a hazy spot on the paint wouldn't be this difficult to fix. We'll see how Mr General Manager feels when I call up his cell phone and tell him that they still didn't fix it.
EDIT: Talking to the GM now. He's made arrangements for the manager of the paint and body shop to meet me at lunch and they will take care of it while I wait. A bit of a hassle to have to go back again, but I can't fault them for making the effort to get it fixed and back to me today.
Last edited by Moustang; 1/13/12 at 10:44 AM.
1/13/12, 11:06 AM
#6
Spam Connoisseur
I got هَبوبed
I got هَبوبed
Join Date: September 8, 2009
Location: Sun City AZ
Posts: 9,705
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes
on
5 Posts
its good that its all seems to be working out. Sounds like you are getting all the bad things out of the way early. You should stick around we might need someone with a job like yours.
1/13/12, 12:45 PM
#7
Bullitt Member
Join Date: August 16, 2011
Posts: 231
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow, your story is bad, but mine is up there too. And I sure wish I was as resourceful as you, as far as tracking down owners of dealerships and making them listen to me.
I bought my car used, and within 2 weeks off the lot it had broken down- leaving me in the middle of the road with 2 little kids in a100 degree heat, on a Saturday. I was about an hour from home, didnt know the area, called my dealership for help, and explained what happened. They gave me the number for my Ford Basecare extended warranty. Well guess what? They are closed on Saturdays. So I towed the car to the nearest mechanic I could find, and paid $700 to replace the waterpump. Ford refused to reimburse me for this under the warranty because I didnt take it to a Ford dealership. If they had TOLD ME THAT WHEN I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP I would have.
Then, when I got home, it was still acting up, so I took it back to the dealership to have them look at it. At this point I had owned the car just under 3 weeks. They called and told me that the car needed about $2000 worth of work- NONE of which was warrantied. I said I felt this was issues that should have been caught before they put the car up for sale (a check engine light and a faulty gauge cluster among other things?!) You know they knew about that....
They told me it was a used car and that I was responsible for anything wrong with it, and that it wasn't their problem. I tried calling service managers, the general manager, my salesman, another GM... not a SINGLE ONE returned my call.
I'll also add that throughout the ordeal I was polite and calm, and not rude or abusive- which may have been the wrong attitude now that I look back.
A few days after that happened I was laying in bed around 930 at night and my dog started freaking out. I ran downstairs, and a "kid" (18-20's) was standing there whaling on my Mustang with a brick. I tried to catch him but couldn't. Of course the Police did nothing. I ended up spending $700 to repair the damage he did.
So, at this point: $2000 downpayment + my trade in- another 2K, 2K to have it fixed, $700 for the window and surrounding body damage.... and I'm going through an intersection, and a douchebag in a Camry runs a flashing red light and t bones me. I've had the car for a month.
The kid driving the Camry managed to drive off all the witmesses while I was knocked out, and lied his *** off to the cop who showed up. I was found to be not at fault, but because they did not ticket him, my only recourse would have been to hire a lawyer.
The insurance company totaled my car. The run of bad luck I had with it totally cleaned out my entire savings account. Gone. By the time I scraped up enough downpayment for my next Mustang I had nothing left.
On the happy side- I got to go from a V6 to a V8 and get the color I really wanted all along, and the Premium options
So I guess it all worked out but it sure sucked. If just one person at that dealership had helped me out, things may have been different- so count yourself lucky that the Owner is being cool with you.
I bought my car used, and within 2 weeks off the lot it had broken down- leaving me in the middle of the road with 2 little kids in a100 degree heat, on a Saturday. I was about an hour from home, didnt know the area, called my dealership for help, and explained what happened. They gave me the number for my Ford Basecare extended warranty. Well guess what? They are closed on Saturdays. So I towed the car to the nearest mechanic I could find, and paid $700 to replace the waterpump. Ford refused to reimburse me for this under the warranty because I didnt take it to a Ford dealership. If they had TOLD ME THAT WHEN I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP I would have.
Then, when I got home, it was still acting up, so I took it back to the dealership to have them look at it. At this point I had owned the car just under 3 weeks. They called and told me that the car needed about $2000 worth of work- NONE of which was warrantied. I said I felt this was issues that should have been caught before they put the car up for sale (a check engine light and a faulty gauge cluster among other things?!) You know they knew about that....
They told me it was a used car and that I was responsible for anything wrong with it, and that it wasn't their problem. I tried calling service managers, the general manager, my salesman, another GM... not a SINGLE ONE returned my call.
I'll also add that throughout the ordeal I was polite and calm, and not rude or abusive- which may have been the wrong attitude now that I look back.
A few days after that happened I was laying in bed around 930 at night and my dog started freaking out. I ran downstairs, and a "kid" (18-20's) was standing there whaling on my Mustang with a brick. I tried to catch him but couldn't. Of course the Police did nothing. I ended up spending $700 to repair the damage he did.
So, at this point: $2000 downpayment + my trade in- another 2K, 2K to have it fixed, $700 for the window and surrounding body damage.... and I'm going through an intersection, and a douchebag in a Camry runs a flashing red light and t bones me. I've had the car for a month.
The kid driving the Camry managed to drive off all the witmesses while I was knocked out, and lied his *** off to the cop who showed up. I was found to be not at fault, but because they did not ticket him, my only recourse would have been to hire a lawyer.
The insurance company totaled my car. The run of bad luck I had with it totally cleaned out my entire savings account. Gone. By the time I scraped up enough downpayment for my next Mustang I had nothing left.
On the happy side- I got to go from a V6 to a V8 and get the color I really wanted all along, and the Premium options
So I guess it all worked out but it sure sucked. If just one person at that dealership had helped me out, things may have been different- so count yourself lucky that the Owner is being cool with you.
1/13/12, 01:05 PM
#8
Mach 1 Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: January 12, 2012
Location: Suburbs of Dallas
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
13 Posts
Yikes! I've had bad runs like that before. My first Camaro managed to get wrecked 5 times before it was fully totalled out on a Christmas Eve by a 16 year old girl who ran a red light. Not one of the wrecks was my fault. My wife totalled her 05 Altima with just 6 months to go before it was paid off. Not her fault but replacing it was a huge expense that we were planning on not having since it wasn't worth as much as buying an equal used one would have cost.
So I can feel your pain there.
As for complaints, my philosophy is start at the top and work your way up. Usually finding a dealership owner is as simple as doing a Google search for the name of the dealership + the word "owner". Check for Facebook, other personal web pages, business links, and other businesses he may own, and you'll usually run across an email address along the way. Before I contacted the owner of this dealership I had gone to Ford's website and looked up their board of directors and officers. I sort of threatened to contact the CEO and President, President of the Americas, President of Customer Service, and President of Service and Repairs, and listed them by name rather than their position in the corporation.
Trust me, the last thing any dealership wants to hear is that someone contacted the CEO of Ford and complained about them. Corporate officers and directors are a funny group of people. You can be a complete nobody, but if you get their attention then they'll make a point of setting things straight, usually personally and quite forcibly.
As for me, I'm back from the dealership and the paint appears to be all fixed. I just know I'm going to find a rough spot once I start doing a proper detail to it tomorrow.
So I can feel your pain there.
As for complaints, my philosophy is start at the top and work your way up. Usually finding a dealership owner is as simple as doing a Google search for the name of the dealership + the word "owner". Check for Facebook, other personal web pages, business links, and other businesses he may own, and you'll usually run across an email address along the way. Before I contacted the owner of this dealership I had gone to Ford's website and looked up their board of directors and officers. I sort of threatened to contact the CEO and President, President of the Americas, President of Customer Service, and President of Service and Repairs, and listed them by name rather than their position in the corporation.
Trust me, the last thing any dealership wants to hear is that someone contacted the CEO of Ford and complained about them. Corporate officers and directors are a funny group of people. You can be a complete nobody, but if you get their attention then they'll make a point of setting things straight, usually personally and quite forcibly.
As for me, I'm back from the dealership and the paint appears to be all fixed. I just know I'm going to find a rough spot once I start doing a proper detail to it tomorrow.
Last edited by Moustang; 1/13/12 at 01:22 PM.
1/13/12, 01:11 PM
#10
Mach 1 Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: January 12, 2012
Location: Suburbs of Dallas
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
13 Posts
I once had a 98 Honda Civic EX that was hit three times, the last one buy some idiot who made a left turn at an intersection right into my drivers door as I was going straight through headed the opposite direction. I even had my 2 year old daughter in the back seat at the time. Spun me around backwards and crushed the entire side of the car. Glass flew everywhere. The second the car stopped moving I turned around to look at my daughter and she just laughed at me.
Last edited by Moustang; 1/13/12 at 01:20 PM.
1/13/12, 01:34 PM
#11
Bullitt Member
Join Date: October 11, 2011
Location: Texas, Nederland
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Don't these stories just put you in the mood to whip some ***. I am the owner of a new 5.0 mustang and lo e it but my truck. A 6.0 powerstroke I purchased about 2 years ago with only 50 thousand miles on it. Note: this is a fully loaded king ranch. One of the most beautiful bad *** trucks I've seen in person or driven. Well about a month later I started having that 6.0 problem. Well long story short the repair bill was 10 grand. And there is no way in hell that guy didn't know he was screwing me over. Wanted to sue ...but didn't have any proof he did infact know. Im was then a 20 year old college student with limited fund. I know what its like to be pissed at a grade a ******* who purposely screwed me over.
1/13/12, 01:55 PM
#12
Mach 1 Member
1/13/12, 02:06 PM
#13
Bear Eats King...
Bear ****s Bone
Bear ****s Bone
Join Date: September 5, 2011
Location: Cleburne, Tx
Posts: 5,302
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Originally Posted by Kinyodas
Lowly? 300 horses is nothing to sneeze at! Faster than my Mark VIII with the 8!
Anyway, glad everything worked out in your favor.
1/13/12, 10:22 PM
#14
Just Plain Rude!
Join Date: February 1, 2004
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 3,392
Likes: 0
Received 18 Likes
on
18 Posts
Your situation sucks and it's sad that you had to contact the owner just to get treated properly, but at least it seems like things are being taken care of now.
1/13/12, 10:28 PM
#15
Originally Posted by Kinyodas
Lowly? 300 horses is nothing to sneeze at! Faster than my Mark VIII with the 8!
Anyway, glad everything worked out in your favor.
305 hp is not a lowly V6. Please OP don't feel like you have a lesser Mustang. It's a great car and you have the best V6 ever put in the car and better than most V8s ever put into the car.
I'm sorry if other owners have made you feel this way. It's a Mustang. A pony car. The pony car. Some come with a V6 and some a V8. Some even came with 4 bangers. But they were and are all Mustangs.
Hang in there.
1/14/12, 07:49 AM
#16
Mach 1 Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: January 12, 2012
Location: Suburbs of Dallas
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
13 Posts
I don't know about the rest of the OPs post but this stood out to me right away also.
305 hp is not a lowly V6. Please OP don't feel like you have a lesser Mustang. It's a great car and you have the best V6 ever put in the car and better than most V8s ever put into the car.
I'm sorry if other owners have made you feel this way. It's a Mustang. A pony car. The pony car. Some come with a V6 and some a V8. Some even came with 4 bangers. But they were and are all Mustangs.
Hang in there.
305 hp is not a lowly V6. Please OP don't feel like you have a lesser Mustang. It's a great car and you have the best V6 ever put in the car and better than most V8s ever put into the car.
I'm sorry if other owners have made you feel this way. It's a Mustang. A pony car. The pony car. Some come with a V6 and some a V8. Some even came with 4 bangers. But they were and are all Mustangs.
Hang in there.
Don't take it too harshly, you have to understand a bit about my background.
The Mustang is my day to day run around town car. I'm used to a whole lot more than just 300hp.
That, and it just doesn't seem "special" when I park it next to the Ford GT that one of the other guys at my work drives.
Last edited by Moustang; 1/14/12 at 07:52 AM.
1/14/12, 03:41 PM
#19
Mach 1 Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: January 12, 2012
Location: Suburbs of Dallas
Posts: 1,041
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
13 Posts
Yes, I said in another thread that I'm a convert from Chevy. I drove the new Camaro before I drove the Mustang, and I liked the Mustang much, much better.
I've also owned a pair of 442s, a Hurst Olds, a 70 Cougar, and a pair of mid-80s Camaros as well. Those were all street cars though, these aren't even close to street legal. The silver one is pushing nearly 700hp, the white one is over 800hp.
And that big old hoss is my cousin. He's 6'6" and nearly 400lbs. Even bigfoot is afraid of him.
I've also owned a pair of 442s, a Hurst Olds, a 70 Cougar, and a pair of mid-80s Camaros as well. Those were all street cars though, these aren't even close to street legal. The silver one is pushing nearly 700hp, the white one is over 800hp.
And that big old hoss is my cousin. He's 6'6" and nearly 400lbs. Even bigfoot is afraid of him.
Last edited by Moustang; 1/14/12 at 03:44 PM.
1/16/12, 07:08 AM
#20
NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE ON THIS SITE! DO NOT USE PM FEATURE!
Join Date: October 25, 2010
Location: Dearborn, MI
Posts: 5,279
Likes: 0
Received 16 Likes
on
14 Posts
I noticed that there is still a large hazy spot in the paint on the rear drivers side fender. YAY!!!!
I guess it's going back to the dealership a third time now for the exact same problem. You would think something as simple as buffing out a hazy spot on the paint wouldn't be this difficult to fix. We'll see how Mr General Manager feels when I call up his cell phone and tell him that they still didn't fix it.
I guess it's going back to the dealership a third time now for the exact same problem. You would think something as simple as buffing out a hazy spot on the paint wouldn't be this difficult to fix. We'll see how Mr General Manager feels when I call up his cell phone and tell him that they still didn't fix it.
Deysha
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Antigini-GT/CS
2005-2009 Mustang
5
10/5/15 09:43 AM