fdesalvo

I bought my car new in February of 2014 from Autonation Ford Tustin, CA and have had the absolute worst new car ownership experience.

Around 8K miles the clunking from the driveshaft became unbearable along with the whining rear diff. After 3 attempts to have them recognize the problem, they acknowledged the issues. On the last visit, they forgot to replace an underbody panel properly, so it was destroyed along my way home, producing an obscene scraping sound. The service advisor called and told me he ordered a new diff and some other parts, but I decided to take it to another dealership that Ford CS recommended. How could I trust them with a complex repair, when they can't even replace two bolts?

Tuttle-Click assumed the work and replaced the DS, Rear Diff, and parts of the transmission under warranty. 5K miles later, all the issues are back again. Two trips to Tuttle-Click produced nothing, so they told me to go back to another dealership if I don't like their work. I decided to give Autonation one last attempt at redemption.

They found the DS is ruined and the rear Diff is in need of repair. But this time, they are saying it's probably due to the suspension components I have on the car. What an insult.

I brought the car in for it's first warranty repair with those parts installed. Tuttle-Click set my car back up after and sent me on my way with no questions. Pinion angle? Perfect.

There's nothing like being insulted after spending over $40K on a new car, knowing I could've gotten another type of enthusiast car from another, more reliable maker with better CS and support.

To add insult to injury, Autonation decided to wash my car - without my permission. I saw what I thought was my black GT in the rear lot, but it was too shiny to be mine, I thought. Mine was a bit dusty. It was mine. I walked up to it and the entire car his absolutely covered with horrible scratches from end to end. NO ONE WASHES MY CAR BUT ME FOR THIS REASON.

Then I noticed the wheels, which were half done. They must've used some type of caustic solution on them - my brembo caliper covers are faded now - as is my window moldings and the plastic beneath my spoiler. This car lives in a garage - I work at home and it never sees the sun.

My car's finish is literally trashed. It looks like they sanded it with steel wool. The manager acknowledged this and asked what I wanted him to do. What? Well, you surely can't be trusted to wash a car without damaging it, so why would i let you remove what's left of the clear coat? The clear on these cars is about paper thin - even less. You want to polish out the scratches, then you have to remove the clear so the surface is level with the lowest depth of the scratches. You remove paint.

They surely aren't going to repaint this and ruin the rest of the car's value, so now I'm left with no recourse. I've got a beat up looking 2014 GT with 15K garaged miles on it that needs warranty work.

If you are considering buying a Ford, know that you will have no dealer support network to rely on; no one will have your back when the SHTF. Even at their best, they cause damage. Heres' my old post about this along with a link to the car's current pics...

http://s443.photobucket.com/user/fra...ibrary/mustang

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I want to provide a detailed report from my dealership to you all who have the following issues:

1. Clunking driveshaft sound when engaging clutch at low speed
2. Whine from diff with 373s

I brought my car in several months ago and was told the clunking and whining were normal and the parts were within spec. After a second bout with this dealership, I called Ford CS and was given another dealership as an alternative. I made the appointment and left my car with them for almost 4 weeks. I was provided a rental, btw.

I just picked up my car and the clunk that was so embarrassingly prominent is now almost nonexistent. The whine from the rear end, which became very intrusive - and written off due to my rear end mods introducing noises - is now completely gone.

If you are having these issues and your dealer or fellow board members tell you that clunking or whining is normal, then you need to move on until you find a dealership that will do the work, or get Ford CS involved pronto. Here's what they did.

1. Replace Driveshaft Asy
From Dealer report: "Customer states that there is a banging sound at low speed while engaging clutch…"

"Performed inspection OK. Road test confirmed sound at low speed. Lifted and inspection. Failed found tran mount damage, Insulator and drive shaft center support bearing to have concern. Road test like vehicle for comparison. Removed parts for access for trans mount. Check linkage pass. Removed and replaced mount, Remove and replace driveline pass.

Removed and replaced trans insulator, driveshaft. Check all linkage pass. Torque to spec done. Re-road test at low speeds pass. Concern no present at the time of repair.

2. Rebuild entire pumpkin
From Dealer Report: "Cust states theres a whine from the rear. THe noise is most noticeable at highway speeds.

"Performed inspection. OK. Road test at steady freeway speeds and able to hear whining noise from rear. Return. Lifted and inspection using hearing aid. Found pinion bearings howling . Also notice vent leaking fluid and pinion seal. Removed cover. Found large amount of metal in diff. Removed drive line. Removed axles. Check back lash failed.Spec is .08 - .12. Reading wash .20 removed parts. Clean and prep area for rebuild. Installed new cones, bearings, gears, and seals. Done. Set preload to 29 inlbs. Set backlash to.08. Check pattern pass. Installed axles…."

Do not accept that your car is making these noises. This is not normal. My car is now as it should have been; as you'd expect a new car to drive. You are paying good money for something that the Ford factory workers are carelessly slapping together and most dealerships are being dismissive.

Now the only noise left to eliminate appears to be coming from my passenger rear Whiteline LCA, which this service department was cool enough to troubleshoot down to. They lubed all of the bushings and made sure everything was torqued to spec/torqued while under load where need be. Now I have to deal with this last bit.
__________________

Glenn

so whacha gonna do

fdesalvo

Yesterday I wanted to drive it through the giant window onto the showroom floor. I decided that wouldn't be prudent.

Today I took the car out into the sunshine and there is so much more paint damage that I initially saw. Even the "GT" emblem on the rear has been severely scratch along with the panel it sits on.

I'm waiting on the manager to respond presently. Probably gonna take the rest of this offline. I'll let you guys know the final outcome in 2017.

laserred38

This is why I don't want to take my car in. This is why I bought my car 1000 miles and two states away, from a GOOD dealer. I'm SOL for warranty work around here. I have the same diff whine, but no clunk (yet). I also had paint bubbling on my hood and trunk edges (and the edge of the driver's side door, which is steel, but still - it's there) and had my dealer document them before I took the keys.

They told me to have a local dealer document them too. Unfortunately I work a pos M-F job, so I can't take time off of work to go spend time at a Ford Service Dept during the week.

Cease5.0

I think I inquired about this car. I live in Southern California was it listed for $40,720 ? I actually have a screen shot of it on my ipad along with all the info don't want to post your vin though.
Around that time that was the only car I found with the specs I wanted I guess it was you beat that me to it. I ordered mine and haven't had any problems I have 200 miles on mine so far. I hope you don't have any future problems with it your car is a beauty I drooled for days over it.
Hope it all works out for you have it detailed by a professional might be able to bring some life back to the paint.

MusicMan66

Sorry you had so many problems. That sucks.

FWIW, my 2009 GT (auto) has over 63K miles on it with zero issues.

Getportfolio

Just saw the pics of the swirl marks. What were they thinking ?!

laserred38

Wow. Me too. I would tell that dealer they're repainting the car at the body shop of your choice, and I'd go with something like Lava Red to change it up a little, then bury it under 5 coats of clear to make it a mile deep.

Getportfolio

Not adding fuel to the fire but I've owned 3 black mustangs over the past 15 years. Even the occasional micro marring happens from a proper wash.

However, that looks suspicious and very intentional. It's like the dealership intentionally grabbed a dirty rag off the floor and said "hurry up and dry this thing so we can get this guy outta here." (No offense to OP)

It blows my mind actually. My family members have black vehicles and do not care for them properly, run through car washes, use old rags and bath towels and they still don't look that bad. What a d@mn shame to do that to that car.

kylerohde

My local dealer's service dept. is open from 7 to 7, which I would have to think isn't unique. You can't take it in early or late, then leave the car with them? Hard to get mad at Ford here when you haven't given them the chance to fix it. Here's what I figured out with my dealer in regard to the paint bubbling issue: https://themustangsource.com/f804/pa...522361/index3/

fdesalvo, your deal, well, that's unfortunate and I'm sorry to hear it. Didn't mean to hijack your thread...

Automatic 5.0

I would be pissed, too.

I have a daily driver GT and I expect to get some chips and scratches from time to time and will always justify them with having a good time driving the car around while I got them, enjoying every mile. But for a car to be damaged like that at a dealership service department is unsatisfactory.

I would negotiate to be able to bring the car to a trusted detailer and the dealership foot the bill for it all.

laserred38

I didn't realize they were open that late. I work at 0730, but I could def stop by after work. The problem isn't so much the hours though, since most are open Saturdays - it's more so that I don't have a good dealer around here that I trust.

Horspla

I know you've elected to take this offline but I don't think the paint issue is non-recoverable. I've seen worse that ended up looking like new again. I'd guess most of the micro scratches are very shallow however because the car is black they look magnified and much worse than they are. A good detail shop can fix that no problem. The plastic parts, wheels and brake calipers...man I don't know. I know they can all be painted very successfully but don't know if that's the avenue that’s acceptable to you. The dealer has to make this right with you.
John

fdesalvo

Our clear coats are paper thin. We get one correction out of them and that's it. I can't blow my one correction this early. I'd be down to bare paint in no time. The mechanical issues aren't resolved and this car hasn't been listed! A repaint would ruin the resale of the car, so that's out, too.

fdesalvo

Exactly - even with black paint, you have to go out of your way to do this. My old manager has a black 94 SVT that's tracked monthly. It looks nowhere near as bad.

laserred38

If a repaint is done better than factory, how could it ruin the resale?

fdesalvo

Can provide suspicion of prior damage.

laserred38

If you keep all your documentation, I don't think you'd have a problem. Especially if you get it done by a good shop and end up with a better than factory finish with a deeper clear - I'd turn it into a selling point

typesredline

Come on bro. You keep saying this over and over in multiple threads and it's just flat out not true.

If in a polish, the detailer takes off the thickness of a sheet of paper, they're doing it wrong.

The marks look worse than they are bc it's black.

Not only will they come out no problem, but you you will be able to polish that car every year for its life and be fine.

Don't get so caught up in the "super thin clear coats" propaganda these days. They are thinner, but not a one time and it can never be polished again like you think.

You have now had myself, a detailer for over 15 yrs and several other tell you this same info. It doesn't take away from the fact that it's an unnecessary polish that should have been avoided. But hey, my gt was on the lot for 6 months. It had some swirls when I got it brand new. But now it's all good.

I'm on your side here, but it's hard to defend bad information. It almost feels like you are purposely trying to make things worse than they are.

GrnT

Mine has issues but I conveniently ignore them.
I hope it works out for you.