AHHHH!!!! DEALERSHIPS :(

[Sweeper]

This really drives me insane. I've always hated having any work done on my car that I couldn't do and or is under warranty at a dealership. I hate them. I don't trust them. And if possible I will avoid them at all costs. (NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WORKING AT ONE ) Anyway, my Mustang has this really annoying tapping noise loud enough that it can be heard from in the car driving at about 1300 rpms through the local neighborhood. It has 1500 miles left on the warranty. So I drop it off at the dealership yesterday (fully aware of the tapping noise, verified the noise as I was getting ready to shut it off). They take the car for a day and call me to tell me that they hear nothing out of the ordinary. @ this point I am boiling. I've been an ASE Certified Tech. for 9 years or so... I verified this noise and made sure it was constant and even had another ASE Certified Tech. look at it that had no clue, I just told him to listen to the engine for anything out of the ordinary. He verified it. Because it's under warranty he really didn't do much and we agreed to take it to the dealership. The tech there said he drove it, scoped it, had his best tech. listen to it and didn't hear a thing. (THIS IS THE GOOD PART). I called to check on the statis of the car...At a little past 1:00 & he hadn't even seen the car and was busy fixing a truck. At 3:30 he calls and said he had been working on the car, driving it, etc. for awhile and didn't hear any noises out of the ordinary. 2 1/2 hours later he just suddenly completed a diagnosis of the car? I don't think so. It's warranty work.... it only has 1500 miles left. Let me think about this..hmmm....warranty...free work... ahhhh...I get the picture now. They tell me to pick it up and if it becomes a problem bring it back. There isn't anyway I am going to keep driving the car till it gets worse. It's already bad enough as it is.. Sounds like it has a rock laying in the valvetrain bouncing around. How can you not hear it??? I plan on picking it up, driving it for about 15 minutes and bringing it back. If I have to throw the tech in the car and drive it with his head stuck under the hood ... I'm sure he'll hear it then....
Sorry..... EXTREME RANT OFF......

[nunyadam]

I would say he must be deaf. if he can't hear it .

i know what you mean sweeper, my Dodge was still under warranty and some thing weren't working. so i took it in. well they fixed one problem drove it work, had a co-worker in the passanger side and when he tried to get out of the door, the handle didn't work.

so i take it back that very minute, the tech runs out and goes oohhh my bad i forgot to hook the door back up. So they fix the knobs i go home press the lock button on my car beeper. go to my house to get a part, walk outside and i went to unlock my door. it was still unlocked!!!! i was like WTF?! i remember locking this. so i open the door and press the electronic lock and it wouldn't work!!!!! so i took it BACK again (note this is all in one day) the lady at the desk was like "well we can't do anything right now, so make another appointement. so i do wasting my time, have to get up early to take my bro to school so i could use his car. about 5:30 they finally finished. so i try the locks out and they work. awsome! hey thanks guy. so i get home and we have speed bumps in our neighborhood. i went over one, parked my car and went to push the electronic lock just to make sure. and guess what. they didn't work. it seemed everytime i went over a bump it would work one minute and then the next not. so i take it in AGAIN. some mechanic put in the wire the wrong way or it was loose. now im not dogging mechanics, but they need to get there act togetherover there at Tysinger Dodge in Va. avoid them at all cost if you can!!

[caddmannq]

In the words of another famous Mustang owner:
"Ah feel yore pa-ain..."

[major frickin rant mode]

At 86,000 miles, my GM 3800 developed a slight vacuum leak, and was sucking a little oil. A little web research told me that they all eventually do that due to a cheap "plastic" manifold that cracks around the EGR port. It also told me that the plastic eventually cracks through the coolant passages & hydro-locks the engine. Whoa! I hadn't the time to fix it myself, and took it into the dealer. I told them it had a vacuum leak, I thought the manifold was cracked, & I wanted it replaced in any event. It also needed a smog inspection, and I scheduled that to be done at the same time.

This manifold has three pieces, two are plastic, but the lower is aluminum. The dealer calls me and says "Yep, the manifold is cracked."

"Right. Change it."

He calls me back and says: "We need to reseal the lower manifold too. One of the internal manifold bolts was completely loose." Oh goodie. This manifold is all torqued down with one loose bolt. There's a good chance that it's warped now.

"Change that one too." I say. This brings the bill up to $1100.

The next day he calls me and says: "The car runs great now," (it ran great when I took it in!) "...but it won't pass the smog check. It's 0.2 points over the NOX limit. We think it needs a new catalytic convertor. I don't have one in stock, but it'll be about $600." (Hmmm...point 2 ain't much bud, and it oughta pass!)

"Forget it. I'll come get the car."

I get in the car, and the vacuum leak is evidently fixed, as the idle was 1050 & has come down to 850 RPM. It runs perfectly, but why didn't it pass smog? Then it hits me.

The Odometer has only clocked 1.8 miles since I brought the car in. This is about the minimal rolling distance for the car to pass or fail on the OBD2 treadmill smog test. They fixed the leak, but then they never even drove the car! There was oil in the convertor & they never blew it out. MORONS!

I drove the car up and down the freeway, about 10 miles, and took it into another smog shop. It immediately passes with flying colors. Not 0.2 over, but 15.2 under! The dealer said he'd refund the smog check fee "within 4 to 6 weeks". ($89) I'm still waiting for that.

Also, I made them return my old manifolds, and neither one is cracked. I didn't check for warpage, but not one crack. No cracks in the gaskets either. The sucker was just loose.

Finally, two days later, the vacuum leak returns. I go out & start re-torquing the manifold bolts, and one of them is completely loose! No sealant on it either, like they just stuck it in and forgot it. In addition, they have over-filled the oil about a quart, and the fuel pressure regulator hose is loose.

This is the second time I've taken my car into a dealer in my 47 years, and it's my second major bad experience.
[/major frickin rant mode]

[Gutter Ball]

My new co-worker had a nice experience a few weeks ago with a Ford dealership. It seems NO dealership likes to fix things that are under warranty. Anyway, he has a 1999 V-6 Contour and it developed some kind of noise on the left side. He was smart and purchased the extended warranty, but with this warranty, EACH time you bring it in for warranty work, you had to pay $100 (what kind of warranty is that?) So he drops off the car in the morning, it gets fixed, he picked it up that afternoon and paid the $100. Well the noise was still there, so he turned around and talked to the owner (the person's name who's on the sign.) Owner says "Oh, we thought you meant that other noise (what other noise!?!?) No prob, that will be ANOTHER $100" "Excuse me? I paid you the first time to fix this problem and now you want me to pay again?? That's not right." "All right fine, we'll fix it, BUT I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU HERE AGAIN!!" Uh-huh...now that's just good customer service, right out of the book. To top it off, I guess the Ford dealers "talk" to each other too! When he brought it to a different one for an oil change, after entering his license plate into the computer, the service person said there was a "note" attached saying he was a troublesome and irrational customer: beware" So Ford of Canada got a nice letter and the two dealerships are "under investigation"...whatever that means.

[Sweeper]

yeah, most dealerships do that. Once your car is entered it can be pulled from most any other dealer for your vehicle. They will attach notes and what not to warn other dealers. It's also used so that if your in another state and your car messes up they can pull all the information on your car. Since this is the first time my car has ever stepped foot into the service bay, I have to say I am really disapointed. I told them exactly how to hear the noise with flying colors. All you have to do is put it in drive, hold the brake and get the RPM's to about 1100 and it sounds like a rock or piece of metal is flying around in the valve cover. I don't think they did anything but start it up..walk away till it was warm, rev it up and shut it off.

[Cruez]

Those are all the reasons I do all of my mechanic work....Except for charging A/C.. got a friend who is licensed for that...

[caddmannq]

Sweeper: I'm startin' to think "weak oil pump" there. Do you have a pressure guage? Test it under the conditions you just mentioned.

Are you using that stupid factory recommended 5w30 oil? That's a total crock. Unless you live in Alaska 5w30 is too thin for anything except break-in oil. Even 10w30 is too thin once the average engine gets 60 to 80,000 on it, or even 20,000 if you live in a hot climate.

I run synthetic 10w40 in the three coldest winter months, and 20w50 otherwise. Durring July when it hits about 105F all month here, I even thicken that up with some Motor Honey or STP.

Similarly, I brought my mothers 95 Countour in because the front end was clunking like mad over bumps. I asked the work order secretary to have the front end checked out, as it was making noise. I specifically asked they check the ball joints, CV joints, and springs.

The next day I return and they tell me they didn't find anything wrong with it, other than the serpentine belt was cracked and about ready to break. I said 'well I appreciate the fact that you checked the belts, but you're sure there's nothing wrong with the front end?' The mechanic says 'Front end? The report says to check the front side of the motor.' <sigh> It's a fwd, the front is the side. What's on the front of the motor? The exhaust manifold? Sheesh.

There is one mechanic in town that my entire family has always brought their cars to, and we still do. Except he'd never done a front end replacement on a Contour before and he recommended we take it to the Ford garage. F that. The only solid experience I've had with a dealer garage is when I took my Grand Am in for it's free oil change (and I was suprised it didn't come back with something wrong).

This same Ford dealer replaced a 3.8v6 in a Taurus three times because they forgot to do something each time (see the last Sweeper/Mustang thread). I hate dealer garages. No offense to the mechanics. They're just following orders probably. Get 'em in, get 'em out. Whatever happened to 'quality is job #1'? Bleh.

Good luck with the stang Sweeper. I'd say find a Mustang mechanic and have them fix it. It may cost more, but they'll probably get it done right the first time.

-Whir

[Sweeper]

I'm hoping to get it fixed for free under warranty..... Hey I'm a poet and didn't know it....look, a ryme everytime...... Ok so it was lame.... had to try and cheer myself up....