Since you know the tech who visits your store, maybe you can have HIM do the work for you?
See if he can get the parts, if you give him a copy of your registration.
They you can pay him to do the recall work for you.
The only way you will get it for free, is by taking the car into the dealer.
Thanks for your input.
That would be a good idea for someone who knows a tech they trust who knows how to do the work required on these recalls properly.
But, actually, I really want to this myself. I don't mind paying for the parts, & I know that I will take the time to do it right, & be more careful than most mechanics would be. There have been stories of people's vehicles having caught fire after having this wiring work done.
Regarding the techs at our local Ford, the only dealership within a reasonable driving distance - I know most of them, & I wouldn't let them near my car. The one mentioned above replaced my wiper motor under warranty, & he laid the heavy motor on top of the Mass Air Flow Sensor to remove a nut from it (pushing down very hard!).
Yes, I'm fanatical & I have learned to watch every move they make when working on my car, & I usually require a couple of days in intensive care under heavy sedation after any warranty or recall work is done (the only work I would let them do because I have to). This is then followed by weeks of nightmares & intensive therapy. After that my therapist then requires therapy....
One more of my many Ford horror stories: At one time they had a tech that I thought was fairly decent (he has since quit because he couldn't stand working at this dealership). I requested that he do the work on the cat recall - service manager said OK -assured me this guy would do the work. He also told me that it would take a while, as they would be learning on my car, since they hadn't done this recall yet on anyone else's vehicle (joy), & they would probably lose money on this since the first time will take them longer than they are allotted & reimbursed for. (I thought it was very unprofessional for him to say that.) Anyway, as it took all day, I reluctantly decided to leave & come back later - when I returned, I asked the tech how it went, & he said he couldn't tell me - he got busy on something else, & he said they had several other guys taking turns working on my car.
So the next day, I start it up in my garage, & it sounds like an Indy 500 car. I look under it, & my exhaust is hanging off. I limped to a local muffler shop - they said they heard me coming a mile away - they reattached the exhaust system, shaking their heads - I then headed back to Ford & told them what happened - they refused to reimburse me for the work the muffler shop had to do - I guess they figured I should have gone back to them, but I didn't want to drive that far w/the exhaust hanging off. I probably could have fought it, but I didn't.
Anyway, they have botched almost everything they have ever done on this car, & only once did the service manager ever apologize for all of the problems.
My work often requires long drives from home alone - I need a car I can trust that won't get me stranded somewhere - I feel that doing as much work as I can myself will help prevent problems.
FWIW, I used to work in a service center for an automotive parts & service chain - several of us were what are now called service managers - I saw the customers first & last - attempted to pre-diagnose problems & wrote the work orders, bills, etc. I know what goes on - even though we were honest & had good mechanics , there is no way someone under time constraints is going to work on a vehicle as carefully as you would your own. (One of a zillion things to think about - do you think most of these places actually use clean funnels to add all of the various fluids???? Most use the same funnels for everything, throw them down where they collect dirt, & maybe wipe them out w/a shop rag between uses.)
So far, I have been lucky & have been able to do all repairs/maintenance myself...no mechanic has ever touched any of my cars except for warranty/recall work
, & exhaust system stuff - I let my local shop do that, because w/o a lift, it's kind of impossible to do, & I figure surely they can't mess that up -well, er, Ford could. :rolleyes:
