So, I contacted the dealership yesterday, (Enfield Ford - Enfield, CT) and they said the service technician checked it out and said everything was fine. He said that I would have to bring the car down again and drive the foreman around who did the work and show the problem. According to them I am driving on different roads then they are testing it on, so we are getting different results. Of course however, this is ludicrous as the problem occurs on every road surface surrounding the dealership and in their parking lot.
Nonetheless, I left work early to go talk to the Ford dealership in person. When I got there they told me all there foremen had gone home for the day. While I waiting to schedule an appointment for the next day, a man who appeared to be sometype of technician got involved. He started to basically blame me for all the alignment issues and formulated a bunch of excuses in the meantime.
He said the wheel will never be "pefect" and dead center again because it is not a new car. Then he launched into some mumbo-jumbo about the road conditions. When I explained to him that I tested it everywhere, including the highway on the straightest, flattest part, he went on to say you can't get it straight there either. After this I further explained to him about my knowledge of the "crowned roads" theory and told him about the lie that it is. (Because if it was totally true, that would mean every car that is in alignment correctly, would have a steering wheel that is off-center on many surfaces - including brand new cars.)
I went on to tell him that I paid $79 to get the car aligned and the steering wheel center, therefore it should be perfect. Next he started to say well there are many factors that could be affecting it like the wheels, tie-rods, wheel bearings, etc. As true as it is that those conditions may effect the location of the steering wheel, if anything was wrong, they should have and would have told me during other service I got done on the car a week earlier. This included replacing all brake rotors, a sensor in the engine bay, a trunk issue, and then the alignment. While performing work on the brakes, they noticed I had a bad wheel bearing and replaced it for me. The point is, if any of these other issues really were present on the car affecting the steering column, they surely would of noticed when the were pulling it all apart. So, yet again his theory didn't hold much water!
After debating with him for a little longer, he began to tell me that because I have aftermarket 18" Enkei's on the car, it is causing the trouble. However, these wheels were only on the car since mid-November of last year, are in excellent condition and were professionally balanced by Discount Tire Direct, from where I purchased them. (They actually have made my car rider smoother and overall better, then when I had the factory wheels on, which were given me an uncomfortable ride at times.) This was the point at which this service man was trying to blame the faulty work done on my car, on my choice to use aftermarket wheels. Then he told me because they are over 16", they don't have the machine to do it at their place, so they had to bring the car to Town Fair Tire. He then proceeded to explain how the alignement is done, which I already had a general idea through reading much literature on the internet, and said it is a hard procedure that they cannot get perfect with my car.
Nonetheless, we agree that they would take one more stab at it and see what happens. So it is down there now, as I write this.
What really got me frusturated was the nature in which this individual would speak to me. I was respectful of the fact that he dealt with Fords for his job, however, he continued to bombast with a bunch of excuses. The manner he spoke to me was also from a "I am an expert and you know nothing about your own car, " point-of-view. Our 15-minute discussion was civil, but nonetheless I was getting very agitated. Furthermore, I was especially angry in the way that he tried to incriminate me in saying that the cause of all my problems were the aftermarket wheels I put on. At one point I actually said, "You not going to get me to incriminate myself," after he tried to make me say yes to his notion that all my problems occurred after I put these wheels on, which of course they didn't. I was able to read this guy like an open book and it was easy for me to see that because I was a twenty-something year old with nice wheels (the only modification to the car), he was trying to tie me into that demographic of people that have absolutely no knowledge of the workings of their car and only care about nice looking wheels. Both of course, categorically untrue.
Well we shall see how it goes today. In writing this, I have now decided that I will print this thread out, with all your comments, past and future, and will give to Enfield Ford along with a document stating the nature of the way I was treated yesterday. Your help and further postings will be appreciated. Let's let them know that a correctly done alignment job should result in a car that drives straight and a steering wheel that is dead-center, no stipulations or contractions to that statement!
