Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Ford dealship wrecked my SVT

After reading everyone's posts, and being employed by a BUICK dealer in the past, I can only offer you this advice.

First,

Please seek the advice of counsel. You do NOT have to retain them yet, but knowing where you stand and what you can and can't LAWFULLY ask for, will give you a lot more confidence when taking to dealer personnel. This will help you to maintain your koolness about yourself.

Second,

Under NO circumstances should you accept the car repaired, if you are NOT satisfied with the repairs. Body shops AND repair shops, including DEALERSHIPS, are licensed by the DMV, and a VERY BAD CLAIM against them, can get the DMV on their ass very easily.

Third,

Wait until the Dealership OWNER returns to carry this matter forward. I would make an appointment to see him after you have spoken with counsel on this matter. Counsel can prep you on how to control your situation so you come out ahead of the game easily.
Take a notepad with you and write down all points made in the discussion. If you are not satisfied talking with the owner, ask that a FORD REPRESENTATIVE sit in on a future talk. YOU WANT TO ASK A FORD REPRESENTATIVE WHY FORD KNOWINGLY DESIGNED A CAR THAT CAN JUMP INTO GEAR ALL BY ITESLF. If the deny you a FORD REPRESENTATIVE, then tell them they will have to call FORD, when you return with counsel.
Take a DIGIAL camera with you and take photographs.
Hint Here... When MTX car jumps into gear, it lays A LOT OF RUBBER on the floor. If there isn't any rubber on the floor in front of the toolbox, the toolbox may have not been in that position at the time of the accident. Look for rubber on the floor of the shop.

Fourth,

If after talking to the Dealership, you are still not satisfied, take your notes, discussion and photographs to counsel and let him work for you. If the dealership is being stupid and trying to cover up a technician that was being ignorant, you may very well end up owning the dealership for it. This can be a good thing because next year, you can get yourself a Fully Loaded Marauder for free.

Good luck with your case, and sorry to hear that your SVT got wacked.

OMG yes...get a damn Lawyer involved quick. Take pics...LOTS OF THEM to show proof of damage. Above all....It's time to call a lawyer!

Good luck.

Maxboost11,

Every time you go to that dealer without having talked to a lawyer you are costing yourself money.

A lawyer wold have told you not to accept the vehicle, period.

A lawyer would have sent a photographer in with you.

A lawyer could get you a new SVT and take car of the rental costs and emotional wear and tear.

Bluntly, the dealer will not be taking you seriously untill you lawyer up. You can bet your bottom dolaar they will have talked to one before offering you anything.

Remember, when you hire a lawyer, your not marrying one, just renting one The smell washes off.

There is no way you could lose on this one. If you take this to court you will be driving your brand new cobra to the bank to cash a fat check. Goodluck.

I really want to thank everyone for the replies, the serious ones along with the ones which made me laugh out loud. (My wife may think I am a little strange when I laugh at the computer). This has really put me in perspective, as to control my temper. I have a rather short fuse. You know the Discount tire commercial? The one where the little old lady throws the tire through the window, well.....

I have talked to two different attorneys, receiving advice which were to opposites almost(dealer is only obligated to repair the damages they caused) and (we can take the owner to court if the results are not to your satisfaction)

I have even talked to some Ford techs and asked of thier procedure for tb and intake clean,(raise two front wheels off the ground and set in 3rd gear with about 3-5000rpms injection of cleaner is put in through PVC valve location in intake boot.) So their story does at least measure up.

It seems to me that they would just say "Hey were sorry what would you like us to do for you?" Unfortunently it seems that they may start to play hardball tomorrow, thats the feeling I am getting in the back of my throat.

I also work anywhere from 12-16 hours a day so that gives me very little time to deal with what is going on, on top of still dealing with the Texas flood problems.....

A 2000 SVT sure would be nice though, hehe. I wish I wasnt such a fair guy somtimes, I sure want to lay blame of my tranny problems to this accident but I shouldnt. :rolleyes:
I will let you know how it goes tomorrow if it seems as if they are wasting my time I will just go hire a attorney.
Well I gotta go play with my 65 mm tb that just arrived.
Take care,
Max

I forgot to add, they paid for the rental car. I would of come unglued if that bill was presented to me.

It just went into gear? Yeah, right. I listen to a finance show on the radio and there was a woman on just a couple days ago talking about a situation very similar to this. I would say you give them (in a fairly calm manner) a certain amount of time to fix it or you come back with a lawsuit. It was wrecked on their premises while they had it - it is their responsibility to fix it. If they try to push you around just say that word LAWSUIT. I know men (in general at least) like to go in and rant and rave, but I have found in the past that a cool, but cunning, head wins the arguement.

That Throttle Body cleaning procedure is FLAWED. What do you need with putting the transmission in gear, just to rev the engine while spraying cleaner into the PCV Hose ?

You can do the same and accomplish the same in PARK. There is NO REASON to do this with the engine running. Do you really want all of these carbon deposits in your cylinders and Catalytic Converter ??

Also, when you take the front wheels off the ground and spin them, while the rear wheels are still, it sets off a code in your ABS system that the speed in the rear wheels does not match the front wheels. The code is similiar to a bad wheel speed sensor, but when two fail together, the ABS computer is a little smarter.

And if you have Traction Control, it absolutely drives the traction control bonkers !!!

The correct way to clean a throttle body is to REMOVE IT, or take a wrag, dampened in cleaning fluid and clean as much of the throttle body you can without removing it from the manifold. The IAC motor should also be removed from the Manifold, and cleaned as well as the IAC ports. These can be cleaned with a pipe cleaner doused with Cleaning Fluid.

Sorry I didn't respond earlier (this month is one that I'm trying to forget, I've been so busy...) Many of your ideas were right up my alley of thinking as well, but apart form the usual suspects, this one had me baffled if the Ford Guys were sticking to their "version" of the story...

After reading your latest adventure with your "friends" at your local Ford dealership, I've some ideas of what one could do:

1) Burn 'em to the ground. In short, find a cranky, pi$$ed off lawyer who will play hardball with these curs and DEMAND a new vehicle of equal or greater value, along with monetary restitution for mental anguish, lost wages, time, emotional distress, etc., etc. I hate the structure of the legal establishment of today, but there are times when this sue-happy society that we live in can really help grind a splintery stick of pine up a defendant's a$$.

2) Get the BBB involved, along with the local media (newspaper, TV, radio, etc.). Also talk to the city attourney about possible "deceptive practices". Also place a call into OSHA about saftey in the workplace and as a customer, you are EXTREMELY concerned about this. Bring by a building inspector, beg an EPA official to chek out their policies of handling oil, paint and other waste. I could go on and on and on...

In short, hit them on ANY and EVERY front you can possibly think of (hell, check and see if they comply with the Disability Act) if they are going to screw around with you. When they finally figure out that they are going to have to fight 4 or more fires at one time, my money's on them giving you whatever the hell you want just to get rid of you.

Finally, don't just get a lawyer. Get a lawyer who REALLY wants to work for you in getting what YOU consider fair and reasonable out of this.

Good luck and best wishes.