Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Got taken in by repair shop

It's embarrasing to admit it. But I'm even more furious. And I need some advice to deal with it.

I was on a trip 500 miles away from home when my car start having trouble going up hills over a couple of days. And it was getting worse fast, from slight hesitation to almost constant surge in power on uphills. It wasn't obvious to me what may be the problem. I had another thousand mile to go before the end of my trip and some serious mountain passes on the way home. So I went to the nearest Ford dealer to have it looked at. I was a bit concerned about something else. Because the car was symtom free on flat terrain, it might be difficult for them to duplicate the trouble and to spot what's wrong. I mentioned that to the "service supervisor". Maybe not such a good idea in retrospect.

First, the machanic report the engine was over-heating, which was news to me. Because when I had the trouble on hills, that was the one thing I checked and was sure it wasn't over-heating. But I thought perhaps that's just how the problem develope itself in the short time it took me to bring it to the dealer. They changed the water pump, at the tune of ~$500.

Then, they told me the tranny was toasted!!!

Not thinking clearly, I didn't had the present of mind to ask WHAT was wrong with the tranny in order to judge if what they say made sense. Though the car felt ok on normal city and freeway driving, it WAS surging on long uphills. That seems consistant with tranny problem, even though I was hoping it would be something less serious.

Mistake number 2, I ok the repair! I was a stranger in town, knew no other shops that are better or worse, and I was too eager to continue with my journey. They offer a rental for me to continue my trip and pick up the car a few days later when they got a rebuild tranny put in. Seems the best solution, had the car REALLY needed a new tranny.

Here comes the bad news. I picked up the car, it seemed to run fine on flat ground. A couple hundred miles later, I hit those serious mountain passes again. And the car was doing EXACTLY the same thing! Surging and hunting for gear on long uphills! I mean EXACTLY! The realization hit me like a brick. Whatever was wrong with my car, it didn't need a new trans.!!!

Naturally, I want my money back, for the unnecessary tranny replacement they did and charged me. It's probably not going to be easy, if possible at all! So the question is, what are my options? What are the channels one could appeal to get one's money back in a situation that's clearly inappropriate repair? As you all can guess, it's bid $$ we're talking about they charge me for replacing a tranny. So I will not hesitate to go to considerable length to try to get it back because the trouble and cost would still be worth it. All advice and suggestions are welcome!

NEVER GO TO THE FORD DEALER. (Well there are some OK ones)
Contact the regional service manager guy. Tell him they did unneccesarry repairs, didn't fix your problem, and overcharged you ($500 for waterpump replacement is crazy).

Yep. You may want to check your fuel filter while you're at it.

I'd suggest checking with a lawyer... If there ever was a case of taking advantage of an individual through fraud, this is it. They fraudulently represented their solutions to the problem with no intention of actually repairing your problem...

Good luck, and don't let them get away with this!!!

Tom

get youre paper work together and sue the bastards

Get in contact w/ a few local shops and find out what they think, about the fix and about the bill.

Were you at a high altitude, how much fuel was in the tank, its a stretch, but it may have been a simple case of vapor lock.

I'm kinda curious as to whether they even changed the wp and transmission. If they are going to rip you off, they may have gone all the way. It should be easy to see if the wp and trans were actually changed.

Isn't that true only if one took a note of the seriel number of the parts before they were replaced? How does one tell if the "replacement" is indeed new without taking them apart, which in itself is a big job?

Given that you said it was hunting for gears on the up hill runs, you have an automatic tranny correct? If so, it is going to hunt for gears climbing steep grades because the tranny is going in and out of 4th gear trying to maintain speed. When I went back and forth from here to arizona, my car did the same going through the mountains. You should turn the overdrive off when driving up steep grades. If it was off and still hunting gears, then there really is a problem. As for the situation you are in now, I'd go ahead and contact the regional manager for that area as well as the ford customer service line and explain the situation to them. They have been more than helpful w/ me on several occasions getting issues resolved w/ local ford dealers around here. Good luck.

Had the car looked at locally. Diagnose it's a engine issue. Just need spark plugs and wires.

Not that anyone should be surprised. The out-of-town shop guy just said "your car must haved developed engine problem on your way home...".

So where do I find the number to reach the "regional service rep" to voice the complain?

Also, I'd like to hear from as many others who have had similar issue with repair facilities to learn what they've done to get their money back. Is there other web sites where such information is exchanged?