Goodbye Ford

[FamiliaGTRAe]

To follow things through clearly and concisely,

1. I bought the car on the 19th August '03

I brought the car back inside 2 minutes with no power steering * Fixed by pinching the clip and bracket from another car

2. Brought back on 21st Aug, for Stereo and cruise control failing to set or hold speed.

3. Brought back one week later for 2. and first service.

4. Back for Stereo and reset of ECU to fix Cruise and Boost control problem, and fit car bra, plus my Fairmont Clock.

5. Back for problem 2. Stereo Late October.

6. The day before the last wakefield park day in for intermediate oil change and 2.

7. Finall got the dealer to ring Ford Engineering and form an EDRS the first week of November

8. Brought car back in as problem worsened to the point where the AUX FM and AM radio was unlistenable.

9. Rang 13FORD only to have them not know I existed, or my SIDO / VIN number being valid, then spent hours explaining everything to them

10. Took car back at next available service time on 13FORD advisement, Car returned worse than when it went in.

11. COmplained to 13FOrd 11th December, advised return callls would be made None came.

12. Chased 13Ford up myself on the monday of XMas week. TOld they had no idea there was even a problem with my car and that the dealer hadn't advised them of any problem, and that no other customer has complained about your issue so ford is working towards a fix but they've all gone on holidays.

13. Rang back on Monday 5th January only to be told again by 13Ford that they had no idea there was still an outstanding problem with my car.

14. Which prompted me to go to the dealer and hand them the keys to my car and threaten them with legal action which got me some action.

15. So far the dealer has changed the antennae unit, rerouted the power and signal cables, checked the earth, replaced Nickle Cadmium bolts to mild steel bolts, checked and replaced (?) the airbag sensors, and finally today brought in a working premium sound equipped XR8 and swapped one at a time the BCM, the Head unit (ICC?) and the Amplifier all to no effect.

16. The Dealer and its agents seem to expect me to leave them the car for some indtermined period of time.

17 Not Happy Jan!

18. Ford Customer care contacted at 440 pm and asked how long they are open for told til 7pm Melb time, asked for an CSP to contact me in 30 mins (to allow me time to leave the dealer and get back to work) NO PHONE CALL!

19 Forcing me to ring them up only to be told that the people I spoke to and the person "handling" my problem have left for the day.

There you have it, My problem in a long wide nutshell.

Cameron

[FamiliaGTRAe]

Oh and the thing that really does me is that the rest of the car is fine, not perfect you will notice just fine.

Its only a stereo really, I can make that call if its "just" a stereo, but if the dealer or 13Ford ever says it to me again im gonna ..............

Cameron

[Redhawk]

I am sincerely sorry that you have a sh!tty car, no matter what make or model it is....

That anyone these days buys a car, and parts with hard earned cash to put up with the frustration and bullsh!t that you have is a sad state of affairs.

I hope that things turn around for you soon and that for every sh!tty thing that has happened, I hope an awesomely great thing happens....

I hope you keep smiling, and that you remember that it will not last forever, nothing is static, something will change, whether it be you change it for yourself or not.

The corner will be turned, the wheels will spin, and you will move ahead...  it will happen!!!

In the meantime, all of us are here to support you when you have that much needed vent...  that's what friends are for!

Isn't she beautiful!

Well said Kitty........and I agree totally.

Cameron.........so sorry you feel so bad about your experiences.

I'm sure if you persevered you would get satisfaction.......although as Dags says' what problems are you experiencing with your car??

I have found that since I have been on this forum my dealer knows better than to fob me off.......

Yes, I had some problems with my T, and all of them were common problems experienced by some owners, but the info I was armed with when I went to discuss the problems with my dealer helped me to get the issues dealt with to my satisfaction, to the point that when I sold my T I was confident that the guy that bought it had a bloody good car and if he had any issues I could probably help him out. To date (4mths) have'nt heard from him.

Cameron, I hope you have better experiences with whatever manufacturer you go with, but in my experience and what I have seen, heard and read, you could buy a $650,000 car and still have problems. The saddest thing I saw was a 12 month old Countach in the dealers with it's engine bay.......empty, no motor, gearbox nothing, the wealthy f*ckwit that owned it had blown the gearbox up!!!! Obviously a case of more money than sense, did not know how to treat the thing.

Also, how do you treat your car???

Flog it to death and it will die....law of nature!!! These machines are intricate mechanical/electronic devices and unless you have a magical wallet that produces continual $100 bills the harder you treat it the more it will cost you!

OK, just read your last post......the stereo is a big!!!! problem, gotta have that sound! :lol:

Sorry about my diatribe about treating your car. but too often people complain and don't tell the full story. Hope things work out for you mate!

[FamiliaGTRAe]

I understand the concept of car treatment, My car has NEVER gone more than two weeks without a wash clean and vacuum!

I even cancelled a weekend trip away because I wasn't driving my own car, I hate doing things in cars that aren't mine!

DOesn't help me out now though....

Cameron

[OwnaXR6T]

Im with you on the service

I probably won tbuy a new ford again due to the shocking service I have recieved from every dealer ive been to.

but I love my car and I will always love ford products but I will not be giving FORD AUSTRALIA another cent of my money.

[Cassius]

Wouldnt it be great if there was some watchdog that monitored the performance of each dealership. When complaints are made, I wonder how many of them get followed up by 13FORD with the dealer.

How many get resolved?

Given this experience and those of others, its obvious that FORD have no accountability for there actions.

This reply certainly doesnt add value to rectify the fault and most of you already have asked these same questions..... so FORD clean up your act and provide the "CUSTOMER SERVICE" we expect as the consumer of your product!!! (mind you its a good product )

[Guest Butzy]

Wow man that must be pretty heart breaking. I will be starting at John McGrath Ford in Woden for a SNAPS program and the people there are really good. Its a sad day when you just cant get the joy out of what you love and take a lot of pride in. Any idea on what you will be getting for the next car?

Edited 13/01/04 03:13 PM by Butzy

[ducatijb]

Cam,have you tried another dealer,may be fruitless but you never know

For the record I know Cameron doesn't flog his car and it always when I have seen it been well cared for

[Guest esky]

Familia2XR6T, your poor bas*ard!

My car was at the dealer for a repair, when it came back with a bent 18' rim! After some firey words to a few pen pushers at ford, I got a new 18'rim.

It also helps if you can document the problems in a clear way. Help from a legal person, in my case: sister, really helps.

[FamiliaGTRAe]

Butzy,

If you want me to say it I will,

Its a large cliche and I know that it may turn out to be a lie (such is the way of cars) but I've been assured verbally that if I purchase a Expensive Daewoo this won't happen.

Laugh if you will, but I would have thought that it wouldn't have happened from Ford either.

So Honestly?

VY S2 Clubsport or I might go back to a Mazda Familia, and outside chance of a XW GT.

Cameron