A MAJOR Trick or Treat

[Pumpkin_Man]

It sounds to me like it was the dealer and not Ford who jerked you around. Some dealers are like that. The dealer where I bought my Toyota Pick-up truck actualy damaged my vehicle, and then refused to make any good on it at all. I mean the front bumper was totaly bent back on the left side, and it ended up costing me over 800 dollars to get it fixed. And then every time I needed to do routine maintenence on that truck it was "sorry we don't have this in stock, sorry we don't have that in stock, we will have to order it and it will be a few days......weeks......and in some cases months. I posted a horror story in another thread about the entire Summer I spent trying to tack down a repalcment for my blower moter for the heating and airconditioning. I never could get the heater cable fixed, so I had to reach under the dash board to open the valve when I needed heat. The igniter also went out, or I should say was working intermittently and it was 3 weeks wait on a new one, and then the &%$@* sent me the wrong igniter, so I had to bring it back, order the right part, and it was ANOTHER 3 weeks wait. Finaly the got me the right part, and it was 150 bucks UNINSTALLED price. I had to do the instalation myself. It was really very simple. All I had to do was loosen two screws, attach the new igniter, tighten those same two screws and plug the end of one wire to the igniter and the otehr end to the center post on the distributer cap, bot fur 150 bucks, I think they at least could have installed it for me as a curtisy.

That was bad enough, but then the people in the service department were very rude, acted as though they were doing me a big favor, and I was some kind or a "trator" or "unpatriotic" because I bought a Japanese vehicle, and THEY WORK AT THE PLACE. The Toyota Motor Company, on the other hand, were very helpful. I wrote their general office about my experience with the dealer and they sent me a check for 300 bucks. That was years ago, and the Toyota was a good truck. I did pur on 80,000 miles, but the frustration was jsut too much.

I can hear what you are saying about your Topaz. There are few things more frustrating and embarassing when your car stalls out in traffic and you can't get it started. When your dealer jerks you around, and adds to the frustration, that is going to reflect on the company who made that car. So you might try contacting the Ford Motor Company and tell them of the difficulty you had with the dealer, unless you alread did that. 89 was a long time ago, so they probably won't do anything now, but if you experience anything like that again, try going directly to Ford, or GM, or what ever. The dealer where I bought my Toyota also sold Cadilacks, so the dealorships are not owned by the car manfacturers, They are independently owned, and the car manfacturers do NOT like to appear to produce an undependable or dangerous product, which sounds like what you had in that Topaz. Dealers are reimbursed for their costs when they have to do warrenty work, but they do not make a proffit unless they can charge you their rates for parts and labor. For that reason, they are not motivated to do so.

Believe me, I've heard simular horror stories about Crysler, GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Datsun, (Nissan) Toyota, AMC, (they went out of business) and even Mercedes Benz.

Mike

[Spookymufu]

I did contact FORD directly to complain about the dealership and see if they could help, their only help was a suggestion to drive an hour away to the next ford dealer and work with them.......

[Pumpkin_Man]

Well, I can understand your frustration. That 84 pick up truck was the only Toyota I ever owned, and the reason is the same as why you won't own a Ford. I don't like to be frustrated, and I don't like to wait. Patience is not one of my most endearing virtues, so I am not going to try to sell you on Ford products if you don't like them, or think you will be frustrated or embarassed by it again. I won't own another Toyota ever, because like every other car on the market. you have to do oil changes, replace timing belts or chains, or what ever the case, and other maintenence, and with Toyota, it's allways wait for the parts. When I had to replace the timing belts on the Toyota, which is something that has to be done every 60 thousand miles or so, they had to order them, none of the auto arts stores stocked them, so it was the same story no matter where I went. I went to a different Toyota dealer about an hour and half away and they also had to order it. They told me 3 weeks, and it never came in. As it turns out, there was a shortage of that particular timing belt, because the wear houses didn't stock them and they had to send out all the way to Japan. The timing belts arrived at the dealer about 4 weeks after I traded the Toyota for the Chevy. It was MY TURN to say "sorry" but I no longer own that truck.

My 1999 Jeep Wrangler was plagued by electrical gremlins. The blower motor for the heater & air conditioning was the problem, on that car, too. For some reason, the controll switch for the blower could not handle the current that the blower moter drew, so it kept frying the switch, and the motor was also damaged when that happened. Smoke would actualy come out of the vents. This happend again and again, 5 times. There was also an electric controller that engaged the 4 wheel drive, and the dealer told me "....well it' s the cold weather, there's nothing we can really do about it. Sorry." I called Crysler, and they sent me a new switch, and the problem never happened again. I had to have it installed, which I did at my brother's mechanic and it worked like a charm. But the electrical problems kept reoccuring, and the king pins in the front wheels went bad, and that car would shimmy like a belly dancer at 50 miles per hour. Again I brought it to the dealer, and it was the same story as Toyota. "sorry, we don't have any king pins in stock. Sorry we don't have any ball joints in stock. (the ball joints went bad, too) Sorry you will have to leave the car with us, and sorry we don't have a loaner for you to use at the moment."

The jeep only had 36,000 miles on it when I traded it for a year older Ford F-150.

Mike

[Spookymufu]

well, like I said, even if ford made the best car in the world and even if their customer care was now stellar (I seriously doubt it) I still would not give FORD a penny, ever again...

[Midnite Shadow]

I would...my best cars/trucks have been Fords and have never had issues with them...

2 Ford Escapes and 2 Ford F-150's...not a single issue with any of them.

Have had Toyotas, Hondas, Chevy's and they all needed new Transmissions, head gaskets, or some major work done on them with little miles...

[Pumpkin_Man]

Well, I do have to say, that ot of all the vehicles I owned, Fords and GM have given me the least ammount of problems and frustration. My Chevy Aveo that I traded, econobox that it was, never burned a drop of oil, the transmission is a sound as it was the day I brought it home brand new, and the only reason why it was starting to shimmy is because the tires were worn. I also had 2 Ford F-150s, and both of them were great trucks. They both came equiped with Borg Warner 5 speed Manual Overdrive transmissions. I did have to replace the clutch plates in the 90 F 150, but the 98 F150 never gave me any problems at all. THE MOST frustrating vehicles I owned are a toss up between my 84 Toyota Pick Up Truck and my 99 Jeep Wrangler. But I did have a Dodge Ram truck and it was a great truck, very dependable, and a great 4 wheeler, but it drank gas like it owned the Persian Gulf. Well it did have a 360 V8 engine.

Again, I have to admit that I am not a man of patience, and when the same problem crops up again and again, I also tend to avoid a simular product in the future. I never bought another Toyota, but I did buy a Dodge. But then, I knew few people who drove Dodge Rams, and were very happy with them.

Mike

[Andybev01]

I owned a Pinto once, great car, weird design.

[Pumpkin_Man]

The Pinto, even back in the 70s got fabulous gas milage, even better then I was getting with my 1971 Datsun 1200. My sister inlaw drove a Pinto, and averaged abour 36 mpg. My datsun got about 30 at best, was the most ungainly car Ie ver owned, and could not get out of it's own way.

Mike

[Spookymufu]

my wife drives a 1991 Merc Tracer..looks just like a 91 ford escort....we didnt buy it, it was given to her by her mom......I dont drive it......but it is a good little beater, runs good, no serious mechanical issues.....it's a good car for her to beat back and fourth to the carpool park and ride.......but I dont have to deal with the ford company when it comes to that car so it isnt too bad....

[Andybev01]

The little old lady from Santa Barbara who originally bought my Pinto must have loved the brand.

It had high-back buckets, dual remote sport mirrors, 8-track tape player...every option that they offered at the time (1973). when I got it it only had 50k on it and was like new.

And it was that stylin' powder blue so popular at the time.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Andy, you just described my sister inlaw's car to a tee. It was power blue, and had a stereo am fm with 8 track player, and a4 speed manual transmission. SHe bought that car brand new when my niece was born, and my niece drove it for about 7 or 8 years before the engine on it blew. It had close to 300,000 miles on it when the engine finaly went.

Spooky, I remember the Mercury Tracer. You are right. The Tracer was based on the Ford Escort, much like my new car, the Milan is based on the Ford Fusion. My younger sister drove the wheels off of her Ford Escort, and the only reason why she got rid of it is because she got into an accident and totaled it out. There were some front end issues with the Escort, though.

Mike

[MacPhantom]

Nicely nicely! Love the color, Mike!

[Spookymufu]

oh hey Mike, my wife rented a car, turned out to be a Ford Fusion, she loved it, said it was a really nice car. Congrats on yours!

[Pumpkin_Man]

Thsnk you Mac and Spooky. The Ford Fusion is a nice car. I test drove one when I started doing my new car search. The Mercury Milan is the same car basicaly but with a fancier interior body work and front grill. The Merc also comes with a much better stereo system, but the Milan and the Fusion are the same engine, same transmission, same suspension and same drive trane. The Ford Fusion is Motortrend's "Car of the Year," so you can't really go wrong.

Mike