Screamin03
Well-Known Member
Soutar Ford in Barstow, CA...
So I brought my 2003 Cobra in to their service department for 30,000 mile service 2 weeks ago. It was also time for new brakes. They did a coolant flush, oil change, tranny fluid change, etc. Well, it somehow took them 4 days to complete this. I picked my car up Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning drove to Las Vegas to catch a flight for a business trip. Well, that morning I noticed a ticking noise from where the cooling fan is located. I wasn't 100% sure but I went on my business trip. I got back a week later and noticed the ticking was still there. 2 days later my car is spilling coolant. I have the car towed to Soutar Ford and continue my day at work. This was first thing in the morning. I call at around 3:30pm to see if they have looked at it. I get told they are waiting for the mechanic to get back from lunch. Ummm at 3:30pm? Okay. Anyways, I don't hear from them again until 9:45am on Day 2. I was told a fan blade broke and punctured my radiator (plastic punctured metal? ummm ok.) and I would need a new electric cooling fan, radiator and thermostat. Well, okay...whatever, just do the work and get it back up and running. I was told they don't have the parts in stock but should be done tomorrow. Tomorrow comes around (Day 3) and I hear nothing from them all day. The morning of Day 4 comes around and I call them at 7:45am to see if it was ready and I am told it won't be ready for another half hour. This sounded odd...they open at 8:00am and what takes 15 minutes that they wouldn't have done last night? Anyways, I get a call at 8:20am saying my car is ready. Cool, I just wanna get back in to my baby. I pick it up and pay the $1700. I dropped $3000 in the past 2 weeks with this place. I get in my car and immediately notice it is dirty, BOTH seats were adjusted and on top of that a whopping 100 miles were put on it!!! I go back in and speak to the service advisor who immediately gets in 100% defensive mode. He tells me that they had to drive it 50 miles because there was air in the cooling system then another 50 mile road test and he would rather put 100 miles on somebodies car and it be fixed than have it break again. I then tell him that I would appreciate him calling me in advance if this sort of excessive mileage is going to be put on my cars. He pulls out a service agreement signed by another customer saying (and pointing to the section) that I authorize them to drive my car on the road. I, however, never signed this as my vehicle was towed there. I end up walking out and getting on the phone with Ford and when they called he was conveniently not there. I filed a complaint with the BBB which they are not a member of either. Ford sent a complaint to their GM as well. I believe there is some shady business going on at this place. I may not be a master mechanic but I'm sure it is to even necessary to take my car on the road for air in the cooling system. I mean, shouldn't they have a bleeder and a vacuuming system to fill it? I took my vehicle to Ford because I live in a very poverty stricken small city and don't trust the local mechanics with my car. I was more than willing to overpay Ford to sleep well at night. I feel I may have been targeted based on my car in this area. I dunno. Just don't go there.
So I brought my 2003 Cobra in to their service department for 30,000 mile service 2 weeks ago. It was also time for new brakes. They did a coolant flush, oil change, tranny fluid change, etc. Well, it somehow took them 4 days to complete this. I picked my car up Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning drove to Las Vegas to catch a flight for a business trip. Well, that morning I noticed a ticking noise from where the cooling fan is located. I wasn't 100% sure but I went on my business trip. I got back a week later and noticed the ticking was still there. 2 days later my car is spilling coolant. I have the car towed to Soutar Ford and continue my day at work. This was first thing in the morning. I call at around 3:30pm to see if they have looked at it. I get told they are waiting for the mechanic to get back from lunch. Ummm at 3:30pm? Okay. Anyways, I don't hear from them again until 9:45am on Day 2. I was told a fan blade broke and punctured my radiator (plastic punctured metal? ummm ok.) and I would need a new electric cooling fan, radiator and thermostat. Well, okay...whatever, just do the work and get it back up and running. I was told they don't have the parts in stock but should be done tomorrow. Tomorrow comes around (Day 3) and I hear nothing from them all day. The morning of Day 4 comes around and I call them at 7:45am to see if it was ready and I am told it won't be ready for another half hour. This sounded odd...they open at 8:00am and what takes 15 minutes that they wouldn't have done last night? Anyways, I get a call at 8:20am saying my car is ready. Cool, I just wanna get back in to my baby. I pick it up and pay the $1700. I dropped $3000 in the past 2 weeks with this place. I get in my car and immediately notice it is dirty, BOTH seats were adjusted and on top of that a whopping 100 miles were put on it!!! I go back in and speak to the service advisor who immediately gets in 100% defensive mode. He tells me that they had to drive it 50 miles because there was air in the cooling system then another 50 mile road test and he would rather put 100 miles on somebodies car and it be fixed than have it break again. I then tell him that I would appreciate him calling me in advance if this sort of excessive mileage is going to be put on my cars. He pulls out a service agreement signed by another customer saying (and pointing to the section) that I authorize them to drive my car on the road. I, however, never signed this as my vehicle was towed there. I end up walking out and getting on the phone with Ford and when they called he was conveniently not there. I filed a complaint with the BBB which they are not a member of either. Ford sent a complaint to their GM as well. I believe there is some shady business going on at this place. I may not be a master mechanic but I'm sure it is to even necessary to take my car on the road for air in the cooling system. I mean, shouldn't they have a bleeder and a vacuuming system to fill it? I took my vehicle to Ford because I live in a very poverty stricken small city and don't trust the local mechanics with my car. I was more than willing to overpay Ford to sleep well at night. I feel I may have been targeted based on my car in this area. I dunno. Just don't go there.
