Found a little humor!

[Anezangl]

Some of you may have read the problems I went through a few weeks ago with my wifes dream car. I vented on several threads about Ford and their dealer putting the screws to me. " Help need quick response" and the thread about Fords denial of problems was the other. Anyway, last night my wife returns home from a long day and ask me to take a look a her bird. I walk out to the drive and she points to a round black piece of molded plastic that is protruding out from under the hood just to the left of passenger center, touching the windsheild. It looks to be there for a purpose? It matches the plastic wiper bay perfectly? But I was stumped as to what it was for. I told her that I didn't remember it ever being there before but then again I haven't looked at the car much since my screwing. She kept after me so I popped the hood and.............it was hysterical! The plastic cover for the driver side shock tower was laying up on the wiper bay smashed down into the slots that form the screen! The numerous plastic engine cowlings where just laying loose with the screws still in a paper cup! Can you people believe this! This work was performed at a Ford Dealer! All I could do was laugh, which only hurt the little ladies feelings and she cried......... Still I thought it was funny how incompetent they are!

 

[George]

And the rest of the strory??? Did you put the hood down and take it back this morning and show them?

 

[Anezangl]

No sir I figured why bother, after all they put me through what would be the point. They made it perfectly clear that they do not care about their customer and or the work their techs perform.............probably just screw something else up and cost me more $. I have learned my lesson.

 

[yrbamje]

found a little humor

I agree with George....Did you take it back? I can't wait to hear what they said. If they even admit to the "error". So far, I haven't had any problem with my wife's car being serviced at the dealership. In fact, they have been most cooperative in their dealings with the wife.
Keep us posted.
Jim

 

[MIDAS]

No Problems

ANEZANGL

My results with a small town dealer that has Ford Mercury & Lincoln has been just the opposite. We have a 2003 Bird and a 2005 Bird, both purchased from this dealer. Have had no problems with either vehicle except the 2003 has a slight top fit-close problem. My only service with dealer on these two vehicles has been oil & filters. These two are NOT daily drivers and sit for maybe a week or more+++ at time, one out one in. The dealer has always responded to the TSB's I have questioned; that I have gathered from this forum and has been very helpfull. Not withstanding our 2004 Mountaineer has had Trans & rear end problems. Held up in shop 4 + weeks ( parts) not dealer but FORD. Would love to see Ford give 100,000 mile warranty on Drive train as GM. Maybe I am speaking too soon as our birds may flop tomorrow.
We live in Austin Texas. NOT ALL DEALERS ARE BAD SOME DO TRY TO PLEASE

Dennis

 

[Anezangl]

Midas, Glad to hear some positive words in regards to these cars. As you know there are many bad experiences recorded on this site. My wife loves the car no matter how much it cost ME to keep it on the road, she might change her views if I sat back and let her deal w/ the cost and the dealer! Anyway, I don't drive it and try not to ride in it when we go anywhere, but glad you are enjoying yours. Just this past wednesday evening I took the wife via the harley to dinner at outback streakhouse, as we pulled in to park the bike the wife spotted a gold bird pulling into the parking lot. She approached the owner as they got out of the car and struck up a conversation about their bird, they were very unhappy w/ the car and were more than willing to speak of their troubles. When we finnally made it into the resturant and to our table my wife told me she was sorry she stopped this couple because she had hoped for a good story that would win me back over! HA! I don't know maybe its the tropical climate here in florida that gives this car such problems........since I am stuck with it in my driveway for now I need some kind of excuse!

 

[jetbird]

Tbird Problems with Good Dealer

I have had more than my share of problems with my 03 bird but my dealer has been really great. Everything to date has been repaired under warranty with a lot of help from George. The dealer is willing but has no clue about this car and George has provided exellent advice that the dealer finally decided to follow. I live in Houston, TX and my local dealer has taken great pains to fix my car when it breaks and has repeatedly appoligized for my inconvenience. Incidentally, I did not purchase the car from the dealer who has done the work. I'm now out of warranty and I may get a real shock the next time I have a problem. Regardless, I like this car and I plan to keep it until the wheels fall off. Hopefully, that won't be next week.

Regards,

Jim (jetbird)

 

[George]

Thanks for the kind words Jim. That's what the sites all about, helping others with TBird info.
Too bad you didn't have the extended warranty also.

 

[jetbird]

Help with my 03 Tbird

George,

I had my tires rotated and balanced correctly at my Ford dealer and the noise humming noise seems to have lessened. I guess if I have wheel bearing problems, the car will tell me they want out. I just hope it's not on an out of town weekend trip. I haven't spent a dime of my own money on repairs to date, but I still regret not getting the extended warranty. The car only had 16,000 miles when I bought it a year ago and it's in pristine condition. At the time, I thougt I would be waisting the $1600 for the warranty. Now I'm wishing I had spent the money. My car was stored a long period of time before I bought it and now it's been driven daily for a year and presently has 23,000 miles. I suspect most of my problems are related to storage. The previous owner was in the military and from the service history, The car was not driven for more than a year. Do you have any ideas about what might come up next and how I might prevent some of the impending problems?

Thanks again for all your great help.

Have a great weekend,

Jim

 

[George]

Jim:
That's great news. Probably a lot less expensive then you thought you would be in for. Did you end up doing the "Hunter" balancing that we spoke of in another thread?
I did get the extended warranty and thankfully have not had to use it. Glad to hear yoiu're driving it. Mines 5 years old with 12000 miles - A garage queen!!
To answer your question, I don't know of anything that you should suspect to go wrong next, just be faithful with lube/oil/filter....that seems to work for me on all cars.
Keep us tuned in to, glad to see your still posting

 

[jetbird]

Hunter Tire Balance

George,

I did get the Hunter balance as you recommended. Luckily, my Ford dealer has recently installed that equipment.

Thanks again,

Jim (jetbird)

 

[George]

Great..I hope others read this thread as well so they too can prevent issues

BTW Jim, did you ever have any issue with the rear defogger drawing down power (dead battery), if you left the rear defogger switch on, after you turned the car off?

 

[Nitpicker]

Midas, Glad to hear some positive words in regards to these cars. As you know there are many bad experiences recorded on this site. My wife loves the car no matter how much it cost ME to keep it on the road, she might change her views if I sat back and let her deal w/ the cost and the dealer! Anyway, I don't drive it and try not to ride in it when we go anywhere, but glad you are enjoying yours. Just this past wednesday evening I took the wife via the harley to dinner at outback streakhouse, as we pulled in to park the bike the wife spotted a gold bird pulling into the parking lot. She approached the owner as they got out of the car and struck up a conversation about their bird, they were very unhappy w/ the car and were more than willing to speak of their troubles. When we finnally made it into the resturant and to our table my wife told me she was sorry she stopped this couple because she had hoped for a good story that would win me back over! HA! I don't know maybe its the tropical climate here in florida that gives this car such problems........since I am stuck with it in my driveway for now I need some kind of excuse!

After admiring the 2002-2005 birds for years, I bought a used 2004 Pacific Coast edition with 82k miles back in April 2018. Bought this 2-owner AFTER looking at many posts on this forum, so went into it knowing all the engineering and other flaws. Any problems we have with these cars can be frustrating, but all that goes away every time a stranger tells me, "That's a gorgeous car!".

 

[Mach5]

Funny - my story is nearly identical to Nitpicker's with only two changes: I bought my 2004 Merlot with 59k miles back in May 2018.

 

[Markjackallen1]

During the four years I've owned my '05 I have had nothing less than excellent service from my local Ford dealer. They have always been able to zero in on any issues and fix them promptly and correctly. I've dealt with many of the problems discussed in this forum but fortunately I have a dealer close by that understands my car and that I can count on with confidence. This does help me sleep a little better when I read some of the horror stories on this site.