[darkpuppet]

So I'm about to schedule my 7th trip back to the dealership to see if they can fix the convertible top.

Trip 1: they didn't re-tint the rear window
Trip 2: discovered new ripples
Trip 3: Told to leave the car in the sun for a few days to remove ripples
Trip 4: Have ripples removed, broken trim piece replaced, scratch buffed down (but not out)
Trip 5: Return for missing trim piece
Trip 6: Return for same missing trim piece

Still outstanding:
- ripple on left side of top
- weather stripping showing all over the place
- top frame rails showing in some places from exterior
- top doesn't go down
- water leaks
- rear quarter windows won't operate when top is down

So, the question I have is, who else at the dealership would be able to help me out here? The body shop manager doesn't seem to really care (some fun stories about that), and the service staff would rather be patronizing than helpful.

So who do I go to next? I'm pretty pissed that my car was better off with the cut top...

[smith21]

try talking to the owner and telling him you will go a step above him and get in touch with ford themselves...probably a longshot but it's worth a try...

[darkpuppet]

yeah, I'll be going that route soon enough.... it would be nice if they'd just buy the car off me and then I can save up for a new GT...

from a different dealership, of course

[ZTWsquared]

(07-12-2011, 11:44 PM)smith21 Wrote: try talking to the owner and telling him you will go a step above him and get in touch with ford themselves...probably a longshot but it's worth a try...

Although this sounds nice in theory it is an absolute waste of time. The owner of the dealership pays people a lot of money to keep him/her out of the day to day turmoil of dealing with irate customers.

For the most part these are relatively wealthy people who spend their days worrying about the tens of millions of dollars they have wrapped up in inventory and other big-picture business affairs and the odds are they won't want to be involved. If you can get an audience with them there is a chance they will simply tell their employees to make the problem go away, but it doesn't sound like the people you are dealing with have the capability to do this in the first place, otherwise they would have.

And there is basically nobody at Ford of Canada who is "over" the dealer ... dealers are very much the equal of anyone at the vice-president level and there is certainly no one there who could intimidate a dealer even if they wanted to. They need to sell cars to the dealer (not the other way around) and so that's why 99 times out of a 100 Ford of Canada will simply refer you back to the dealership. The exception might be if there is a technical problem that stems from the factory - and even then, they will tell you that the proper way to deal with a problem is to let the dealer handle it.

Steve I think the solution lies within your insurance company and more specifically the insurance adjuster who is managing your claim ... and the technical solution probably exists at some old-school classic car trim shop and not at the dealership at all.

[NikiterZTS]

This reminds me of a couple threads you made up back in the day when you had rough time getting this car.

[torradan]

I think someone said it before, but Better Business Bureau would be a good bet. Or those guys on the news who seem to get things done when the common peasant can't seem to get anything resolved?

Which stealership is this, by the way? Donway has been on my shitlist for a few years now, but I'm not afraid to add another.

[darkpuppet]

Thanks for the input Ken, I'll keep your points in mind.

However, this is an SVT dealership, and I find it hard to believe that one could possibly buy an SVT from them, and then never be able to get it serviced properly...

I'm actually tempted to tell them the story on all the free stuff my girlfriend gets from the Nissan dealership next door. Hell, I may start bringing my ford there, since they seem to do a consistently decent job with her car -- and give her free stuff from time to time.

So, these turmoils are will what ultimately influence the GF's and my next purchases.

On another note, the dealership brought it to a trim place that's supposedly well regarded. And that netted me broken/missing trim and scratches in the paint.

The insurance company doesn't seem to care much either... I really need to figure out how to get this resolved...

[hardk0re]

Ditto here for Donway, they yelled at me and said never come back....and I never did.

Edit:
Some 2' Tall Decals on the side of the car stating that XXXXX Dealership Are Crooks! or something colourfull like that parked out in their lot may change their minds... its something dumb I'd do... would it work...dunno...maybe funny tho

[darkpuppet]

Anyone wanna lend me some money to open a proper dealership in Toronto?

[darkpuppet]

Hey Hardk0re...

I'm actually considering your idea... and I'm also considering things like
- front page article on focuscanada.net
- spending my $100 of free adsense advertising to have that front page linked to anytime someone searches on Ford (for 5 minutes probably)
- aim to get #-------sucks trending on Twitter
- stickers for the car

and the list goes on and on...

Of course, I may need a little help from folks here, but it'll give us something to do as a community. If this isn't fixed on the 7th trip, it's game over man...

[darkpuppet]

I will probably write a letter to Ford, since it's a Ford part that's not fitting right on the car.

[ANTHONYD]

I said it before..... It is your insurance company's responsibility to return your car to the condition it was BEFORE the claim.

I'd be bitching up the chain at your insurance company.
Then pull your business.

[darkpuppet]

I'm pursuing both avenues...

1) The dealership because they should have gotten it right the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th time.
2) The insurance company, 'cause they should be helping with the leverage.

But in all honesty, this could be anyone, and it just illustrates that the dealership and it's subcontractors can't get anything right in a reasonable amount of time.

I wonder if anyone there has ever read a Ford service manual... Maybe I buy them a copy of the Haynes Manual for my Mustang.

[MuskokaZX3]

(07-13-2011, 05:08 AM)darkpuppet Wrote: I wonder if anyone there has ever read a Ford service manual... Maybe I buy them a copy of the Haynes Manual for my Mustang.

You really think they'll read it!!! Lol... That really is total bs!!

[Mystake]

Try Randy @ Shanahan Ford. I think that's his name, anyway. When I first met him I nearly lost my patience with him but every single time I spoke with him afterwards, I had a smile on my face. He discounted the labour on my focus by several hundreds of dollars bringing my total bill at Shanahan to 2000.


DO NOT GO TO FRASER FORD. They SUCK. SVT dealership or not they are the WORST. Their technician diagnosed bad spark plugs as a slipping clutch.

Shanahan Ford's tech once got in the car with me and immediately called out the MAF sensor (that Fraser had cleaned). One new MAF later and the car was running better (not yet perfect, but they eventually got it there!)

[torradan]

Shanahan isn't around anymore. It moved (or merged?) with Freeway out on Morningside. I always get good service with those guys when I have a stupid question or need a part, even though its about 20 minutes further from me than Donway.

[Frost__2001]

Honestly with the fuctards that live in your building cutting your roof open like this not once, but twice now? why not concider lesson learned and if your so bent on having a cabrio version car maybe you should highly concider one with a folding metal roof like a Volvo C70, Mazda MX-5 (Miata), Infiniti G37 or a BMW 3 series? the plus would be they could not cut the roof and all of those cars have really really good alarms systems built into the cars, and I can say for a fact 2 of them are very annoying....

[Scorcher000]

Doing all of those ad ideas of trying to mess up they're business can just be turned around on you. I've tried...

Makes them not care about you or your car even more.

Take it to the Nissan dealership and trade the bitch in for a used 350Z or if you have the coin for a 370Z.

Ford sucks and when I talked to head office they pretty much said, " ok sir, well as long as it's at a Ford dealership it will be taken care of to the best of our ability." I have more ability in my pinky then they all have combined.

I will back you up on anything you need DP.

[Jmountney1]

Back in 05. I fall ordered a 06 yz450f from a yamaha dealer. For spring delivery. $2200 down. 8 months later I was told no 06 yz450f would be shipped to canada due to high sales in usa and a low production numbers. After 100s of calls to the dealer the best they could to was my 2200 back or a deal on a 05. But 1 email to the right guy at yamaha of canada and a week later a yamaha truck showed up at my house with the bike. I still payed full price but I got my 06 YZ450f. Just sayn I'd try and go over his head and talk to ford.

[NOS2Go4Me]

Take everything you've documented and speak to the LARGE media centers - The Globe and Mail, The Star, CTV, CBC, etc.

Hell, try contacting Peter Cheney who writes for Globe Drive. He's one of the few automotive writers that I follow religiously. He interacts regularly with his readers and this may pique his interest. If you want me to contact him on your behalf, I don't mind.

Something tells me that once you bring some media weight to bear on this, it will "magically" get fixed. Seriously. Bad press for the dealer, Ford of Canada for sitting on their hands AND the insurance company won't be ignored. And because you've done everything you should have, and then some, you really don't have anything to worry about.