Jeers to local Ford dealer service dept for trying to dodge accountability!

Cliff's notes:
Thank You Beaverton Ford of Beaverton, Oregon for damaging my wheel and unsuccessfully trying to play the "its not our fault" game

I took my car in on 8/23/06 wednesday grinding sound from brakes, because its under warranty and I know there's a lot of pad left.

1. Problem was duplicated when I went on a test drive with them.

2. They coudn't duplicate it. They retorqued both wheels on right side.

3. Service advisor offered me to visually inspect.

4. When they tried to undo the wheel lock they over tightened themselves, they let their impact wrench slip messing up on wheel in addition to not being able to take off the wheel lock.

5. They asked me who worked on wheels before them and told me to blame them for nuts being way too tight. The nuts weren't over tightened until they did it themselves.

6. Tells me its not their problem and go blame the shop who worked on the wheel before they over tightened and they won't be paying for the damage.

Summary of what to expect when you take your vehicle to
Beaverton Ford
12325 SW Canyon Rd
Beaverton OR 97005



Dealer: We over torqued your wheels, but we're denying responsibility. You need to go blame the installing tire shop for being an installer prior. We over-torqued it and caused ourselves difficulty removing and consequently damaging the wheel, but its anyone's fault but our dealership.


Top center: the locking nut they messed up. The remaining three came off normally. The guy at installing shop used the same torque wrench for all four, hmmm yeah, definitely their fault.. NOT!




I had to get Les Schwab to get it out, because these morons at service dept couldn't get it out nor did I want them trying anymore causing further damage to my car. Les Schwab knows what they're doing when it comes to tires/wheels for the most part.


The service manager admits their techs screwed up, but still insisted that they did not re-torque my wheel lock, which implies they re-torqued three out of four nuts per wheel :ugh:

All sixteen lug nuts, including the wheel locks were installed by a torque wrench in my supervision by a different shop, so even if they maybe incorrectly torqued, which I doubt, I at least know they're torqued equally. The service dept couldn't get that one lug nut off and completely destroyed it, yet the same key was able to remove the remaining three just fine and they look nowhere near as screwed. It is just not possible that only one lug nut got way super tightened at the previous tire shop.


Here is what they did. Even if that wheel lock was torqued to 500ft-lbs by the previous shop, its no excuse for telling me "my tool slipped and screwed up your wheel, you need to go blame the other shop".


Here is the wheel lock they tried to remove. The grooves on the outside is from Les Schwab from when they removed it after the dealer moron got it stuck.


For the record, all other wheel locks that were tightened by the same wheel shop using the same torque wrench at the same setting by the same tech came off just fine at Les Schwab with the original key. (I hand tightened it on the wheel for picture)


Update #2 9/05/06
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They've informed that my wheel is "repaired". It looked alright at initial lookover, but after they put it on, dayum. They removed the damage in metal to an acceptable level, but all sides of spokes had visibly less gloss they felt rough, then after I got home, I realized the clear coat on the face of wheel is soft and can be scraped with finger nail. This is clearly not pre-loss conditions.

I'll leave it up to you to intrepret these events:

1.
I said it was "good enough" for the time being since this is becoming a time waster.

2. This old tech takes my wheel into the shop and tries to put my tire on. He struggles. Soon, there were three techs around the tire mount machine. They were unable to put the tire back on my wheel in the service department shop.

3. The old fart tech takes the wheel to their used auto detail/repair area and have the tech in shop install the tire, apparently because he's not skilled enough to do it himself. I was there watching to make sure the whole thing was going ok. The tech there was friendly enough and ask how I'm doing, but as soon as the old fart realized they're being watched, jerk off old fart tells me "step out of the building".

4. After the tech at the used car shop put the wheel on, the old fart brings the wheel back to the service department by rolling the tire all the way through the parking lot, across the street to the service department. Does he have any f'in idea what would happen to the wheel if the tire hits something uneven and tips over on its side? Careless handling, stupidity and laziness seen here makes me feel one of these is what lead to the damage in first place.

After I noticed quality was not to my standards. I mentioned to the service advisor I will take possession of it now and come back later as its becoming a waste of my time, he saysit was a waste of his time too. What a jerk. Waste of his time that he's having to fix something his idiot tech damaged and not having it repaired to pre-loss conditions.

"when you let other people work on things happen, that's just life. things just happen, your car could fly off the road too. I suggest you take your car elsewhere"- service advisor. He's telling me the damage they do should be thought of the same way as what could happen to my car. There's a great difference between something that happened as a result of THEIR negliengece compared to what might happen unrelated to them, but that's just Beaverton Ford way of treating customers.

So I have to waste my time again, go talk to the service manager. If the result does not look good, I have to start preparing for small claims court.

Welcome to the real world. Sounds like the Ford Regional rep is who you should be trying to contact. The contact information should be in your owner's handbook.

I had a similar experience with a Ford dealer where I live. After plunking down over 40K for a brand new Eddie Bauer Expedition, I get a tire recall notice. I take it to the dealer I bought it from where they put deep gouge marks on the chrome rims, admit their fault and refuse to pay to replace them stating it is not a safety issue. I took it to the VP of the dealership and he said the same thing, I was in shock. I called Ford Customer Service and they told me it was between me and the dealer. I got in touch with the Regional Manager and he told me to take the Dealer to small claims court.


It gets worse from there on but I will refrain from comment due to legal constraints.

Good luck.

Beamhead said:

I had a similar experience with a Ford dealer where I live. After plunking down over 40K for a brand new Eddie Bauer Expedition, I get a tire recall notice. I take it to the dealer I bought it from where they put deep gouge marks on the chrome rims, admit their fault and refuse to pay to replace them stating it is not a safety issue. I took it to the VP of the dealership and he said the same thing, I was in shock. I called Ford Customer Service and they told me it was between me and the dealer. I got in touch with the Regional Manager and he told me to take the Dealer to small claims court.


It gets worse from there on but I will refrain from comment due to legal constraints.

Good luck.

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*******s. I'm not buying another Ford... They're not exactly the most trouble free thing meaning it's that much more I have to deal with their service/damage dept

Not just Ford. A fellow I know had an experience buying a "certified" used Acura (Honda) from a major dealership that would curl your hair. Basically it involved massive fraud and criminal charges.

Oh and the grinding noise. It's easily duplicable when *I* drive it, at a parking speed, but these *smart* techs can't duplicate it.

Not fixing the problem it was brought in for and adding damage to my wheel FOR THE LOSE!!!!

So whatcha going to do now?

Sounds like nothing a couldn't fix... :naughty:

Hope this doesn't get too messy for you Handlo.

I've had issues with Ford dealerships as well as my sister. I resolved my problems buy buying a Honda. Seems to have workout rather well, I don't have problems and a constantly draining checking account. 120000 miles and not one problem.

I know a guy who knows a guy who got over 330000 miles with his Honda car, try that with a Ford car and see how much money you will spend..

Also report the dealership to the "Better Business Bureau" as they hate that!!@ Regional Rep, is also a must. Then "Small Claims Court"

Update:
Took my car in 8/28 with an old steel wheel tire, so I can have my car back while the alloy wheel is being repaired. They offered a rental, but there is no way I want my car in their possession longer than absolutely necessary.

So, as soon as I got home, I tried to loosen the lug nuts they tightened after putting on the steel wheel using a "+" shaped tire iron. It took an excessive amount of effort. One of them, I couldn't loosen it. I had to stand on push on one end with my foot and pull on the other with my hand to get it to loosen. It screeched loudly as it loosened. Properly torqued? doubtful.

They have not grasped the concept that tighter doesn't mean better.

One word:

Toyota

greenLED said:

One word:

Toyota

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Their "sideshow" Lexus might be even better. I read in some motor magazine some time ago that when they had to do a recall of a part in some cars, they came to the Lexus owner personally, borrowed the car for a couple of hours and then came back with it fixed, washed and fuled up free of charge.

just keep going up the chain.... talk to their bosses... if he doesnt fix it talk to his boss.... and continue until it is fixed.... works all the time if you know how to get ahold of their bosses.

-David

greenLED said:

One word:

Toyota

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a better word, Subaru

chevrofreak said:

a better word, Subaru

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Absolutely, albeit at a much higher price.

No one manufactor will be perfect, I've heard bad stories about subarus too, but know people that have owned old ones that seem indestructable other than the CV boots. Even $$$ BMW/Mercedes have their problems/complaints. I'm not a ford person either. I'm not really partial to any brand but own GM and know all about the motors/etc and yes there are bad points, but the ones I have are easily fixed by myself. Anywho:

That really blows BTW. That's why I don't take my car to mechanics. I rotate my own tires and any major/minor repair.. Only time I had some mechanic work on a part of my car was I brought them the struts/springs/mount and had them uncompress/put new springs/strut/mount together as I didn't want to kill myself with the spring. Well I had the car aligned and then later found out they put the mount in wrong/upsidedown and the bearings weren't spinning because steering was hard and it was poping. It broke my struts(the piston/rod became loose/wobbly) and bent the mounts(I un-bent and saved them). Went back there and they said they changed owners and couldn't help me. So I was out $$$ and ended up re-doing it myself and paying for another $50 alignment.

Hell when I need new tires I'll put my winter wheels on (narrower so I can run narrow tires on them), drive to the place and drop off my mag wheels because I don't want them over torqing my lugtnuts and rounding off my lugnuts which has happened last set of tires I got, not to mention they lost about 6 of my lug nut covers. I tighten mine by hand with a 1" breaker bar and deep dish impact socket. I've checked it with a toqrue wrench and I'm dead on by feel so I just do it all by hand now.

Imagine if you had a flat and had to change the tire, and you take out the tire iron the car comes with (mine is short, and has a sharp pry edge on the end, really nice for cutting your hand and not giving you any leverage) only to find your lugnuts won't budge.

My friend had Wal-Mart put on tires, and then he tried changing his pads one day and couldn't get any of the lugnuts off. He kept breaking sockets. So he took it back to wal-mart to have them take them off and they could barely do it with the impact. My mom had tires done there and they tightened them down so much on her subaru that it WARPED the rotors and she had to get new rotors. Ugh.

Yeah, I can relate to dealer issues. About three years ago I brought my dodge Ram 1500 in for its 60,000 mile service. I went ahead with a brake job at the same time. I get no call from them, so I went to the dealership the next day. Several of the managers are huddling together in the main office looking at me. The manager comes over and says " we hate to tell you this, but one of our techs had a miscalibrated tool and your wheel was damaged". I was quite concerned and wanted to see the vehicle, but they told me to wait in the waiting room and the manger will see me. now the head manger comes in and tells me I can't have the car, because it needs to go to the body shop. I said "the body shop!". Then he admitted that the wheel came of the car came off while driving in the shop parking lot. I was pretty upset and demanded action on this. They finally offered up discounts and repairs and a couple of other items. They said it would be in the shop for 10 days. I go home and am contacted by another inurance company. I say " what's this about?". I am told that the wheel actually came off and hit another car and damaged it. She then asked if I was ok from the accident. I said "I wasn't even there and they never told me about any of this!". Needless to say, I was mad enough to rip out the walls. I told the insuance company they should sue the dealership for all they can. the next day I confronted the manager who smuggly said " we're taking care of it at our expense, what do you want?" I read him the riot act and said I would call the police for failure to report the accident. Well 10 days went by and I finally got the vehicle back. They fixed the body fine and gave me a new tire. I was driving down the road about 5 miles away when suddenly I felt the car rock and saw the same wheel come flying off the vehicle and smashed into as gas pump across the street. I was dazed afterward. I called the police and threw an absolute tantrum on the road. I took pics of everything and had the police document the wheel condition. It seems they gave me the old damaged wheel back with a new tire. the same idiot manager came up and told me "things like this just don't happen in my shop". He asked me about the history of the vehicle. I told him to just shut up and my attorney would contact him. It took 3 more months to get things settled. They were a bunch of creeps, I'll tell you.

As the old X-files used to say: TRUST NO ONE!

fieldops said:

Yeah, I can relate to dealer issues. About three years ago I brought my dodge Ram 1500 in for its 60,000 mile service. I went ahead with a brake job at the same time. I get no call from them, so I went to the dealership the next day. Several of the managers are huddling together in the main office looking at me. The manager comes over and says " we hate to tell you this, but one of our techs had a miscalibrated tool and your wheel was damaged". I was quite concerned and wanted to see the vehicle, but they told me to wait in the waiting room and the manger will see me. now the head manger comes in and tells me I can't have the car, because it needs to go to the body shop. I said "the body shop!". Then he admitted that the wheel came of the car came off while driving in the shop parking lot. I was pretty upset and demanded action on this. They finally offered up discounts and repairs and a couple of other items. They said it would be in the shop for 10 days. I go home and am contacted by another inurance company. I say " what's this about?". I am told that the wheel actually came off and hit another car and damaged it. She then asked if I was ok from the accident. I said "I wasn't even there and they never told me about any of this!". Needless to say, I was mad enough to rip out the walls. I told the insuance company they should sue the dealership for all they can. the next day I confronted the manager who smuggly said " we're taking care of it at our expense, what do you want?" I read him the riot act and said I would call the police for failure to report the accident. Well 10 days went by and I finally got the vehicle back. They fixed the body fine and gave me a new tire. I was driving down the road about 5 miles away when suddenly I felt the car rock and saw the same wheel come flying off the vehicle and smashed into as gas pump across the street. I was dazed afterward. I called the police and threw an absolute tantrum on the road. I took pics of everything and had the police document the wheel condition. It seems they gave me the old damaged wheel back with a new tire. the same idiot manager came up and told me "things like this just don't happen in my shop". He asked me about the history of the vehicle. I told him to just shut up and my attorney would contact him. It took 3 more months to get things settled. They were a bunch of creeps, I'll tell you.

As the old X-files used to say: TRUST NO ONE!

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Wow you had it bad. Despite the difference in magnitude, one thing in common. They're 100% negligent in their action, but they act like its not exactly their fault.

I worked at Sears auto center for a while and after seeing and even doing some stupid stuff (i didnt know better) you couldnt pay me to have them work on my car.

I watched the guy that was training me on the tire machine BEND a wheel because he was too lazy to put the top bead breaker arm in place. That arm aligns the bottom arm so it's in the right spot, and since he didnt use it, it wasnt. It pushed right into the rim of the wheel and bent the rim in relation to the hub. He couldn't balance the wheel after that and noticed it was wobbling in the machine, so he said it was like that when it came in. He very well could have thought that because he was NOT an intelligent man.

Costco is about the best place you can take your car. Their workers arent rushed and they do a very good job.

I went to a tire chain (NTW, now NTB) years ago with my father to get new shoes for the family van. The guy running the tire machine took huge chunks of rubber out of the new tires' beads. Probably wouldn't hold air for long. Dad virtually got into a fistfight with the manager, but finally was able to run the machine himself to put our _old_ tires back on. Never went back there.