36,080... and a look back

[Mad4Macs]

Last week, it occured to me that I had 50 miles left on the 36k warranty, so I made a list, checked it twice, then headed for the dealership.
Once again, the service provided reminded me of why I've kept this car... and my dealership has been instrumental in my doing so. Why do I say that? Well, IMHO, the quality of my car was NOT what I'd have expected from any modern car, much less one at the price MM's sell for. In a year and a half, I've seen much.
My rear pinion seal failed at 20k. By 27,400 miles, my transmission had failed (need I mention the shifting...and the T/C locking...ARRGH. It took the aftermarket to save me from that beast). I've had a mysterious "engine cutoff" at seemingly random times, but usually when I was turning to enter the roadway! I've had the most GD awful squeek up front (so loud that cars adjacent to me would stare as I rolled up to a traffic signal). Occasionally, I'd get up in the morning to go to work, and find that my brake lamps were lit. Oh yes... 2 front tires chewed to pieces, showing cord on the inner sides, at 15k. And the paint... not going there again. I may have it repainted someday, at my cost.
Back to my dealer... at no time was my car out of my hands longer than 2 business days, but...
Will I buy Ford again? I don't know. I'm not as likely to, "Post MM", as I was before I bought it. I will NOT purchase anything that I identify coming from STAP, though. This is not meant to be personal, I don't do that, but from MY experiences with MY car, many of MY problems were QC related. In my line of work, I'd be unemployed if I turned out product like this.
All said and done... I still enjoy my car (thanks to my dealer) and I'm keeping it... but not without having purchased ESP warranty.

[TAF]

Actually...I think that ^^^ is well said and how most of us truely feel, when pressed for our true observations on the car. Thanks.

[martyo]

Actually...I think that ^^^ is well said and how most of us truely feel, when pressed for our true observations on the car. Thanks.


^^^ What he said.

[TripleTransAm]

Well said, and I think it reflects my feelings exactly. I am strongly considering calling some sort of upper management (anyone I can get a hold of, really) and indicating how the ONLY reason I hung on to this car until now (considering the number of times it's been in for service) is the absolute darling service and support I have gotten from my dealership service department until now.

I too share your frustrations about STAP quality (and I've had to hold myself back in several previous threads). I sometimes have dreams of kidnapping the guy who ran my driver's side engine-bay harness, strapping a dirty bomb to his waist, and sending him along back to work... but then I wake and snap out of it, realizing that a simple beating would do the trick.

But I won't single out STAP in particular for quality issues... on my many visits to my Ford dealer, I'm constantly surrounded by a number of irate owners of dead Focus's (Focii?) watching their cars being flatbedded in. I've had numerous conversations with Ford truck owners and heard their laments. And I've seen the bureaucracy behind Ford's parts-warranty system (although I have heard that local Ford warranty claims tend to be handled compassionately as opposed to other manufacturers... can't verify this claim just yet).

I'd be lying if I said I didn't see warranty work being performed at the Pontiac dealerships I supported over the years. I share Mac's (and others') belief that it's important to foster a good owner-dealer relationship by throwing them some maintenance bones as often as possible, so considering I never leave my cars unattended in a service situation, I've had time to see the goings-on of their service departments over long periods of time. I can honestly say I've never seen the type of mass chaos that I see at the Ford dealership happening at the Pontiac dealership. The service writers sometimes look positively shell-shocked on most days (and another reason why I like to be present to make sure all is properly handled).

This company is hemorrhaging. Whether the disease is festering at the upper-most levels of management, or is eating away at the worker level, I don't know. But as was mentioned in the first post, when you buy an article you expect a certain level of quality. The buying public *should* be the one in power, and *should* vote with their chequebooks. WE should be the ones to dictate what we will and will not tolerate. The product can only be as good as the dedication assembling it, or the quality of the parts used. And the buying public has the power to influence whoever's involved in either case.

[BlackHole]

Wow I must of gotten off easy so far 18,650 MI and only a dead battery and 2 rear tires out so far. But just the paint is my real sticking point. :soapbox: (Steps off)