Help! Help! Help! Help! Help!

[1Yellow03]

:mj: Help! Help! Help! Help! I am in deep DoDo!!!!!! My 03’ Cobra is has 41,500 miles on it! I am over the 3 year warranty period! But I have taken good care of my car, by getting the oil change when I should! Hell I don’t even run my car hard! This is the scoop, I take my car in to a Ford quality Care service center for a routine oil change! 2 hours later I get a call that the car is ready for me come by and pick it up! 20 min. later I get another phone call from them saying that my motor is lock up tight and will not turn over! The manager says that it will coast BIG BUCKS to repair the motor, or replace the motor with a new one! My car has never given me a hard time! He said something about the rear thrush bearing going bad! Is this the same bearing that I had replaced TWICE already, when my car was under warranty!!!!! It has fail now again, only to destroy my motor!!!!!! If it is I am going to get a lawyer :cuss: ! Why should I be penalized for FORDS poor design of a part that fails! If this is the case then that means that all the motors could one day do this same thing! After all of this I don’t know if I want to keep the car anymore as much as I love it!!!!!!! Maybe I should have sold the car after the second bearing replacement! Any one else have this problem and how was it handle!!!!!!!!!! (I don’t have extended warranty)
Any suggestions or words of condolence will be appreciated!!!!!!!! I guess I will get a WRX sti it is the only other car out there that I like for the money and the performance! Thanks for any help and suggestions!
:??:

 

[03soniccobra01]

:mj: rear thrush bearing going bad!
:??:

???
Never heard of that...You had the rear thrust bearing replaced twice....If that is true....You got duked...If they fail....There is a reason for it and they should have replaced the motor. If the same piece failed that was replaced they should cover it under warranty. The one you had replaced came with a 12,000 mile 12 month warranty anyway....Even if it is over a year...They can do a AWA repair for you...Talk to the service manager and tell him you want a new motor....They will be responsible to do so once you take them to court :beer:

 

[DKS2814V]

Since you have had problems with it before, and Ford has fixed it (TWICE), the have recognized it as a problem. If they aren't going to do anything about it, I'm quite confident that a lawyer will get you fixed up. They new it was a problem, fixed it, and chances are didn't fix it right, or get straight to the problem. Shouldn't be your fault.

I've been told my numerous service reps that if the problem is documented and you have a failure outside of your warranty window, they'll do their best to remedy the problem free of charge.

I'd call them back and notify them ASAP. I find it hard to believe that all they were doing was changing the oil and the motor froze? Did some tech start the car up thinking there was oil in it when there wasn't? Maybe dealer neglect could be an issue here.

I'd be nice about it, but be firm...

 

[2003 Silver]

It obviously has a documented history of this reoccuring problem...I would talk to a Ford rep. to get it covered or lemoned (if possible). Secondly, the car ran when you took it there and know it doesn't...happened on their time...they should fix it. ;-)

 

[mosconiac]

Call that lawyer. If I were you, I'd be ready for a fight but one I thought I could win.

The fact that it let go in the dealers hands is odd. When/how did the previous two fail?

 

[LCCOBRA]

The fact that it let go in the dealers hands is odd.

Something is just not right here at all. I smell bullshit on dealer :nonono:

 

[03yellow]

Ford replacement parts have warranty. If they were installed by a ford Dealer then they will be replaced free of charge during the parts warranty period.

Find out the warranty period for your replacement part first!
Most parts are covered 12 months unlimited miles.

 

[1Yellow03]

Well I think the first thing I will do is call the dealership to see if this is a problem that they all knew of, and if there is a recall in the works for our cars! I just don’t see why a car would totally fail like that! I live about 3 ½ miles from this shop! I did not notice any thing out of the ordinary! Power was good, sound was good too! I drive the car every day to work! All last week in fact! Its been over 3 weeks, that I even heard the super charger! A set of nitto’s will last me for over 15,000 miles! I don’t drive the car hard!!!! My plan was to keep the car for 10 to 15 years! So I was taking extra good care of it! And the thing breaks in less than 4 years!!!! I love to do the car show seen! The car has never been to the track! My fear is the fact that I have after market equipment on the car and FORD may call foul on my part for that!!!!

I am sure that service mangier said that it was a thrush bearing. The bearing that was replace twice was the throw out bearing! Are the two the same?

When the guy call me and said that my motor was dead! I could not believe it, it was like a good friend had died!!!

 

[1Yellow03]

Ford replacement parts have warranty. If they were installed by a ford Dealer then they will be replaced free of charge during the parts warranty period.

Find out the warranty period for your replacement part first!
Most parts are covered 12 months unlimited miles.

I did not know that! The throw out was replace maybe 9 or 10 months ago! :dw: The one before that was about the same amount of time 9 to 10 months! :shrug: If this has happen to me it could be you next!!!!!!! :cryying:

 

[jking32]

How many miles were on the car when you dropped it off? Was the car "Test driven" by someone????

 

[whistlin93SVT]

Think about this, they called you 20 min after they told you to come pick up the car and they already knew that the cause of the engine seize was this bering that you have had replaced twice (int their records). I smell bullshit. How in the hell would they have any clue what cause the engine seize with out tearing down the engine? I would put my money on a dumbass service tech forgetting to put oil back into the car and starting her up.

 

[pj_rage]

Think about this, they called you 20 min after they told you to come pick up the car and they already knew that the cause of the engine seize was this bering that you have had replaced twice (int their records). I smell bullshit. How in the hell would they have any clue what cause the engine seize with out tearing down the engine? I would put my money on a dumbass service tech forgetting to put oil back into the car and starting her up.

+1.

They tell you it is fine, then call you 20 minutes later to tell you your engine is dead? What happened in those 20 minutes, if all they did was drain the oil (and presumably put new oil and replaced filter in) and it was running fine when you brought it in? And like whistlin said, how the hell did they analyze exactly what the problem was within those 20 minutes?

IMO, the dealer is trying to pull a fast one on you for their mistake. Tell them to fix your car or they will hear from your lawyer.

I can only imagine how mad you are, I know I would have been swearing and stirring up a $hit storm with the service dept if this happened to me.

At any rate, change your own oil in the future :thumbsup:

 

[1Yellow03]

I am not sure of what the miles were on the car, I know that they make a note of that as they check your car in. No one should have gone for a test drive in the car. You don’t test drive a car for a oil change! It is almost 2:00 and no one has call me about it yet! The Quality Care Service center and it’s associated dealership is not the ones that did the warranty work before. I just use them for my oil changes! I used the dealership were I got the car from for warranty work! (Sorry for leaving that point out!) I don’t think all of them are computer linked so these guys may not know about the warranty work done to the car!

 

[ChicagoMike]

So the motor failed in the dealers hands, plus it's a documented problem.

Hire a lawyer and next year you'll be driving a new Shelby GT500

 

[Top_Fuel]

How old are you and are you of foreign ancestry? (No, I'm not joking.)

Are you the original owner?

Do you have excellent maintenance records?

Did this dealer sell the car new?

Did this dealer perform the previous repairs you mention?

Exactly what were the repairs before? THRUST bearing replacement...twice?!?!

Do you still have all the paperwork for the previous repairs?


I'm trying to use the above information to figure out if they're trying to take advantage of you... beecause on the surface, that's what it sounds like.

 

[1Yellow03]

How old are you and are you of foreign ancestry? (No, I'm not joking.)

Are you the original owner?

Do you have excellent maintenance records?

Did this dealer sell the car new?

Did this dealer perform the previous repairs you mention?

Exactly what were the repairs before? THRUST bearing replacement...twice?!?!

Do you still have all the paperwork for the previous repairs?


I'm trying to use the above information to figure out if they're trying to take advantage of you... beecause on the surface, that's what it sounds like.

I am a American, I don’t speak Japanese, Chinese, or Spanish! I am 51! I DID NOT buy the car from these guys! I did get the car new! Only owner! Yes I have all the repair paper work! And maintenance paper work too! My wife said that I must love that car more than her!

 

[p3pete]

Based on all the information thus far in this post, you've got a solid case. Lawyer up and you will win... good luck and keep us posted...

 

[Top_Fuel]

I am a American...

Sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you... you were typing in broken English, you're from Cuba (err, Florida), and there are a lot of young Cobra owners on here that a dealer would try to scam. Now that we have it established that you are a mature original owner with good paperwork... ;-)

Wait to see what they offer you. I think they know they screwed up, and that second phone call to you was to see what your reaction would be. I'm sure they were hoping that you'd just roll over at that point. Hopefully they are scrambling right now to figure out how THEY are going to pay for this repair.

They may also be deciding that there's no way they are going to eat this one without some kind of fight from you. If you need a new engine assembly, it WILL be a several thousand dollar repair. Stand firm and let them know you're not looking for a compromise. If they don't offer you a complete repair, consult a lawyer immediately.

You are out of warranty, but there is a "secret" warranty program the dealer could call upon to get your car fixed. They might be able to do an AWA repair and get Ford to pay for some of it. Then the dealer wouldn't have to eat as much of the bill.

Lifted from http://www.flatratetech.com...

What is an AWA repair?

Ford has available what is called an "After Warranty Adjustment (AWA)." For the most part, these are totally for use at the discretion of the dealer up to two times per vehicle. After two AWA repairs, Ford MUST be involved. The discretion on the dealer's part may include whether you have been a "good" customer for the dealer and for Ford. The last dealer I worked used it as a selling tool for up-selling needed (and sometimes unneeded) service work, i.e. transmission flush, injection/induction cleaning service, or other work. The idea being that they can "give" you something in return for "buying" something.

If a dealer denies you an AWA for any reason, you may go to another dealer or appeal to Ford directly. The bottom line is that the dealer is more likely to help out someone that will benefit them in the future. If you never spent any money at a dealer, whether from the initial purchase or for routine maintenance, they are less likely to go out of their way to help you.

99% of the AWA repairs that are done are split between Ford, the dealer and the customer. If you had a $1000 repair, the dealer would ask you to pay an amount of anywhere from 10% to 50% of the cost, with the rest of the bill being split between Ford and the dealer. So if you’ve never been in to the dealer for any service and have never spent any money at the dealer, then the dealer will not be spending any money on you. I’m not saying that this is right or wrong…that’s just the way it works.

 

[03 svtvenom]

Interesting!

 

[Juiced-03]

That AWA thing may be a good try. It is basically a good faith repair. It didn't work for me, but I think my dealership now knows I will never buy from them again, after being such a loyal customer for years.