Ford Sucks
 

Well, after being told by ford to reply to me within 5 days the dealer has told me that they would knock off 10% of the new $1500 job of changing my oil pan. While it seemed Ford was going to do the right thing, they let me down.

I am off to Rhino Lining Monday for them to shoot the oil pan with Rhino and getting a lifetime warranty against leaks for 50-100 dollars depending on how much work it actually is.

While I love my truck, I will never buy another Ford vehicle again.

$1500 for changing an oil pan? :s - that really sucks!!!

It was $1200 until I bitched to Ford. Now it is $1500 and since the motor weighs 5000 pounds, nobody but a dealer can do the job. The motor has to be pulled to change the oil pan.

damnit, I never understood the people who bought thereselves Toyotas and I used to hate them - but after hearing things like this I'm starting to understand.

My 1990 Ford Sierra never had such a big problem so far.

I had a Ford van once. Rear heater exploded filling the inside of the van with hot engine coolant. Another time the vibration damper on the engine came apart. But what really got me was the first time I tried to use the heater for the front passages and found out it didn't work because Ford and glued the ducts shut while installing the windshield but Ford would not cover it since it had been over one year since I had bought it. Ford sucks.

My GM Chevy has had its share of problems too but at least GM has been pretty decent about taking care of them but they did charge me for a new steering lock after it jammed and my Vette had to be towed in and then a few years later GM sent me a check giving me the cost of the repair back.

I've had a few Toyotas and they have been the best.

Never had a problem with Ford. I owned a Tempo for awhile and the thing was surprising dependable. Still, I have a Toyota now and as long as you do basic maintenance they'll pretty much last forever, lol.

I used to rent Ford Tempos all the time to drive to customer sites. I'd always pick them up the night before the trip because I had a girl friend that loved having sex in new cars. As long as they had that new car smell we'd play :)

I used to rent Bonnevilles for $550/month -- and was upset when I didn't put at least 12k on each one every month.

I remember renting one with 8 miles on it and returning it with 15080 miles 30 days later. Knowing that the company sold them after 12k, it just didn't seem right. Once in a while I would get an oil change which they would reimburse for -- then one day they told me they didn't want to rent to me anymore. So, I started driving Impalas through another company. Geesh I don't miss that life.

ahh the days of the 26 hour service call trips. :)

DC, Wilmington, Philly, NYC, Middletown, Queensbury, Ithica, Utica, Harrisburg, home. Sleep for 8 hours, then do the southern route.

Rented a Tempo a few times -- never could get used to the smell. haha

I never understood the mentality of the design engineers. They must all drive a Tarus. Who in their right mind would do this to a truck/car/van? I mean an oil pan that you need to remove the engine? It's not like oil is important and needs to be changed on a regular basis. Thats like locking the hood shut so only a ford tech can unlock it. There is no logic to this. Jim I would stick with the Ford or a Dodge. Chevy just totaly sucks monkey balls. I would just ask next time how easy it is to service the thing. I'm sure there are a shit load of people who own that same truck and now are very very pissed. I don't blame them.

Queensbury? Why on earth would you go to Queensbury? Tribune Media?

Stories like these are exactly why I only buy Canadian cars.

I doubt if you have to remove the pan to change the oil, just the plug. You should only have to remove it to replace it or the gasket. But, seeing as Jim said that the pan tends to rust out, it does sound like a nice racket at 1500 a pop.

I helped design, engineer and support a slow-scan video over 9600 baud dialup in Sunoco A-Plus, 7-11s up and down the east coast, Crown Petroleum, and a bunch of other smaller chains.

Queensbury had a Sunoco/Atlantic A-Plus store that for some reason needed repair somewhat frequently.

Damn.. I also hate Ford. I had a Tempo once .. was a fun beater car. Didnt care where I left it or anything. I actually sold it for more than I paid for it... then a few months later the lady that bought it was driving it and the bumper fell off lol. Then one thing after another everyday after that.. she had to take it off the road. :(

I am a GM fan personally and so far the best GM I have owned was the 99 GMC Jimmy. I never had a problem with it. After that I tried Honda.. I had an 83 Civic back in the day, cost 10 bucks to fill it and lasted forever. I got a 2002 Honda Civic and it was great on gas but with 2 kids, I was missing space. One day the guys working on my landscaping backed into my car and put a nice dent in it. (click for pics 1, 2, 3, 4.) That repair cost just over $900. This car was a lease so I had Honda do the repairs.. to my suprise when I returned it they charged me an additional $400 because they said the car was damaged... lesson learned: get repairs done elsewhere and dont tell anyone. Anyway after royally getting fucked in ass by Honda, my wife and I decided to try a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. (click for pics taken with my cell phone.) I was never a fan of Dodge.. but damn I love this minivan. the stow and go option is simply amazing. My kids love the van too cause I had my stereo system installed and they get to dance around in it lol.

My sister has a Windstar and its pretty nice. Some cool options but to be honest it doesnt ride as smooth as the Caravan ;)

such kind of dents I never repair:
1, 2, 3, 4

that's a pretty nice Minivan you have:
click for pics taken with my cell phone.

how much did you pay for that one?

Jim welcome to the new age of motor vehicles. :D You would have the same problem with all the other makes as well, You can't even change the spark plugs on these new & cars and trucks any more. I still wish i had my old 77 Ford pick up very easy to work on and i was able to do it myself not any more. |cry|

There is a quaint charm to tinkering around on cars. When I was in college it was out of necessity that I learned how to repair Datsun's, VWs, Porsches -- yeah, I was young and insane at 17, MG/MGB, Triumphs. My first real motor experience was an old Ford tractor that a guy had dumped in a farmhouse -- he paid me $200 to get it running again. Then I fixed a neighbor's Triumph motorcycle, the week before he turned down being the guitarist in the band Kix. It evolved into a computer project when I would go to the drag strips and tune cars for $50 before a race with my feeler gauges and my computer generated atmospheric pressure/temp charts. I always loved tinkering around on cars - it must appeal to my meticulous and calculating nature.

Then I got a job that was 65.5 miles door-to-door in the worst traffic hell imaginable. Up at 5:30, home at 9:30 -- and blew the engine in my Porsche on Thanksgiving weekend -- try and find rare porsche parts on a holiday weekend. Got it fixed and then had low-end engine problems in late December and bought a car that lasted 6 years and 225k miles without any major repairs (replaced the engine at 180k for $700 -- easier than a tuneup).

Since then, I lack even the time to build computers -- not that I loved that as much as working on cars. I just buy a laptop that has about the right specs and is in the right price range and maybe add ram.

If it hadn't been for the movie '50 First Dates', I'm sure I would have had a VW Thing with a reasonably powered motor that I would get to work with. Rhino line the interior (hey Jim), drill some drain holes, get the seats replaced with marine vinyl, slam some nice seat covers on, a bikini top and have a sporty fun car. Sort of like Simon and his Jeep. :)

Realistically, I'll just buy some convertable that I can enjoy 5 minutes a week and park it next to my boat that I haven't used in almost 4 years.

Jim,
What year model is the truck, how many miles and did you buy it new? Did you speak with the zone rep?
I worked in Ford Dealerships as a tech for over 20 years. From what I have seen, if you bought the truck new and it's not "way" out of warranty you still got a shot at getting Ford to reimburse you. For $1,500 it's worth raggin on their ass until they do. :D

why do people drive toyotas ????

I love toyota

when I was a teenager i couldnt afford a decent car so i was always buy 4 to 5 hundred peices of shit
a montecarlo, cutlas, camoros, chargers

you name it if was a peice of shit I owned it

one time i got a celica for 200.00
I drove it for 2 years and did nothing to it
I mean nothing, no brakes, no oil, no nothing
(I dont maintain my cars)

then one day it dawned on me
I have owned this car for 2 years and never once had to push it home

from that day on I have owned nothing but toyotas

6 or 7 years ago, maybe more
the lease was up on my tocoma
2 weeks before it goes back barbara gets hit or I dont know....
drivers door is pushed in glass broken

state farm gives me 3k for the damage
toyota takes the truck back and gives me back my FULL security deposit

I feel the exact same way about honda :D

Dam all this car talk makes me want to go build some transmissions again or maybe fire up my drag car and trailer it to the track and spend probably now 5.00 a gallon for race gas and go bracket racing plus 25.00 to race the car and another 15.00 for gas to get the car to the track... but I got out of racing to much like work after working all day then go spend all day sat or sun at the track and I was a decent racer and often got down close to the final races with a chance to win 300.00 if you won the last race and the other driver won 175.00 in the last race of the day in your class.. yeah the launch is the best part... you do your burn out with a 400.00 set of 14x32 drag slicks to put a new clean warm surface on the tires and you would inch up to the line to trip the bulbs on, and them hit the tranny brake(a special valve body in the trans to lock the clutch packs together to hold the car at 5000 rpm) then my 2 step module would come on(a special module that plugs into your MSD race ingition box to limit starting line rpm) Id put a 4800 chip in and be all set.. So the gas would be mashed to the floor and when the lights hit green the car would hook so hard that it felt like it would rip apart and the front wheels are off the ground for the launch and then you drive straight.. my car runs 7.00 sec. in a 1/8 mile at 120 mph from a dead stop, about 500 hp 355 small black chevy.. with loads of race parts in it.. it took 2 years of work to make it the way I wanted it.. paid 200.00 for the car and bought 7500.00 in parts at discount prices and had a few sponsors buy a few parts and did all the work myself as I am a certified master tech..

some time I'll dig some pictures up of me building the car and I may have a run or 2 at the track.. sorry to ramble on but it brings back what I liked at the time.. and dam I may clean out the garge and clean it up and fire it up.. this is not a street legal car and has to be trailered anywhere

The truck is a 2000 F350 with 45k miles on it. There is no hope with Ford...they already told me that and yes, I bought it new for 55k and paid it off in 6 months. Fuck them...Rhino Linings all the way.
http://www.rhinolinings.com/RL/main/...pecialapps.jsp

They are giving me a lifetime warranty against leaking for under $100. I will never have a ford dealer work on my truck again.

I started building my own fuel injection system maps for my old porsche.

Also played around with the old Volvo SU carbs (variable venturi, leather bladder) to provide a very torquey VW for autocross.

I figured, if I didn't have to worry about shifting in an autocross, and 2nd gear would get me from 15-40mph with plenty of torque, I could very easily win. I did win the First Time Driver award & 1st in two heats with my porsche -- a friend of mine's girlfriend won best in her division and an FTD in my car.

Ahh the good ole days.

I guess what I should do is build my electric boat now. I figure a Yamaha 135 hull with a single jet, 300 pounds of batteries where the fuel tank was, an electric motor... I should get a two hour duty cycle and a top speed of about 40mph -- and enough torque to tow me waterskiing on the lake that has banned internal combustion engines.

I guess a steam engine isn't internal combustion -- I could build a propane powered steam-engined day-boat.....

well, one day when I have more time. :)

wow a 2000 with only 45k.. I dunno how that is done...

I have a 2004 F350 with 40k on it. Love that powerstroke turbo diesel!

Come on now. You are supposed to be locked up in a cold room building servers and monitoring your network. lol.

I love my Toyota pickup. We had a celica gt for a while too. And our nissan keeps on going. All very low maintenance.

Dealers always try to stick you whether on the financing or the repairs or both. I bet some of these so called "employee discounts" these days could contain a few barbs as well to make up for lost revenue!