2001 Ford Mustang - purchased at Mossey Ford, San Diego - brake problems, warranty Problem

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on July 9, 2002:

From:

RE: 2001 Ford Mustang - purchased at Mossey Ford, San Diego - brake problems, warranty Problem

We bought a brand new Ford Mustang last July at Mossey Ford in San Diego for my son. He needed brake pads on his car at 16000 miles. Mossey wanted to charge over $300 for brake pads. He went to brake depot and they put Ford pads on his car for $170 and also said that the calipers were not allowing his wheels to turn so his brake pads were going to wear out quickly and to take it back to Mossey because it was under warranty. At no time did they ask for money or to do any work.

They gave him this in writing. Mossey Ford refused to do any work, we simply wanted the calipers rebuilt. We took it to two more shops that said the same thing (we got them in writing) and all Mossey said was no way were they going to do anything because it was his fault, the way he drives. This is untrue.

His second set of factory pads wore out at 10K miles and so he's got a third set on now. Mossey said that pads weren't covered under the warranty, which I can agree with, but they are also now telling me that since this has been going on since last October, the calipers will no longer be covered under the warranty either because of excessive wear and tear that he has put on them, which is ridiculous, and he will have to pay for all new brakes, rotors and calipers.

We faxed them both notices from 2 shops stating that the calipers are faulty and the dealer needs to rebuild them. They stated to us that Brake Depot is the worst shop in San Diego and that all these shops either don't know what they're talking about or they don't want to get involved and that's why they're saying this. First of all, I believe that's libel for Brake Depot because we've always taken our cars there, and they've always been good.

Second, my son drove an Honda Accord prior to buying the Mustang and we never had any brake problems, or problems whatsoever with the Honda, so why would we suddenly have brakes wearing out at 10K miles, especially when he is VERY conscious about braking now, since these problems started. The calipers are under warranty, we are not asking for new ones, we are simply asking for these to be rebuilt and Ford refuses to do it. They brake pads are heating up immensely because the rotors are not allowed to turn, we have shown this to Mossey Ford on more than one occasion and they still refuse to say there is anything wrong with the calipers.

I will fax you the statements if you need them. Also, Tim Merril does not seem honest. Because he says it's Jimmy's driving habits, the service dept. refuses to do anything about it, anything at all, except give me an estimate on repairs that should be covered, and he specifically said, without even looking at the car, that the calipers, pads and rotors would now need to be replaced. This is fishy. He also states that the original estimate was so high, at $350, because the rotors probably needed to be replaced at 16K miles. Brake Depot said the rotors looked fine last week and he still had another 15-20K miles to go. Also, the transmission is going out again (we had the transmission replaced last February because it was faulty) and it's doing the same thing it did before, the same thing that is in the government's defect database. I am dreading taking it into the Ford shop because of other recent things that have happened. I contacted the government warranty dept. and complained about Mossey Ford not honoring their warranty and now Ford is pushing back.

All I want is these things fixed, things that are under warranty and should have been fixed ages ago, so I can get out of their hair and never darken Ford's door again. My son bought his dream car at 18. He will be 19 in 2 weeks and when I brought up just trading the car in on an older Mustang that has all these bugs worked out, he refuses to get another Ford product. I have absolute proof of harassment, I have a copy of the most recent work order with nasty comments written in by the techs in the Ford shop.

I would hope that your customer service department would be as enraged as I am about the lack of professionalism at this store and in this department. We purchased a brand new car and have already put in at least $1000 in repairs on our own because Ford refuses to honor the warranty. The techs have implied that I should work on the car myself. I did NOT spend $27000 on a car so that I would have to replace the brakes and transmission on my own, and did NOT buy an extended warranty to pay for someone to do this work that should be covered under the warranty, and in 3 1/2 months, this problem would have been going on a year!!!

This is my last ditch effort to make good on the warranty, and with the copies of the remarks as well as the fact that there was NOTHING sent in writing to us, just nasty threats over the phone, for example, I spoke to Tim Merrill and he not only threatened to not release our car the next time we brought it in for service because he was going to say that we needed to replace all the calipers, rotors and pads, when I told him that my son was saying he was just going to let the brakes go out and sue Ford, he said he hoped it happened before the warranty went out or it wouldn't be covered.

I have researched Ford as well as the lemon law. The problems with the brakes that were dangerous, and happened before 18000 miles and therefore while it's been almost a year since this started, we can use the lemon law to our satisfaction because with all the documentation I have, I can prove that Ford strung us along with their threats and promises.

I do not want to get another car, I simply want our car fixed correctly. I have reported these incidents to authorities already and will continue to do so until I get the car fixed. If nothing comes of this email, my last option will be to take Ford, Mossey Ford, and Mossey Ford Service Center to court. While I have no illusions of winning millions of dollars, I can retrieve pain and suffering (I can't sleep and all I do is dream that Mossey Ford and Ford in general is making my life miserable) and get the loss for the trade in that we will take (it will be 5-6K if we trade it in right now). You can stop me from doing any of this simply by having someone fix these Ford problems.

Tim seems to think I'm fairly unintelligent. I've gone on line and researched these problems, he says that there have been no reported problems with brakes, and I found brake problems reported. He said that it was (once again) Jimmy's driving habits that made the transmission go out and I found MANY documented cases of the same thing happening to thousands of other customers. I now have proof of the way we have been treated ever since this problem started. I have documented every conversation that took place since Tim Merrill threatened me.

I have covered myself as I'm sure you have too, but the proof is on my side. I am asking for your help in simply having Mossey Ford, or for that matter, any Ford service center in San Diego, fix the problems that are under warranty and I can promise you, we will never go into any Ford car dealership again.

While this may be the first email you're receiving it won't be the last if this isn't taken care of, and while I know I probably sound aggressive and angry, please keep in mind that this has been going on since October, and not only is the car a problem, you've lost a life long customer and his attitude has not been the greatest recently because of what Ford has done, the fact that you sold him a faulty car and refused to repair things that have been covered under the warranty, and I have to live with my son and see how upset he gets every time he thinks about it. My sister has 3 kids that are 17, 16 and 14.

The 17 year old just got a brand new Honda, but she wanted a Focus. Because of what my son is going through, my sister refused to buy her a Ford. I just paid off my Honda and am looking to trade it in on another car. I was looking at the Focus as well, but am going to go with a Honda or Toyota because Ford is not trustworthy. That is 2 car sales within the last month that you lost simply because of a couple of hours work rebuilding some calipers. I certainly hope it's worth it. I'm also hoping that you can help me. I don't expect you to because Tim Merrill specifically told me that while the shop carries the Ford name, Ford doesn't care what they do, but I'm hoping that you will at least call me and ask for the documentation I have and address the legalities of this purchase. If I'm wrong on this please feel free to let me know. But all the documentation I have only proves that I'm right. Thank you.

Kathie Norton