[Shotimes] RE: SHOTimes message about Ford quality

[Kurt Metros]

Gary,

I've actually had two LS's.  Here's the breakdown:

1. Lincoln bought back my first after the dealer couldn't fix the
drivers heated seat.  That car was at the dealership no less than 15
times in the first 9 months of ownership.  

2. On this one, the radio wouldn't shut off.  The dealer told me they
didn't have a fix for it and that Ford didn't know which radios in
inventory were bad and which weren't.  They replaced it once, but I got
another bad one.  Then they told me to wait a year to let all the bad
ones be depleted from their parts inventory.  A year later, it's finally
fixed.  Never mind how stupid I looked in front of clients explaining to
them why my radio wouldn't turn off on my $40K car.  Of course when I
got the car back from the dealer they scratched the trim panel above the
radio putting it in.

3. The rear windows creak and moan...they fixed it, but they still
wobble a little when they go up and I'm sure it's just a matter of time
before the go bad again.

4. I've had no less than 6 new headlight assemblies installed....they
aren't sealed right and fog up inside whenever it rains or you wash the
car.  They have fixed it under warranty every time, but my 00 did the
same thing.  So, here it is THREE years after the car went into
production and they are still trying to figure out how to properly seal
them.  Oh yea, after the car is out of warranty, it will cost you $233
each time you need to replace one.  

5. The fit and finish is poor in several places.

6. The drivers seat/steering wheel memory won't hold its settings.
After it sits overnight I have to hit the set button again to get it to
go where it's supposed to be.  They can't seem to figure out what's
going on there.  It's hard to live with too because it positions itself
such that I can't see the speedometer behind the steering wheel unless I
set it.

7. It randomly 'chimes' for no reason at all when I'm driving down the
road....the kind of noise it makes when the door is open, but only for a
spit second.  I won't even bother to tell the dealership about this -
they'll surely do nothing, they're so useless.

8. The front sway bar mounts clunk. It's a known fact on the LS Owners
club, but the dealership won't listen to me, so I take it back again and
again and they do things like tighten the wheel well trim and lube the
suspension and tell me it's fixed.  Surely they don't test drive it.

I'm sure there is more, I've just blocked my memory of it because it's
so frustrating.  I'm tired of returning the thing to the dealership and
fighting to get it fixed right.  

My wife bought a 2000 Toyota Celica.  The first year on the market and
within a few months of its debut.  It's been back to the dealership
once, for a problem they knew COULD be coming and resolved it.  It was
minor too, like some bolt that wasn't properly torqued and if worked
loose would cause rattling.  My sales partner has an Avalon.  50K miles
and it's NEVER been back to the dealer.

Ford's got their heads up their asses and they could really give a shit
about whether or not I like the car or not or buy another one or not.
Ever tried to contact Ford?  Go to their website.  I defy you to find
any place to contact them there.  They really don't give a shit, I'm
convinced.

Kurt 'I drive a $40K POS' Metros



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Mulholland [mailto:scmerkur@charter.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 11:00 AM
> To: kurt@elkhart.net
> Subject: SHOTimes message about Ford quality
> 
> Kurt
> you wrote: "I don't have a GenIII, but I do have a Lincoln LS and I'll
> NEVER
> buy
> another Ford again either."
> What has been so bad about the LS?
>  I was thinking of buying a used one when the SHO wears out.
> Gary