What about that Lemon Ute @ Bathurst?

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by Kenaz

Wouldn't you just try and sell it if you were unhappy, rather than carry on like a baby?

Theres a thing called principle. How is he carrying on like a baby? He has obviously gone via the normal channels to rectify the problems, and got nowhere. Or do you just lay down and die whenever someone screws you over? He is taking the most prominent avenue of protest he could find. What would an old digger from the war era do ya reckon. Thats the problem with this country today, no spirit, no fight, unless youre tanked and some other tanked imbicile bumps youre frilly umbrella drink.



As for anyone else who feels the guy was wrong because it annoys you. He simply did something with his own car and youre annoyed. Yet you expect people to believe if this happened to you, you would just sell it. Think about the contradiction in that.

[parawolf]

Originally Posted by Kenaz

Wouldn't you just try and sell it if you were unhappy, rather than carry on like a baby?

Erm - perhaps the problems that he is having are so major, or noticable he is going to be out of pocket a major amount and cannot afford to sell it at such a massive loss.

Perhaps anyone going to buy it, the second they test drive it, or get it inspected are going to notice the faults and either walk away or try and knock him down even more money.

Happened to me with my lemon. Fortunately the loss was overcome by not requiring a car for 6 months; 6 months of payments and having a headache VS taking a loss now and losing a headache.

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

From my own and my parents experience we havn't had one problem that hasn't been fixed the 1st time, and there havn't een many problems.

Bit of an idiot to take it to a place like bathurst with anti-anything Ford or holden on it!!

My dads XR6T has had 33 warranty claims and its just about to go in for another lot. Their service is crap and they never fix the problem properly. We can't wait to get rid of the piece of shyte

[Bud Bud]

Originally Posted by schmidty

That'd be this 1. I saw it there and was talking to a guy who is in marketing at Ford who organised the drivers parade lap we did at bathurst and we both agreed, for what it was worth, they would have been better off taking the guys car back and replacing it than having that kind of publicity at the main public gate at bathurst!

My ute has been back in almost as many times and had almost as much stuff replaced, but its all been done, and relatively pain free. Such is life, i dealt with it, i didnt cry about it.




By the end of the race on sunday people had written all over it in the dust saying how stupid he was and someone wrote ****er with black texta on the rear quarter!!
Ha

I don't know if he went about it the right way (could of had his car torched or his head kicked in), and he might have a real concern regarding his vehicle's safety or performance etc, he also might be the "tosser" that most here seem to predict. I don't know because I just do not know his own personal details however, and not just sticking up for this Guy but by your own admission, at least your problems were fixed "pain free". We do not know what pain his dealer has put him through. What would you do if your car was a lemon that just could not be fixed after repeated visits to the dealership?

This is not a shot at Ford either as they maybe at least trying to the right thing by this customer as well.

The world is certainly littered by factory built lemons from all manufactures and Australia is no exception and as soon as this Country adopts something like the US lemon laws the better it would be for everyone.

As everyone knows, Toyota is a big time player in the US (after two trips to the US it seemed that every second car on the road was a Camry) and we get those same designed cars in Australia as they do in the US. Toyota already plays by these rules and it shows up on the quality and reliability of their cars even a decade later, even if they are on the boring side.

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by Kenaz

Wouldn't you just try and sell it if you were unhappy, rather than carry on like a baby?

Why should he have to? If they fixed the piles of junk properly then there'd be no need.

[The Monty]

What a noob. Wow, my car sucks, so instead of spending money to get it fixed, Ill spend money on getting stickers and banners made up for it so I can make myself look like an idiot.

[jetpilot_xr6]

Ok so obviously this guy has got a lemon, they're out there in every make and model of new car!
I know of 2 commodores (1 a vy s ute the other a vz crewman s) which have both been back to the dealer half a dozen times each both with driveline & bodywork problems which are yet to be resolved and this is just in the small area i live.
Yet I have a ba xr6 ute (which I love) and know of quite a few others that also own ba's (a couple of which have a pretty hard life) and none of us have ever had any major problems. the only complaint I have is i cant stop driving the thing!! :eclipsee_
The spotlight seems to have been put on the ba's for some reason? maybe because there was such a big deal made about them when the new model was released and the fact they have been such a successful car and there are so many about or maybe its because the holden guys are to scared to admit they actually have just as many problems!
Clearly there are problems with some ford dealers and there customer service but like any busniess/franchise or car for that matter there's good and theres bad but you generally dont hear the storys of the good so much.
No matter what make or model of vehicle you cant blame people for being annoyed when they have problem, but I doing what this guy has gone and done is being a bit extreme and he's obviously got the bad end of the stick.

[photn]

i dont understand this. ppl are bitching about a FORD on a ford website saying that the flacons are crap and all that jazz yet most of the ppl on here own a falcon of sum sort.???

im confused. who do we go for?

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by The Monty

What a noob. Wow, my car sucks, so instead of spending money to get it fixed, Ill spend money on getting stickers and banners made up for it so I can make myself look like an idiot.

Speaking of idiots.

You'd rather fix that which should be right in the first place than add some nice mods for your dollar. Do you always pay for things twice? Bet youd be the first to get upity if the clown at Maccas tried to charge you for a cheeseburger twice. If you ate in, and the fries werent there, would go say something, sit quietly, or just pay again?

The issue here, is not that Ford alone make lemons, but that they dont care to fix the ones they do make. We do need lemon laws. Where if the car is returned x amount of times in a set period, its exchanged for a new one. Would be nice if a manufacturer had enough faith in their product to offer that service without laws requiring it.

[82XD393.3v]

his car must have been the first made by the new indian replacment workers it takes a bit of time to adjust to there new working conditions and they have to fit there lounges in the tea room

[The Yeti]

Having been treated like crap by ford with my B seris falcon I can understand Y he's done it, lucky it wasnt torched but

[uranium_death]

This guy is a fool.

Once again, every model of car has problem vehicles.

Our XF had heaps of little things go wrong over the years. Heaps. But the body was great. Spoke to a mechanic, and they said that XF mechanics were generally very reliable, while the bodies were suspect. So according to that mechanic, we had an inversed Falcon. But it was still a good family car for 13 years.

I think that part of purchasing a car is accepting the lottery that comes with it.

There are probably heaps of people that complain about how bad and unreliable their VTII Commodore Acclaim is, but besides the central locking system (as well as the keys) stuffing up a couple of times, there have been no major mechanical issues. The steering box may need replacing soon as their is a bit of a click at times (very seldom though) and we have been told there is a minor leak, but after 6 years, we accept that.

Once again, cars are prone to wear and tear. If this person has a problem, this kind of stunt achieves nothing. Would you want to help a jerk out?

Maybe if he went back to City Ford and negotiated a deal, he might have got some help.

[fmc351]

forget it.

[james22]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

Maybe if he went back to City Ford and negotiated a deal, he might have got some help.

hahahaha, hahahahaha yeah right.

Sarcasm off..... :

[Feathers]

Originally Posted by FourBarrel

Have you ever owned a B series car and dealt with ford services recently. That might help explain his actions...

I have had absolutely no probelems with my service dept.
Had 4 very minor issues fixed with no fuss, and even when I forgot about getting it serviced on time they've accomodated me.

[parawolf]

Originally Posted by Feathers

I have had absolutely no probelems with my service dept.
Had 4 very minor issues fixed with no fuss, and even when I forgot about getting it serviced on time they've accomodated me.

4 very minor issues hardly compares to the often lists of major faults that cars like his have. Most dealers when you list of the faults you want looked at, diagnosed, evaluated, discussed and hopefully solved; close their collective minds at the suggestion and are completely unable to handle the situation.

CRC aren't much better taking weeks upon weeks to accept that a dealership has failed to accept customer service responability, then more time to accept your list of faults, and then even more time to find TIME AGAIN to have the car looked at.

All the time you have a regular business/work/life to run based around the function of a BRAND NEW CAR UNDER NEW CAR WARRANTY.

It has been said many times, that service departments can do minor faults and servicing (oil change and tyre rotations) but thats it. Warranty work? What's that?

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by FourBarrel

Is that a black XR8 with white body kit in that pic or just the sun reflecting? If so they should be shot!

Looks like an XR6 from near me, it has the skirts painted and the bottom of the rear bar and the bottom of the front bar and around the headlights i need a better shot to tell you if its the same 1

[BPXR6T]

Originally Posted by TE50 056

Looks like an XR6 from near me, it has the skirts painted and the bottom of the rear bar and the bottom of the front bar and around the headlights i need a better shot to tell you if its the same 1

Maybe we should start a Ford Forums hall of shame.

[blue terra]

It looks like the one that is parked up at my local pub. If so its been like that for at least 18 months. see it every now and then has lemon stickers over it. Have never spoken to the bloke but.

[Steve]

Running my own business, I know how quick some people are to react in an extreme manner. Some people you just can't please no matter what you do.
As for the dealer, I can't say enough about how good New Oak have treated me each and every time I've been there.

[The Monty]

Originally Posted by fmc351

Speaking of idiots.

You'd rather fix that which should be right in the first place than add some nice mods for your dollar. Do you always pay for things twice? Bet youd be the first to get upity if the clown at Maccas tried to charge you for a cheeseburger twice. If you ate in, and the fries werent there, would go say something, sit quietly, or just pay again?

The issue here, is not that Ford alone make lemons, but that they dont care to fix the ones they do make. We do need lemon laws. Where if the car is returned x amount of times in a set period, its exchanged for a new one. Would be nice if a manufacturer had enough faith in their product to offer that service without laws requiring it.

Excuse me mate, do not imply that I am an idiot. That was my view on the situation, and I do not like to be drawn directly into an argument, when I have not been asked. out:

[Windsor220]

I like how underneath the sign on the front windscreen he has one of those sun reflector things. Not really any point is there.

[351capri]

some people are just whingers, and this guy is an example of someone who didnt do his homework, didnt he test drive one before he bought it? the law says buyer beware.. and if he carried on at the service centres like the dick head he obviously is he deserves bad service.

[Longreach]

Originally Posted by 351capri

some people are just whingers, and this guy is an example of someone who didnt do his homework, didnt he test drive one before he bought it? the law says buyer beware.. and if he carried on at the service centres like the dick head he obviously is he deserves bad service.

So going off that statement there i presume that means that every Xr6t has major faults?? Since "if" he had of tested driven one like you suggested then he would have noticed all those faults in a demo/mates vechile??
Not to be aggressive but common mate, think about that for a second.

[HOON69]

i want before and after pics :

[Falchoon]

Originally Posted by GlennAUII

My dads XR6T has had 33 warranty claims and its just about to go in for another lot. Their service is crap and they never fix the problem properly. We can't wait to get rid of the piece of shyte

It didn't have any problems until he let you drive it...

: :thebirds:

[schmidty]

Originally Posted by Bud Bud

I don't know if he went about it the right way (could of had his car torched or his head kicked in), and he might have a real concern regarding his vehicle's safety or performance etc, he also might be the "tosser" that most here seem to predict. I don't know because I just do not know his own personal details however, and not just sticking up for this Guy but by your own admission, at least your problems were fixed "pain free". We do not know what pain his dealer has put him through. What would you do if your car was a lemon that just could not be fixed after repeated visits to the dealership?

This is not a shot at Ford either as they maybe at least trying to the right thing by this customer as well.

The world is certainly littered by factory built lemons from all manufactures and Australia is no exception and as soon as this Country adopts something like the US lemon laws the better it would be for everyone.

As everyone knows, Toyota is a big time player in the US (after two trips to the US it seemed that every second car on the road was a Camry) and we get those same designed cars in Australia as they do in the US. Toyota already plays by these rules and it shows up on the quality and reliability of their cars even a decade later, even if they are on the boring side.

Honestly mate, the only reason most of my problems were fixed relaitively pain free is because i knew a mechanic at the dealership, and the service adviser he worked under was a real no bull crap kind of guy. I got on well with him and he always went in to bat for me instead of just accepting what he was told to do.

After he moved up to be the BMW service manager, and the mechanic moved up to Jaguar i had nothing but trouble again. Ute was off the road for over 3 weeks while the diff was being sorted out last time, and i only got anywhere with that from spending an hour a day on the phone.

Here's a list of stuff i've had done to mine.

Ha.
Here Goes.

- Drivers Seat belt not retracting, cleaned 3 times, replaced once
- Passenger seat belt not retracting, cleaned once, replaced once
- New tonneau cover, stitching all fell out
- Water pump o rings every service
- Brakes machined 4 times
- Rotors and pads all replaced
- New exhaust system, cat back
- New LSD Center x 2
- New LSD complete rear axle assembly including center x2 (so 4 diffs all up)
- LHF Wheel Bearing
- Manifold gasket
- Plastic covers between drivers door and little rear side window replaced twice
- Headlight globes x 2
- Driving Light globes x 2
- New ICC unit as disc 6 would neither play nor eject
- New throttle body
- New IAC Valve x 2
- Boot around gear selector replaced twice
- New cup tray x 2
- New rear shocks, (squeaky)
- Hand brake mechanism adjusted twice
- New ecu
- Lots of driveline clunk
- The latest LSD was back to being a single spinner within 5 days
- Power steering oil cap replaced


If you count them up, including the miltiple items i'm well over 30 items in 100,000km.

Some of them i fought for, some of them i didnt.

all of these items were fixed under warranty. Only problem items were the diffs. Longest was 8 weeks. Shortest was this one, 3 weeks and the car was still driveable with the other 3, this time it wasnt. 3 weeks is a long time to go without your car!

I'm happy because i love the car, and i won all of my battles. If i hadn't, and was getting no where i would be looking at options maybe not quite as extreme as this but i feel the guys pain.

I'm not unrealistic with my expectation of what the car should be, and quite willing to admit it does get used and abused with work.

I know a bloke who built with metricon and they stuffed up a list of things on his house and put him off and put him off and did nothing to fix it. So on the day they opened their new geelong display homes he went and stood on the footpath with a sign. Not the kind of publicity you want with so many people around over maybe 5 grands worth of stuff that they had mucked up in the first place. They threatened to call the police, who could do nothing anyway because he was on the footpath. They ended up calling 1 of the directors who agreed to get rectify his problems if he left. He did, and they were at his house on monday morning fixing the mistakes. Sometimes it takes extreme measures to be taken notice of.

He could be a whinger, but i've had 1, and been there and experienced a troublesome BA and substandard explanations and service.

Don't label him until you know the full story.

I agree that there are lemons in all makes, but if it is, it should be dealt with appropriately, not just left at 'sorry mate, you got a lemon'. nor should he have to sell it and lose money because he got a dud.

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by photn

i dont understand this. ppl are bitching about a FORD on a ford website saying that the flacons are crap and all that jazz yet most of the ppl on here own a falcon of sum sort.???

im confused. who do we go for?

There are far to many dodgy Falcons out there and unfortunately it highlights the problems with Ford as a company.

I can well understand his frustration. Ford seem to have a corporate culture that puts a low priority on customer service and happy customers. THis guy has clearly done the rounds with Ford and has reached his limit.

Many on the forums expect Ford to do better by it's customers and fans and that is not an unreasonable expectation IMHO.


Dan

[Mr Mooch]

I had a mate with a Monaro. He was back to the dealership about 40 times in 2 years. It spent 14 weeks off the road in one year and Holden replied that it was within tolerances.
He wrote personally to Denny Mooney and he always had one of his stooges reply. In the end he gave up the fight with them and took an $11,000 loss on the lease.
Believe me it does happen on both sides of the fence.
Someone living on the Gold Coast (Qld) will remember it as it was Hot House Green and had Monaro - What a Lemon across the back window.

Mr Mooch

[Bud Bud]

Originally Posted by schmidty

Honestly mate, the only reason most of my problems were fixed relaitively pain free is because i knew a mechanic at the dealership, and the service adviser he worked under was a real no bull crap kind of guy. I got on well with him and he always went in to bat for me instead of just accepting what he was told to do.

After he moved up to be the BMW service manager, and the mechanic moved up to Jaguar i had nothing but trouble again. Ute was off the road for over 3 weeks while the diff was being sorted out last time, and i only got anywhere with that from spending an hour a day on the phone.

Sorry I hope you didn’t think I was having a go at you personally as you story is quite bad also, and if truth be said not acceptable either. I am glad that you had someone who was able to go in and bat for you but really you should not of needed him to have to do this in the first place as warranty work should be just that warranty work.

It is also not good enough for you to have to spend an hour of your time each day trying to get warranty work done. If that was the dealership chasing you to get building warranty work done, they would have probably billed you for their time as well.

Three weeks for a diff problem to be sorted out, my god I hope the paid for a rental. Our BA one tonne was of the road for just one day when they replaced the diff in ours.

It sounds like the mechanic that helped you at your dealership is a good bloke who understands right from wrong, He would have been a real asset to the Ford dealership service department. I hope he is doing well where he went to and does not just become disillusioned with the system either.