by "themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
Published 03/21/2017 at 17:14
by "themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
Published 03/21/2017 at 17:14
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STARS: 0
I won’t name names just yet but as things are coming close to resolution, I did want to inform some other Oppos about my experience with a stealership that took advantage of me in a tight spot. Also to see if anyone has any advice on what else I can do. Rant will follow....
Backstory - I drove to Connecticut for a convention and some business travel while I was out there. A few hundred miles left until I got there, I noticed my brakes were at metal on metal. I eased the car to Connecticut and made it without further incident. I’m in CT for 4 days so I NEED to have this fixed no later than the morning of the 4th day.
Day 1 - I drop the car off at the nearby Ford dealership. I explain my timeline and stress I need it by the morning of day 4. 5 minutes later, we agree it needs pads and rotors (I scarred the driver’s side rotor by this point so it was much safer to replace) and I sign the papers to authorize the repair. All told, it’s almost 400 but that’s what I get for not changing them earlier. All in all, small price to pay. Pads and rotors are in stock and they agree to have it done by the end of the day....Until they call me and tell me that the brake lines have collapsed and are no good. They claim this is causing issues with the caliper not releasing for them to put the new brakes on . My 1-year old stainless steel brake lines.
So now I authorize them to replace the lines for an additional 200$ of parts and labor.
Day 2 - Nothing. No updates. no parts.
Day 3 - Nothing. No parts, but a promise that the parts will be delivered the next day i nthe morning and I can leave on day 4 as I originally scheduled.
Day 4 - Nothing in the morning. Oh and they don’t know when FedEx will show up...Somehow a business in this day and age doesn’t know when FedEx will show up. I know when FedEx will deliver to my house within a 1-hour window. BUUUUUUUUT.....whatever.
At 1pm, I’m told they are ready to install and it will take an hour. 3:30pm, I get my car back. This is when I learn something - They claim my car has aftermarket pedals and those pedals screwed up my brake switch so my brakes don’t work properly and they adjusted it for me free of charge . This is news to me but I feel like the FoMoCo stamps on the pedals would indicate that they are NOT aftermarket. But more to the point - This means that the lines did NOT cause my caliper to release, correct? I mean, why would you need to mess with the pedal if the lines were the issue? They fixed the issue!
So I’m driving back home, and I learn that
-The brakes don’t work right
-The brakes don’t cancel cruise control until about 1/4 pedal application
-The throttle pedal seems useless after about 1/3 of the way down
-My brake lights don’t always come on
A few days later, I got it into my local shop. I did call the offending dealership in CT and we agreed that I would take it to another Ford dealershp back home to get an official diagnosis. Here’s what the local shop found
*ahem*
-
The pedals are stock
-The brake switch was broken
-The stainless steel lines were in working condition, but the new lines were installed correctly and my braking feel is jut numb because of the stock lines
-The car had a dirty MAF from an oiled air filter and was not running correctly (contrary to CT dealer reporting no engine issues whatsoever but I maintain that the engine was perfect when I dropped it off)
-The rear brakes were low too (CT dealer said my rear brakes were at 75% remaining)
I think I agree with my local dealership more...And of course, the CT dealership refuses to speak with me now until my local dealership talks to them first. THankfully, the locals are on my side and wrote up a multi-page report to send back to them that could be titled “Do you fuckers even know what you’re doing?”. They said there was no reason for them to suspect there were aftermarket pedals and that they should’ve disclosed the issues with releasing the brakes earlier.
So now I’m going back and forth with the CT dealer and am trying to get them to pay for the new brake switch and possibly get a refund for the brake line work (and I forgot how shitty the stock lines feel compared to the stainless steel lines). Anyone else have an experience like this? I’ll post updates as I get them.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
03/21/2017 at 17:28, STARS: 0
How would a line in a highly pressurized system collapse on itself? Brake lines reach pressures of 800+psi under typical conditions and can exceed 2000psi under maximum effort. They somehow would have collapsed with enough force to seal so that they wouldn’t open back up to even allow the tiny amount of fluid through to retract the pistons. I’m sure there are some engineers who would love to have a material capable of sealing like that.
Also your a Ford tech for fucks sake, how do you not even recognize a Ford brake pedal which is probably used on basically every vehicle you work on?
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
03/21/2017 at 17:28, STARS: 0
This reinforces my decision to stick with a repair shop that is worth a damn, even if their hours kinda suck and it is halfway across town.
"ESSSIX GmbH - Accountant/Wagon Thumper" (thedlo)
03/21/2017 at 17:29, STARS: 0
LOL! Steel braided lines dont fail in that way, and most certainly not within one year, what idiots.
(I know its a sore spot, but you should have known better to let them change those out, now you know what those bells going off were all about when they told you that BS.)
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
03/21/2017 at 17:37, STARS: 1
At first, I thought it was that a rock or piece of debris may have struck the line (I do rallycross) so it wasn’t out f the realm of possibilities and the line did have a ding on it but the fact that they needed to do something else to unstick the caliper tells me that the line was still fine.
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
03/21/2017 at 17:38, STARS: 0
Yep. Unfortunately when you’re a stranded traveler you take what life throws at you.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/21/2017 at 17:39, STARS: 1
Brake line collapsed? That’s a first. They do the opposite of that when they fail.
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
03/21/2017 at 17:40, STARS: 0
I should specify that the line did have a slight dent in it and I do rallycross events so a rock or chunk of ice hitting the line wouldn’t surprise me. But I also maintain that if the line was what was causing the caliper to not release then the pedal adjustment was unnecessary. And if the caliper itself is not functioning properly that is kinda fucking important to know!
I accept that track days and rallycross can cause things to fail. I want to be on the safe side of things. But if you tell me part A is the issue and then have to replace or repair parts B, C, and D for the same issue......was part A really at fault?
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
03/21/2017 at 17:42, STARS: 0
I’ve been told that “collapsed” is the terminology for when the rubber deteriorates or gets punctured or damaged by something. “Burst” is for when it can’t hold the pressure either in the line itself or at one of the ends.
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
03/21/2017 at 17:45, STARS: 0
I’ve learned that if they say something is wrong that you don’t suspect, ask them to show you.
I think that would have prevented a few things here.
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
03/21/2017 at 17:48, STARS: 0
A) I was in an absolute rush to get my car because I was well over half a day behind schedule and arrived at my destination at 3am instead of 9pm as originally planned because they suck. I didn’t really have the time to stand there and argue.
B) They did show me the line, it did have a dent in it, probably from a rock or something.
C) They were convinced that the pedals were aftermarket......I feel like even showing them the ford stamp wouldn’t convince them otherwise. I don’t know what to do about that stupidity.
"jimz" (jimz)
03/21/2017 at 18:04, STARS: 1
Not collapse per se, but it was known on the Chrysler JA/JR cars (Cirrus/Stratus/Breeze/Sebring) the inside wall of the rear brake hoses would degrade over time. You’d step on the brakes, then as you released the pedal the movement of fluid back up the hose would cause a “flap” of the rubber lining to pull up and act as a check valve preventing the caliper from releasing.
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
03/21/2017 at 18:17, STARS: 0
I’m sad to hear that apparently Ford dealerships can be just as incompetent as Mercedes dealerships.
Three months later and I still have a fudging driver’s door covered in oil. THREE MONTHS! Dealer keeps saying “oh, we’ll clean it”. How about no? I want you to replace the fabric, not just “clean” it. Oh, and I just noticed that they aren’t noting my door complaints in with my repair tickets. Guess it’s hard to argue against the dealer when they aren’t even recording my darn repair requests and complaints? UGGGGGGGGGGGH
I have no advice to offer, just hugs for getting screwed by an unhelpful dealership.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
03/21/2017 at 18:21, STARS: 0
Gotcha.
"GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo" (jackolson)
03/21/2017 at 19:49, STARS: 1
As a employee at a dealership I will say I have heard of some pretty horrendous service departments at other dealerships. In fact one is so bad we have customers who will buy their cars from them and only have them serviced at ours, which is probably 45 minutes away.
Wish the best of luck to you!
"brianbrannon" (brianbrannon)
03/21/2017 at 20:25, STARS: 0
I have had really old stock brake lines collapse and act like one way valves not allowing pressure in the caliper to release.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
03/21/2017 at 21:24, STARS: 0
The pedal thing confuses me.... other than out and out RACE cars, no one just “makes” aftermarket pedals. Pedal PADS, yes. But that has no bearing on the pedal assembly and where the brake switch mounts.
The one thing that DOES matter, is that Ford REALLY cares about how its dealers are doing.... I would contact the customer assistance line to make them aware of what happened, and if you get a survey, fill it out as honest and correct as possible.
"NojustNo" (front24200)
03/21/2017 at 21:35, STARS: 0
I had a good experience recently. I took my car to the Infiniti dealer for an oil change on my g35. Mostly went there since they do a courtesy inspection while they are at it and write it all up. Plus a wash and vacuum.
The oil change goes right on schedule. they wrote up what seemed to be an accurate list of things I suspected it already needed - front bushings, rear brakes, a few oil leaks, right rear wheel bearing, brake fluid refresh ($4500 parts and labor lol).
I leave and get back to work.20 minutes later I get a voicemail from them: “Sir we have your license plate”. So I check. Sure enough my rear plate is gone. The clips the plate screws into are gone. I think the dealer I bought the car from half-assed it.
Super embarrased.....I go back in. I ask if they sell the clips I need. They do but are out of stock. I ask for zip ties. They run to the service bays. one of the techs pulls a set of OEM clips and screws out of his shop box.
They screwed them on and said have a nice day. I said how much? They said don’t worry about it.
I may actually pay them for some of the work this needs after this.
Infiniti of Bellevue WA if anybody wants to know.