11-15-2007, 11:23 PM
Now, I must admit. I'm not a fan of letting other people work on my vehicles if at all possible. But, inspections are a necessary evil, so I decided I would take my new truck to the local Ford dealer, b/c if anybody could find something wrong with it, they could. I asked them to give the truck a look over and let me know of anything they see wrong.
Yes, I know this is asking for it. But it's not like I was going to pay them to do it.
Well, it failed inspection b/c it needed new ball joints. However, they also determined that I needed a new drag link, my rear diff needed servicing, my sway bar end links were shot (bushings) and my left locking hub was locking/unlocking like it was possessed. They forgot to diagnose why my window goes up and down slowly, and didn't even notice the air bag light blinking at them. This was my first sign that their heads were stuck up their asses.
So, the diagnosis for the airbag was a faulty switch and I didn't even bother with the window, I got a new motor for $25 and I'll grease the tracks when I install it.
When I went to pick it up my bill was a staggering $110 for an inspection and look-over of the truck; they didn't even do any work. Not to mention that the total quote on all the stuff it needed was nearly $1700.
David not happy.
We came to an agreement that he never mentioned these exorbitant fees (I was expecting a $50 bill or so) and I convinced him that I would give him an additional $50, making my total $160, and he would fix the airbag switch (that's just not something I want to play with). His quote said this would be $109 for parts and labor, so I thought that was pretty fair.
Payback's a bitch.
He fixed it, but apparently the part alone has a list price of $135, so I guess he had to screw the next three people who got an oil change to make up for it.
DO NOT EVER TAKE YOUR VEHICLE TO BATTLEFIELD FORD IN CHARLOTTESVILLE. You don't even get a reach-around.
Long story short, I let a local shop do the ball joints & drag link(I bought the parts, which are better than the ford ones b/c they have zerk fittings and can be lubed) and got an alignment and my total ended up being less than 1/2 of Ford's estimate.
Yes, I know this is asking for it. But it's not like I was going to pay them to do it.
Well, it failed inspection b/c it needed new ball joints. However, they also determined that I needed a new drag link, my rear diff needed servicing, my sway bar end links were shot (bushings) and my left locking hub was locking/unlocking like it was possessed. They forgot to diagnose why my window goes up and down slowly, and didn't even notice the air bag light blinking at them. This was my first sign that their heads were stuck up their asses.
So, the diagnosis for the airbag was a faulty switch and I didn't even bother with the window, I got a new motor for $25 and I'll grease the tracks when I install it.
When I went to pick it up my bill was a staggering $110 for an inspection and look-over of the truck; they didn't even do any work. Not to mention that the total quote on all the stuff it needed was nearly $1700.
David not happy.
We came to an agreement that he never mentioned these exorbitant fees (I was expecting a $50 bill or so) and I convinced him that I would give him an additional $50, making my total $160, and he would fix the airbag switch (that's just not something I want to play with). His quote said this would be $109 for parts and labor, so I thought that was pretty fair.
Payback's a bitch.
He fixed it, but apparently the part alone has a list price of $135, so I guess he had to screw the next three people who got an oil change to make up for it.
DO NOT EVER TAKE YOUR VEHICLE TO BATTLEFIELD FORD IN CHARLOTTESVILLE. You don't even get a reach-around.
Long story short, I let a local shop do the ball joints & drag link(I bought the parts, which are better than the ford ones b/c they have zerk fittings and can be lubed) and got an alignment and my total ended up being less than 1/2 of Ford's estimate.