Inver Grove Ford Inc

Our response to Customer:11/24/You brought the truck in after it was at another shop and they told you to take it to Ford.We checked it for a misfire and suggested you put plugs in it as the ones in there were original.We also suggested you replace all the wires and boots.Upon installing
the coil the bolt broke off in the intake manifold.The vehicle was done on 11/27/17.With regards to the charges, you were given a credit of $against the diagnostic and $repairing the broken bolt in the intake manifold and related parts.You were extremely harsh on our people and they in good faith gave you two credits you didn’t have coming.On 11/27/you sent your father in to pick up the truck.11/27/late that evening I received an email from you claiming all kinds of things that were basically not true.11/28/You emailed me to call you which I did.I listened to you go through everything for about five minutes until I could speak.I said to you at that time “we are a family owned business and we stand behind our workIf there is something we did that we can prove upon inspection that we did wrong, we will take care of it at no cost to you.”You then said “I have lost faith in your dealership and I am not bringing it back there.”I said “if that is the way you feel then the conversation is over as we can’t prove there is anything wrong with our service work.A couple of things to note; the technicians that worked on your vehicle are Ford certified which is equal to or better than ASE certification.Your plugs are recommended to be changed every 60,miles and at 188,miles they were original.You mentioned “I hope you take this matter serious”, I take everything serious.If you don’t allow us to inspect the vehicle at no cost to you, it is very hard to help you.You are entitled to your opinion and we to ours.This is our position at this point and will not be refunding you anything as you didn’t pay for the whole job to begin with

ID To whom it may concern: Mr*** brought his vehicle to Inver Grove Ford Lincoln in November 2017. Prior to this, he had it diagnosed at another service location, but they declined to work on Mr***’s vehicle due to lack of prior maintenance and the
risk involved to replace the brittle parts. He was instructed to bring it to a Ford dealership for the first ever spark plug replacement(Typically spark plugs are replaced on or before a vehicle reaches 100,miles. Mr***’s vehicle had over 188,when it was at Inver Grove Ford Lincoln). Inver Grove Ford Lincoln upon Mr***’s authorization replaced the spark plugs. Due to the lack of maintenance and age of the original parts, a bolt did break during the repair and was replaced at no charge to Mr***. After Mr*** picked up his vehicle from Inver Grove Ford Lincoln, he has contacted the owner and managers of Inver Grove Ford Lincoln on multiple occasions regarding concerns he has from the repair. We have asked repeatedly for Mr*** to bring the vehicle back in to allow Inver Grove Ford Lincoln the opportunity to re-inspect the vehicle, at no cost to him, to validate any claims that he is makingAs of today, he has yet to allow us the opportunity to re-inspect the vehicle. There is no evidence to substantiate that the spark plugs were installed incorrectly or neglectfully. We have researched all that has happened and respectfully disagree with the accusations he is makingWe have tried on multiple occasions to reach a resolution with Mr***, but again, he never gave us the opportunity to validate his claims by bringing the vehicle back to usThe only resolution he is seeking is monetary and we are not in a position to offer monetary reimbursement when there is no proof of negligence on our part see attachment also please

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/07/01) */
We sold this vehicle on March It has been in our service dept once for an oil change since purchaseno other records of serviceIt was sold with miles on it and now has from what I understand approximately 85,miles on it and is
well beyond any warranty coverageI apologize for any inconvenience that *** has had, but we are unable to take the car back
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/07/01) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this as a response because I can send proof that this car has been in down the street and paid for by Ford Igh dealership for an entire week for electrical issues and is the reason why I'm making this complaint through the Revdex.comI have all warranty information if requestedThis vehicle is clearly not safe for the roads as I constantly get pulled over and have a witness to my electrical signal problems, His name is Deputy *** *** he's the sherriff that recently pulled me over for my electrical issues I will not continue to pay for something that has been supposedly replaced and fixed by Chevy dealership in Igh down the street from Ford IGHThey are trying to cover up my electrical issues but I do have proof that above stated that I've only had my car in once is a complete fabrication on Ford IGh partI will expose this company for not warrantying their own used vehicles and for lying to Revdex.com about my numerous times there in the service department*** ***'s office number to back up my issues is *** and is a Ramsey County Sheriff
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/07/09) */
I was not aware of the visits to Mauer chev nor would I have a reason toIt appears from the documents that the customer provided that this concern was first documented on June 2nd at miles, which is way beyond any warranty coverageIts important to note that Mauer Chev made a repair on that date and Inver Grove Ford paid them for the repair as a goodwill gestureIf Mauer Chev charged for a repair that was unsuccessful it would appear they have some responsibility in this matterInver Grove Ford will not participate in any additional costs to repair this vehicle

I am rejecting this response because:The shift the blame and or take no responsibility for the neglect. We have it notated that from a certified tech that the gas line was not connected after the service from Ford. I expect that my vehicle would be in better condition than what I brought it to them and not a major gas leak in which lost a full tank of gas plus additional expenses to bring it to a repair shop.

I am rejecting this response because:
Inver Grove Ford has an obligation to stand by there workmanship through there 25mo Warranty. Since there was other suspicious issues while working with them I had the vehicle evaluated and repaired elsewhere. This cost additional expense that was caused by this dealer.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/24) */
We are unable to buy Mr. [redacted]'s Car back for what he owes on it. He brought to our attention on 9/23/15 that it has frame damage as noted on a vehicle history report. It does state frame/unibody damage as a result of a minor to moderate...

damage impact. The title is clean and we sold the car as such. Efforts to work with Mr. [redacted] were futile. The value of the car is not determined by what he owes on it.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 8, 2015/09/25) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Ok. We will not being business anymore.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/09/25) */
Vehicle is out of all factory warranty coverage. The estimate to replace the engine was $7213.90. Ford offered assistance that brought the customers cost down to $3012.98 plus tax. This doesn't include the initial bill of $634.01. Service...

records provided indicate 4 oil changes in 64,000 miles, with one gap being 29,338 miles. No other assistance can be offered at this time.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/09/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Please see attached response for not accepting the response from Inver Grove Ford/Ford Motor Company.
Revdex.com Note: Response from customer reads as follows:
In reviewing the fault codes provided to the dealer at the time the vehicle was presented, the codes indicated misfire on cylinders 4, 5, 6. Other codes were displayed that are related to the basic fault codes of P0304, P0305 and P0306.
As noted in the original complaint, the dealer "needed to investigate" because they were "were not sure of what the problem was". Hence, the solution was to do a tune up and replace the spark plugs. Logic would suggest that if the engine is firing, the spark plugs are at the end of the process of ignition and something upstream is at fault vs the spark plugs. When the tune up failed to resolve the issue, the dealer "thought" the problem would be related to the Power Converter Module (PCM) and suggested replacement. Replacing the PCM, again, failed to resolve the issue and the dealer suggested looking at the oil pan sludge. Again, logic seems faulty that if there is an issue with ignition, the problem is in the oil pan.
It was suggested to the dealer that they investigate perhaps the issue was related to excess oil that may be on the COP due to poor gasket sealing of the valve covers. This suggesting was made after I commented to the Dealer Service representative that there appeared to be an oil leak as I recently noticed oil drops on the garage floor where the vehicle was parked. Following an internet search for the noted fault codes on the internet, every website, regardless of vehicle type, had the same suggestion of trouble shooting the COP BEFORE doing anything else. Specifically at this website:

http://easyautodiagnostics.com/ford/3.0L-3.8L/testing-the-escape-cop-coils-1 suggests that if "The COP coil DID NOT spark and WAS covered in oil: This tells you that the COP coil is BAD and needs to be replaced to solve the misfire condition and that you'll need to replace the valve cover gaskets."
This information was completely ignored by the Dealer representative and he insisted that the issue to be determined by checking the oil pan. Following the oil pan check the dealer informed me that the misfire issue was due to "spun bearings". Hence the dealer solution to the electrical problem was engine replacement, totally ignoring the fact of my suggestion of checking the COP and potential issue of a poor valve gasket seal causing the oil leak and COP and subsequent ignition of the spark plugs to malfunction.
Additional internet investigation of 'spun bearings' and mechanical symptoms related to spun bearings were not apparent, due to the fact that there was not audible knocking, ticking or mechanical sound noted at the time the vehicle was presented for service.

The dealer notes that there is a long gap in mileage between oil changes which suggests this is the result of the mechanical issue. Again, the vehicle was presented with electrical ignition, diagnosed as cylinder misfire issues not mechanical issues. The fact remains that the vehicle had been serviced and owner's manual simply has 'recommended' intervals for servicing, not required. However, that is an easy scapegoat and out for any responsibility by the dealership.

The vehicle was just slightly 4,000 miles in warranty and once again, logic would suggest that engine replacement as a solution to a diagnosed misfire condition is excessive.

Although the dealership did offer partial consideration to replace the engine, the reasons cited for not covering the full amount is due to the extended time between one of the oil changes and that I did not have a "high customer loyalty score". Please, simply by offering some consideration is apparent that Ford acknowledges some responsibility, but is not willing to accept full responsibility of either failing to diagnose the root cause of the misfire or the fact that spun bearings may be more related to poor quality and workmanship. How does Ford expect me, or anyone else, to be a "loyal customer" if they do not accept responsibility and truly taking care of customers? I am a responsible consumer and with the decision by the dealership have dissipated the consumer's dealer loyalty.
In conclusion, I respectfully request the dealership and Ford Motor Company to reconsider full consideration of engine replacement and I would be responsible for the amount of consideration due to diagnosis that I agreed to for the initial trouble shooting and tune up, which again, did not result in any resolution to the issue of misfire.
With favorable reconsideration, both "customer" "dealer" loyalties are maintained and there is a win for both parties.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/10/13) */
I appreciate and understand Mr. [redacted]'s concerns however the vehicle is 4000 miles out of warranty (Not in warranty as he states). Mr. [redacted] may not agree with the process that the Ford certified technician followed to diagnose the repair but he ultimately did find the cause. Ford has offered a partial consideration as goodwill and will not cover 100% of the repairs. Inver Grove Ford does not warrant the vehicle and is unable to absorb the cost to repair. The suggestion that maintenance is only recommended and not required is ludicrous. Vehicles require regular oil changes. Inver Grove Ford is in no way responsible for the engine damage on the vehicle and cannot offer any financial assistance at this time.

I would consider some type of good will adjustment towards the repair. Consumer can submit a PAID copy of the repair and I will review it. The car was sold as is. See attached. Car fax reports are available on our website and online to the general public. We have no reason to refuse them to anyone....

I understand the customers frustration but this is a 10 year old vehicle with over 100,000 miles on it.