As a US postal worker, I believed in the idea of "Buy American." Then I bought a Ford Focus.in under two years and less than 24,000 miles the Focus died on a tollway going to Houston Airport. It took two hours to get someone to assist me, but I did get it to run, although badly. I took it to the closest Ford dealership, which was Lone Star Ford in North Houston. They told me I had a lower engine knock, and I should go to Tommy Vaughn Ford (since I had purchased the vehicle from them,) and have it repaired by them.By the time I got there the oil cap was off and the interior of the engine compartment was covered in oil. Tommy Vaughn Ford told me the damage was Lone Star's fault because they must not have put the oil cap back properly. (this was excuse # 1) Believe it or not, they told me I should have it towed back to the other dealership. I refused. I insisted that they fix it under the warranty, and they said they would check with management. I rented a car from them to be able to go to work and got no help for the next two weeks and paid full price for the rental for those two weeks. They still told me this was Lone star Ford's problem, and I should take the car there. After picking up a few of my belongings from the car I left it there and called my lawyer. My lawyer wrote to them telling them the problem needed to be solved. They wrote a letter back saying my car had been damaged earlier, and that was the reason for the engine knock. (excuse # 2) I had dented the oil pan a year before when I hit a piece of concrete on the interstate. Tommy Vaughn Ford had my car examined by my insurance adjuster and then fixed it. They assured me that the work was of top-quality, and the warranty would still be in effect.
I did not know what else to do so I left the car there in the hopes that they would repair it. I was told that if I took possession of it I would have no way to prove how much damage had been done. At this time I bought a new car. I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to learn it was a Honda. When next contacted Tommy Vaughn Ford said the reason they were not honoring the warranty was because I had missed an oil change. (excuse # 3) They had been doing all of the oil changes for free so the only one not by them was when I had to flee Hurricane Rita and I went to visit my brother in Arkansas. I had the oil changed there just to be on the safe side. I did not save the paperwork, because I did not think I would need it. Sometime later I was contacted by the bank I had financed the car from. They said Tommy Vaughn Ford told them I had abandoned the car and I owed $4000 in storage. My bank, Capital One said they had paid the $4000 and authorized a local auction company to sell my car. Throughout this period I had paid every note payment on time and kept insurance on the car for that same period of time.
I lost the belongings that I left in the car to the auto auction and they ran up a bill of $82 by using my state toll pass, which was attached to the windshield. Most recently, a bill collector for Capital One sent me a letter offering to discount the $6,000 they said I owed Capital One down to $2500. They have since damaged my credit and I still refuse to pay.
The Honda Civic is running like a top. I have not missed a payment, but I also have not paid Capital One for their charges. Our American car companies wonder why taxpayers balk at paying them a bailout when they give service like this!
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