I purchased a 2001 Mercury Sable from JD Byrider in Cranston RI in October. So far, I have had very little trouble with the car, and for-the-most-part satisfactory service from the dealership, until the last few months. I have been very good about making payments on time until last week, when it was three days late.
My car is due for its two year state inspection at the end of this month, and I knew it would never pass. I need a whole lot of front end work, a sensor replacement, new rack and pinion, front tires, front brakes and rotor, alignment, starter, and heater core... All of these repairs will cost about $1500.
After the CNAC repair shop checked my car thoroughly and was about to give me an exact estimate, the first thing the service manager told me that the front coil springs are broken, that this issue is a Ford recall, and that it needs to be done before any of the other front end work can be done. Fortunately the repair will be done by a local Ford dealership free of charge.
My first question is this: Does anyone know when used car dealers are made aware of recalls when they acquire their cars for sale, or if they are even made aware? My particular recall was issued by Ford in Dec. Of and I bought the car in Oct. Of 2007 - three years after the recall was announced. The service manager was able to tell me this by my VIN number when I brought it in for a repair estimate. Yet they obviously had the VIN number available when they sold me the car, and the defective springs were in the car when I drove it off the lot.
My next question is, since the front coil springs are 'broken' and need to be replaced before the other front end work can be done, could this recall item be responsible for the other damages to the front end, namely the rack and pinion steering? I need to know this before I cough up all this money. The steering system replacement alone will cost almost $400.
Has anyone else had this experience? I am sure the Ford dealership will give me more information when I bring the car there on Monday, but I do need to know this stuff in advance so I can negotiate the repair bill with CNAC.
Thanks for reading.
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