Complaint / Review
Ford Motor Company
Ripoff We were sold a car with a defective transmission

My wife, Vivian, and I bought a brand new Ford Taurus in July of 1997 from Santa Margarita Ford in Rancho Santa Margarita California.

In July of we noticed a hesitation in our car after it came to a stop or climbing up a hill. We were initially told that the car had too few miles on it for it to be a transmission problem. Our worst fears were confirmed a few days ago when the problem was diagnosed by Santa Margarita Ford as a faulty clutch piston, which requires a rebuilt transmission. Our Ford Taurus has slightly more then 50,000 miles on it (approximately 50,500) and is a little over six years old. I was horrified to learn that our original transmission didn't last more then 55,000 miles. We have serviced our Taurus as recommended every 3,000 miles.

At the suggestion of Santa Margarita Ford's Assistant Service Manager, Duane Litz, my wife contacted Ford's Customer Service line to see if we could receive some consideration on the price of a rebuilt transmission. The service department rejected our request.

Mr. Litz, also tried to get us some consideration on the price, but his request was also rejected. Mr. Litz informed us that if our mileage was under 50,000 and the car was less then six years old The Ford Motor Company may have helped us with a price reduction on a rebuilt transmission. As indicated above, our Taurus has just over 50,000 miles and is slightly over six years old.

We were further incensed when the guest relations manager at Santa Margarita Ford, Terri Fields, left a message on our answering machine indicating that the 1997 Ford Taurus transmissions only last 30,000 to 40,000 miles. Despite this problem the Ford Motor Company offered us no consideration on the price of a rebuilt transmission. Our cost for the rebuilt transmission was $ 2,500.

We subsequently wrote a letter to William Ford, chairman of the board, of the Ford Motor Company asking for some consideration on the price of the transmission. Mr. Duncan Alderson of the Ford Executitve Office rejected our claim on September 17th even after hearing the message that Terri Fields left on our answering machine.