Thank you for this post. Saturday my car would not start. It had plenty of electricity but didnt seem to be getting any fuel. I had to call Scotts towing to help me. The guy from Scotts was convinced it was a fuel shut off switch and helped me try to locate this switch. We were unsuccessful, so I had him tow my car to Spradley Barr Ford 4809 S. College. I thought they must be reputable because its a dealership. Ed was assigned to me as my service representative. When I was checking in, I asked where the shut off switch was located on my car. He said Ive never heard of a fuel shut off switch. I felt he should know what hes talking about. So I left my car there for them to run a diagnostic. It was to cost me $110.00.
Ed called later in the day to tell me that the fuel pump was bad and would cost $1010.00. The relay was fine. I freaked. I need my car for work. This sounded outrageous to me. So I jumped on the computer and Googled first the cost of a repair. Websites that estimate the cost of auto repairs in your area. The most expensive one I found was 640. I called Houska who said $688.00 which would include a Relay just in case. I also checked with Nelsens and they quoted $700.00, included other items, but I had already found the problem by the time Nelsens called back. Then, I Googled the location of a fuel shut off switch and guess what, there is such a thing. Then I Googled reviews on Spradley Barr and found this website.
I went back to Spradley Barrs Service department and told them I couldnt afford the $1010.00 and wanted to settle with them and have my car towed of the lot. This time I was talking to Will, again I asked about the fuel shut off switch. Will said I would have to talk to Ed because Ed was my service rep. He wouldnt answer any questions about the car and Ed wasnt available. Will wouldnt answer general questions and said Ed would have to answer all of my questions.
I paid the $110.00 to Spradley Barr and had my car towed to Houskas. I didnt tell Houska I had just towed it from another service shop or that I thought it was the fuel shut off switch. I was too embarrassed. I just told them the symptoms. They went over the car and called back with good news. It was the fuel shut off switch. He checked the fuel pump and said it was fine and the Relay was also fine. Houskas went over the entire car and had a list of things he thought I should consider doing maintenance on. His list was exactly what I already knew I had been neglecting. Grateful to hear that I didnt to have to pay a large sum, I let Houska do the maintenance on my car and Im extremely pleased.
This post saved me $900.00. Thats $1010.00 less the $110.00 diagnostic fee. I could say Im out $110.00 but it feels good to say Im NOT out $1010.00
Thanks
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