On July 20 I brought my 2003 SVT Cobra into Soutar's Ford service department for an oil change and new brakes. I received a call from the service adviser named Matt Petersen recommending a coolant flush, fuel injection service and the multi-point inspection revealed nothing else on the car needing serviced so the car should be done the next day. I agreed to this. On July 21 I was informed that the rear rotors would need to be ordered and would be in the next day. On July 22 I was called and informed that the rotors are coming in from Texas so they have not come in yet. I informed Matt that I will be flying out of town on July 24 on a business trip so I need this to be ready to pick up no later than July 23. On July 23 I was called an informed my vehicle is ready for pick up. Unfortunately, I did not look for a discrepancy in the mileage placed on my vehicle when I picked it up. The total cost of repairs came to $1068.15.
The next morning, I noticed a ticking noise coming from the front end of my engine bay. On the morning of August 8 while driving to work I noticed the smell of coolant in the vehicle. I pulled the car over to find there was coolant spilling from the radiator. I had the vehicle towed from Ft. Irwin to Soutar's Ford in Barstow.
I called Soutar's Ford in advance advising them of the issue and letting them know it would be towed in that morning. I called at around 2:30pm asking if the vehicle had been looked at yet and Matt said that he is waiting on his mechanic to come back from lunch and will look at it then. I heard back from Matt at around 9:45am on August 9 stating that the fan blade on the cooling fan broke of and punctured the radiator. Matt stated that I will need a new radiator, electric cooling fan, and thermostat but because my car is supercharged these items would have to be ordered and the repairs would be completed the next day August 10.
On August 10 my vehicle was not ready to be picked up. August 11 at around 7:45am my wife called Matt asking if the vehicle was ready to be picked up and he said that it would not be completed for about another 30 minutes. At around 8:20am I received a call from Matt stating that the vehicle was ready to be picked up. I picked up the vehicle at around 8:40am and paid $1617.22 for the repairs.
I immediately noticed that my vehicle was quite dirty when I walked out to it. As I got in my vehicle I noticed that my mail was on the floor and that the front driver and passenger seats had been moved. I then turned on my vehicle and read the mileage reading 30,708 and then looked at the mileage on my towing receipt and the invoice from Soutar's Ford stating the mileage when dropped off was 30,609. I also noticed that I was left with an empty tank of gas.
I walked back into Soutar's Ford and asked the service cashier about the 100 miles placed on my car. She directed me to talk to my service adviser. I walked into the service area and asked Matt if he could explain the 100 miles put on my vehicle. He immediately got defensive and said that they put 50 miles on my car because the cooling system had air in it and another 50 mile road test to make sure all of the air is out of my cooling system and that he didn't know if it was because of my supercharger. None of this made sense to me but then again I am no master mechanic. I then told him that in the future I would appreciate being informed in advance if these sort of miles are to be put on my car as this seems quite excessive. Matt then pulled out a form that had been signed by another customer and pointed to it saying I already authorized them to drive my vehicle on all roads, highways, and tollways when I signed this. Clearly, I had never signed this as my vehicle was towed in so I would have never had the chance to do so. I then reiterated that this was excessive and he replied saying that he would rather put 100 miles on somebodies vehicle and make sure it is fixed right than put no miles on and it not be fixed right. I left it at that and walked out of the store.
I called Ford as soon as I got to work who then tried to contact Matt on the phone but he was not available. Ford stated that this seemed to be excessive and out of the norm. I left Soutar's Ford feeling very uneasy as a customer about their business ethics. I was somewhat skeptical about whether or not a mechanic had unintentionally or intentionally cracked my fan blade causing the second set of repairs but after the 100 miles were placed on my vehicle and the nonsensical explanation and defensiveness of the service adviser I am extremely skeptical of shady business being performed here.
I have contacted other repair shops asking if driving the vehicle 100 miles is necessary to remove the air from the cooling system and all have said absolutely not. The fact that I called at 7:45am and told that the car won't be ready for a half hour made me think maybe somebody took it home and was driving it in to work that morning since they open at 8:00am. The least they could have done was put a couple gallons of gas in my car and not leave it on empty.
My vehicle is a low mileage 2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra with a supercharged V8 with over 500hp at the rear wheels. I understand people may be intrigued with the car and may want to see what it can do as there are not many that come through Barstow. This is why I took it to my local Ford dealership because I thought I should be able to trust them instead of risking somebody playing with my vehicle at the local repair shops. I paid much higher prices for these repairs at Ford but at least I had peace of mind. Unfortunately, this is not so.
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