28 April
On the 26th of oct. 2003 we took our 1989 ford thunderbird into Astoria ford in Astoria to have new hinges installed on the driver side door. The only reason we took it to Astoria ford was because our mechanic that takes care of our cars could not accept a credit card and we did not have the cash. It took all day to complete the work and was only charged book time. We thought that was good of them. This cost us $364.57.
My wife stated she thought she now had a water leak on the driver side. After a few hard rains I drove her car and found a large puddle of water on the floor on the driver side. I got in touch with Astoria ford and told them that I though that the door must not be fitted tight enough. I took the car back to them and they stated it was a leak elsewhere and not at the door. After a few rains we had another puddle on the driver side floor. It was checked again and we were informed that the leak was at the door but, it was not their door fix we needed a new door seal. This cost us $296.96. A few rains later we again had a puddle of water on the driver side floor. This time we were informed that we needed a new seal around the windshield. This cost us another $200.00. The water leak was fixed after three trips and $496.96 more total.
I found out that I had to make a trip to Arizona to pick up my wife who was with her sick mother and needed the air conditioner repaired. I took it to another mechanic and they stated they could not get a compressor for the car. We took the car to Astoria ford again and they said they could get a compressor, fix the air conditioner, the fuel pump, fuel gage, and rocker arm gasket for an estimated price of $1500.00 which we felt was fair.
We never expected to end up paying $3,197.14 and Astoria ford still does not have the air conditioner working and want another $600.00 to $900.00 to finish the repair. Astoria ford refuses to complete the repair without the money. I have been told by other companies that if we had paid that much money on the air conditioning at their shop that they would have finished the task and eaten the bill. They want to save their reputation. The owner of Astoria ford (Mr. Gouge) told me that that was other businesses not his.
While working on the air conditioning system they asked me to come down to the shop and look at something. They showed me that the compressor had put junk into the lines, filters and valves and they needed to be replaced and cleaned out. I gave them a blank check to find and fix everything and get the system working. I wanted the fuel and air conditioning systems working so I could head for Arizona. I was told that the air conditioner was working and the fuel system was good. They said I was ready to go.
The fuel gage was reading full when I took the car in and was told that the new fuel pump with the new sending device on it would take care of the problem. I picked up the car and found the fuel gage reading full and I knew that there was only about of a tank. This cost us $400.15. I took the car back and they worked on the fuel gage and said it was fixed. This cost us $197.43. When I picked up the car I found that the gage was going from full to empty and back to full. I took the car back and it cost us another $171.20 to at last fix the problem. Total cost ended up being $768.78 and three trips.
We tried the air conditioner and it worked two times and started putting out hot air (on one of our hottest days). We took it back and they could not find a leak so they put in more freezon and dye and told us to drive it and use the air conditioner to make it leak. The wife tried the system twice for a short time as the weather was cold and on the third try it again put out hot air. I took the car back and was told that they found a leak and it would take another $886.00 to fix. I told them we had put to much money into the car as it was and did not have deep pockets. They told us that the lowest they would go is $595.00 and that was no guarantee that that would fix it. They broke EPA regulations by filling the system when they knew there had to be a leak.
They found the right rocker cover seal leaking and decided to fix it when it was easy to get at with all the air conditioning parts removed. I thought that was alright until I found out that I paid the book price which allows for removing the A/C equipment. The air conditioning equipment was already out and would only take hour to change the gasket. We paid for two hours.
I went into the owner's office (Mr. Dane Gauge) and asked him what he would do about the work that was not completed. He stated that it was stupid for me to put that much money into our $500.00 car. He said that when you put a new part in place of a used one that it will cause another old part to fail until you change the whole system. I told him he was in violation with the EPA and he could care less. His people never told me I was stupid for doing this.
We felt it would be better to fix my wife's car than put out a lot of money for another car. We can not afford car payments at this time. It would be nice if companies backed up their product like in the old days and not look at the profit side. This company did away with customer satisfaction (if it ever had it) and went to get as much as you can without doing all you can.
I am sitting here with knots in my stomach thinking about my wife having to drive the car she loves (Her $500 dollar car as Mr. Gouge puts it) with $2,000 worth of equipment not working just going along for the ride. Mr. Gouge stated it was stupid to put that much money into her $500 car. Well it is a stupid person like me that allows him to drive new cars every year. I am just sorry that I can not afford to get my wife a new car. We have to do with what we have.
I am not going to go around town with signs on my car warning about what to expect from Astoria ford. I will make sure the word gets around the area by word of mouth and the paper. I know that it will cost the company more than the few dollars they could have spent finishing the job.
I asked for understanding and received indifference. I tried to get her car fixed and they tried to sell me a used car. They stated that I should get an extended warranty so when the car stopped working (not if it stopped working) I may be able to get it fixed (if the warranty covered it) because we could not rely on the company backing the sell. He tries to sell me a $500 used car for thousands so I can spend the rest of my money repairing it.
This whole thing would be funny if it did not end up costing us and Astoria ford so much in the end. We have all the paper work to back this up.
We wanted to get the job finished but now we want the money back so we can go to a relieable mechanic to finish the job. We do not trust Astoria ford for any work.
Lawrence
hammond, Oregon
U.S.A.
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