🚀 go-pugleaf

Steve Rothkin wrote:
> 
> There is an old adage that FORD stands for "Fix or Repair Daily."
> Based on reviews of the Windstar when it came out in 95, I thought
> that maybe that wasn't true anymore, and I shelled out over $20,000
> for one. Now I'm beginning to feel that I made a big mistake.
> 
> Recently I began having transmission problems. If the van was stopped,
> and in either Drive or Reverse, it would not immediately engage into
> gear when I pressed the gas pedal (if on an incline, it would actually
> roll). If/when it finally did engage into gear, it did so with a big
> lurch.
> 
> Only 3 weeks before I started having the transmission problems, I had
> a problem with the driver side power window. The dealer charged me
> $320 to replace the power window motor, and wouldn't cover it because
> at nearly 57,000 miles the van was considered "out of warranty"
> (despite being less than two years old, and as if the excess mileage
> really had anything to do with the power window motor). Given that
> experience, I brought the van to Aamco and didn't even bother with the
> Ford dealers.
> 
> Aamco found (through their electrical/computer diagnostics) that the
> engine computer was not properly controlling the transmission -- it
> was telling the transmission to shift at the wrong times, and to run
> at the wrong pressure. They determined that engine computer and the
> shift lever position sensor needed to be replaced (at a cost of about
> $350) and they did that. At this point, the new computer reported
> transmission failure codes (the old computer never reported any
> problems). Furthermore, the transmission problems still remained.
> 
> At this point, Aamco removed and disassembled the transmission. They
> found significant pressure and heat damage inside
> the transmission, and a number of things inside the transmission
> had all failed and/or needed to be replaced:
>  - all solonoids,
>  - all bands
>  - drive chain
>  - torque converter
>  - all steel plates
> basically the transmission needed to be entirely rebuilt. The final
> bill after all repairs were complete was $3,525!
> 
> Aamco's opinion is that the van was operating for an extended period
> of time with the failed engine computer not properly controlling the
> transmission. As a result, transmission eventually burned itself out.
> Note that before the physical symptoms noted above caused me to bring
> the van to Aamco, I was given no indication of any problem with the
> engine computer (i.e., no Check Engine light, no increase in fuel
> consumption/decrease in MPG), and I had no noticeable transmission
> problems--the transmission failed suddenly and without warning (in
> fact, I nearly got into an accident the first time it happened as I
> was stopped at a red light on a hill and when it turned green and I
> took my foot off the brake and hit the gas, the van actually rolled
> backwards).
> 
> I called Fords' customer service hotline to discuss this (I had also
> done this for the power window but to no avail). They told me the
> vehicle is out of warranty, so they won't help me. I asked to speak to
> a higher authority or to have a higher authority call me back, they
> said no and hung up the phone on me.
> 
> To add further insult to injury, the day after getting the van back
> the Check Engine light came on. I brought the van in and was told I
> needed to replace two oxygen sensors--final bill $244.
> 
> Add to all of this the 3 recalls and 2 service bulletins that I had to
> have performed on the van (at least Ford paid for those since the van
> was in warranty at the time), and my conclusions are
>   1) Ford's quality is as bad as it ever was (quality is definitely NOT
>      job 1)
>   2) Ford's customer service sucks.
> 
> My recommendations to the world:
> 
> DON'T BUY A FORD VEHICLE.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Steve Rothkin
> Dancemasters Disc Jockey Entertainers
> 12 Merrick Road
> Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
> Email: srothkin@mhv.net
> Voice: (914) 452-8798
> Fax:   (914) 471-2728
> World Wide Web: http://members.aol.com/srothkin/dancemst.htm

AAMCO not the best place for good work eather, Prices???