:puke: Need help hood switched???

[adrian36]

I took my car in for warranty service to a local So. Fla. Ford dlr. and it looks as if the hood has been switched on me. Why do I think the unthinkable? Simple, the hood is full of dents, scratches that it never had before the dealer tirp. Many, perhaps hundreds of small deep scratches. Also, the wiper blades have been switched on me. Some one replaced their wipers with mine. It looks like the hood was badly scratched and a cheap repair attempted because the wiper was smatched into the hood leaving deep gashes and large paint chip filled in with touch up paint. Spoke to dlr and they want to see it to see what can be done. I contend that the hood was switched. The inside of my fender wall (pass. side) have been badly scratched because the hood was not properly aligned when it was reinstalled. It is bad, real bad.

NEED to know where to find the VIN sticker on the hood. I saw the sticker on the fenders, trunk lid, doors etc. On the hood all I see is the Ford Catalytic sticker BUT NO VIN STICKER. This will prove once and for all that the hood was switched. PLEASE help or send pix on the location of the VIN HOOD sticker to adrian36@earthlink.net Will keep the forum updated on how dealer handles this situation
Thanking all in advance

[MM2004]

I immediately ran to the garage to find the VIN sticker for the hood, to no avail. I have an '04, and found them on the fenders but none on the hood.

I cannot say for certain the hood(s) have the VIN ID's on them?

Take pics, and plenty of them for ammunition.

One thought, look at the catalyst sticker and see if the engine code matches your engine. Long shot, but worth a look.

Be professional, and make them kiss your azz, then make it right as this is a disgrace. :alone:

Keep us popsted?

Mike.

[Rick-n-Miami]

Which dealer?

[Power Surge]

See if you can take a pic of the emmisions sticker. At the least, we might be able to see if it was switched with a hood off a non-MM. That would prove it right there.

My CVPI has the VIN sticker on the underside hood frame, right over the pass side hood strut.

[adrian36]

This means that the hood was REMOVED because it probably sustained unspeakable damage and was re-installed without proper alignment scratching the pass. side fender wall as it was shut. I am going to take pix of the scratches. Reall strange scratches. Looks as if the clear coat is cracking up in different places but also has what looks like bubbles coming up fromt the paint. Looks like the hood has a bad case of acne.

LOOKS LIKE A REVERSE DENT. Outward dents as opposed to inward dent, strange. Thanks for response

[sailsmen]

Good luck.

You may have good luck by just presenting all the info.

I owned a car that was twice damaged by the same dealer and twice they fixed it. This same car was damaged twice by the same body shop and twice they fixed it.

[adrian36]

I really do not want to mention the dealer until I hear from them as to what they will do.

The emissions sticker says MM O4 on it so, perhaps the hood was not switched but the damage is beyond me.

I take care of my car and know where EVERY SINGLE, DING, DENT AND SCRATCH IS LOCATED. I wash my car my self and when I lay down the Zaindo Bros. polish I know all imperfections.

[MM2004]

Do the hood bolts have fresh witness marks on them from removal? If so, get pics.

Mike.

[adrian36]

YES, hood bolts have been moved around plenty leaving marks and paint chips of underside of hood bolt area.

[MM2004]

YES, hood bolts have been moved around plenty leaving marks and paint chips of underside of hood bolt area.

In that case, providing there has never been any issue with your hood (R&R), have someone run the Oasis report and print that as well.

Just a suggestion,...

Mike.

[quota]

Bad story, bad dealer :mad:
My MM is a Canadian 03. I also ran to look after the place of the VIN sticker. I saw VIN stickers on the inside of each front wing, but I found nothing in the hood itself, besides the Catalyst Data which should match with the engine number.
JP

[HwyCruiser]

What was your car in for service over? Something that would require the removal of the hood and/or wiper arms?

[Black_Noise]

thats f'ed up, totally

i HATE people who f with other people cars, (vandalize, mess with or steal parts) make me so angry, you woulnt like me when im angry!!

i do criminal things

[magindat]

Do the hood bolts have fresh witness marks on them from removal? If so, get pics.

Mike.

My sentiments, exactly.

[ckadiddle]

If they give you a load o' crap about repairing it, then it's time to contact your local TV station's Action Reporter. You should start digging up any photos you took of your car prior to this unfortunate visit to show how nice the hood was before they got their hands on it.

[adrian36]

Dealer wants to see damage to see what can be done. I will tell more on 12-2 as I am scheduled to take car in to manager. I m so angry at these people

[AstroVic]

If they give you a load o' crap about repairing it, then it's time to contact your local TV station's Action Reporter.

Screw that.

If they don't make it right, it's time to call a reputable attorney.

In fact, there's a guy on the www.bobistheoilguy.com (http://www.bobistheoilguy.com) website who specializes in automotive-related legal issues. His username is ekpolk or something like that. He should be easy enough to locate if you go over there and look around for a few minutes. Real nice guy. I think he lives in the Georgia area, but I'm not sure. The guy seems to really know his business and has apparently been very successful even with something as simple as shooting off a nasty letter of intent to sue if it's not made right.

That said, I still think diplomacy, tact, and professionalism will take you a long way toward a successful resolution of your situation. When those things break down, however, it's time to contact an attorney and make sure it gets settled properly.

[ckadiddle]

Screw that.

......If they don't make it right, it's time to call a reputable attorney. .....

I agree, I had already thought of that. Attorneys are nice, but it's gonna cost you some fees.

[adrian36]

My wife is an attorney. She is my secret weapon but I would like to solve this PEACEFULLY.

One other thing, just noticed that when they replaced pwr dr lck actuator on driver's door, they broke the clip that holds the pwr window switches panel and that is now loose. When I asked about that to the service writer, he said, "Yeah, those clips break often." I responded, "Yes, they are flimsy but why didn't the tech report his mistake to you and you could have ordered a new one?? Oh, nooo wayyy lets see if we can sneak this past the customer, right?? Is that it??" His response--NONE REALLY--"Yeahhhh you know...BLAH BLAH"
That when he said "bring the car in ASAP to see hood and we will take a look". I wil be going in on 12-2

Ask me if I will ever buy a FORD again, go ahead ask. MAKE MY DAY

[AstroVic]

This has nothing whatsoever to do with Ford (or Ford products).

It has everything to do with that particular independently owned and operated dealership....which just so happens to sell and service Ford products.

Ford makes truly excellent vehicles. Some Ford dealers on the other hand, like some Honda/Toyota/Subaru/Chevrolet/etc., dealerships are less than stellar.

[RF Overlord]

Some Ford dealers on the other hand, like some Honda/Toyota/Subaru/Chevrolet/etc., dealerships are less than stellar.That's very PC of you, Todd... ;)

[adrian36]

Then why is it that the last dlr I went put 23 miles on the after installing a new ABS module?? Test drive?? No explaination offered.

This same dlr (the one who destroyed my hood) put 39 mls on the car. A tad excessive for a rdiator flush, I think.

The other Ford dlr ordered the wrong part for the car after I had waited an hour for the car in the customer lounge before I was informed of the error. Keep in mind that before I began the wait, I asked the service writer to physically confirm that the part was correct. He said yeah, yeah not a prob. Boy was I an idiot.

Three strikes with three dealers. Im running out of dealers.

When you buy a car you marry the dealer(s) much like getting married to a woman--YOU MARRY THE WHOLE FREAK'N family down to the alcoholic brother and the jail bird uncle. I think that is what is called an analogy.

[CRUZTAKER]

This is one of those piss me off stories and it has nothing to do with me.
I can't imagine how violated you must feel.

Someone else asked...but you may or may not have hit on it...

What did you take the vehicle in for?
And how long was it in their hands?

On a side note, I remember a member here from Michigan that had his Marauder stolen from a dealership as a result of the dealer leaving the keys in it on the lot. The way I remember it, the dealer denied leaving the keys in it until the car was recovered....with the keys it.:shake:

Perhaps when you iron this out, someone at Ford/LM should be fully informed as to how this dealership has tarnished THEIR trademark name.

Good luck dude.

[adrian36]

The car was taken in for routine warranty items--
pwr door lock actuator
Oil leack from crank shaft-new seal
radiator flush--I put in wrong type (red) anti freeze (my blonde moment)
new oil sending unit
Transmission flush
You know, just routine, simple stuff.

The first time I went to the dealer all was VERY GOOD. No complaints. I was impressed with their service, so I went back before warranty expired. By the way my warranty expired on or abouts before Thanksgiving. Car went in The Tues of TG week. It was their Tues, Wed, Thanksgiving. Picked it up the Fri after TG. My car has only 32k miles on it. It ridew AWESOME. Like a Town car but on steroids.

[adrian36]

Went to dealer today and spoke to Service Mgr. Despite the OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE (inside fender wall scratches, screws, washers moved) he claimed that the hood was NEVER removed and re-installed. I disagree.

Any how, he said that the roofers were working in an area where my car was serviced and that some epoxy that was used to fill the gap of the roof of the shop leaked through and landed on my hood. He then ordered my hood buffed to repair it. They buffed sh@$ out of it, to the point that the paint bubbled up and the clear coat cracked. My hood looks like a bunch of spider webs spun all over the place with acne on the hood.

The service manager without hesitation told me that he would re paint the hood. When I asked him about my wipers he said that the my wipers were damaged by the epoxy. Ofcourse he only replaced one of them and I pointed this out-he said he would replace the other one as well.

After the SMgr. left I spoke with the service writer and asked WHY I WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE DAMAGES PRIOR TO ITS REPAIR. He said he had no idea that this had happened. I SINCERELY DOUBT HIS SINCERITY. I just hope that the hood is painted to OEM spec with out any further problems. He said that the roofers were going to pay for the damages and that a good job would be done. Why do I doubt that?? Will I ever go to that dealer again---PROBABLY NOT. I do not want to piss them off because I want a good job done.

[CRUZTAKER]

Wow...talk about a conspiracy theory come true.:eek:

[ShelbyMotorspts]

He then ordered my hood buffed to repair it.


Possibly they removed the hood when they buffed it out?

Say the car was on the rack having the crank seal replaced when the roofers did their thing. Well being on the rack it couldn't be driven to the bodyshop so perhaps the light bulb went off to take just the hood to the bodyshop.

Just a thought.

Steve

[adrian36]

Good point but the Srvc.Mgr told me that he saw to it that the car was driven to the other side of the dealer to the detailers to buff it out.

Now you make a very good observation. Let say the car was on the rack and the hood was removed (he denied it, despite the overwhelming evidence) and then the car was lifted up again (to finish the job). That may explain the obvious. Either way I was screwed. Lets hope they make it right.

This a state of the art BRAND NEW, SVT Certified dealer. TOP DOG. Just goes to show you that sh#% happens (mostly to me though).

[94_302]

Could you pm me the dealers that you went to and had these experiences? I would hate to take my car to a dealer to find out they put that many miles on. I had the axle tsb done and they had the car for 2 days and iirc they did not even put a whole mile on the car maybe half. Have you tried a Lincoln Mercury dealer?

[adrian36]

Check your PM. List provided, where do you take your car?? Need a good dealer

[adrian36]

Finally got the MM back today after about a 5 days at the dealer. They had to re-paint the hood and only put about 2 milies on the odometer this time.

The hood came out ok. Nothing to brag about. They left 2 pimples on the hood and what looks like some dirt in the paint. I give about a B/B+. NOt enough for me to have them re-sand that area.

The name of the dealer that did this was SAWGRASS FORD in So. Fla. This was the worst experience of all.

Now that Ford has mortgaged itself to the hilt ($20 billion or so), how can they expect to climb out of this pit with dealers like that.

I know that things happen but these guy tried to cover it up (in a a real bad way) by buffing the hood to death. They thought I would not notice. If they had been honest and informed me about the paint damage, I would've admired their HONESTY. Instead I feel like I caught the kids with the hand in the cookie jar and now they had no choice but to admit it. I wonder how many more cars were ruined by the roofers that day? How many will notice?

What about my 39 miles? I wonder which one of those turkeys took my car to grandma's house over Thanksgiving??

[superford3]

sorry to say it but this is how most dealerships are no matter what brand they sell,i run an automotive shop and you can never make everybody happy but with this case they screwd up pretty bad,you may never want to take your car back thier but they atleast tried to make it right so just remeber that