Bent axle? Replaced tire? Fishy dealership?

I think I'm being royally screwed by the dealership that I purchased my car from in January. I bought a new Mustang Mach 1 and it had problems/issues almost immediately:

1 ) Passenger side rear wheel made a intermittent "rubbing" noise (as if the pad was hitting the disc on part of the revolution) 2 ) The paint (which I hadn't notice until I first washed it) had stranged "caked-on" chips in the seams between the rear/forward bumper where it meets the rest of the case - as if the car had been repainted. 3 ) On my first trip with the car from Houston to Dallas the ABS dummy light would come on intermittently (related to the rear wheel issue? 4 ) Passenger side door has is dropped by about 1/8 to 1/2 an inch. 5 ) Missing mud guard from the inside of the front bumper... 6 ) A/C is not working (clutch would cut off just as soon as it started) 7 ) and, various other issues that may not be related to my question...

Even though these problems were noticed all within the first week due to a very, very busy work schedule I havn't had time until this week to take the car back to have it looked at (okay...I had some free time but I was having too much fun driving it despite the problems to put it in immediately - besides nothing appeared to be urgent). The next day, the service department calls me and asks if I had replaced the passenger-side rear tire since it did not come from the same lot as the other three tires which, of course, I hadn't replaced. Two days after that I call them to get an update and am told that:

1 ) The right rear axle is bent (not covered by the warranty since it's "damaged" and will cost over $500 to fix) 2 ) The strut is leaking severely 3) They've ordered a new rear bumper for the car - they said they had ordered a Mach 1 rear bumper but when they got it in it was the wrong one and they discovered that the Mach 1 took the GT rear bumper instead (I thought this was weird since they make a Mach 1 bumper and it doesn't fit a Mach 1) 3 ) and, various other fixes/etc. (AC compressor has a leak, no history in chip about the ABS light)

Obviously, what stuck out most to me was the bent axle. Seems strange to me that this car has only 4200 miles (with about 3500 of them shuttling between Houston and Dallas along I45 which is very smooth) and is babied on the road would have a bent axle - and is bent on the right which apparently had the tire replaced at some point.

So, now I'm in a disagreement with this dealership - they are claiming that I most likely bent the axle in some sort of accident, replaced the tire that was damaged, and am trying to pass the car back to try to get it fixed for free. My claim is that something happened to the car on the lot prior to my purchasing it and someone (or the dealership in general) covered it up/didn't keep the records. Regardless, I'm apparently just out of luck since they can't see in there records of any work or damge on the car and since their records don't show anything - then it couldn't of been them.

I'm hoping that someone can clear up some of my questions and maybe offer me some guidance:

1) I know pot holes, curbs, off-roading could cause a bent-axle. But, wouldn't any incident that results in a bent-axle be a pretty memorable experience? It's not possible that I could of hit an innocuous looking pot-hole that caused it? From the research I've done just tonight almost every case of a bent axle was from an accident...could I be wrong?

2) The dealership keeps saying that the tire came from a different lot than the other three tires. This tells me that there is a number or other identification on the tire itself that shows what lot it came from. Is this true? If so, then couldn't the dealership just check that number and find out where it came from and, more importantly, who put the tire on (such as another dealership, the factory, etc...). I don't know enough about tires and the "lot" information to make a guess on this subject. Can someone enlighten me, please?

3) Besides the dealership, who else could of have done work on the car and how could I retrieve this information? If the car is damaged in-route to the dealership does the transport company repair the vehicle and just transport the car at a later date or is the car just scrapped when that occurs? Do dealerships swap cars in/out periodically (the dealership in question is Champion Ford HWY 6 in Houston, TX which is a part of Auto Nation) with other dealerships? If they are swapped, then would work/damage on the car at one dealership show up on the records at the other dealership? Again, I don't know how all that works - I'm curious about how I can trace the car's history (I've already done a Carfax report and it showed nothing)...

4) My biggest concern is that it's starting to look like I bought a car that was damaged and wasn't informed as I am assuming I should have been. How do I go about getting this car inspected for damage that was covered up (or is it possible)? Do I just hunt down some ASE certified mechanic, tell him/her the story, and see what they dig up? Or, is it better to take it to a body-repair shop since I would think they know about covering up wrecks and have them inspect it?

5) Any other information that anyone can provide me would be extremely helpful. Similiar experiences, dealership/factory/transport processes and how they keep records on service/damage/tires, how do dealerships loan out cars to their dealers, etc... *Anything* would be be appreciated as I'm a little out of league in dealing with all this....
Reply to
MrD
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Was this car brand new, as in I think I'm being royally screwed by the dealership that I purchased my car

Reply to
M C

How many miles on the car when you first got your hands on it? I believe you indicated that it had about 4200 miles on it when you experienced these problems. Then you mentioned that the dealer put 3500 miles on it shuttling the car. I sure as heck hope you bought this as a "used" car and not NEW! Regardless of who put the 3500 miles on it and where those miles were done, obviously someone beat the daylights out of this car and wrecked it as well.

3500 miles is a LOT of miles... plenty of opportunity for someone to really abuse and wreck the car. Gee, a car can be severely damaged in just 35 miles, let alone 3500. What model year is it? How much did yo pay for it? I hope you got a really amazing deal on it as a "used" car. If so, then while you can still complain, but can't complain too much. The only way to be free from such headaches is to buy a brand spankin' new car and pay the price. In this world, you CANNOT get something for nothing... you get what you pay for or worse very time. Some people think I'm a fool for buying a car brand new and eating the depreciation and all that, but it's worth it to me to not have any type of nightmare headaches like this. Best of luck with the situation! I hope you ultimately wind up with a car that is worth at least what you paid (and not less).
Reply to
WideGlide

You need a good lawyer.

I think you are likely screwed because of your delay taking it back to them.

If it was in an impact bad enough to bend an axle and wreck a tire and bumper, then the frame/unibody is also bent as the door not fitting shows.

I sure wouldn't want the car. It was written off by the sounds of things.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

MrD wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

There isn't much you can do about it now except for warranty repairs. I would definitely have an independent mechanic closely inspect it for other unseen damage. You may not like what you find, but it is important to know.

It sounds to me like one of their salesdroids wrecked it (most likely by sliding sideways into a curb or another car) and their body shop did a really bad job repairing it. The wheel was also likely replaced along with the destroyed tire. Should they pay for it? Yes. Will they pay for it? Probably not. To an outsider, you appear to be at fault.

I'm not surprised they went ahead and sold it as new. It's up to the buyer to closely inspect before they sign the contract. If it had more than a few miles on it, a red flag should have flown immediately. Charlene had 61 miles on her before I bought, and I knew she was a test-drive mule. I inspected accordingly. So far at 44,000 miles and 6 carefree years of driving, she still runs and looks like new.

-JD

-------------------------------- Enlightenment for The Masses: http:/207.13.104.8/users/jdadams--------------------------------

Reply to
JD Adams

umm did you not test drive this car?

did you not do a pre-delivery inspection on the lot before pick-up?

i think you may be screwed, how can you prove that you didn't wreck the car? you accepted the vehicle the day you picked it up in good order.

this is what I think happened, someone did a major burnout, fishtailed, hit a curb with the rear wheel, bent the axle, damaged the bumber, and blew the tire.

Punch

p.s. good luck

Reply to
Punch

what color is the car? There was a post on the corral a few months ago about a Mach driven off the display ramp. The guy took photos and listed the dealership.

I'll try to dig up the link

Reply to
CasinoMaker

Thanks for your response MC...

Yeah...it was brand new...only 17 miles on it when I bought it. I'm currently taking up-the-ladder but, as expected, I'm being told that it wasn't them and therefore I am the one that caused the damage. The next step will be to contact BBB and Attorney General's office. I'll be sure to post an update when something major happens....

Thanks again...

trailer

treamendously

problems/issues

Reply to
MrD

The car was bought brand new with only 17 miles on it...and, yeah - I got a pretty good deal on it still. With a 4000 incentive I only paid 22600 for the car which is pretty good considering it's 29000 price tag. The 3500 miles was put on by me but it was not rough driving. I drive it up from Houston to Dallas where my office is at and it's babied. It has never even fired it's engine in anger ;)

Thanks....

Reply to
MrD

Hey Punch...thanks for your reply..

Yeah...it was test driven. Problem is you can't here the rubbing unless it's quiet. The rubbling noise isn't that loud but you can here it on a quiet night. When I test drove it it was during the day around a lot of traffic so you couldn't hear the noise. But, alas, it's still my fault for not catching all this before I left the dealership - I just assumed that a car with only 17 miles on it was in good shape and wouldn't have so many problems. And the rubbing noise was heard within the first week which I screwed up again by not taking it back immediately.

I test drove, bought, and picked up the car all on the same day. Again, my fault - I should've inspected it pretty hard before I left...but again, I was thinking since it was new, etc....

I agree...apparently, I am screwed. :(

That's what I think happened as well...or something similiar. The Mach 1 can be incredible fun to drive and I can just picture someone really ragging on it, damaging it, and then covering their ass by a quicky repair. Unfortunately, I'm not able to prove it :(

Reply to
MrD

here ya go.....

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a competition orange mach1 was driven off the display ramp at Tropical Ford in Orlando then later put back up for sale.

Reply to
CasinoMaker

It is the "screaming yellow". If you could find that would be very, very interesting...especially if it was the one I'm now having problems with. I searched through the the corral and am not having luck on finding it but I'll keep looking.

Thanks...

Reply to
MrD

I just posted the link. unfortunately it was comp. orange.

It was a longshot that was the car you bought, but you never know.

good luck with your car.

Marc

Reply to
CasinoMaker

shoot...thanks though..wouldv'e been nice if it was mine that was in the picture. :(

Reply to
MrD

hey something similar happened to me, I picked up my brand new car, and it still had some water on it from the wash/wax they gave it, well the next day it rains, and also the 3rd day its rains, so by the 4th day, when the car is finally dry, I find a scratch on it. the dealer said I inspected the car when I picked it up and didn't report any problems with the paint.

Punch

p.s. you got all excited about driving the thing and didn't do the fine check, I've been there!

Reply to
Punch

Hey...it's a Mach 1...what Mustang enthusiast wouldn't get excited about driving it off the lot ;) Now I know though and actually feel sorry for the next dealership I buy a new car from...I'm going have to walk in ala Resorvoir Dogs style with experts before I purchase my next car :)

Reply to
MrD

Bought it with 17 miles on it... then you put another 4,183 miles on it. Don't lie & say you've never stomped on the gas... frankly I think this is all crap. It seems to me (and apparently I'm the only person so far to think this) that you bought the car... fudged it up.. and now you're expecting somebody else to pay for your mistakes. You don't buy a Mach 1 to baby it... you buy a Mach 1 to DRIVE it. I'm willing to bet that you bottomed out on a speed bump & that's how #5 took place.. the whole bent axle thing dude.. it's not going to get damaged while being transported.. and if it DID... no friggin way they'd leave it unfixed. Most dealerships make more than enough money by *not* selling crap cars. If you noticed these things from the start... or near the start... why on earth did you wait until you put thousands of miles on the car before doing anything??!!?!? You shoulda driven it directly back to them & been firm saying it was THEIR FAULT and NOT yours... but frankly I think YOU did it.. and you're trying to get outta it. Sorry for the rant, but I hate it when people try to cover up their mistakes & make others pay for 'em. And if I truly am totally wrong on this.. then I apologize.. but I just cannot imagine somebody waiting 4100 miles later to say something about a BENT AXLE.

-Mike

Reply to
<memset

Sorry to keep posting on this thread and kicking a dead horse but I have one more question that is bugging me:

Is the rear bumper for the Mach 1 and GT different? They look the same to me but I can't get detailed specs like mount points, dimensions, etc... And since the car is still at the shop I can't just step outside to look for myself. Does anyone know? Reason I'm asking is because the dealership said they ordered a Mach 1 bumper but it didn't fit and so they ordered a GT bumper that did fit. The service rep said that the parts book just listed the part number wrong or, and I quote, "something like that"...but I'm still somewhat suspicious of this. If they are different then maybe that would show that the rear end was changed/repaired/serviced/etc...

BTW, as an update: after calling up-the-ladder they are bringing in a Ford representative to look at the car on Monday. Hopefully this "expert?" will be able to discover what happened. I'll keep updating if anyone is still interested...

Thanks again for the responses...

Reply to
MrD

Have them run the serial number of the tire, they will know exactly where it came from. An axle will break before it will bend, by the way.

mike hunt

MrD wrote:

Reply to
MelvinGibson

Very good point and, unfortunately, it's those points that have me in somewhat of a pickle as it is. It's my claim against theirs...and, maybe I'm losing. But, I didn't bottom out the car, I didn't hit any curbs or major pot holes, and I most definitely didn't get in any accident of any type that would have resulted in this type of damage. More importantly, I'm not trying to get someon else to pay for damage I caused because I didn't cause any.

Yes - I should have brought the car back in the very day I started having problems and I should have had the car inspected prior to the purchase. But, I didn't because...I liked the car and was having fun driving it. I had no idea that the axle was bent (I didn't suspect that the rubbing noise was the result of a bent axle - I just figured it was something rubbing and was an minor fix) and the strut was leaking (I'm not even 100% on what a strut is). The AC wasn't an issue because even in Houston the weather is nice between January to March and AC isn't really necessary and knew that I would drop it off to get it fixed before the hot weather came. The paint and door droop was an issue but, again, it wasn't really an issue because I assumed that it would all get fixed (and it will) and it didn't make the car any less fun to drive.

I did put 4200 something miles on it - I bought it on a Sunday and drove it up that night to Dallas which is where my office is and did it for the next three weeks after (drive up on Sunday and drive back on Friday). When in Dallas the car was always parked in the parking garage at the office since my floor has security and cameras. The next three weeks after that I was in PA at a client (while car sat in the garage at home). I was home for a week after that which I spent at home which is when I could have took the car in but chose not too since, again, I was enjoying having the car around to drive and didn't realize the extent of the problems the car was having. Then, the next week I did the Houston to Dallas trek again with the car, the next week after I flew in (again, the car sat in the garage at home), and that finally brings me to this last week when I finally drove the car back down to get the service (which actually, what was more pressing was getting the oil changed - the remaining issues I assumed were nothing major).

And, yes - I admit it: I bought the car to drive it. But, unlike some adolescent driving the hot mustang that daddy bought - I do baby it. I've always wanted a Mustang GT and when, after having dropped my wife's car at the service department, I saw this beautiful yellow 2003 Mustang Mach

1sitting on the lot I just had to have it. After haggling with my wife, the dealer, etc... I finally got the car of my modest little dreams. Have I accelerated? uh...yeah. Of course I have. I have had her up to roughly 120 (although I lied to my coworkers and told them I had it up to 150 which is what the speedometer tops out at) and that was for a very, very brief moment at around 2:30am driving up along I45 (right before Huntsville) to Dallas with no cars on the road around me and an open and straight road ahead of me. Do I punch it a lights - no. I don't want to burn through tires that cost that much. And, since I feel like I'm sitting behind a very special car (I really, really, love the Mach 1) I'm the jerk that rides in the middle lane at least 100yds behind the car in front, doing 5mph below the speedlimit going down the road because I'm actually thinking (or would like to think) everyone is looking at the car - showing her off. I've had people pull up to me at lights and rev but I don't take-em. I don't want a ticket, I don't want an accident, and more importantly - I don't want to look like the 31 year old ass that's going around racing teenagers.

It was only after I got a hold of the service dept for an update and they told me about the bent axle, leaking strut, leaking compressor, etc.... After hearing that I thought of the "did you replace the tire", the strange paint chips in the seams, drooping door, and the Mach 1 bumper not fitting and it got me to thinking that perhaps there is a history on the car that I wasn't being made aware of. I know I didn't replace the tire but according to the dealership it is different than the other three and it just happens to be the on the same wheel that has the bent axle - that's weird in itself - but along with everything else I can't help but draw my own conclusion that I may have purchased a damaged car.

Thanks for you response anyway. And not to repeat myself - it is my fault. It's my fault for not inspecting the car as much as I should have. It's my fault for not bringing it in the next day to get it looked at. And, from what I'm experiencing already - I will pay for it. I bought a brand new wrecked car and since I'm the dumbshit that didn't inspect it, return it the next day, had fun driving it, etc... I'm going to pay at least $500 for damage I didn't do not to mention the costs of whatever problem pops up.

One last thing, I didn't say it was damaged while being transported...I'm just asking what the procedures are for when that happens - like where is it logged, etc.. I don't recall saying the dealership did it, the transporter did it, or whoever (and if I did - oops. I didn't mean to). I'm just saying I didn't do it, I doubt seriously someone hit my car in the parking garage and had the tire replaced, repainted the car, and all before I got back from lunch - I'm saying that I bought a car that has some undocumented damage to it - and I'm asking for information that will help me. I'm not calling up the dealership bitching them out - I think something fishy happened to my car - but I'm not yelling at them to fix it for free. I want them to explain to me the paint chips, the replaced tire on the wheel that has a bent axle, a bumper that doesn't fit, etc.. And, I would assume that this dealership (which, on a side-note is really one of the better dealerships I've ever dealt with) would be as concerned about the possibility of this occuring as I am. I hoping that maybe the Ford rep will see something that helps me out and maybe we can find out exactly what happened to the car and not so I can sue, sue, sue...but instead to just get everything fixed on the car and to have the history on it updated (I would like to hold this car until it's a classic and would appreciate the history on it).

Anyway, if you don't believe...don't. But, can you answer some the questions I posted earlier? Do you know if the GT and Mach 1 has the same rear bumper, do you know how the tires are identified through lot, etc...

problems/issues

Reply to
MrD

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