new 2/28/2004
Hello Larry,
I am a recent purchaser of a 96 V8 SHO. I also am a recent victim of the cam failure. The VIN is 1FALP54N4TA257596. How do I get involved with the Class action Lawsuit? I purchased this car 10-15-03 with approx. 90,000 miles on it, and put on a Whopping 8,500 miles on it over about 5 months of ownership on this vehicle when the cam failed 02-12-04 with 98,466 miles. Before the malfunction, it was missing, and in the day before the malfunction had started to make more noise coming from under the hood. It was getting to the point that I was going to make an appointment to get it checked out the next day. I was driving at 55-60 MPH staying at a constant speed on the highway when I suddenly lost power, it was still running, and pulled off the road where it died and would not start, and I was stranded. I called a tow truck and had it towed to the nearest Ford dealership, where it took $411.98 for them to diagnose that there was no compression in the last 4 cylinders and I told them to quit. They said it was timing gear or chain failure, and the only way to find out exactly was to pay for the labor. That was when they told me it would be $16,000 for a new ford engine plus labor, or $21,000 total. They could have found a crate engine for me for 11,000 installed, or machine the parts and have a minimum of $7,000 to $8,000 in bills to get this taken care of. I was told about this problem with them before I bought it, and I thought it was a smaller problem, or not as costly to fix. I was wrong on both accounts. I changed the oil on this vehicle right when I bought it, or 2-3 times. Currently it is in the shop having a replacement engine with 80K put into it. Based on what I now know, this is going to happen to me again within the next 1.5 years or sooner. I was satisfied with what they told me when diagnosing this problem. I was 90% sure that it was the cam when it happened. They
confirmed what I had suspected.
I dont know what Ford could do to make this up to me. I had owned a 3.0 V6 Taurus GL before this, and was very satisfied with that car, which is why I bought this one. I also own a 98 Mustang GT Convertible, and a 94 Mustang GT Coupe. I have been a loyal Ford customer and had planned on being for a long time. Getting Screwed on this might change my mind about Ford products. I think the best way to satisfy me is to reimburse me for my time, $$$ and trouble this caused. And it has taken me a lot of time.
Service was performed at
Brookdale Ford
2500 Cty Rd 10
Brooklyn Center MN 55430
Phone # 763-585-8310
on 2-13-04 Dont remember the Tech's Name
Thanks,
Aaron Vos
St Michael, MN 55376