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new 8/11/04
In the spring of 1999, I purchased a 1996 SHO. This car was owned by the owner of a local ford dealership. It had 22K miles on it and was in pristine condition. After watching this car for a few months, the price came down and was appealing to me. Purchasing this car was the biggest mistake of my life!
In the first month I had to replace the brakes on both the front and back. I also had to align it and replace each and every tire. Now I understand that there will be certain items that will need replacing more frequently but come on, after one month?
The car drove perfectly for roughly one year until the spring of 2000. The IMRC motor needed replacing which was $260. From there the car became a living terror and a money pit. In Nov of 2000 my tranny started making loud "screaming " sounds at 75K miles. The dealership checked it and told me the tranny was in perfect condition. Well, two weeks later the tranny failed in northern NJ. It was replaced by a dealership to the tune of $2400. The job was done poorly and the overall quality of this dealership was poor. Fast forward to 9-11-01. My engine blew on this unforgettable day! The cause was directly linked to a faulty camshaft sprocket that ford knew about. Finding an engine with low miles cost me $3200. Buying one from ford was in excess of $10K. No way in hell was ford getting another dime of my hard earned money. By the way, this was at 100K miles.
I fully understand that things will break on cars. This car is ridiculous. The repairs and money put into this car have totaled well over $7K. 100K miles is a lot of miles but nothing uncommon these days. Still, the money I spent is unreal. If I knew I would spend this much, I would have taken the $7K and used it towards a better car such as an Audi or BMW and sure as hell not a Ford.
Ford has been called numerous times and they are about as helpful as throwing water on a grease fire. They are very sorry with all the problems I have had but they can't do a thing for me. Great way to keep a customer coming back. As a result, I have made it a personal goal to tell everyone to stay away from Ford because you will get screwed in the long run. Repairs will cost you a lot and the customer service you get from ford is nonexistent. Please, buy anything but a ford. You won't regret it. I'm happy to say that two of my friends were looking at ford products. One was looking at a 97 Taurus GL and the other at a new Ranger. Well, after my advice, one purchased a VW and the other an Oldsmobile.
jceu21@aol.com