Long story guys but I would appreciate your advice.... On Sat. Dec. 17th, I picked up my new White/Blue Ford GT (2005, #421, old MSRP). On Christmas day, I drove to my parents house (130 miles). The car ran beautifully. That evening I planned on returning home, but the battery was dead. On the way up that day, I had smelled rotten egg (sulfuric acid) type vapors in the car. Turns out the battery had fried and the Optima had been venting gasses. I had to stay the night at my parents since nobody was open on X-mas day. Next day I bought a new Optima and returned home. The Ford dealership in my parents' town didn't carry the Ford GT black top optima so I ponied up just to get on the road and home. I went to my dealership here to have the car checked out, to make sure the charging system wasn't bad. The battery cradle had some corrosion from the boiled over battery and they took it out, repainted it and were going to reimburse me for the red-top Optima I had installed. I felt better having a new battery in the car anyway, as stock batteries don't seem to last long. This car had been in the showroom for sometime, so battery failure didn't really surprise me. They also got me a new luggage insert as the original one had some damage from me hauling the old battery back to them (only place I could put it other than in the car with me and my girlfiend). At this point the car had 350 miles on it and I'm good to go, but the service people call me and tell me they want to test the car "under driving conditions". Turns out the service technician takes the car for a spin and the next call I'm getting is that the front air dam and rear air diffuser have been damaged by a dip he drove over. I went to the Ford dealership today to look at my car. The story has changed and now apparently the technician lost control and had an "off". He is their lead mechanic with 18 year experience, etc... "GT certified". He says he just lost control?! Damage as best as I can tell includes the front and back aero pans and also the front left carbon fibre body panel under the fog lamp and some cracking of the nose piece under the air intake. The carbon fibre rear air diffuser sits quite a bit off the ground and I think the car swapped ends into a roadside ditch, although the story is muddy at this point. I am somewhat upset at the situation to say the least. I met with the main GM of the dealership and have demanded that a factory based technician work on the car. If they can't get their story straight, I don't have much faith in them technically. The story I am hearing is called a "wreck" (usually happens when you leave the road surface), not "we bumped the underside of your car". I am concerned that a hit that damaged the front and back underpanels of the car may have done damage to the frame and suspension. I have warned them about being careful with putting the car on a lift, and they are aware of having to use boards to raise the car prior to placing lift pads. It's the holiday weekend so I'll hopefully have a full damage estimate Tues. when its up on a lift. The head GM seems earnest in making the car "whole and new" again. He's petrified for sure and knows I won't accept anything but perfect. I can tolerate a couple of underpanel pieces being traded out, but if it gets deeper than that I'm gonna have problems. Am I out of line for asking for outside factory help? These guys have sold only 2 GT's in '05 and I doubt they have any experience with service or bodywork. The stigma of having a car that was in a "shunt" also bothers me. Is there a point where I demand a new car since they essentially wrecked my brand new one? Anyway, sorry for the long sob story. My year really can't get any worse actually. My girlfriend, who is a nurse, battled ovarian cancer this year and after 4 abdominal operations is really doing well. We have been through a lot together and getting this car at Christmas was supposed to end the year on a positive note. She loves cars as much as I do. Hopefully things will turn out OK. Happy New Year to all.
In the future, I think I'd specify that the car is NOT to be driven off the premises unless I was there to ride along...
Sometimes those mechanics, no matter how competent.. just can't resist the urge to get out there and "step on it" a bit... which is fine, as long as it's not in my 150K automobile...
New car..plain and simple. They had 2 05 allocations they can get you an 06'. There was an incident about 2 years ago where a tech in San Antonio took a mustang cobra for a spin and posted about his high speed antics on the internet..well just happened he posted the license and the owner frequented the boards...whoops.....
You will never know the extent of the damage and even if they fix it whos to say they didn't hide something..they already have lied about the incident...
New car...thats all I would want...you wait and work hard to be able to afford a toy like this and theres no reason to let yourself be displeased with it because some nimrod did what they shouldn't have in it.
ByeEnzo, I had the same exact problem with mine #448 right up to the "off" problem. My whole car filled with such a stench I had to pull over and air it out as not to choke.
As I understand dealers have been putting 50amp quick charges to the batteries (like they do to all of their lot stock) and it cooks the GTs' Optima.
I am not a lawsuit type guy but if mine had anymore than cosmetic damage I would have a few letters written. If the repairs are bad enough to make it to carfax.com I would think it will lower it's resale.
It sounds like you and yours have had a tough 05', I hope 06' is much brighter.!
I am not sure that I would have been as calm as you were. Can you say "RAMBO"!! If you have not done so already, I would get over there and take as many photos as possible. Might even be worth talking to a lawyer just to cover your butt. Hopefully it is only minor damage and they will have it back to you soon.
What dealership did this to your GT?
2005 Ford GT #1688 Silver/Black Stripes
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Our other cars: 2006 Z06 DSOM / 2006 S55 Silver / 2005 SL65 Pewter / 2005 G55 Graphite / 2005 SSR Silver / 2005 MazdaSpeed Miata Red / 2004 Gallardo Yellow / 2004 NSX Black / 2002 Candy Red Prowler + 2001 Orange Prowler + 2001 Silver Prowler + 1999 Yellow Prowler / 2002 35th Anniversary Camaro SS Convertible / 1970 Black Chevy SWB Pick up / 1969 Garnet Red Camaro SS 350 / 1969 Chevelle SS 396 / 1969 Impala SS 427 / 1968 Chevy Step Side Truck L98/700r4 / 1967 Hugger Orange Camaro 400 / 1966 GTO / 1955 Yellow Chevrolet Truck / 1934 Ford Sedan / 1930 Ford Hiboy Coupe 302 5spd
Steve, I got my car at Hillard in southwest Fort Worth. The purchase experience was fairly pain free and I live less than 5 minutes from there. I'm gonna go back there on Tues and have some photos taken. I think getting an independent factory person down to assure me its only superficial damage, will make me feel better. The GM who is over several AutoNation locations agreed to that. I'll get a firm committment and hold them to it. Anything worse and letters will start flying. The mechanic looks like he wants to kill himself, so yelling at the lowest guy on the rung ain't gonna help much. I don't owe much on the car and am almost tempted to pay it off outright so I have a title in hand. That way they broke the car that I own, and legally I'd have more leverage.
Sorry to hear about the year you've had but I'm glad your girlfriend's doing well.
Your GT. Here's some info I found on body work. I was hoping I'd never have to share info with anyone, if you know what I mean.
Ford GT Repairs for Body Damage:
The purpose of this communication is to provide paint and body repair information for the Ford GT. With a couple of exceptions the GT has been designed to be repaired at any well-equipped dealer body shop.
The paint is common with all other Ford products.
Although many of the panels are not repairable, they bolt on and are easily replaced with standard hand tools.
The roof, A pillar, and upper B pillar areas of the vehicle utilize structural adhesives and special rivets. Specialized tools, training and facilities are required to properly repair these vehicles. Because this is presently the only Ford vehicle that uses this type of body construction and is a low volume vehicle, only a few dealerships have the required body repair technology. Thus, most dealers are not equipped to properly perform repairs to these three areas. FORD GT BODY REPAIRS TO THE A PILLAR, B PILLAR, OR ROOF
Refer customers to a Jaguar authorized dealer. Jaguar uses similar body technology on their XJ series vehicles. "Jaguar Authorized" body repair facilities are located in most major U.S. cities.
If you have a GT customer who needs the services of a body repair facility and you are not familiar with one in your market please contact the SVT information center at (800) 367-3788
"The Ford GT is designed and manufactured using aluminum/carbon fiber technology and includes the use of special rivets and structural adhesives that requires specialized body repair methods.
I'm not sure of your damage but it might be a good idea to begin the repairs at the correct shop.
You can always PM me and I'll try to get more info. Otherwise, I'm sure other forum members will have some great suggestions.
I have heard similar stories about Techs & Vipers. If i leave my car with the Dealership and i am told that they need to "Test Drive" the vehicle i simply ask for a waiver stating that if the vehicle is damaged they will replace the vehicle. If Service Manager does not want to sign, i find another qualifed dealer, or they do not test drive.
FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, GET A DOCUMENTED LETTER FROM THE REGIONAL GM,DEALER/OWNER AND BONE HEAD MECHANIC,ON ONE SHEET OF PAPER STATING IN WRITING , WHAT THEY DID, APOLOGIZING AND ATTACHING THE FULL DAMAGE REPORT PLUS THEIR FULL REPORT AFTER COMPLETION. MAKE SURE IF ALL THAT IS DONE AAANNND SIGNED !!!! BY YOUR DEALER/ OWNER PERSONALLY!!! AND ANOTHER COPY OF IT IS FORWARDED TO FORD DIRECT, IF ALL ELSE IS OKAY, NO FRAME DAMAGE ECT. THEN YOU HAVE THERE STATEMENT OF FAULT JUST IN CASE ANYTHING ELSE POPS UP. THIS WAY 10 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD IF IT EVER POPS UP ABOUT DAMAGE IT SHOULDNT HURT THE TRUE VALUE OF THE USED CAR AT THAT POINT. NOW IF THERE IS FRAME DAMAGE ECT. I WILL GIVE YOU WILLIAM FORDS NUMBER MYSELF!!! BETTER YET I WILL BREAK HIS SHOES FOR YOU! THERE SHOULD BE NOTHING SHORT OF A REFUND OR REPLACEMENT CAR, NO ,IF AND OR BUTS..... as many of you know i love this car , it truly is a work of american art, too bad and im sorry to say this again to my fellow american workers , which really there arent many left. They have but no pride , buisness sense or brains A GIFT FROM GOD THIS CAR IS AND THEY CAN STILL SCREW IT UP!!!!!!! I DARE ANY OF YOU WHO HAVE OWNED A FERRARI,JAG , BENZ OR TOYOTA CAMERY ,THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO YOU !!! IF IM WRONG PLEASE EMAIL I WILL APOLOGISE....IM NOT HOLDING MY BREATHE CIAO GTJOEY 1314
If it's strictly underbody plastic? Give them the benefit of the doubt to fix it. If it goes farther than that? Demand nothing less than a new damn car. Things happen, yes, but God, how many times does a Ford dealer TOUCH a 160k car? Anything you need from us to turn the screws on these idiots (should they not adequately meet your needs) you can bet we'll do. I've had rocker panels on low riding cars screwed up by morons before, but never had anyone full on crash my car.
Good luck, and let all of us know what we can do!~
Dave (born in Ft. Worth!)
A Comedy of Errors
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