Rant!!!!!!!

[arun1963]

Sorry Guys, but am in a particularly bad mood!

I hate Ford and everything to do with it. The cars suck and are a POS, the service outlets here are rip offs and Corporate Ford here is the mother of all evils, 0 sensitivity to customers.

Gave the POS for servicing and fixing the A/c. Removed the face plate of the p-880 before giving the car in cause the damn w/shop always fiddled with the settings when I left the face plate in.

Got the car back today with a bill of $ 650, so from work asked the wife to write a check. Got home late and decided to go down and hook up the stereo. Tried to fit the face plate and it wouldn't fit. Took a minute to realise that the damn hu was upside down. So ok pulled it out put it right side up fixed the face plate..........and it wouldn't switch on. Opened up the chassis and tested with a voltmeter. The motherboard is shorted out. Took a flash light to see what else is wrong and discovered that the SR mids have neat little holes through them.

Putting a stop payment on the cheque for a start........the rest I will handle tmrw.

Suggestions welcome. Value loss.........$ 550 for the hu and $ 800 for the speakers. So even if I stop the cheque I'm still out $ 700.

[arun1963]

Sorry guys just not thinking straight, maybe things will be better in the morning........then again maybe not.

[EndersShadow]

Document Document Document...... lots of pictures as to what the damage was, ect.

If the locals dont fix it then keep going up the ladder till you get as high as you can...

Good luck mang.

Had my own deal w/ FireStone years ago. Took the ex's car in to get a tune up and they managed to break one of the two cables you need to shift gears. When we picked it up they had it so she could just pull forward (since 1st, 2nd and reverse were the gears they screwed up).

When we took it back in they tried to say it was like that when we brought the car in....After lots of talking to lots of higher up's we finally got it fixed and worked out, but it was a PITA to deal with all the paperwork, rental cars, ect.

[arun1963]

BTW My second car is a 2010 Civic, as a car and Honda's CS is at a totally different level. I was planning to pull out the stereo gear from the Ford and plant it in the Civic but my lazy ass procrastinated too long. Purely my fault.

[MacLeod]

Wow! Thats downright criminal vandalism right there! Almost like they were pissed off that youd take the faceplate off and decided to "teach you a lesson".

[DSkip]

Go to the shop, turn a few employees upside down, and then put some holes in THEIR "speakers". That should get their attention.

In all seriousness, I'm sorry to hear that. Not sure how great the legal system is over there, but I'm sure you can get this taken care of. Shouldn't have to, but I think it will eventually come out in your favor.

[xj4094dg]

Talk to the service manager first. When I was a service manager if someone had a legitimate beef, i would wave my magic wand and make him happy, or GM would be all over me, not to mention the hit my bonus would take when they got a bad survey from the customer. Do they work on a survey program in India? In the US the dealers live and die by the survey program in both sales and service.

I hate Ford, but most dealers will do all they can if you press them (at least here in the US). Run it up the ladder and if that doesn't work, send a message to Ford US. I can't imagine they won't help you.

Keep us posted and good luck.

[amulford]

Sounds like somebody'd be getting their ass hurt. Dude, I would be LIVID...

[Outfitter03]

I would document this very well as I believe to get the money for the speakers and HU you may end up having to file and argue your case in small claims court if you have such a thing in your locale. Sucks to have this happen, but I would not wait very long in taking this up if your first attempts with the dealership are unsuccessful.

[Vital]

Talk to the service manager first. When I was a service manager if someone had a legitimate beef, i would wave my magic wand and make him happy, or GM would be all over me, not to mention the hit my bonus would take when they got a bad survey from the customer. Do they work on a survey program in India? In the US the dealers live and die by the survey program in both sales and service.

I hate Ford, but most dealers will do all they can if you press them (at least here in the US). Run it up the ladder and if that doesn't work, send a message to Ford US. I can't imagine they won't help you.

Keep us posted and good luck.

+ 1

Sometimes talking (not yelling right away) to manager helps. If not - let hell break loose.

[arun1963]

Thanks guys for the support. I'm afraid the news is not very good. Here's what I've done thus far:

1. Spoke to close buddy who is a top notch lawyer. It seems if I filed a case, it would end up in small claims court, where the average period from filing to decision is anywhere from 3-5 years. In addition the onus for proving that the hu and speakers worked would fall on me. Thats the law of the land. Since I didn't give the work shop a demo of the sound while giving the car in.........

2. Spoke to the work shop and Ford Corporate here. "We would be happy to accept your claim if you can prove that the stereo worked when you got the car in". I guess I was already in the 'black book' cause i'd had a show down about 12 months ago over the ECM system in the car. The car was then in warranty and every morning when I started the car the ECM hazard light would come on till the engine warmed up I would have to keep the engine revving at 2K+ to keep normal power. After kicking and screaming for 6 months, Ford changed the relay assembly (whatever that is).

3. Yesterday morning when I started the car.............sure enough same problem. the car is now out of warranty and the relay assembly costs $ 625. I figured enough is enough. I want to sell this car today. Called the bank thats financing the car and found out that I have 14 EMI's balance and foreclosing the loan would mean paying the 14 installments plus a 7% penalty for early closure..........I guess I didn't read the fine print while signing the lease.

4. I know when I'm beaten . Stayed calm and thought things through. It seems my best option is to park this car for the next 14 months, pay off the installments and then sell the POS for whatever I get. Based on the mileage I do I figure I would have to send this car in at least 3 times for servicing over the next 14 months. 650x3=$ 1950. By using the Civic I would get better gas mileage and save another $ 1,500 approx. Hence net saving $ 3,500 appx.

5. Spoke to my car stereo guy and he can get me a used p-880 and a pair of used SR mids for $ 600. I would still come out $ 2,900 ahead. In a warped sense it made me smile.

Getting the install done in the civic tmrw. I should have switched to the Civic earlier as a daily drive but was babying the car since the Ford was already beat up.......at least I'll have good sound starting tmrw.

Once again thanks for all the support. It's great having a family like you'll.

[Vital]

4. I know when I'm beaten . Stayed calm and thought things through. It seems my best option is to park this car for the next 14 months, pay off the installments and then sell the POS for whatever I get. Based on the mileage I do I figure I would have to send this car in at least 3 times for servicing over the next 14 months. 650x3=$ 1950. By using the Civic I would get better gas mileage and save another $ 1,500 approx. Hence net saving $ 3,500 appx.

Of that's the route you wanna take and u're set on doing it might as well part it out while car is still a new model. Prices for parts for new models are always high even if used, so IT MIGHT be a better deal if you completely part it before even paying it of haha. Main $$$ thing would be engine and tranny so sell that first before taking the seats and bumpers off lol.

I"m not going to get the calculator out and start counting since i'm clueless when it comes to Ford part/cars pricing but if parts RIGHT now and at the same or even more cost as used car in 2-3 years......

[MacLeod]

Sorry to hear that my Indian homie. I think you're right that its not probably worth the crap and hassle you'd have to go thru so you might as well just move on. It's not really a bright side but its always fun buying new gear and now you have a good excuse. Just hold off on that 2nd set of Scans you were gonna buy and that'll help with the replacement stuff.

[arun1963]

It's not really a bright side but its always fun buying new gear and now you have a good excuse.

Spent yesterday at the toy shop swapping the equipment and here's the verdict.

Current HU - Is beat up over three years of tweaking. Changing this to a new P-80rsII getting this for $ 400. Don't want to go used here. Would like to upgrade to a basic Alpo + Bit-1 or even the P-99. Both options work out to the same price ($ 1,100). Way beyond the budget. The money is one thing, but I know if went with either, it would suck up a ton of time, cause I'd want to tweak it just right.

PA 500.4 - The rear channels aren't working. Replacing this with a used Genesis Profile 4 Ultra. Looks in good condition from the outside. The shop is asking for $ 200. I will take Pics of the amp and internals and post them, before I pull the trigger. Hope to get feedback in case something is amiss.

PA 400.1 - Not working. Trying to cut a deal on a slightly used Genesis Dual Mono. But I think the price is going to be an issue here. Will probably go with a basic 3-400 watts @ 4 ohms option. Open to suggestions from all on the cheapest amp of acceptable quality.

SR 6500 Mids - Picked up a pair that are in good condition and they play fine.

New Tweets - FedEx deleivered these last monday.
https://www.madisound.com/store/prod...oducts_id=8497

Can't wait to get everything setup and hear these tweets with the SR mids. Should be a match made in heaven . Oh and I found perfect pods for these babies. The pods are mounted on a 3" rod that is fixed into a base plate. The base plate can be screwed onto the dash with two small screws.

The pod can swivel on X and Y axis which is just great for finding the perfect angles. Once you hit the angle, you tighten a screw at the top of the rod and your pod is fixed. The 3" rod ensures the the tweet is above all early reflection points. Not the most aesthetic looks wise, but boy it should work great.

Have to work out the final prices but I will be trading in the two Polk amps, the p-880, and two MMC 690 that work fine but I don't use them. Any idea what this stuff would be worth in as is condition?

Just hold off on that 2nd set of Scans you were gonna buy and that'll help with the replacement stuff.

Nah, the two issues aren't related.

[arun1963]

Been thinking some more. Yeah I know thats an oxymoron.......

While the hu was fairly beat up and i had changed the lens twice, everything worked when I handed the car in. BUT what if some faulty wiring / grounding etc actually triggered the ECM issue in the car over a period of time? What if the Ford workshop was trying to correct the ecm issue and there was a surge due to some faulty connection that shorted out the hu and amps? The shop that did the install in the first place is the one thats going to do the install on the civic......

I'm an EE / electronics idiot. What if the shop screws up on wiring the harness or grounding or some other thing that I may not catch........I'd hate to say that the Civic is POS a year down the line......HELP!! Am I over thinking things? One part of my brain says if its wired wrong it won't sound right. If it sounded right (which it did) then it was probably wired right......