Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

Avoid Courtesy Ford like the Plague!

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

Oh my, I am so steamed. Two years ago I took my car to Courtesy Ford in Sanford for service and a check up. They recommended all kinds of things including new front brakes. I had them do the new front brakes (big mistake here), but had the other work done elsewhere. That was at about 45,000 miles, two years ago. I track my mileage. Almost immediate my average mileage dropped from 17.5 mpg to about 15.5 mpg. I also got new tires at the time. I noticed a lot more brake dust–substantially more–collecting on the front wheels after this change (brake job, new tires, new fromt ball joints, etc.). I asked the Ford dealer about it and they said it was normal, even though more than in the past. They insisted there was nothing wrong.

Today I have another 20,000 miles on the car. Courtesy Ford just called and told me my front brakes are in the red! What?? Are they friggin’ nuts? They only lasted 20,000 miles? He said maybe my driving habits changed–they have not. He said the ones they installed were done correctly and were exactly like the factory originals. How can that be? On the factory originals I got 45,000 miles and didn’t have all that brake dust and got better mileage!  Something is wrong here and I’ll never, ever, take my vehicle there again, i swear it.

The guy on the phone was not very sympathetic and certainly would not admit that they could have done something wrong or used inferior parts or anything, but the evidence is to the contrary. It’s obvious they did something wrong. They either used inferior parts or did it wrong or something, but a brake job should last more than 20,000 miles–my driving habits have not changed in the past 7 years. That is totally ridiculous! I am so steamed. I can’t wait to take my car somewhere reputable where they actually do good work rather than try to spend their time trying to sell me stuff I don’t really need. Geez!

Here’s the mileage over the years. Notice the dramatic change when I took my car to Courtesy for new brakes at about 45,000 miles, only two years (and 20,000 additional miles) ago:

Mileage

Do not under and circumstances take your vehicle to Courtesy Ford in Sanford. They’ll screw you like they’ve screwed me.