"We bought our 2010 Ford Focus in December of 2011, from Future Ford of Sacramento, on Madison Avenue. They got us financing through Kinecta Federal Credit Union, and we had made every payment of ($321.00) $320.93 on time from January 2012 through July 2014. We had one or two late payment fees only, but never have had a 30 day late. During this time a man named Rod Collins at Ford kept calling us to see if we wanted to bring the Focus in for a trade as they were in high demand. He always said if there was ANYTHING he could do for us to call. The transmission went out in the Focus at 104,000 miles, just after the warranty ran out. Ford wanted $3,600.00 for the repair, but we couldn't afford to pay that much and we absolutely had to have the car for going to work. We knew a mechanic who worked in a shop during the day but did work on the side at his home, and he was willing to do the work for $1,100.00. We knew it wouldn't be under Ford warranty, but just couldn't afford the $3,600.00 at the time. So, when Rod Collins called again about the trade in, we told him it needed a new transmission, to which he replied "that's o.k. we'll still take it in as a trade". We didn't do that because we had already taken it to be fixed. This was in July of 2013. Fast forward to July of 2014 (this year). We now have 121,000 miles on the car, and I break down in Oroville CA and I'm stranded there. I put out a lot of money over this breakdown, as I was stuck and had to stay in a hotel with my dog which cost $100.00. I called Ford right away and told them I was stranded about 57 miles away from the dealership and I needed to get it in to them. I told them that the transmission was gone and I asked them if I could bring it in for a trade on a new car. I explained that Rod Collins said they would take it even if it was broken. They told me to bring it in and they would work with me. I told them I needed to find a way to get it towed there, as our insurance is one that you have to pay them and get reimbursed later. Ford NEVER even offered me a tow. So, next day I had to rent a car which cost another $100.00 plus $250.00 deposit so I could bring my dog home to Grass Valley as he was traumatized to be stuck in over 100 degree temps in a strange environment.My car was eventually towed to the dealership (Future )Ford the 3rd day after Transmission going out. It cost me $390 for the tow, of which I will be reimbursed only $100.00. My focus was in perfect condition, except a cracked windshield. The exterior was absolutely perfect and interior well maintained. I now am stuck at the dealership all day while they let me know what kind of trade or new loan they can do on a new car. I still owed $11,000.00 on the 2010 Focus, so I knew they couldn't take a loss or anything like that. They came to me and said "we will probably need to get you into a brand new car because a used will be hard to get you financing on. I specifically asked them if they could finance me through our current lender, Kinecta. They said "No, it doesn't work that way" So they come out and tell me I've been approved for the brand new Ford Focus 2014 and the price was $21,000.00. I couldn't believe it. Then they came in and said "the bad news is that we can't take your 2010 for a trade-in so now you'll have 2 car payments and one of them (2010) will be on a car that doesn't run. I was so stressed out at that time that I wasn't thinking straight so I said o.k. and drove home a brand new car that night. We agreed to leave the old Focus there at the dealership until we could figure out what we wanted to do with it. The Ford dealership sales department actually suggested that when the payment came due to just not pay for it and to tell them we wanted to relinquish the old car back to them even though we still owed $11,000.00 and it didn't run. This was just a little unethical, plus very unloyal to a bank (Kinecta) with whom they do business with each day. Buying the new car caused problems with my marriage because the drove to my house to collect a large check from my husband, plus increased the sticker price to $24,000.00, when we were told $21,000.00 only hours earlier and they also raised the monthly payment to almost $500.00 per month after I told them $350.00 was the maximum I could afford..We ended up fighting over this so badly that we decided to get a divorce. We had no choice but to return the car immediately.That's what we did, and I didn't drive the car anywhere except from the dealer home. Getting us financed for the brand new car, they ran our credit request through several creditors who denied us, so they kept running it until they found us a lender. Each of this added a derogatory mark on our credit. Once we explained to Ford why we must return the new car, my husband returned the car to Ford a day later. Ford called me to tell me how much the transmission would be, which he said was $3,100.00. They (Andy in the Service Dept) asked if I wanted to go ahead with the repairs. He asked me over the phone and I said sure and to tell them the go-ahead to fix the transmission (3rd transmission for this car). This was all done over the phone and I wasn't asked to sign anything or fax anything to authorize the repair. Andy from Ford Service then called me a day later and upped the price to $3,600.00 because he said I needed a new axle. I said go ahead because I'm leaving to drive across the country on October 8th and the car needs to be running well. So, here's the best part. Ready?
Andy calls me to let me know the car is repaired and ready for pick up at which time I ask him about Ford Financing to pay for the repair. He tells me I won't have a problem, most likely but I Have to go in and apply in person. I said o.k. and I had a sister come and get to take me down there again. When I got to Ford Service I asked Andy "Have you ever seen anybody get approved for a for a brand new car one day,and then get rejected for a service credit the next day? He said these exact words "Never!" I had them run my application for a loan fro Ford, and sure enough it was denied. So, they allowed me to drive off their lot last week (5 days earlier) with a $24,000.00 car, which was actually returned to them the day after purchase, but they WOULD NOT finance me for a service repair of $3,600.00. I asked them if there was ANY kind of consideration, such as give them $1000.00 down and then pay the rest in 3 payments over the next 2 months. I explained that the only reason the credit scores were so low, was because they still had the new car on there as well and it wouldn't come off for 30 days. Plus, they ran our credit through so many lenders that it drastically lowered both of our scores. So, once the new car came off the credit report, I went in to have the credit run again and once more I was denied. Mind you, I had no transportation and live an hour away from the is dealership. I rented a car for a week, but couldn't afford to rent one any more. The rental for one week was almost $200.00 more and by now our car payment was getting close to 30 days late for the first time ever. Kinecta now couldn't finance a personal loan to us because of all the lenders Fordc ran to get us financed on a car we didn't end up buying. So, that brought us up to October 3, 2014, and I'd been car-less already for over a month. On this day, I had taken a bus to the dealership which took me 2 hours on public transportation, and I spent my last $3.00 to get there to get my car. I was completely stranded now after they denied me financing on the transmission. I was crying and very upset so I went to find the owners and tell them how wrong this was. IO mean the car they were repairing was a car THEY sold me less than 2 years earlier which had just had it 3RD! transmission put in with only 120,00.00 miles on it. The car is clearly a problem car, yet no one offered one ounce of help to me to figure this thing out. Plus, they are the ones who called me AT LEAST 10 times to ask me to bring the car in for a trade regardless of whether it was running or not, and then rejected a trade in!! I asked the sales manager for the owner, to which he replied "the owners will not ever be seen at the dealerships, but I'm pretty much in charge here." Still crying and having NO WAy to even get back to my home in Grass Valley an hour away, I began to tell him my predicament, but he stopped me and said "Oh I know all about your situation, but you need to take this up with service. We are sales, and have no connection with them. Here's my card if you need anything." I said "I need something right now, but obviously you don't care or you would have at least offered me a ride or ANYTHING but NOTHING". I stormed off crying and as I walked to the restroom said yo him "I guess I'll be hanging out here in your showroom until I magically find a way home" . I truly had no resources at that moment on that day and no one at Ford cared that they were actually the source of my entire predicament. I went into the restroom so other customers and staff wouldn't see me crying as I was and woman followed me there. She was an employee who came to "comfort me", but I know now she was sent to appease me sdo I wouldn't disturb any possible sales they may have going on. She talked with me for over 2 hours and acted as though she was my friend and said that " she will do everything in her power to get something worked out with the Service managers so I could get my car. Well, after over 2 more hours she came back from Supposedly the high up managers office with a look of "I'm sorry" and then said "they said there's nothing they can do, but let's go talk to Andy in service to see if he can hold the car a while so you can get the money together". Andy looked right in my face and said "sure, we can work with you by holding the car here until you can get that financing in order. If you need a few weeks because of the credit report's 30 day turnaround, sure. We realize this is a special situation." O.K.that was on October 3rd. I have been spending the next couple of weeks trying to figure out what was making our scores go down, down, down, and trying to get financed elsewhere. On October 23rd, Andy from Service called my husband (we're now separated because of all this car business) and hard balled him by saying you need to come and get the car by tomorrow, which would have been by Friday, October 24th. He told Andy that I was still working on getting the money. Andy replied that it had to be out of there by the next day or they wouldn't hold it any longer. IO called Andy and reminded him of the situation, and he replied to me "look, I told you we'd hold it for a couple of DAYS, and it's been over a month!" I said I needed more time, like one more week and he said he would need to have his superiors call me back, but that they have been working with me and needed that money by tomorrow. I was very upset since they are the ones who sold me the bad car and ruined my credit. I knew I couldn't get the money by the next day, so I called him back and said "you know what, Andy? Just do whatever you need to do. I don't have the money right now. I'm asking you for a little more time and you don't want to work with me, so do what you need to do. " That was on Thursday, October 23rd, and I have not heard another word from the Service department, namely Andy's Superior, nor Andy again.I still have not received financing because all 3 credit bureaus suggest waiting at least 30 days from when I started my dispute process or it will actually bring my scores down rather than up. So, my trip across the country had to be cancelled as far as driving, but I still need to go back there on a plane now to see my ailing mother before she dies. I cannot handle this from Maine, as the Ford Company insists that you may only apply in person at the Service station who is holding your repaired car. I have several complaints regarding this. They are as follows:
1. I have been told that by law they are supposed to have me SIGN an authorization for repairs, but he only asked me over the phone. (Not sure if this law is enforced)
2. The car they sold me and I still owe over $11,000.00 on is a lemon, although it does not legally meet the definition because we had the 2nd transmission replaced by an unauthorized repair facility
3. They HARD sold me a brand new car which they had no business doing as it served to destroy my credit. This, after telling me they could take the other car THEY sold me as SOME kind of trade.
4. Did not offer any kind of transportation alternatives nor towing services nor a loaner even for a day. The entire breakdown cost me as follows: $100.00 hotel room, rental car back to Grass Valley and then back to where car died-$87.00, Tow from breakdown sight to Ford- $390.00, rental car for a week after being turned down credit for repairs- $290.00. Almost $100.00 spent on 3 credit bureaus trying to have inaccuracies removed from reports. PLUS, hours upon hours of time spent traveling by foot or bus each way to dealership almost 60 miles and hours of senseless talk spent at Ford where there wasn't even any help available to me. We even bought the extra insurance on the 2010 Focus which covers you if your car becomes totally driveless. It was almost $3,000.00 extra to purchase, but we will never get to cash in on that. Tis is the worst case of customer rip off on a car I've ever seen or heard of and includes a lot of moral faux pas plus just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. They WILL loan you $24,00.00, but WILL NOT loan you $3600.00? No sense. At this point I do not even want to deal with them nor talk with them again. I hate to give up a car we've already paid over $10,000.00 on. What a waste of money. Ny help you can provide would be fantastic. Thank you in advance. I feel completely helpless here.
Sincerely,
Maureen Peake
530-210-6459 or 530-477-6906"