OK guys this is the deal. I got my '99 lightning in March this year. Last week my check engine light comes on. I took it to Treadwell Ford and they charged me $179 to put it on the machine. They told me it was my O2 sensors. OK, 200 some odd dollars later its fixed, supposedly.(by the way, the part they took of looks nothing like the part they put on) The next day the engine light is back on. So I take it back. They say another $179 to put it back on the machine. I left. Autozone did the test for free. Treadwell's machanics say that my warranty won't uphold Autozone's test, so its another $179 to test it. So I do it. Its the sensors again. They fix it but I am out of $179 again. I ask him if it was something I was doing to make them go out. He says it misfired and that may be the result of reg. gas. I only use premium so I dont know what it could be. The light is off now, but I am trying to avoid future problems like this.

Hey, thanks alot for all of your help. The guys here only give me grief about having the truck.( They are all jealous, but who could blame them)

 

They should and I belive legally garantee the parts and work for a period of time.

I bet the origional sensor had a bunch of little holes on the side, where the new sensor had no holes on the side, sorta a snow flake look in the end. If so those are the newer 02 sensors and are fine, if not better.

 

I can't believe that the light came on the very next day and the dealer refused to at least pull the codes out and see if was something related to their repair.

every dealership I've ever worked at carried a 12month/12K mile warranty on parts and labor for their repairs.

basically what I'm saying is that:

1. there is another problem that they aren't fixing or don't know how to properly diagnose or fix.

2. they ripped you off TWICE, the first time because they didn't fix your problem if the light was back on the next day. and then a second time because they charged you again to fix the same thing that they charged you for, but failed to fix the first time.

even if the parts are truely faulty, if they installed ford parts, then they are covered for 12/12 and Ford will pay them for the parts and labor to do the repair again.

you may just be dealing with an unscrupulous (sp?) service advisor.

if they covered the parts the second time under parts warranty, then Ford is also paying them for labor & diagnosis. if they charged you for diag, then they are "double dipping" to make more money, charging ford as well as you. this is just plain wrong.

what people don't often realize is that the service advisor will in many cases (I've seen it countless times) try to charge the customer for something that they shouldn't really be paying for, or that somebody else may be responsible for. instead of admitting that they made a crappy diag and aparently charged you for parts you didn't need, they threaten you with another diagnostic charge in an attempt to scare you away. in alot of cases rather than question it or go higher, the customer will either 1. just pay it because they need their vehicle fixed or 2. take their vehicle and leave

BTW, you are paying WAY TOO MUCH for diagnosis. EEC test, pinpoint test, electronic engine control diagnosis, "hooking it up to the machine" whatever they want to call it, should cost you no more than 1hr to 1.5hrs to start with. I work at Lincoln/Mercury right now and we only charge $85 for the initial diag. hell lincoln is fords "luxury customer" if it's a weird problem and they have to go further, then thats another story, but I've never heard of a dealership charging that much diag up front for a check engine light.

I'd recommend calling and or going in person to speak with the Service Manager tomorrow, take your reciepts and ask them if they feel that you should have been charged again for the same exact repair 1 day later. if you don't get results there, then say, Ok, thanks for your time, I'm going to visit with the General Manager. hell you might even call the GM in advance and let him/her know that you are going to be visiting the service manager in an attempt to resolve a dispute, and let him know that if you don't recieve the proper care, that you'll be visiting his/her office next.

if you still don't get results, then ask to speak to the owner.

if they still say tough, then you are realistically out of luck aside from getting a lawyer, or taking them to small claims court, BBB, etc.

good luck, I hope you get it straightened out, it sounds like they took advantage of you.

not all dealerships and dealership personnel are crooks, unfortunately many are.

later,
chris

 

They said that the actual test was $79. I forgot what he said the other $100 was for, but they were a package deal. Thanks for the advice. I'll call tomorrow.