2005 Mustang GT Stolen from Ford Dealership

LovinIt05GT · Jun 1, 2005

Your solution is simple. Any dispute between a customer and a Ford dealer will be arbitrated by the Ford Sales & Marketing Division Manager for your area. Look in the back of your owner's manual. There is a section that describes the process and who to contact at Ford.

Because of US Anti-Trust laws, vehicle dealerships are independantly owned and operated, but they are licensed by the manufacturer to sell thier products. That license can be taken away. I've seen it happen here in Detroit.

Here's a copy of Ford's process:
Vehicle Concern - Service
1. In the event of a vehicle concern/repair, the customer must first bring it to the attention of the dealership service writer. If the problem is not resolved, the customer should proceed to Step 2.
2. The customer should request to speak with the Service Manager. If still unsatisfied, proceed to Step 3.
3. The customer should contact the dealer principal, or in a large dealership, the General Manager.
4. If the concern is still not resolved, the customer should contact the Customer Relationship Center for the appropriate vehicle brand.

Attached is a copy of the contact numbers to get Ford Corporate to assist you with your dealership problem. Good luck.

celticstanger · Jun 1, 2005

Lawyer up, big-time! HTF does anyone not realise that the dealer is 100% to blame here???

Lay the car up. Get a rental, if you can afford it. Add that to the costs you're suing for (NOW see how fast they respond to you!).

Cash award is unjust??? WTF??? Um, has this been stressful at all? Unless you're on some SERIOUS meds, I'm guessing this is killing you. FACT : courts will award money for stress suffered, and damn-well rightly so!

Dealer is being moronic beyond belief. Your request was entirely justified. Every day they dick you around, they're just adding $'s to the final settlement - replacement vehicle, lawyers fees, additional stress...

As previously stated, this will hit 5 figures EASILY, and your case is airtight (they've admitted guilt already!). There are only 2 real questions here - how long will it take to settle, and how much more money they want to settle for. Get a lawyer - NOW!

"...dealership isn't liable..." LMFAO

cleveland · Jun 1, 2005

Get a good lawyer and you'd probably be able to afford a new car after selling this trashed one to the dealer.

Keep us posted as we are all crying for justice.

-Dan

Rockriguez · Jun 23, 2005

Everything is settled

Okay everyone, the situation with my car that happened about 3 weeks ago is settled. I was given the Premium Warranty that covers over 500 parts for 4 years/60,000 miles. My car was taken back in during daylight hours and detailed,filled with fuel and my exhaust was installed properly. The dealership also took my old scratched tint off and had the local tint shop install the felt strips inside and re tint my windows for free. I was given a rental car and treated very well by David Lapp one of the service advisors. It was him not the Service manager or General Manager that ended up helping me the most. I think the dealership was planning on having this incident blow over but the BBB got a hold of them and they had to correct the complaint since they already had 3 this year. The dealership where this occurred was North County Ford in Vista, CA. The had always treated me well in all my past deals with them but they slipped up this time. I will never buy a car from them again. Hope this answers everyones questions if this story was a lie. Oh yeah the kid that stole my car posted bail and then had to be dragged out of his house when he didn't show and the sherriff found him hiding in a corner crying.

PolkThug · Jun 23, 2005

Yay!

alfman9 · Jun 23, 2005

Settled? A warranty and a detail is one heck of a settlement. You could have had them by the nads. But as long as your happy...

sentient · Jun 23, 2005

I hope he has fun dealing with 'Bubba' in the county jail. He may be dealing with a different form of joyriding...

jasonlee0704 · Jun 24, 2005

I'm with alfman. The dealership dodged a bullet, big-time, by making you happy, or at least satisfied enough not to sic attorneys on them in a court case.

BadHenry · Jun 24, 2005

Rockriguez,
Man, sorry for what happened I can't imagine your stress level!!! Glad it is all over with and that you received compensation for all the trouble. Too bad it wasn't offered in the first place. Thanks for letting us know the out come and for posting the dealerships name. I hope the thief will get what he deserves out of this.

SpazHairlip · Jun 24, 2005

OBleedingMe · Jun 25, 2005

Great to hear you're happy with the otucome. The dealership seems to have come through (after threats from the BBB) with restoring/protecting your vehicle. Seems like the 4th complaint is the charm with the BBB, lol!

If this were me, I would have sued, but then again, that's me. If you are happy witht he outcome and can look at your car again with a look of contentness and satisfaction, then that's all that matters. It's really good to see a story of the little guy fighting back.

BlazerLT · Jul 8, 2005

I hope they fixed all the broken stuff inside and replaced your brakes.

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

351CJ said:
Unless you paid over sticker, the extra $1000 is a bit much.

I don't think the extra $1,000 is too much. You trusted them with your car and they took advantage of it.

The fact of the matter is that unless that person had a need to take it and drive it like that (I'm sure that some repair somewhere would require them to drive it at 85 to determine the problem), then he had no need to do that and it was theft.

Even at work if you need a piece of paper to do your job, fine. If you take the piece of paper without a need for it, it's theft. Not that that many people care about paper.. but truth be told, it is theft of company property.

That's one thing.. then stealing something that belongs to a customer and valued at what it is.. is just what it is.. theft of an automobile.

They should be liable for that.

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

cdemot02 said:
First of all you have absolutely no proof of physical damage so that would not hold up in the courts or etc...

So are you saying that if someone steals your car and you end up getting it back at some point undamaged then it should not be considered the same crime as if it were damaged?

So are you saying that if YOUR Mustang were stolen and then returned to you undamaged (or maybe damaged but not obvious at the time) then the charges should be dropped?

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

martimus said:
Whats almost comical about this thread is that too many people seem to think that the dealer is liable because an employee committed a crime. Most every service department I've ever set foot in takes little or no liability for customer vehicles or property left in them. Read the signs posted in many service departments...

I understand what you are saying and have seen the signs. What they mean is that if some customer is driving around on the lot and your car gets dinged, etc. it's not their fault. That makes sense.

If the service guy pulls the car into the bay and gets out and bangs up your door on the side of the lift thingy, that is their fault. Should they not be required to fix your door? Sure they should... in this case, it was an accident. Suppose the service guy intentionally banged up your door because he didn't like the way you looked when you dropped it off? Should he be liable then or is it just one of those things that happened and they aren't liable for?

The person that took this car, I'm sorry... stole this car, did so intentionally. The service shop gave him access to the key at 1am. Strange.

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

martimus said:
How do you prove, in a legal sense, that the lifespan of your clutch and brakes and tires are now significantly shorter?

You really don't need to... just prove that it was stolen. Period.

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

cdemot02 said:
The still unanswered question...What damages? ... 60miles of driving...that's it. Have fun prooving damages.

I still don't understand how you have to prove damages to make it a STOLEN CAR?!?!

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

martimus said:
But I gotta say its funny too see how you'all seem to take your agressions out on the dealers and blow off the thought of getting compensation from the individual... kind of following the pack mentality that the dealership can better afford to compensate you so they're a more likely target.

The individual is not liable to the customer. The service shop itself is responsible to the customer to care for the car. There is not direct relationship between the guy that took it and the customer.

The customer should sue the service shop and receive compensation from them. Then the service shop should turn around and recover those funds by suing the individual that took the car, as they have a relationship directly with him.

I used to work in healthcare IT. We had privacy agreements with patients, obviously. However, we also had to outsource certain things to other companies. We had business agreements with those companies that included privacy agreements.

However, if one of those companies did something to violate the patient's privacy, WE are responsible to the patient, not that third company. However, that third company is responsible to us. So if we were to be sued by the patient, we turn around and sue that third company.

That's how it works... there is NO relationship between the patient and that company. There IS one between the patient and US and one between US and that third company.

Same in this situation.

05Stangster · Jul 8, 2005

Quote- Originally Posted by martimus
"Whats almost comical about this thread is that too many people seem to think that the dealer is liable because an employee committed a crime. Most every service department I've ever set foot in takes little or no liability for customer vehicles or property left in them. Read the signs posted in many service departments."

Not trying to flame you but you are very wrong. When the vehicle is in their possession and is on their property, they are liable for damages incurred to the vehicle. If a third party hits your car, your insurance company will go after the dealership and the third party. Another example of signs which very few people realize are full of bs: Parking Garages which print on the ticket "they are not liable for damages" - this is also a farse which has been proven time and time again in court. Service departments, parking garages etc. hang signs and put information on service tickets, receipts etc. to try and FOOL most people into thinking they are not liable - this is so not true.

Note: if you ever have damage while your vehicle is on someone else's property - do not believe everything your read. Just because the sign says "no liability" or "not responsible for damage to your vehicle" - they are, in the vast majority of cases, still liable.

jfrayzier · Jul 8, 2005

We should also consider that even if they gave him the warranty... it could, in the end, end up costing them $0 anyways. There is no guarantee that he'll ever end up claiming anything under the warranty.

2005 Mustang GT Stolen from Ford Dealership

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