New (to me) Mustang GT horror story

halox07

New Member
Jun 11, 2009
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Like I said in my shifter thread, I just purchased an 05 Mustang GT with a bunch of aftermarket parts and 30000 miles. Beautiful red with black racing stripes.

Well, today I had to travel for work and it was my first trip in the car. I was so excited. There were a couple little rattles here and there, but for the most part the car seemed perfect.

After work I decided to drop by Tulsa Car-FX and get my JBA exhaust completed with some axel backs. They put the car up on the lift and with a shocked look called me back to the shop.

He asked if I was the mechanic on the car ( which is always a bad sign), I responded with a no and he breathed a sigh of relief. He went on to unfold my nightmare...

1.) H-pipe was on upside down and the O2 sensors were there, but the wires were just cut... This led to the mounting system rubbing up against the frame and making noise.

2.) Aftermarket rear suspension was put on upside down... The bars in the back were so loose that the guy walked under them and turned them all by hand, and was able to spin the pinch nuts with a flick of the finger. This created a bowling ball in the trunk sound.

3.) My shifter was a Steeda Tri-Ax that was so cobbled together that the guy had went to the hardware store and replaced every piece of rubber bushing with metal pipe... The junction from stick to body was so broken that after it was disconnected from the transmission he was able to lift it out of the body...

4.) Then the most shocking part... He walked up to see what damage this guy did when installing the headers. He grabbed the motor mounts, and I'm not joking when I say that he picked the lower mount up and off of the car. No bolt holding it on at all...

This was my lovely afternoon. I'm so happy with the people at Tulsa Car-FX that was the best customer service I've ever had the pleasure to be on the receiving end of. I will never go to another shop as long as I'm driving muscle cars.
 
Damn, modding gone bad. I am surprised the guy was able to do so much, so badly. I would think he would not have been able to even remove the original parts, if the mechanic skills were so laking. That is scary. Were they able to get it back together correctly? What did it cost?
 
Damn, modding gone bad. I am surprised the guy was able to do so much, so badly. I would think he would not have been able to even remove the original parts, if the mechanic skills were so laking. That is scary. Were they able to get it back together correctly? What did it cost?

Yeah. All back to perfect. Actually, I'm completely amazed at how well it drives. I thought it was great before, but now it's just no comparison. I ended up getting out of there with all work done and parts for under a grand. I count that as a personal victory.
 
Where did you purchase the car, from a Dealer or private party. If you purchased this from Dealer, then I would go back to them with the receipts of the work performed and ask them to pay for all or maybe even half of the repairs. If they get upset with this, you could say that you should of never of let that car on the road, as there were major Safety Issues with the shifter and rear suspension. Gezz, I would question what kind of, if any, inspection they do on cars that are going up for sale. If it was a private party sale, I would show them the receipt and kindly ask for some re-inbursement. Which they will probably say "No, sold as is" and get mad at you for questioning their abilities. Worst case scenario is your out the money that you spent to get a great car back into proper order. Best case scenario is that you get back some or all of the money spent. I think it's worth a shot, you have nothing to loose and everything to gain.
 
DAMN! If it was a private sale and the guy will not help pay for the repair, he and his neighborhood would have to spend the next 20-30 minutes listening to me rant about what an idiot he is. How bad his mechanical skills are, and how he should pay someone else to pump gas for him from now on. At least try to barter for his tool set, to keep him from working on another car.
 
I actually bought it at a dealer. The biggest Ford dealer in OK... The disgusting thing about it is the guy that had this car before me traded it in for a brand new Shelby GT500...
 
I actually bought it at a dealer. The biggest Ford dealer in OK... The disgusting thing about it is the guy that had this car before me traded it in for a brand new Shelby GT500...

Biggest Ford Dealer in OK! :notnice:

I would go back to the Dealership and ask them to refund you the money you had to spend to make this car "Road Worthy". Show them the receipt and tell them you would be more than happy having a conference call with the business who made the repairs. If they give you some flack, then raise HELL! IMO, totally unacceptable for a Dealership to let a car leave/be sold in this condition!!!!!

Good Luck! I know if it was me, there's no way I would let a $1000 bill go away this easy! Heck, if you wanted to pay me the $1000, I'd come down to OK and do the dirty work for you!:D