Problems With New 2016 Saleen Mustang Yellow Label

[scharfe]

This is my on going experience with my 2016 Saleen Yellow Label Mustang that I had built earlier this year. Long story short, there have been very few positive things to say about the car and the company Saleen. Details are below. I plan on posting this on every forum I can find as a warning to other people considering purchasing from Saleen, all are welcome to share this information.

I started looking for a Saleen Yellow label in March. I live in Iowa so there are no Saleen dealers even close to me. I first found one over 1000 miles. A local Ford dealer Ames Ford and Linclon (an amazing dealer by the way has gone above and beyond for me in this situation) said they would be willing to bring a car in if it was ok with Saleen.

First sketchy interaction

After contacting Saleen purely to see if it was ok for my dealer to bring a car in that I was happy with the price, just needed it shipped to a local dealer. Saleen offered to build me a brand new car, with a guarenteed turn around time of 2 weeks. I thought it was strange that they were willing to steal business from there own dealers but hey 2 weeks turn around time souded great.

Second sketchy interaction

Donor car was picked up March 21, two weeks later no car was returned. I emailed Derek at Saleen and was told 2 more weeks.

3rd- 7th sketchy interaction (emailed them once per week)

Constant excuses and lies to why the car was not done, my dealer started asking Saleen where the car was also. They would be told one excuse and I would be told something completely different.

"Car was dirty took 3 days to detail" Derek @ Saleen
1. Saleen took care of shipping and put it on a open truck
2. When I got the car back zero detailing or fine scratches were removed, came on an open truck again, dirty.

Saleen to Me "Can't find anyone to drive the truck to ship the car to you"
Saleen to Dealer "Our truck broke down"

More and more excuses.

May 2nd

Car shows up only a month past the guaranteed delivery, after more reading on Saleen taking over a year to complete cars I fell lucky in a strange way.

May 3rd
I get my first chance to look at the car clean, imedialy notice some aligment issues with the Saleen installed deck lid. Then notice issues with the Saleen window louvers, and then look over the car more, paint issues with the Saleen spoiler, what the heck, I thought this was supposed to be I high quality car and every painted part they put on had issues.

May 4th
Email Saleen photos of the window louvers, Saleen says it just wax from Ames Ford, No, Ames Ford never waxed or buffed the car, I asked them to just wash it because I was tired of waiting for the car.

Story Continues......

 

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May 5th provide Saleen with photos of all parts with paint issues and an explanation of each photo.
Spoiler, missing clear coat on one side, missing paint under clear coat on the other.

Rear Deck Lid, multiple gouges deep into the primer, missalignment, exposed fiberglass, paint and primer so thin the fiberglass pattern can be seen in the paint

After seeing photos, Saleen says take it to a body shop to get an estimate

May 6-15 Take it to 3 different body shops and local dealer, all agree 100% the issue is from poor painting and misalignment of the rear deck lid cover hitting my tail lights when closed

May 16th
I provided Saleen with a quote from the Ford Autorized Body Shop roughly $1000 in total. They strangely go quite, I start calling them to get answers.

May 22nd

Get an email from Derek @ Seleen saying they will not be paying for the issues, the production manager and president of Saleen both believe these issues are from buffing burn from Ames Ford.

Derek @ Saleen later states that their quality control person didn't see any thing wrong with the car and they have photos to prove it. I requested the photos but never received anything.

I immediately send Derek @ Saleen and email telling them that this is not the case, the car has never been buffed and that everyone that has looked at the car 100% without question believes the issues are paint and alignment issues. I supply them with the fallowing images of the trunk alignment.

I then call Derek@Saleen again telling them that the paint is their issue and Ames Ford never touched the car with a buffer. Derek agrees to pay for the fixed but wants to send me a new painted rear deck lid cover. I agree and wait.

Story Continues....

 

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May 22 -June 22

I call once a week, talk to Derek @ Saleen, he tells me the rear deck lid is in the mail. He says he will call me back with more infomatoion.

Every week nothing shows up, he never calls back, Im just getting strung along.

June 22.

At this point Im on a first name basis with the receptionist, she is by far the most competent person at Saleen that I've interacted with. After continually asking to speak to anyone but Derek I get transferred to the COO

The COO sounds like an older lady, and seems to know zero about cars, I was asking where the rear deck lid cover was and she thinks that's the spoiler. She tells me she will talk to some one and call me back.

She never calls back, but I do get an email from Derek, saying that its taken a little longer to make the rear deck lid cover it will be shipped next week (its already been in the mail for 6 weeks?)

June 26

Derek @ saleen now says the car needs to be brought into the dealer for inspection, its already be in over 5 times before for other mechanical saleen issues, but I'll get to that later


June 27- July 26
Sometime in hear Derek @ Saleen backpedals and says they will only be fixing the rear deck lid cover and nothing else because there quality control person didn't see anything and that's good enough for them.

July 27
I send Derek @ Saleen this statement of condition from a Ford Autorized Body Shop, I hear nothing for a week. I call and get the normal, I will check with the production manager or presdent and call you back. I know realize this is code for we will not be fixing this and I will not be calling you back.

This is from saleens warranty policy I contacted them 1 day after receiving the car with the issues.

July 28-present

Still nothing has been receive and nothing has been fixed.

I also contacted the BBB about Saleen who has an F rating and after them blatantly lying and me offering proof of each lie they decided to stop replying to that, its not available to the public yet but I'll post a link once it is.

Ok, so that's the paint issues part, lets move on to

1.returning my property issues
2. mechanical issues that has had my car in the shop over 5 times and the last 2000 miles

 

[scharfe]

Agreed returning of personal property, items missing out the the car.

When I selected the donor vechicle, I clearly overlooked the leather color, it say ceramic. For some reason in my mind I thought it was black.

I get the car and , its white leather. The car is scheduled to be picked up in the morning so there is nothing I can do. We contact Saleen and ask if they can change the skins out to black leather, figured they would have plenty of skins from re-skinning the black labels.

Saleen says they can for $575, for that price I request the original skins back, Saleen agrees to return the original leather skins with the car.

Well the car shows up, with black leather, but no skins. I call Saleen, turns out they stole the entire seat assembly out of anther customers black label mustang that was sitting at their shop and have yet to strip my skins off my original seats.

It took about 3 months of the seat covers "being in the mail" before they finally showing up. Saleen tried to say they were not going to return the covers because they did it for free. They told the BBB and my local dealer this, Haha no, my local dealer payed them and kept the reicept, its attached below just for fun.

The donor car had the $95 all weather floor matt option, they some how disappeared, don't know were to but I can guess. I asked Ames Ford if they knew anything about it, they didn't but apologized and gave me a full set of weathertec floormatts for free with out me asking for anything.

Again, Ames Ford located in Ames, Iowa has been amazing with this entire experience. They have even offered to pay for the fixes to the Saleen paint issues, I declined I think the person responsible should pay for it. Again they are highly recommended.

OK lets move on to the most frustrating part of this hole situation

Belt and Pully Issues ......

 

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Mechanical issues

Well I'm driving along, I have about 400 miles on the car, start hearing a ticking noise, it gets worse overtime, start hearing belt noises. It started mainly on cold startups but got to the point it always made the noise.

I take it into Ames Ford, they keep the car for a couple of days, Saleen tells them that it is a pully alignment issue, they knew about it when they shipped the car, but clearly didnt care. After less than 500 miles, it destroyed the belt.

Saleen says just throw some shims behind one of the pullys, doesn't offer a kit or procedure.

Well the car is quite for about another 400 miles, then the noise is back. Ames Ford takes it back replaces another destroyed belt, Saleen says they have a solution just don't know when they will ship the solution, this was 2 months ago.

Haha, well another 400-500 miles and well another belt making noise and is shot. Ames Ford gets tired of waiting on Saleen who by know is a running joke by anyone involved in the situation. They have a mechanic who also is a gunsmith. He goes home and turns me a custom shim for fixing the alignment issue. Again Ames Ford going above and beyond.

All this time, the car has been in 5 time, 3 for replacing belts over 3 months, and as far as I know my local dealer has not been paid a penny by Saleen. They don't warranty their paint and they don't pay dealers who do mechanical warranty work.

Well crap, the main reason I bought this car was to have 715hp mustang with a WARRANTY. And now it looks like Saleen isn't going to cover anything, mechanical or cosmetic. Even though the car is under warranty and is show to be covered in Saleen's warranty policy.

8/20

Oh guess what, the belt has gone bad for the 4th time, alignment is perfect, turns out Saleen doesn't know what they are talking about and there is more bad than the alignment, some of the pulleys look to have excessive ware for only having 2000 miles on them. Ill be taking it in this Monday again.

Thats all a got for now, there are many more nit picky quality issues with the car if anyone would like to know but I'll leave it here for now.

Long story short, in my opintion, buy a Roush Stage 3 or just get the Kenne & Bell Supercharger Kit and save yourself $10,000-$20,000. You won't have a warrenty but I feel like I don't have one anyways. I don't expect Ames Ford to keep fixing Saleens issues for free and don't blame them.

Fun fact, Ames Ford was going to become a Saleen Dealer, after seeing how Saleen handled me, they became a Roush Dealer a week later instead. Just another example of how not standing behind your product or word will lead to an failed business.

 

[scharfe]

I've been reading the Magnuson Moss Warranty that seems to apply to this situation. In Saleens Warrenty Policy it even claims they warranty all these things. I reported it in 2 day of having the car, would have been one but I am horrible at taking photos and it took awhile to find someone more competent than me with taking photos.

The 7 days is even applying to damage not bad paint

This shows I have 3 years warranty on these parts.

Derek and the President @ Saleen are claiming since the bill of lading was signed that they are not responsible for the paint any more. I didn't sign any of it, wasn't even there when the car was dropped off and the car was received on an saleen's open trailer, dirty so nothing could have been seen anyways.

Fun fact, I had a small Ford defect on the donor car, a little sealant was painted over on the trunk, took it to my dealer, 8 hours later Ford gave the approval to have it fixed. Not a question asked. This is how this entire situation should have been handled. Not still fighting 114 days later.

 

[scharfe]

This showed up last Saturday overnight delivery that had to be pricey. Could these 4 little shims really be the fix to the problems I've been having for months? Man do I hope so, I will find out Monday, THANK YOU KENNE BELL!

 

[scharfe]

This actually drives me absolutely mad. Doesn't hurt anything but come on, have a little pride in your work sticker guy.

The dam thing isn't centered, first thing I see when getting into the car.

The shift knob also needs some loctite to fix its alignment issue.

 

[scharfe]

Well.... Ive posted my problems on these two Saleen specific forums.

http://teamsaleenusa.com
http://saleenforums.soec.org/

Guess what, they shut one down and completely deleted the other. I would not trust either one of these or a word they say. They are clearly in Saleens pocket and do not care about the facts.

Here is the message and the sent reply to the http://teamsaleenusa.com message I got.

EDIT: The post was restored on teamsaleenusa.com, but was then removed again Augutst 31st

I am eagarly awaiting Amy's supposed phone call on Monday

 

[scharfe]

Well... I think I've gotten the attention of the Saleen President Amy she has decided to chime in over here.

http://teamsaleenusa.com/index.php?...-experience-with-saleen-yellow-lable-mustang/

She is now trying to claim that they will not fix some parts do to "wear areas" from buffing.

Fun Fact. The car has never been buffed.

She has been supplied the exact same photos as I have posted here. Do any of the photos look like buffing burn to you? Sure doesn't look like it to me, nore my dealer, nore the 3 body shops I took the car to.

If any of you experts would like to chime it over there at the post teamsaleenusa.com that would greatly appreciated.

But since she decided to question my integrity and try to put it on me, I took some more fun pictures of the saleen deck lid. Many of them show that the deck lid overall is very low quality. I do quality control for a living, I have kept many of my comments to myself about the fit and finish of the car but accuse me of trying to get someone else to pay for my mistake, not acceptable. If I would have damaged the car, I would have just payed to fix it, not fight with someone for 4 months.

This is how big the gouge is now from opening and closing my trunk and the cover hitting my tail lights.

This corner has a popped paint bubble, painted over chip and about in inch of touch up paint.

Next, the deck lid was cracked, then painted over, there are sanding marks most likely in the primer that shows in the paint, along with over half a dozen pea size dimples or gashes that have been painted over.

Next is the fiberglass texture coming through the paint on most the rear deck lid cover. The primer and paint must be very thin. Im a horrible picture taker but this is very noticeable to the human eye throughout the cover.

 

[scharfe]

Well..... Had a quite long conversation with another saleen person on facebook of all places haha. Currently I have been told that they will cover the rear deck lid cover and spoiler. But I will believe it when I see it. Still waiting almost 4 months for the rear deck lid cover to show up.

They are still trying to claim they have pictures of the car without issues and still maintain that I caused these problems with "buffing burn" and that I'm am "insulting " them that I am claiming they released a less than quality product.

Well...I took it up myself to go the additional extra mile and had a professional take photos of the issues. To help saleen confirm that this in not "buffing burn" (never buffed it anyways so dont know how they think I could have )

Sorry, these are some of the basically same issues as before, just much better photo quality. I feel like im beating a dead horse with this topic but the saleen person I spoke with maintained that it was not their issue that is was "buffing burn"

Missing paint, light/missing clear coat on spoiler. Main concern with this is the clear coat will begin to flake off after a while.

Missing paint, under clear coat. Clear coat is still intact and smooth, no low spots that would be caused by "buffing burn"

Got pictures taken at multiple angles, clearly shows the clear coat it smooth and intact, but the paint underneath is not.

The spot where the crooked deck lid cover was hitting my tail lights and the painted over crack.

More fiberglass texture and sanding marks

This is what buffer burn normally looks like, I pulled this off of google.
Not even close to the issues I am showing

Also for super super over kill, this shows how to get buffer burn, actually gives a better image but also shows how careless you would have to be to burn all the way into the primer.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEuz-ZbD7q4

 

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While I had the professional picture man taking pictures I had him take pictures of all the issue that I have found with the car, big and small.

Here is one I would never make a warranty claim on , but just rubs me the wrong way. Do a 2 second inspection and throw the 50 cent parts away that have imperfections, its on the steering wheel, they will see it every single day.

Imperfection dead center of a saleen logo, looks to be a dirty mold but not sure.

 

[Black1987]

Man all this is a lot to take in. Sucks this has happened to you. I feel your pain, but mine car wasn't from Saleen it was straight from Ford with paint issues.

If Saleen will not fix your issues, you can look into the lemon law, and see if it is applicable to your case. Depending on the state you can give them 30 days in official letter to fix the issues (IF its within the specified time limit of your state laws, some are a year, some are 2) if they do not comply then it goes to claims court.

If you win, could warrant a buy back or new car. Contact the attorney general office for your state, ask what their recommendations and documentation is needed. Then file a complaint with them (attorney general office), and on BBB (better business bureau).

Not much help but hopefully there's a solution to this.

 

[scharfe]

Thanks for the information, I have contacted the BBB already, Saleen quit replying after I called them on multiple lies and showed proof for each lie. Saleen already has a F rating on the BBB so nothing could be done there. I will have to look into the attorney generals office.

My car also had a small defect on the trunk lid where a piece of sealant was painted over, I took it to my dealer, they snapped a photo and 8 hours later Ford authorized the fix no questions asked. Hopefully you already got yours fixed but if not, may be worth a try.

 

[Black1987]

Thanks for the information, I have contacted the BBB already, Saleen quit replying after I called them on multiple lies and showed proof for each lie. Saleen already has a F rating on the BBB so nothing could be done there. I will have to look into the attorney generals office.

My car also had a small defect on the trunk lid where a piece of sealant was painted over, I took it to my dealer, they snapped a photo and 8 hours later Ford authorized the fix no questions asked. Hopefully you already got yours fixed but if not, may be worth a try.

Yeah the law is different in each state. Just do a your research and it may work out.

My issue is with Fords work. Their bodyshops caused damage during the initial repairs smh

https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/i-remember-why-i-like-a-fox.898611/

 

[WIMustang]

Thank you for the post above and I am very glad that I found this because I was just about to negotiate on a brand new 2017 Saleen 302 but there is no way I am going to risk spending so much money on a vehicle that Saleen won't stand behind. If it makes you feel any better know that you cost them my sale!!! Hope things are resolved with your car, which is a shame because they build a great looking car. I guess we could nickname them 20FootSaleen because from a distance it looks great - LOL!