Downs Ford

In April of 2009, I brought my Ford Taurus in because I heard water splashing in the truck of my car. A technician checked the problem out and informed me that there was a leak that was coming form the antenna. He informed me that he was going to seal the antenna with some superior sealant and that I would not have to worry about this leak again.

Well, on 2/22/2010, I had to take it back because the truck was full of water again after the rain and bad weather I went in so they could fix the problem. I was informed that I would have to come back the following Monday which was 3/1/2010. They gave me an appointment for 9:00 am. On that day, at 11:00 am, I received a call from Ford telling me that they would reseal the antenna for $200.00. I was floored because less then a year ago, I had just paid close to that to have it repaired. I should not have to put that out again. These people don't stand behind their work.

On 9/12/09, our family purchased a 2010 Focus through Ron R. at Downs Ford. In receipt of the car, Mr. *** went over functions of the car and made it a point to say that the car's antenna would not need to be removed if going through a car wash. After going to a car wash where we where asked if we wanted the antenna removed "and we said no" it broke off.

Calling Ford with this information, they set me up for a service appointment to replace the part. I was given a bill for $66.66. When I explained that Mr. R. informed us there would be no need to remove the antenna. Service said we should have to talk to him first. We called Downs Ford, one company with different dept that don't speak to one another. Any way, in speaking to Mr. R., I was told that they have all the cars in car washes everyday and that he thinks something was wrong with that car wash.

He suggested going back there and taking it up with them. I explained that the car wash did in fact offer to take it off and I told them there would be no need. This is my favorite part, Mr. R. then said, "Don't tell them that." Downs Ford's employees are training their customers to lie to other businesses for claims they are making about their vehicles that are false! I can buy a car on the weekend but no decision can be made until Monday for our case. I left having to pay for this service and I really don't believe that was fair way to do business.

Before signing the purchase contract on a Ford Escape, I was promised that the car would be detailed and the gas tank filled prior to the car being given to me. The dealer was very accommodating. Once the papers were signed, it was another whole story. The vehicle was dirty, the gas tank barely a 1/4 filled and to my shock the car, which up to this point, had been plastic wrapped on the interior and was missing floor mats.

When I brought this to the salesman's attention, he told me the car had been cleaned. No one told us we were getting gas and that the car came without floor mats. When I asked him to rectify these problems, he told me, "There is no more money left in the deal." The sales manager refused to speak to me about the problems and instead told the salesman to tell me that if I wanted, I could purchase the floor mats from the service department! After paying over 20,000 dollars, I couldn't even get a moment of a managers time to address my problems.

I would advise anyone to avoid buying a car here. I can only imagine how they would address a warranty issue on the vehicle! Avoid this dealer at all costs. They are dishonest and care only about making a sale. The direct economic damage to me was negligible but I believe my experience should stand as a warning to others about the terrible customer service and shady business tactics which Downs Ford uses.

In 1996 I purchased a new Ford F150 with the understanding that the vehicle was discounted by the dealer by approximately $6800. This was indicated by a red tag price hanging from the interior rear view mirror. I also had a trade for which I was given $7400. I was going to lease the vehicle and planned to buy it at the end of the 3 year lease. We went through the contract process, and of course the dealer began the confusing double talk which made it seem I was getting all the discounts and trade in value that I expected.

I did question some of the numbers on the lease contract because they did not seem to make sense to me. They explained that a lease contract had to display the MSRP not the discount price, and the residual value had to be the actual value and not the actual purchase price.

Well now that the lease is about to expire and I want to purchase the truck, I find that all they said was a lie. In this place, one salesman will lie to your face and the other will swear to it, all with a smile on their face. Based on what I have already paid on the lease, the original discount price and my trade in value, I should be able to purchase the truck for about $16000. They want me to pay $21000.

I am being cheated out of over $6000. I have a contract that is based on lies and deliberate deception.

brake pedal is soft and spongy since new when stopped for traffic light pedal will go down to floor.to effect normal stop pedal is lower than accelerator.under sudden stop pedal will touch the rug.brake pedal does pump up but goes back down while waiting for light to change.truck was first returned to dealer at three weeks.dealer bled brakes and they were fine for 10 days.i complained about brakes at every service to no avail until they decided to replace the master cylinder.this also was a one week cure.i spoke to a rep at ford motor co. she insisted that my truck is normal.when i asked if nothing is wrong why did they bleed the brakes and replace the master cylinder i was told not to call back until the brakes failed and she hung up on me.just last weekend while stopped at a traffic light and talking with my wife the truck began rolling.i held enough pressure to stop but before the light changed the brakes were gone and i had to pump the pedal quickly to avoid bumping the car in front of me.ford calls this normal.i had the service manager in the truck and when i showed him the pedal he said he was unable to see it go down so i asked him to lean over to see that the pedal was below the accelerator.we had not yet left the parking lot.he asked if he could drive and went to a neighborhood close by and braked and turned at every corner which meant he was constantly pumping the pedal up.i feel the dealer is lying to me and ford is stonewalling me.at my place of work there are four 06 f150 pickups with the same problems yet everyone connected with ford insists i am the only one they have encountered. woody at downs ford told me yes the pedal is spongy but its normal.

I purcased a 2002 ZX3 Ford Focus from a dealer in Fl less then a year ago. It was new and never used, i had a 3 yr 36,000 mile warranty. My son had taken the car to N.J on a vacation to see his mother, while there he had encountered some mechanical problems with the clutch on the vehicle.

That was 3 months ago, after talking to a represenitive at that dealer they explained to me that clutches werent warranteed, i was a bit puzzled due to the small amount of miles on the car, so i paid right around 1000.00 no complaints. he then came back to florida & returned again back to N.J this month, being August. while there he was on a highway one morning going to visit a friend & the car lost all power made noies & stopped, he phoned roadside assistance & it was towed to Downs Ford. Afetr 2 days i get a call from theg they are not sure what is wrong & need some more time.

Three days later they call to tell me that the car needs a new processor in the computer & the car would be fine, but they had one problem, they saw a screw missing from the computer box & they were voiding the warranty. Well at this point my son is stranded in N.J with no car. I ask them was it possible that the other dealer may have left it out? They said my son probably had touched it & that voided the warranty, not to argue thinking they might be right even though my son said he didn't i agreed to pay the sumof 549.00 to fix it.

Well they ordered it, installed it & called me 2 days later to let me know that it did not solve the problem, so naturally i assumed i wouldn't have to pay for a problem that was misdiagnosed. They then informed me that Ford would not take an electrical part back from them so i was still responsible for the money. I asked for three days to speak to the owner & so far haven't received one. I did get many calls from the service manager but never got me to the owner, almost as if he didn't want me to get that far.

Why should i have to pay for someone elses process of elimination tactics due to their lack of knowledge of their own product ? I have now contacted my attorneys & will proceed, i thought everyone else should be aware of these unprofessional Tactics used by large companies against the consumer. Just as a note i have been the owner of 6 ford vehicles & never another. This will not be my end, i intend to expose ths at every level.

I purchased a 2000 Ford Mustang Gt from Downs Ford in November of 2000. It is almost 2 years later, and i recently had my car serviced for a throw out bearing under the factory warranty at 35,800miles. Two weeks later the car went back to the dealer for it was making a chirping noise at idle as it did the first time. This time since the car was over 36000 miles, but under the extended warranty, for replaced the clutch, pressure plate, and throw out bearing.

Two weeks after that the car went back in for service at 36,696 miles for it was chirping again at idle and also it was grinding in all gears, and between shifts. Ford had given me a rent a car for the time being. I dropped the car off this third time on a wednesday after work(5:30). The next day(Thursday) Ford had called me and told me they heard the noise i was talking about, and had trouble with the car going into gear. So they told me they had to look further into it. I called them on Friday on my way home from work, and they told me that they put the car back together, it didn't make any noise, but still were having trouble going into gear. So they said they were going to pull out the transmission.

I didn't hear from them till Tuesday the following week. They said they had 2 service techs, and a foreman drive the car and that they didn't have any trouble with the car. They also said the car sat for 2 days. (I don't understand that one.!) So i picked up my car tuesday after work and came home, and didn't hear anything. The next morning i came outside and noticed a DENT on my driver side door, and a deep SCRATCH under that. The dent is the size of a baseball. So i called Ford and they said if it happened in the shop, that they have insurance to cover it, but since it happened in the lot as they say, it isn't covered being out there. (So what would happen if someone backed into my car on their property then what would happen.

Anyway, it's my word against theirs. The car is brand new, and that dent was never there since i bought the car new in 2000. So the car went in the 3rd time for a problem with the transmission grinding, and clutch chirping, and came out with a temp fix, and a dent. It just keeps getting worse. I want to know what happened the 6 days it was at the dealer. If it sat for 2 days, what happened the other 4 days???