Minivan Recalled

I believe I mentioned in this blog almost a year ago that my minivan had been recalled. The Ford Motor Company, in their infinite wisdom, created a vehicle that had a frame and/or axle that wouldn’t handle road salt very well. They then sold this vehicle in a country where many states have ice and snow and use road salt.

When I received the recall notice, I researched it and found out that they didn’t have the parts to fix this problem (again…very wise on their part) and so were keeping vehicles that were brought in and giving the customer cash for them. Was it enough cash to actually buy a new vehicle? No, it was around $3,500.

Side note on this factor: I know someone whose Toyota truck was recalled. It had an issue that caused it to be dangerous and they couldn’t fix the problem. So what did Toyota do? They bought him a new pickup truck. As in “we are sorry we created a vehicle that had this major design flaw so we are replacing your vehicle for you.”

The Ford Motor Company is not Toyota. In so many ways.

Since I was pretty sure I couldn’t replace my minivan with a decent vehicle for $3,500, I figured I would have to get a car loan and buy a vehicle that way. Then, when I had my new car, I would turn the van in to Ford and whatever pittance they would offer me for it and call it good.

Around February, I was pre-approved for a car loan and started the process of looking for my new vehicle. I wanted to buy a used Toyota Rav4. Since I wasn’t in that much of a hurry, after all I did have a vehicle, I called a local used car lot and asked them if they had any Rav4s and they said they didn’t but would let me know when they did. Probably in about a month, they figured. Ok…no big deal. I can wait.

Then….(insert ominous music here)…I lost my job. There went the car loan.

I had only been pre-approved for the loan and hadn’t actually taken out the loan yet. When I no longer had guaranteed income, the bank was no longer willing to loan me the money for a new car. Big surprise there.

I talked to my mechanic and he felt my van was fine. We fixed a minor problem that it had and I counted my blessings that I still had a fairly decent vehicle.

Six months later I started thinking about the recall notice again. What if I cashed in part of my IRA and used that to supplement the pittance that Ford was offering for the recall and buy a new vehicle that way? I probably wouldn’t get a Rav4 but I could get some other kind of Toyota or Honda and I wouldn’t have to worry about my van falling apart.

So I called the dealership where I had bought the minivan nine years ago (wow….has it really been that long? That was right before my Dad died. Time sure does fly by!) and told them I was calling about the recall notice. They gave me an appointment to bring the minivan in for an inspection.

They said that one of three things could happen: the van could be fine and pass the inspection; the van would not be fine but they would fix it and rent me a car to drive while it was being fixed; or, the van would not be fine and they couldn’t fix it and give me a rental car to drive until I could get a new vehicle. Ok…sounded good to me.

I had my appointment today. When I took the minivan in, I told the woman at the desk (let’s call her Karen) that I would wait while it was inspected. I was sitting in the waiting room, reading my book and texting my brother when I heard the mechanic talking to Karen at the desk. He said, and I quote, “that minivan has a broken rear axle and I don’t recommend that they drive it home”.

HUH??? I stuck my head out the door of the waiting room and said just that. “HUH???”

Karen looked at me and said, “yes, we are talking about your van”.

I said, “it has a broken axle?”.

He, the mechanic, said that it did and he felt he should fix it rather than I drive it home.

YOU THINK????

Karen looked at me and said that she would arrange for a rental for me. I said so we were at option two, as in, the van can be fixed. She said it could and they would get the new rear axle shipped in from Detroit. I looked at the mechanic and asked how long that would take, two or three years? And he laughed and said probably by Monday and I could have it back by Monday night. Good enough.

Ford fiasco part two:

Karen called the local Enterprise Rent a Car and they informed her that they didn’t have any vehicles. She tried arguing with them that she had a customer who needed a vehicle and didn’t have another car to drive so they had to rent her a car. They explained to Karen that they didn’t have any vehicles. Karen hung up the phone, explained to me what they just said and then said “I don’t know what to do”. And then just stood there looking at me.

“I need a car to drive”, I said.

“I don’t know what to do, they don’t have any”, she said.

“This is a car dealership, you don’t have any vehicles I could just rent from you? I have had loaners from the dealership years ago when I first bought my van from you and needed some work done on it.”.

“We don’t do that anymore”, she said.

Wow…that was a brilliant business decision there. Make a vehicle that has a serious design flaw, keep said vehicle when the design flaw leads to a broken axle, but don’t provide another vehicle for the customer to use even thought the whole thing is the company’s fault.

I called the Enterprise location that I normally used when my van was being repaired at my mechanics and the nice guy there informed me that they didn’t have any vehicles at the time but would by the end of the day. I told Karen that and said I could get my neighbor to drive me home and I would get a car at the end of the day when Enterprise had them available.

Karen then called the Enterprise that she had spoken with to see if they would have anything by the end of the day and they now informed her that they did have a vehicle and would I be interested in driving a pick-up truck? I told her not really. She said that they had a pick-up truck that no one wanted to rent so it was available. I asked if there was something wrong with it and she said that it was fine, it was just a truck and people wanted to rent cars. I said I would take it. I just needed a vehicle to get me from Point A to Point B. Besides I had driven my former boss’s pick-up truck last year and knew how to handle a vehicle of that size.

Turns out, when Enterprise came to pick up me up, the pick-up is a Dodge Dakota so it is pretty much the same size as my minivan. Not the fanciest vehicle in the world but it will do.

So, Karen, who takes care of customer service for people getting their cars repaired at a car dealership didn’t know that rental places would get vehicles back at the end of the day? And, apparently, she expected me to take care of the problem myself? That blank look she gave me when she said “I don’t know what to do” really got me. Good thing I had the thought to call someone and inquire about the situation. Otherwise, I would have had to leave Karen and her blank look and walk home. In the rain. For about seven miles. Brilliant.

So that is where things stand. My van is being fixed, I don’t have to worry about cashing in part of my IRA to get a new car and I am driving a dark gray Dodge Dakota pick-up truck.

I still would like to get a new vehicle at some point. Something that is Toyota or Honda. Anything but a Ford. My vehicle previous to the minivan, a Ford Escort, had major design flaws as well. Really am tired of dealing with Ford and their design flaws. Not that Toyota and Honda don’t have design flaws but they treat their customers better. I say that based on my experience and other people’s experience.

It’s too bad that Ford has given me this impression. After all, my grandfather worked for Ford Motor Company for years. That was, he did work for them until Edsel Ford fired all the handicapped workers. But that is another story for another time.