My experience with Woltz and Wind Ford....Pretty Negative

**SAC81** · 08-24-2006, 02:15 PM

So I've been looking for a new daily driver lately.

On Tuesday evening I saw a pretty looking white 99 GT convertible in the AutoTrader at Woltz and Wind Ford down in Heidelberg. Man, the exact color I want, low mileage, pretty much spot on for what I was looking for. Wednesday morning I got up and drove down to the dealership and arrived at 9AM. I didn't see the white GT anywhere and was pretty dissapointed.

I walked in and no salespeople greeted me. Okay, no big deal I guess. I asked the receptionist for sales help and she overpaged a salesperson, explaining to me that they were in a meeting. A few minutes later a salesguy, I won't mention his name (we'll call him "the salesguy" from this point on) comes out and greets me. I let him know that I was here about the 99 GT in AutoTrader. He told me that he thought the car was sold, but wasn't sure. He asked his sales manager who told us that the car had been sold, but the guy couldn't get financed so the car was back up for sale even though the guy was still trying to get financed through his bank. Okay, whatever, can I buy? The salesmanager told us it was at their prep shop being prepped for delivery for this guy still, but that the salesguy could take me down to look at it.

The salesguy asked me if I could drive him down. Sure, so we hopped in the 5.0 and drove down to their prep shop down the street where the 99 GT was up on the rack with no wheels on it. The salesguy told me it was getting new brake pads and new tires all around, along with an oil change. I was told I couldn't start the car up on the rack. Okay, well it looked super clean and I visually inspected it thoroughly.

**I then asked: "Does it run well?"
The salesguy responded: "Yeah, runs perfect, just needed new brakes and tires for the guy who was buying, that's all. And we're changing the oil too."

Sounded good. I drove the salesguy back to the dealership and we talked price and came to an agreement. I told him that I would not buy the car without first test driving it, but gave them an $800 deposit to hold it for me. They approved me for financing and we agreed on a payment. He told me that the car would be ready by 5PM that day, but I had to work until 10PM.

**I then told the salesguy that I would either come in at 9AM tommorow morning (today), or call him tommorow to setup a later time, perhaps on Saturday. He told me that the car would definitely be ready by then and that he'd be here as well. I let him know that it's somewhat of a hike for me to get there as I live up in McCandless. He assured me again that the car would be ready. Great!

Shooks hands, left.

Made arrangements for my dad to take me to the dealership this morning. Showed up at 9AM ready to drive my new Mustang home. The salesguy did not look happy.

**Salesguy says: "I thought you were going to call first? Weren't you supposed to call?
Me: "No, I said that I'd either be here at 9AM OR call if I couldn't make it. I'm here."
Salesguy: "Well, the car isn't ready for you"
Me: "What? What are you talking about?"
Salesguy: "Well, they found a short in a wire under the drivers seat and are fixing it now. I'm not sure when it will be ready. Could you come back Saturday?"
Me: "No, it was supposed to be ready now, where is it? I want to see it."

This is where is starts getting good.

Salesguy took me for a long walk around their service area looking for the car. Finally we find it parked out back with the hood open..upon inspection we find that all the fuel injector wiring harnesses are disconnected and a spark plug and coil are pulled.

Now I'm getting worried. I asked the salesguy to go get the keys. He brings them back and tells me he drive the car up to my house tommorow morning and we can test drive it and sign the paperwork then....I never got a chance to mention the disconncections under the hood. This is where the mechanic comes in.

Mechanic: "Don't try to start that!"
Me: "What are you guys doing to it under the hood?"
Mechanic: "A bunch of stuff is disconnected"
Me: "I know, why, what are you doing?"
Mechanic: "The car needs a new fuel system. The injectors are clogged. We going to replace the injectors, fuel filter, and fuel pump and flush the fuel lines."
Me: "So what, the cars not running at all?"
Mechanic: "It's running, horribly. Real bad"

You've got to be kidding me. God only knows whats wrong with it.

Salesguy: "Uh, well, will it be ready by tommorow morning?"
Mechanic: "No way. We won't even get the parts until tommorow around noon"
Me: "I want my deposit back"

So the salesguy runs inside with me following. He then tells me that they cashed my check around, and can't get my $800 back to me for 10 days and they'd write me a check from the dealership. Pretty crappy, but what was I going to do...I had him write me a receipt that they'd refund my check and left.

Two hours later the salesmanager called me and tried telling me that they weren't trying to sell me a bad car.

Salesmanager: "You have to expect stuff like that from a 99. Bad fuel injectors are normal for a car that old"
Me: "I have a 95 GT with 90,000 miles that's never had a problem with bad fuel injectors"
Salesmanager: "The mechanic thinks it was just water in the gas that caused it"
Me: "I'm not interested in that car. If your salesguy would have been upfront with me and told me it had problems, I wouldn't have wasted my time and gas money today coming to look it again. I also wouldn't be out $800 for the next 10 days."
Salesmanger: "We'll call you if we get something similar in."

Don't bother. I won't waste my time with that dealership again.

**Viper_ed** · 08-24-2006, 02:21 PM

Sounds like the typical geniuses that run and work at all dearerships! Car dealers and especially car salesman are f$cking worthless!!!

So, is the 99 GT Convertible in your sig another one you bought?

**burntire** · 08-24-2006, 03:20 PM

This is from my 97 Lemon Cobra that I got bought back.
Service was mainly done at W&W. You can make a good determination on why not to get service done at this dealership.

List of Concerns:

1. Car continuously pulls to the left while driving. (Still Present)
2. Buzzing sound coming from under the dash. (Still Present)
3. Vibration from clutch pedal above 2000 RPM.
4. Various paint runs and defects. (rear spoiler, trunk lid, left rocker, left rear bumper)
The car had some sort of metallic industrial fallout over the entire vehicle. (paint will never be
to factory quality standards)
5. Rear side windows rubber molding is spotting and changing color. (corrected)
6. Light is coming from around the defrost vents and shining on the windshield at night.(corrected)
7. Damage that has occurred during repairs.( Still present and un-fixable to factory standards)

Repair History:

12-4-97. Woltz & Wind Ford. 663 Miles/ 1 Day
Concerns:
1.Car pulling left.
2. Paint, Runs and dirt on Rear Spoiler. Black specks of industrial fallout on the entire vehicle.

No Work was done on this visit.
I was told to bring the vehicle back at 1000-1500 miles due to body settling. I was sent on my way with this unsafe condition. They noted my paint concerns but I chose a different dealer with better paint facilities.

12-17-97. Woltz & Wind Ford. 1068 Miles/ 1 Day
Concerns:
1. Car pulls left.

Actions:
Alignment was done on the car. Problem was not corrected completely. Car still pulls left.

1-5-98 to 1-8-98 Runway Ford for paint problems. / 4 Days
Concerns:
1. Paint Runs and dirt on rear spoiler and left rocker panel.
2. Black specks of industrial fallout over the entire vehicle.

Actions:
1. They repainted the rear spoiler and left side rocker panel.
2. They sanded the whole car and buffed and waxed it to remove the industrial fallout. The metallic fallout was removed, but there are fine sanding scratches and buffer swirls in the paint. Paint does not match. Over spray on two rims.

1-9-98. Woltz & Wind Ford. 1600 Miles / No Invoice in my possesion. 1 Day
Concerns:
1. Car pulls left.

Actions:
Alignment was done again. Problem was not corrected. Still pulls left.

2-10-98 to 2-11-98 Woltz & Wind Ford. 2692 Miles / 2 Days
Concerns:
1. Car pulls left
2. Light coming from around defrost vents.
3. Clutch pedal vibration.
4. Buzz sound from under the dash.
5. Side moldings changing color.

Actions:
1. Could not duplicate alignment problem?
2. Fix light coming from defrost vents.
3. They said the clutch pedal vibration was normal.
4. Removed the dash and insulate the instrument cluster. The buzz sound was not corrected.
5. They said the side moldings were normal.

Note:
I took ******** a service advisor for a ride so he could hear a buzz sound coming from under that dash and note that the car was pulling left . He verified that the car was pulling to the left and the buzzing sound with my Service advisor *******.
I was told via telephone that the car had been aligned. I was out of town so I had my father pick up the car. He note that it was pulling left. I noticed when I returned home that the invoice said they could note duplicate the alignment problem.

3-2-98 Woltz and Wind Ford
Concerns:
1. Car Still Pulls Left.
2. Buzz from under dash still present.

Actions:
They refused to work on the car because Ford notified them of legal action I was pursuing.

3-9-98 to 3-12-98 Runway Ford / Paint Problems. 4 days
Concerns:
1. Rear spoiler paint does not match and still has runs in the paint.
2. Side moldings changing color.
3. Run in paint on the left rear bumper.
4. Runs in paint left trunk lid underside.
5. Over spray on 2 rims from previous visit.

Actions:
1. Repainted rear spoiler matches a little better but is not to factory standards.
2. Replaced side moldings. Note ,Woltz & Wind Ford would note replace.
3. Repainted bumper.
4. Repainted trunk lid. Still some runs present.
5.Removed over spray from 2 rims acquired from previous visit.
It will never look like the factory paint and I feel it decreases the value of the car.

3-23-98 to 3-25-98 Woltz & Wind Ford. 3 Days
Concerns:
1. Buzz noise from under dash.
2. Abnormal clutch pedal vibration.
3. Car pulling left.

Actions:
1. Removed dash and radio sound system and insulated areas under the dash. Buzz sound under the dash was some what fixed, but the dash still makes a lot of noise over bumpy and rough roads.
2. Vibration form clutch was fixed by replacing the clutch throw out bearing.
3. They said the alignment was fine. Still Pulling left.

The following damages occurred on this visit.
1. Lower left door ¼ inch square nick in paint exposing bare metal.
2. Glass face of CD player has various scratches.
3. Center console and the ashtray lid have various scratches.
4. Plastic trim around radio and CD player has various scratches.
5. Plastic trim around radio and CD player is out of line with the rest of the panel.
6. Scratch on center console on the right side of the shift lever.

4-3-98 to 4-9-98 Woltz & Wind Ford. 7 Days
Concerns:
1. Fix damaged areas.
2. Buzz sound from under dash.

Actions:

1. Lower left door paint color does not match, has a distinctive line where it was taped off,
Run in the paint on the bottom of the door, and has a good amount of dust and dirt under
the clear coat.

2. Scratches on center console are still present. They put some paint over the scratches and
it does not match the rest of the console.

3. CD player is not in the car because it is out for repairs so the radio does not work until
the CD player is back from the repair shop..

4. Did not work on the buzz sound. Could not duplicate?

New Damages

1. The climate control panel has a melt mark in the plastic.

2. Scratches on the left side window and left mirror.

4-20-98 to 4-24-28 Woltz & Wind Ford. 5 Days
Concerns:
1. Fix damaged areas.

Actions:
1. They replaced the center console, Replaced the air conditioning panel, re installed the CD player and replaced the surrounding trim around the audio panel.

2. They buffed the paint on the lower door to remove the dust. The line in the paint is still
present.

6-9-98 to 6-11-98 Woltz & Wind Ford 3 Days
Concerns:
1. Driver seat plastic panel loose.
2. Paint work on door has a line in it.

Actions:
1. Tightened seat panel
2. Repainted door
Door has dust and a slight run in paint and the 2 left side rims have white paint overspray on them. There is also damage to the interior left door side panel under the speaker.

It was a real eye opener when I got to see all the information the attorney gathered.
The mechanics log noted a drift to the left when driving on every visit.
Then I would be told by the service reps that it could not be duplicated.
I got all my money back in early 99.

**gmkillr** · 08-24-2006, 05:49 PM

Thats pretty much all carsalesmen! I could never do that for a living, im just too honest a person and could not rip people off and be shady like that.

**stieny** · 08-25-2006, 03:27 AM

Originally Posted by gmkillr

Thats pretty much all carsalesmen! I could never do that for a living, im just too honest a person and could not rip people off and be shady like that.

+1 to that.

I hear you on W&W. When I was looking for my GT, I found a pretty nice one in the auto trader as well listed at W&W. Black, loaded, 5 sp. yada, yada.

Sweet, so I drive down there and when I get there spend 20 min looking for someone to help me. When I find him, he acts like I'm bothering him, you know, me trying to buy a car and all, what was I thinking.

Then when I inquire about the car they had listed in the auto trader they don't know what I'm talking about. I show them the ad and I get: "Oh, um, well that was sold awhile ago. Jeeze thats an old ad, maybe we should update that."

WTF?

W&W could blow me. I'd never buy a thing from that place.