Subject: 1998 Mustang Cobra
To: 

Todd,

Well, I have to say I find your page very amusing.  I laughed until my
stomach hurt.  I have the same feelings about Ford that many of the
people on your web site do.  Anyway, I think you'll find this letter
unique because it deals with Ford's flagship vehicle, the Mustang Cobra.

After working my ass off for 8 months and struggling through college and
work to have the car, I managed to save up $7500 in 8 months.  I
traded in my '92 Ford Ranger 4cyl. that always worked good because my
local mechanic worked on it.  I got a helluva deal on the Cobra -
I paid only $100 over invoice after my $400 rebate.  I got a good price
on my truck - $4500.  I thought I had the deal of a lifetime.
However, after about 4000 miles of pure fun, my life became miserable.
I had a synchro go out in my transmission, and the Indy 500 was in
two weeks - and I had tickets.  I gave my local dealership two weeks to
fix it.  Skipping all the Ford BS that happened until 7:00 p.m. the
day I was supposed to be in Indianapolis, they finally rolled the car
off the rack.  Instead of replacing the transmission, they attempted to
repair it.  Well, 350 miles away from home, on the way to the track ON
RACE DAY, on a TWO LANE ROAD with thousands of people
behind and in front of me heading to the track, the damn transmission
grinds to a stop.  I manage to hold the clutch in while my buddy pushes
it to a side street.  We walk a mile to a local Ford dealership.  They won't
give me a rental car, because I am not 21 yet.  However,
Enterprise Rental down the street was happy to put me in an extremely
high performance car, a 4 door Neon.

Well, after the ruined
weekend, I drive the Neon home and wait another 2 weeks for my Cobra
to be fixed.  I had to drive all the way back to get it.  They
supposedly put a new tranny in it. As soon as I get it home, my clutch
began making noise.  Come to find out a throwout bearing has gone
out.  I take it to my dealership, they replace the throwout bearing,
and its doing the same thing.  A couple of weeks later the transmission is
making horrible hydraulic like noises, which can be heard over the Mach
460 stereo system.  My idiot local service manager tells me it's
normal "gear rollover" noises (he was in the Harvard School of Mechanics,
obviously).  Well, I argue in front of a dozen customers with the
owners and service manager, and tell them to F*&%K off.  They won't fix
it.  I go to another dealership, and they find out the tranny is bad,
the pressure plate is damaged, and the rear end has a typical noise at
60 mph, which they said is common and needs to be fixed.  They have
it for over a week, I get it back, and now my clutch pedal vibrates
violently.  So I take it back in a couple of weeks, and they replace a part
of the clutch assembly.  Get it back, and nothing has changed.  NOW I AM
REALLY PISSED.  I forget about it for a couple of months,
because my new job lets me use the company repair van for my onsite
appointments, and school has started - I don't drive my car much.
Finally, I realize I deserve a perfect drivetrain and call a lawyer.
Krohn and Moss, at http://www.lemonlawil.com.

Contacting them was the best thing I ever did.  I am currently in
litigation, and will probably get a handsome settlement or a new car.
I hope that the court RAPES Ford, and I get enough cash to sell my piece
of shit, and lay skidmarks at my local dealership in my new Vette.  In the
mean time, I am looking at other cars and contemplating what car I will get.
So far, for the price, the Cobra is still the best buy.  I may opt
to get a new one, and with leftover cash just pay a non Ford mechanic to
fix it if anything comes up.

You may be asking why I would want another Ford after all the trouble?
Well, I truly believe my car was fine until one of the dumbass Ford
mechanics touched it.  I mean, these guys are total idiots.  They follow
along with Ford's "Band-Aid" policy where you fix it as cheap as
possible, even if it means not fixing the problem at all or rigging it to
work until the car is out of warranty.  I hate Ford mechanics (that I have
come in contact with) with a passion.  They consistently blame the problems
on my driving habits.  HELLO!  I need to get around, so why
would I consistently drive the piss out of my dream car just so those fools
can piddle around with it for another two weeks?  Well, we'll see
what happens.  As soon as I get out of college and can afford a nicer sports
car, I will never own a Ford again.

Anyway, your readers should check out the website of my attorney.  They
will find useful information on how to deal with Ford.  It is also
interesting to note that the overwhelming majority of cases deal with Ford
vehicles, and the cases that are drug out the longest are ones
involving Ford vehicles.  Well, to me this shows that Ford has shitty
mechanics and could care less about a customer once they have their
money.