Subject: Our Horror!
Date: 9/26/2002

Hi, I was looking for the for the complaint department for Ford Motor Company, found it and found your as well.

We purchased a brand new 2002 Ford Econoline on September 4, 2002. We put a huge down-payment on the vehicle for low monthly payments and 0% financing. Very happy about that. On September 23, 2002, 19 days after the purchase of this vehicle, we were driving on Highway 101 going south, when we lost power. We had to pull over on the side of the highway to find the smoke coming out of the engine. We opened the hood of the van and immediately the whole engine was on fire. We called 911, and watched our brand new vehicle engulfed in flames. We stopped the flow of traffic dead in its tracks. The van burned to the ground, literally. All that was left was its skeleton.

We called the General Manager, Ash, and his secretary knew exactly who we were and that the place was buzzing with our vehicle being burned to the ground. She kept us on hold for him for more than 20 minutes. Came back on the phone and told us to call back, Ash was busy. Absolutely outrageous! We went to the dealership after 5 phone calls, and met with the Sales Manager, Sammy, who told us it is not their problem, and for us to deal with our insurance. I told them that we need a vehicle and I thought they should be responsible for it. They told us we need to deal with our insurance. Well, of course I did not get car rental insurance for this brand new vehicle, so it would have to come out of pocket. Most certainly NOT! We gave them our last penny for the down-payment. They gave us a 2 day voucher for a car rental as "A Courtesy!" Gee, how nice! Thank you for my commission... your on your own.

I have hired a lawyer, who just won a settlement from this particular dealership last year.