Slapped with a $5000 repair bill after regular checkups, what should I do?

[Bo King]

Details: There’s two Mechanics in this scenario. Ford dealership, and Don’s Auto.

Ford Dealership sold me the car. 2017 Ford Fiesta SE 1.0 L eco-boost.

In 2019 I took it into a mesa (yes that’s dumb, admittedly) and I bottomed out on a dirt hill. Snapped the air conditioner line (green liquid came hissing out). Took it immediately to Ford Dealership. They said they were busy for the next 3 days out and recommended I go to the mechanic literally 200 yards down the street. So I did. That was Don’s Auto

Don’s Auto held the car a few days to order the part, the AC line on the bottom of the car that snapped, and replaced it, and the car was good to go.

Since then I’ve had the car taken into the Ford Dealership itself 3 separate times for the normal checkup (I get an email that says “Hey it’s about that time to come get it checked out again!” Ok, so wanting to keep my car maintained properly I do so). They do a multi-point inspection each time and absolutely zero of the times did they give me any indication anything was wrong. Keep in mind I know nothing about cars, this is why I pay a mechanic to keep on top of this.

Last week I’m on the road, and the gas pedal no longer creates a response in the car. I immediately pull over and call my brother (mechanic). As I’m talking to him with the car resting, it starts to respond again. I get the car a half mile home immediately. Brother comes over and pulls the code P1299 something about overheating. He says this is consistent with what I experienced, it probably cooled down enough to start again when we were talking.

Next day I get the car to Ford. They keep it for several days, and then slap me with a $5000 repair bill. They said there wasn’t any coolant in it, and that the exhaust port was cracked, coolant got into the motor, and one of the cyliners was cracked and needed to be replaced. I told him about the accident and the Ford guy told me the main line mechanic says the radiator was out of place and the air ducts were messed up and the mechanic believes all of this damage stems from my bottoming out 14-16 months earlier. $5000 repair bill.

I’m devastated. That’s going to wipe out all the money I have. I’m equally frustrated because I’ve been paying these guys to keep on top of the car regularly as I thought I was supposed to and the Ford guy basically said “Yeah these guys are paid to check a few different things and aren’t doing an engine diagnostic” and basically handwaved and said he was sorry.

I have a professional mechanic of 20 years for a friend and I called him, he said the mechanics should have caught those things during the mutliple inspections, but technically they’re only supposed to address what I go in for. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how I was supposed to know anything was wrong to instruct them to look for it. I’m not a mechanic. That’s literally what I pay them for. I feel used and taken advantage of and I don’t know what to do.

Do I have any recourse here? Are either of the mechanics responsible for not catching any of this? WHY am I paying these guys for routine maintenance of nobody is going to catch potential damage leading to catastrophic engine failure?

The last time Ford inspected/maintained it was on Oct 21, 2020. So in 2 1/2 months all of this apparently happened and nobody picked up on any of the warning signs prior.

Looking for any advice, thank you in advance 🙁

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

Hmmm something strange happening here…
You state:
1 14-16 months earlier, bottomed out on a dirt hill and snapped the air conditioner line.
2 Took it immediately to Ford Dealership.
3 They were busy for the next 3 days out and recommended I go to the mechanic literally 200 yards down the street.
4 The second mechanic held the car a few days to order the part, the AC line on the bottom of the car that snapped, and replaced it, and the car was good to go.
Next
5 Since then I’ve had the car taken into the Ford Dealership itself 3 separate times for the normal checkup. They do a multi-point inspection each time and absolutely zero of the times did they give me any indication anything was wrong.

First question to ask is what does their ” multi-point inspection ” consist of?
It may / can vary from dealership to dealership
Here is one found on line: https://www.sherwoodford.ca/blog/whats-included-with-ford-multi-point-vehicle-inspection/

6 Roughly 1 1/2 years later, engine overheats P1299
Did you not see the temperature gauge or indicator light on the dash when this happened, it normally sets long before the engine seriously overheats.
7 Next day I get the car to Ford. They keep it for several days, and then slap me with a $5000 repair bill. They said there wasn’t any coolant in it, and that the exhaust port was cracked, coolant got into the motor, and one of the cylinders was cracked and needed to be replaced. I told him about the accident and the Ford guy told me the main line mechanic says the radiator was out of place and the air ducts were messed up and the mechanic believes all of this damage stems from my bottoming out 14-16 months earlier. $5000 repair bill.

I have a professional mechanic of 20 years for a friend and I called him, he said the mechanics should have caught those things during the multiple inspections, but technically they’re only supposed to address what I go in for.
This is quite true.

Now lets see what is possible.
Knowing you bottomed out the vehicle and had specific repairs done at another shop (which I assume were good) did you tell them you bottomed out and also want it checked for any other possible damage?
Did you ever take it back in to the dealership or another mechanic and specifically tell them you bottomed out and what the car checked for any possible damage?
Most dealerships and mechanics do what they are specifically instructed to do because of costs involved.
Most people are not willing to pay for “extras” that weren’t specifically asked for.

As to the damaged:
Lets look at that, you state this happened 14-16 months after the fact.
IMHO, the closer to truth on this is you may have caused some latent ( not so extreme) damage when you bottomed out and over the course of time fatigue caused the failure, or perhaps some minor damage occurred when you bottomed out and perhaps rough roads (pothole) or your driving habits stressed the issue to the point of failure.

Bottom line here is, after you bottomed out it was up to you to specifically ask who ever you brought the vehicle to that you had a incident, what exactly happened and want the vehicle inspected for any possible damage.
Also to get it in writing so you have some type of proof.

I can not tell you that the dealership or mechanic is fully at fault here, they will only do what you ask them too.
If you weren’t specific enough in your directions to them on this, I’m afraid a bulk of this is on you.

[Jake F]

Bo King, dang. That was not easy to read and I understand how you feel. Owning a vehicle can sometimes kick you right in the backend. As if we don’t have enough to worry about right now but the thing that we thought was secure in our life is proving to be the most detrimental. Welcome to car ownership with a Ford Fiesta. No offense.

I’ll give you the quick answer to your Ford dealership question. You had the chance to fix the issue after you bottomed out but chose to get dismissed by the service rep(s) at Ford. Not sure what Bo’s exactly did, although it sound like they may have patched something, you proceeded to put your trust into the “multipoint inspection” years later at the dealership and soon thereafter your 135,000 Fiesta blew up. I don’t want to be too sour but, that’s a nice run of a Fiesta especially after a personal accident!

Here’s the big rhetorical question. You dropped off your pimp ride at Ford and got slapped with a $5k bill. The question is… did you approve ANY of those repairs? Time to formulate your public discussion. Wear a mask and good luck.

[Author]

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