How Japan's Second-Hand Cars Make Their Way to Third World

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Thursday, January 8, 2004 | TODD ZAUN and JASON SINGER

[brianl703]

I had a problem with Ford, or more specifically, the local Ford dealer.

I have a 1996 Ford Contour that is affected by a problem with the wiring harnesses--the insulation isn't the right stuff and it cracks off, leaving bare wire.

Ford put a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty on these harnesses.

I took the car to the local Ford dealer, who patched up the damaged wire with a piece of heat-shrink tubing (5 minutes and 50 cents in parts), and said that they did it as a "goodwill" repair because the wiring harness replacement doesn't cover damage to that one wire. I knew that was BS.

I called Ford, they referred me back to the local dealer who told me in no uncertain terms that they were not going to replace the harnesses because the inspection procedure doesn't direct them to look at the area where the wire is damaged.

This despite the fact that the wire is part of a harness that would be replaced, and they were "not going to take the risk that Ford would inspect the old harnesses and charge back the warranty repair to us". Also BS, they can trash the harnesses as soon as they're removed from the car, Ford doesn't want them back.

Well, later on I did my own inspection and found wire damage in an area where the documentation DOES say to inspect. Therefore, by the local Ford dealer's own creative interpretation of the documentation, this means they have to replace the wiring harnesses.

I went back to the local Ford dealer and, in person, made an appointment to drop the car off. The service advisor, who knows little about auto mechanics and even less than that about customer service, was not happy to see me, and wasn't trying too hard to hide that fact.

After that experience, I thought about and came to the conclusion that I gave them a chance, they blew it, and I called another Ford dealer to make an appointment. (Plus I've had other problems with the local dealer in the past).

The Ford dealer I called is MUCH better than the local Ford dealer. I dropped the car off, the service advisor listened to what I had to say, and they told me today they've ordered the wiring harnesses.

I'm planning to replace the 1996 Ford Contour with a 2006 Ford Futura. Guess who I'm NOT going to be buying it from?

Moral of the story: If you think your local dealer is a piece of crap, they probably are. Go somewhere else.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Good for you! Often you can get excellent service from a reluctant dealer if you contact Detroit directly. At one time I had a Pontiac X car and it needed a major repair when it was just out of warranty. My husband contacted Detroit (after the dealer refused to fix it) and told them that he had mentioned it to the dealer at one of the regular check-ups. Detroit contacted the dealer and told them to fix the car for free (to us). We never had a bit more trouble with it.

Later, I passed it to my college aged son who drove it until the 200,000 mile mark. He was attending college in FLorida and the air conditioner finally went out. He drove it into my barn in Wisconsin and I gave him my 1982 Chevy Impala sedan as a replacement. He gave that one to a needy person in his church in South Carolina after I sold him my 1991 Pontiac Bonneville, which he is still driving.

I needed a major repair on my Chrysler LHS when I was on a trip to South Carolina a few years ago, and again, my car was just out of warranty. A phone call to Chrysler in Detroit got me a free repair although I had to stay in SC a couple of extra days while the dealer got the part shipped in from Atlanta. It turned out that the repair eventually fell under a recall, but my car was fixed free at least 6 months before the recall was issued. The only downside is that I missed voting against Russ Feingold in a Senatorial election. I had a second car of the same model and had that one fixed under recall before it failed.

[Simmy2.5]

"Since Saddam fell, this has been a very good business," says Mr. Salhe, 37, a former health-ministry official. "I'm making twice as much money as I did before." Importing used cars was restricted under Saddam Hussein's regime, he says.

Looks like life in Iraq is better WITHOUT Saddam. Even a used car salesman is doing better.

And imagine what businesses will follow as well as improved productivity coming with the better mobility. Capitalism at its finest (too bad many socialist governments will stand in the way of progress though).