Sorry, I am computer challenged, and could not locate the forum that I found pertaining to my issue on my iphone, so I am going to throw this out in hopes of getting some good input. I am not a gear head, but I love high performance vehicles. My car is a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette, and in 2021 amid the COVID pandemic, I had a gentleman pull out in front of me, causing me to not only destroy his F150 but also my 2009 Nissan crew cab Titan. This force me to look for a replacement when there wasn't anything on the lots and no one was offering rebates, and I became exhausted just to get $500 off of sticker.
I was interested in upgrading to a SUV with 3 row seating, since I had become a grandfather to 4 grandchildren since I had purchased the '14 Vette and '09 Titan. My wife was into miniature horses and showing, so the Titan's primary use was to pull our miniature horse trailer. Oh, the same year I got my Corvette, I purchased a 2014 Mustang which in of itself wasn't what I considered a high performance automobile, it did have 311 HP. (Traded in my 98 HP 2008 4 cyl. PT Cruiser, so it felt high performance to my wife : ) .
There were absolutely no vehicles on any of the lots along Dealership Row in Bowling Green, KY.
The local Ford dealership happened to have 4 pickups and a lone Explorer ST. I needed a vehicle with a tow package, and all of the PU's had what I needed, but I was intrigued by the ST, because of the high performance and 3 row seating, but when I went to the back, I was immediately sold because it had exactly the tow package that I needed.
So here is my dilemma: I took my ST in for the axle bolt recall on September 3. I was there before they opened at 7:30, and I was there to 6:00 pm until they finally finished the job, which was 30 minutes past closing. It was a beautiful day, so I left the premises and walked to some local businesses, grabbed a lunch, and headed back to the dealership. I got there around 4 pm, and went into the bay, where I saw 4 mechanics struggling with the rear end, and they actually got physical with it. I decided that I should possibly video this, but by the time I got my iphone ready, they appeared to have solved their problem, and commenced to finish closing it up. Nothing to video.
Now, 23 days later, on September 26, I am heading home, and commence to merge into I 65 south traffic. I do as I always do when I merge into highway traffic, and that is to match my speed with the flow, and generally I like to pick my spot ahead of the traffic flow, so I am generally running about 10 MPH faster than traffic. I was probably doing 85 when I merged, which isn't anything out of the norm with me, and certainly well within the capabilities of my vehicles.
Two miles later, my exit came up, and I exited and decelerated, stopping at the red light. Once it turned green, I accelerated only to feel and hear a loud noise which I attributed to the rear end "snapping". At least that is what it felt like. I immediately took pressure off of the accelerator to assess the situation, and switched my monitor to the power going to the differentials. It didn't show anything out of the ordinary; it was showing normal power distribution to the rear diff. Instead of going home, I changed course to the dealership, and gingerly drove my ST to them. I didn't experience any further loud noise, but it did seem to be grinding ever so slightly.
So here is my problem: the dealer in my view holds all of the cards, at least in my eyes. My ST has 82,000 miles on it, so that is against me. I have no proof that their repair was at fault for my rear end giving out just 23 days later, other than coincidence. Also, possibly historically, I have had over 15 vehicles in the 50 years that I have been driving, and have never had a rear end go out.
So I am anticipating that my dealer will not accept responsibility, and it will be up to me to negotiate them into at least accepting some liability, which I do feel that they are the reason my rear end failed. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you. Oh, BTW, my wife passed away March 16, so I have nothing to lose. I am prepared to go bare knuckles to bare knuckles with them. But I need something more solid to back up my claim.
I was interested in upgrading to a SUV with 3 row seating, since I had become a grandfather to 4 grandchildren since I had purchased the '14 Vette and '09 Titan. My wife was into miniature horses and showing, so the Titan's primary use was to pull our miniature horse trailer. Oh, the same year I got my Corvette, I purchased a 2014 Mustang which in of itself wasn't what I considered a high performance automobile, it did have 311 HP. (Traded in my 98 HP 2008 4 cyl. PT Cruiser, so it felt high performance to my wife : ) .
There were absolutely no vehicles on any of the lots along Dealership Row in Bowling Green, KY.
The local Ford dealership happened to have 4 pickups and a lone Explorer ST. I needed a vehicle with a tow package, and all of the PU's had what I needed, but I was intrigued by the ST, because of the high performance and 3 row seating, but when I went to the back, I was immediately sold because it had exactly the tow package that I needed.
So here is my dilemma: I took my ST in for the axle bolt recall on September 3. I was there before they opened at 7:30, and I was there to 6:00 pm until they finally finished the job, which was 30 minutes past closing. It was a beautiful day, so I left the premises and walked to some local businesses, grabbed a lunch, and headed back to the dealership. I got there around 4 pm, and went into the bay, where I saw 4 mechanics struggling with the rear end, and they actually got physical with it. I decided that I should possibly video this, but by the time I got my iphone ready, they appeared to have solved their problem, and commenced to finish closing it up. Nothing to video.
Now, 23 days later, on September 26, I am heading home, and commence to merge into I 65 south traffic. I do as I always do when I merge into highway traffic, and that is to match my speed with the flow, and generally I like to pick my spot ahead of the traffic flow, so I am generally running about 10 MPH faster than traffic. I was probably doing 85 when I merged, which isn't anything out of the norm with me, and certainly well within the capabilities of my vehicles.
Two miles later, my exit came up, and I exited and decelerated, stopping at the red light. Once it turned green, I accelerated only to feel and hear a loud noise which I attributed to the rear end "snapping". At least that is what it felt like. I immediately took pressure off of the accelerator to assess the situation, and switched my monitor to the power going to the differentials. It didn't show anything out of the ordinary; it was showing normal power distribution to the rear diff. Instead of going home, I changed course to the dealership, and gingerly drove my ST to them. I didn't experience any further loud noise, but it did seem to be grinding ever so slightly.
So here is my problem: the dealer in my view holds all of the cards, at least in my eyes. My ST has 82,000 miles on it, so that is against me. I have no proof that their repair was at fault for my rear end giving out just 23 days later, other than coincidence. Also, possibly historically, I have had over 15 vehicles in the 50 years that I have been driving, and have never had a rear end go out.
So I am anticipating that my dealer will not accept responsibility, and it will be up to me to negotiate them into at least accepting some liability, which I do feel that they are the reason my rear end failed. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you. Oh, BTW, my wife passed away March 16, so I have nothing to lose. I am prepared to go bare knuckles to bare knuckles with them. But I need something more solid to back up my claim.
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