I Give UP

[law]

Re: I Give UP

And I cant understand why people are still buying TOYOTAS when they just had a
ONE MILLION car recall!

[Leroy]

Re: I Give UP

I believe if a TBird has no warranty and you want to get a Ford warranty, you have to pay a Ford dealer to inspect the car ( $125.00 I think ). If they find anything wrong you have to pay them to make it right and then they will sell you a warranty. If you have the Ford warranty you don't have to get the inspection to extend your warranty. There are mileage restrictions and I believe the age of the car figures in too. Leroy

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[HEYMON1]

Re: I Give UP

On Sept 30 I had an inspection on my Bird at my Ford dealership for an extended warranty from Lou Imartun (also a member of the nest). All it cost me was 35.00.

Monty-heymon1

[Panspeter]

Re: I Give UP

Aloha Gang, thanks for jumping in, many of you have had some very good points. I think jerrym3 summed up my feelings best. With that being said it looks like these repairs will be made by me or a local mechanic. The Lincoln angle won't work because it is the same dealership I bought the car from.

I don't know how much a code reader will cost me but I do know the dealership charges $168 to read the code and will deduct that amount if you have the repairs done by them. They told me the air conditioning pump is one of the most expensive ones out there, so I will be exhausting all the tips you folks have given me before replacing it.

Some have made the comment that the issues are not insurmountable and you are right. The issue is still at 48000 miles all of this has happened and Ford is aware of it and says sorry. They did throw me a bone though and got the dealership to give me a 10% discount on the $1200 air conditioner issue.

When I first got the car I met a gentleman on vacation that saw my car and asked how I liked it. Nothing had gone wrong yet so I told him how great I thought the car was. He went on to tell me he was the lead engineer for Ford that led the production of Retro Birds. He went on to tell me not to let just any mechanic work on it. He said even at Ford dealerships I should request the mechanic that had been specifically trained on these cars be the only one to work on it. He stated that there was a lot of complicated engineering that went into these cars and only trained personell should work on them. Obviously my dealership has no mechanics trained on this car. When I questioned their diagnosis and they got onto the computer to check it out they shook their head at how complicated and hard to work on, that the AC system was.

Everyone seems to take the COP issue as a minor nusance while it is being covered by the extended warrenty but I wonder how everyone will feel when they have to start paying for it

By the way, although I have low mileage for a 6 year old car, I drive it almost every day it is not a garage queen.

Again I appreciate the comments particuarly the ones with possible solutions. This is what makes this Forum Great.

[jerzeebird]

Re: I Give UP

My brother bought the top of the line Lexus a few years ago. He is now glad he got the extended warranty with it. Cars are incredibly complex creatures now-a-days and while more dependable than cars of earlier years, have systems that can still fail. I am on at least my tenth Ford product - mostly Tauri and Sables, but also a 2002 LS and the T-Bird. I have gotten over 150,000 miles on every one of them with few problems or repairs. The 2002 LS has 203,000 miles on the odometer and still drives like new - and still has the original battery in it cranking strong even in this crazy winter we are having in NJ. I have no quarrel with Ford's quality.

[Panspeter]

Re: I Give UP

Hi Guys, just a follow up on the AC issue. I clamped off the heater hose and guess what, one side of my vents blew cold air. It appears the dealers assesment that I needed a new AC pump was incorrect.

Next step find, out where I can get a Water Control Valve and either find a reasonably priced mechanic or get out the directions found in this forum and try to do it myself.

Wish me luck.

[Borla Babe]

Re: I Give UP

We've been lucky though and I acknowledge that. Borla Babe has the very same car right down to the color of the paint and her stories alone scared me for what we might see.

Yet, you don't hear me threatening to get rid of my car. Although I wasn't happy over the COP's failing, I wasn't angry over them. What I did get angry over tho, was the way Ford chose to extend the COP warranty to 03-05 owners and then exclude the 02's with the same exact problem. Then Ford's service dept. decided to jack the repair and labor up to a very unfair price, neither of those decisions sit well with any of the 02 owners.
Ford stabbed themselves in the foot over that decision tho with my family, because we've bought two new cars since the COP failed on my car and neither were a Ford. I just kind of feel like what goes around, comes around, Ford made a bad decision and lost the sales.
My car is no longer under warranty, so I am resigned to the fact that I will have to pay for anything major that goes wrong with it. I have never entertained the thought of selling my Thunderbird, it still puts a smile on my face everytime I drive it and I still hear compliments everytime I take it out. It doesn't matter where I go, someone always has something nice to say about it.
I'm not sure what I'd do if I were Panspeter who started this thread. I don't know if he bought his 05 new or not, but if he didn't and bought it used then no matter what he paid for it, he got a good deal on a $40,000 car. If he doesn't want to put any more money into it, then he will take a beating on the resell value. He can't expect to sell the car at even bluebook with transmission, COP and air conditioning problems.
If he decides to fix the car before selling it, then he might as well just keep it and enjoy the many smiles he will feel everytime he takes it out and drives it. Purchasing an extended warranty after the repairs might give him a little more peace of mind about keeping the car.
Good luck on what ever decision you make Panspeter.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: I Give UP

Yet, you don't hear me threatening to get rid of my car.

I have never entertained the thought of selling my Thunderbird, it still puts a smile on my face every-time I drive it.

Yours is definitely the other-side of the thought!


"if the car is no longer something you trust to provide more smiles than frowns it's time to get rid of it"


In the end no car is without potential to have problems.


Keeping any car or truck beyond the warranty period today is something of a roll of the dice vs years ago when almost anything that went wrong was within the abilities of a shade tree mechanic willing to get his hands dirty. Then even when he or she wasn't willing.... the local garage could provide the work that so often must be done at the dealer service dept these days.

We all have to make the decision........... you and Tom see this from opposite ends of the potential take away.

Neither of you is WRONG but none of us can escape the choice. Not having problems YET may allow some of us to delude ourselves until that first big and or expensive mechanical failure happens........ but ultimately........keep the car long enough and it's coming.

[Vintage Merlot]

Re: I Give UP

I am with Julie on this one and feel the same about this car as she does. ...but I have a third point of view. Bonnie and I have always had a full and extended Ford warranty since purchase of the car in December of '03. Just as a lark on day one, we started a back-up repair fund for the time when our warranty expired. What was it worth to us to enjoy the constant smiles from this car and the security of knowing the warranty would take care of any problems? We decided $200 a month was a good number. So for every month the Bird went trouble free (under warranty) and provided the smiles we put $200 in the account. We really didn't miss it. It was a savings game.

Julie has prompted us to now officially give the fund a name..."The Smiles and Miles Fund".. So far the account has a little over $19,000. Our extended warranty will run through December 2015. At that time our Smiles and Miles Fund will have a little more than $28,000. Now there are the smiles and the fund will be there to take care of many more miles should we choose to do so. .

...And that is a third point of view.

[HeelBird]

Re: I Give UP

Yours is definitely the other-side of the thought!


"if the car is no longer something you trust to provide more smiles than frowns it's time to get rid of it"


In the end no car is without potential to have problems.


Keeping any car or truck beyond the warranty period today is something of a roll of the dice vs years ago when almost anything that went wrong was within the abilities of a shade tree mechanic willing to get his hands dirty. Then even when he or she wasn't willing.... the local garage could provide the work that so often must be done at the dealer service dept these days.

We all have to make the decision........... you and Tom see this from opposite ends of the potential take away.

Neither of you is WRONG but none of us can escape the choice. Not having problems YET may allow some of us to delude ourselves until that first big and or expensive mechanical failure happens........ but ultimately........keep the car long enough and it's coming.

Very interesting angle there. Double edged sword, I guess.......the machines have become more complex, which offers us so many more creature comforts and reliability on one hand, but when something goes wrong, you can't rely on just anyone to fix it and as we are evidently seeing, as the car ages you may not even be able to get the parts to fix the thing. That last part surely drives home the point of whether we can afford to keep the auto indefinitely.

I want to hang on to my '95 SuperCoupe, if for no other reason than it's the last year the supercharged V-6 was offered, in addition to it being kind of rare since it has a 5 speed. IIRC, fewer than 800 of them were sold that year. Hopefully, there will be parts available to do whatever repairs might be needed.

[Tbyrdy]

Re: I Give UP

Hi Guys, just a follow up on the AC issue. I clamped off the heater hose and guess what, one side of my vents blew cold air. It appears the dealers assesment that I needed a new AC pump was incorrect.

Next step find, out where I can get a Water Control Valve and either find a reasonably priced mechanic or get out the directions found in this forum and try to do it myself.

Wish me luck.

Try the self-check feature on the A/C. I am GUESSING the same test works on 03-05's. Here is the link to my troubleshooting and pictures of the display.

To test the A/C on your car do this to the A/C panel:

When the car running and the A/C off:
Press the OFF and DEFROST buttons simultaneously, then release and press the AUTO button within two seconds.

Let the test run...it will last about 30-45 seconds.

If any numbers are displayed, write them down.

Press any button to exit the test. WAIT one minute before doing anything else, including turning off the car...don't do anything for a minute.

Let us know what you find out.

[Panspeter]

Re: I Give UP

Tbirdy,I performed the test and got 12-62 and 27-98 flashing with a occasional 12-65. What do these numbers mean?

[Panspeter]

Re: I Give UP

Tbirdy,I performed the test and got 12-62 and 27-98 flashing with a occasional 12-65. What do these numbers mean?

[Panspeter]

Re: I Give UP

Aloha gang, I am over my Hissy Fit and now determind to fix this car without the help of Ford and their dealership.
As I mentioned before I have a 63 and love TBirds. There are a lot of nice cars on the road to choose from but I don't like driving something that is a dime a dozen on the road. The TBirds get attention because you don't see them everywhere and to quote the lyrics from a Prince song "She got the Look".
I will now dedicate my future postings to this forum to fixing my Bird with the help of all of you who have been there before me.

Again Mahalo

[Gobird]

Re: I Give UP

Tom, Good for you and don't give up.