Iron City Ford

On November 2, 2012 I traded trucks at Jim Skinner Ford. This has been by far the worse car buying experience I have ever encountered. Upon test driving the truck I noticed a bad smell in the truck and t This has been by far the worse car buying experience I have ever encountered. Upon test driving the truck I noticed a bad smell in the truck and the coolant tank appeared to be full of mud. The salesman (Mike Moses) advised that they would treat the interior with a odor neutralizer that would take care of it by morning. He also said they would flush the coolant thoroughly and give me a 36k mile warranty. I trusted him and chose to go ahead and trade. By the time I got home something was rattling underneath the hood. I found that the bottom bolt on the power steering reservoir bracket had came out and bracket was rattling against engine. I had a local mechanic replace bolt. He also pointed out that the intake manifold had been taken off recently and a bolt was broke off on top of the engine. I also ended up shampooing the carpet the next day to help with odor. Also the service department did a terrible job flushing the radiator so I did it myself. I also found that the 4wd would not work. Needless to say my entire weekend was spent working on my new truck. I contacted my salesman and he came and got the truck to make repairs. I contacted my salesman the next day to get an update and he had taken off that day. I called back the third day and he was home sick. By Thursday I called back and he said he thinks it was sent to another shop to get a transfer case put in it. I asked why a ford dealership would use a different mechanic to make the repairs. He said "well maybe I misunderstood, let me check on it and I will call you back" .I never got a call back so I called the service department. They cut me off while attempting to transfer so I called back. I was then told they would check on it and call me back. They never called back so I called again and they told me it was at another shop getting a transfer case put in it, and I would have to discuss it with Mike Moses, so they transferred me. Mike told me again he would check on it and call me back. After no call I called and asked to speak to a manager. He told me that truck was ready and Mike would meet me with it. I met him to pick up the truck in Pell City. He said that Jim Skinner ford replaced transfer case and they used another shop to flush the coolant again. I still don’t know what was done to my truck or who worked on it. On November 9, (the day after getting truck back) the foul smell was getting worse and driving it gives me a terrible headache. The smell was like cat urine. I determined that the smell was coming from the passenger side floorboard. On November 10 I went to pet smart and purchased a bottle of Natures Miracle for cat urine. I sprayed the carpet and the odor was gone. By morning the odor was back. I decided the pull the carpet back and look underneath. The underside of the carpet was badly stained. The wire tray in the passenger door jam was 1/2 inch deep in sludge. . The more I clean the worse it gets. I am highly allergic to cats and refused to let me or my family travel in this vehicle. I was told by my salesman that he would unwind the deal and I could come get my truck back. I drove back to Birmingham to get my truck and Pat told me that I could not have my truck back because they had already spent money cleaning it up. He also told me that the auction company that they bought it from repaired the transfer case. I told him I refused to put my family in a truck full of mold and mildew. He still refused to unwind the deal, only offered to clean the carpet and repair the leak. They kept the truck for 5 days and attempted to repair. I was also told by my salesman that the car had never been wrecked and was shown a carfax report. I have found sanding scratches on the front passenger side. Also the body shop left sand paper in engine compartment. The tailgate has also had some body work done. In early December the front guard on the Transfer case fell off. I replaced it myself. Just before Christmas when it would rain water would pour down the front windshield and dash. I pulled the headliner out and found it was the front windshield leaking. I contacted my salesman to advise that truck is still leaking. He got me in touch with the service dept. I asked that they try to work with me to make an appointment to get the windshield repaired since its 150 mile round trip for me to travel. He refused and told me I would have to drop it off to them and leave it. I paid Sylacauga Glass Company to reseal windshield as it was more economical to do so. On January 13, I took my family camping at Cheaha State Park. We checked in at the front gate and when we got back in the truck the truck wouldn’t start. I then had truck towed to Sunny King Ford in Anniston and camper towed home. Sunny King Ford advised that the transmission cable broke because whoever installed the transmission assembled the shift cable incorrectly .It cost me $269 to have cable replaced and $175 for towing bill. All was not covered under warranty. Sunny King Ford service department even contacted Jim Skinner Ford and told them why cable broke. They refused to pay for repairs. I talked to used car manager Tyrone and his General Manager Keith Madden. Keith told me that the first manager (Pat) should have at least let me pay for the cleaning of my trade in and have it back when I brought it back the first time. Pat don’t work their anymore. I have had another dealership inspect the vehicle and they showed me that the engine has been out of the truck recently and engine appears to have been overhauled. I have experienced all these issues and vehicle has a clean carfax. I had dealership pull service records and there is only one record found where cam phasers were replaced. None of the work done by Jim Skinner Ford was in the report. I contacted Jim Skinner Ford and have asked them to buy the truck back so I can buy a dependable truck. They said I would have to come up there and let them see truck to determine if they would refund my money. On January 16. 2013, I took a day off work to take truck back. I offered to buy a brand new truck from them if they will refund me the money on this one. They refused to give me my money back and said they cant give me even close to what I paid for it. In conclusion this has been by far the worst car buying experience I have ever encountered. I have bought a lemon from a reputable dealership where I thought they would their customers fairly. I have been repeatedly lied to. I have wasted a lot of time and money on repairs they should be responsible for. Now Im stuck with a truck that I can’t depend on. More