It Was Waaaaaaaaaay Cool

[Redline7000]

Quite an impressive thread!

This has generated interest over at Miata.net as well:

http://www.miataforum.com/ubb/ultima...1;t=008041;p=1

Needless to say most agree that it's not cool for a 'Tech' to screw around with someone else's personal property, which is exactly what happened in this instance.

I've owned 3 Mustang GT 5.0 convertibles, two which were bought new, off the showroom floor, one which was highly modified. I could write a book about all the abuse that my cars and I received at the hands of the "trusted" mechanics at the dealerships and private garages I took my cars to over the years. Suffice to say, I'm not surprised at reading what happened with the Cobra. I am surprised at how utterly stupid Stangman96 was to have bragged about this on a public forum.

I wish the owners of this Cobra the best of luck but to be honest, I think the most they can hope for is what they've already received..the dismissal of the "Tech" and perhaps a lifetime of free oil changes..

Fortunately Mustangs are built to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. A month after I dropped my new 351 Windsor into my '91 Stang I dynoed it twice, drove it 1400 miles to test and tune it and took it up to 125 mph..On the road course! The car did just fine. But the fact that their car emerged unscathed is no excuse for the lack of respect they received and this kind of treatment. They deserved better..even if the owner was *only* a woman!

It would be nice to think that paying $35k for a car would indeed guarantee "Quality Care" but as long as very fallible, immature human beings are hired to work on our cars there can be no guarantees. I'm not sure if I would even blame the dealership for this act..but I'd sure as hell be expecting the dealer to be keeping a close eye on the mechanics wrenching there in the future!

It's for this reason that over the years I learned to do a lot of the work myself or stayed with my car while it's being worked on..but unfortunately that isn't always possible. So one can only hope and pray.

In the end, I come off as so particular and such a wack job when it comes to my cars that most of the people who work on them are afraid to BREATH on them..never mind beat on 'em! Believe me,..it helps because they know that I'll be watching and waiting for any screw ups..Lord help 'em!

So my advice is to make a fuss over the little things..so the big things never happen.

One thing about this thread...Hopefully dealers all over will realize that the power of the Internet is indeed a formidable weapon..one that can be used to the CONSUMER'S advantage..and they will indeed toe the line and make sure that things like this don't happen. Word of mouth (the printed word) can indeed be a powerful tool.

Caveat de' emptor and good luck to all.