Jake Graff

The van was originally taken into the dealer because the rear A/C was only blowing hot air, it was only coming through the vents near the floor. When we got the van after it went to the LHM Ford shop the A/C was able to blow cool air, through the ceiling vents. When colder weather started and we tried to use the hot air, it would only blow cold air out of the vent, which in the rear comes only out of the top vents. I returned the vehicle to the dealer, looking for repair/fix on work considering that it was not done correctly the first time. As I explained the case to the worker, he mentioned that they only did a low budget job the first time to move a vacuum door or something to that sort and that it wasn’t a long term solution, but one based on budget restrictions. (Which I can see happening, because the vehicle was taken into the shop by the dealer that we had purchased it from on an agreement that we would split the bill 50/50.) What I got from that is that it was temporarily rigged to blow cold air, not what I had expected from either party. So he said he would look at it again. I also mentioned a few other smaller problems the car had that I thought could be taken care of at the same time. When the car was returned at the end of the day there were suggestions for the A/C, rear power port, light switch and ignition, each with a part and a labor fee, exceeding $850. I agreed to the repairs. I took the car in later for the repairs, this would have been the fourth time for them to have car, diagnosis and repair. The morning of the repairs I decided to look into the power port issue myself, as I thought it could be a fuse. There are two power ports up front and one of them was not working either, but I didn’t mention that to LHM. I did find a blown fuse that morning and replaced it with a fuse that lights up when it blows which fixed the problem in the front power port. I received a call around 4 o’clock with a petition from the worker to keep the car over night to make sure everything was ok. I had to refuse because it is my only vehicle. Later around 5:30, as I left the LHM Ford service area I decided to test the A/C and after leaving it on for 5 minutes in the heat ‘vent’ position it was still blowing cold air. I immediately returned to the service door and told the worker about the problem, he went out to the car and investigated the problem and confirmed that it was still blowing out cold air when it was on the heat position. He asked if he could keep the car and work on it and also offered to take the car back to see what the problem was and see if it could be fixed. I had to deny as it was my only transportation.  As I left, I inspected the other items that had been ‘repaired’ and noticed that they were all in the same physical condition as they were when I took it in, except for the rear power port. The light switch would still not stick in certain positions, the key was still difficult to remove and sometimes almost impossible and the A/C still blew cold air in the heat vent position. The rear power port was working, but oddly the fuse I had put in that morning was missing completely from the fuse board, without a replacement in its place. The rear power port, which was ‘replaced’ looked the same and had the same broken/near broken cover, not new.

I decided to put a stop payment on the payment check.

I think LHM Ford service is completely incompetent and untrustworthy as a company for repair. Along with that I would add they are not safety minded in the least. Both times I took the van in for repairs I found one or more of the rear benches not secured. I took a picture of this problem after the second time, since I was aware from it the first time. The safety issue alone is reason to never use LHM Ford again.

My issues are as follows; Why was the first repair just a kludge? How can four of four repairs the second time not be correctly/appropriately addressed? Why was the fuse missing? Why is safety not a concern? How does the manufacturer state it should work? The other question is, did it always work according to manufacturers specifications? I won’t be charged for things that are not complete or shouldn’t be worked on and I cannot trust a company with these issues to complete or diagnose them.