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Dealership messed up my car?

kauljp

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Hey guys,
I wanted to share my horrible experience at a dealership recently. I took my brand new 2020 gt auto there to have mudflaps installed. I was waiting for them to finish and suddenly I hear loud engine screams coming from the service bay. I was sitting on the other side of the building and I should not be able to hear anything from there. These sounds were very high pitched, I have never revved my engine this high to ever hear anything like this. This had me very concerned, my car has only driven 2900 kilometers in total up until that point. I immediately thought to myself, that better not be my car. Sure enough it was, it turns out the technician was revving the absolute bejesus out of my car. Shortly thereafter he took it out for a spin before bringing it back in and handing the keys over to the service advisor. When I spoke to him about, he nonchalantly said that he was driving it in sports transmission mode around the corner.
I was absolutely livid and took the issue up with the General Manager. I let him know how angry I was with the entire situation. I went and checked my car thereafter and the engine was hot. My car has been babied by me for its life @ 2900 kilometers. I take it out on the highway and give it some every now and then but never have I ever pushed it to the point that this technician did. I drove my car right way after that and noticed that the transmission oil was just now getting hot. I drove my car right away and it felt different than it does normally. I noticed that the gas pedal response was off slightly, it was small but noticeable enough for me. Ever since then I have been noticing that the car drives differently ever so slightly. The pedal response, the gear shifts, they seem off compared to their normal workings.
I am not a technical person by any means and I have spoken to friends about the issue. They all share my anger and frustration at the lack of professionalism shown by the dealership technician. They also assured me that the engine is too strong to have any concerns about with this. I just know that I notice a difference in the way the vehicle drives since that incident. I would love to know how you guys think I should handle this issue. I am mostly concerned about my car and its health. Thank you for reading.
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NoVaGT

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The Tech did your engine a favor, so just relax. The engine is made to do that, and babying the engine isn't the proper way to break it in. Getting into it, off it, into it, off it, into it, off it....that's what needs to happen.

Yes, it was a jerk thing to do, as it isn't the tech's car. I understand your being angry, I would be too.

And yes, the trans will feel different. What he did created a spike in the transmission's learning curve, which is adaptive to different drivers.

Relax, your car is fine.
 

CJJon

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Not much you can do. The issues you are having are too subjective to claim any damage. It most likely did nothing wrong to your car. It can indeed handle it.

Next time don't let your car out of eyesight.
 
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kauljp

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The Tech did your engine a favor, so just relax. The engine is made to do that, and babying the engine isn't the proper way to break it in. Getting into it, off it, into it, off it, into it, off it....that's what needs to happen.

Yes, it was a jerk thing to do, as it isn't the tech's car. I understand your being angry, I would be too.

And yes, the trans will feel different. What he did created a spike in the transmission's learning curve, which is adaptive to different drivers.

Relax, your car is fine.
I appreciate your response. I apologize for sounding like a novice here but I have never owned a muscle car before let alone a brand new one so I am not sure if I am breaking them in properly. I did everything by the manual. I take the car out to the highway and give it, drive it from 0 to 160km/h. I drive it in sports transmission mode as much as I can on the highway and then in normal trans during city drives.
I was pissed at the tech for not even asking me before taking my car out for a joyride. Speaking of the transmission's learning curve, do you know if it will ever get back to the same as it was before as I continue to drive like I do?
As long as my car is fine I am ok with it.
 

Sivi70980

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Agree, car is fine, and actually better for it. That being said, it should have been you doing it instead of someone that doesn't own the car.
 

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Mustang_Lou

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I've had similar "abuse" of a previous car too. It's just as much a "who the fk do you think you are to do that to my car" thing as the actual abuse. It's a threatening and disrespectful thing to do to someone else's property.
 

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You can also try to unplug the negative terminal from the 12v battery for about 10 mins or so to clear out the KAM (keep alive memory) - I suspect that'll reset any learning behavior but you may have to reset your radio stn pre-sets, etc.
 

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They shouldn't be driving the car let alone revving the engine for mud flaps... Call Ford corporate and file a complaint against the dealership. This is why I never took my car back to the dealership. Imagine what they would have done with 750whp on tap.
 

I Bleed Ford Blue

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^^^ This ^^^
 
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kauljp

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You can also try to unplug the negative terminal from the 12v battery for about 10 mins or so to clear out the KAM (keep alive memory) - I suspect that'll reset any learning behavior but you may have to reset your radio stn pre-sets, etc.
How does this work, so presumably if I do this, will it reset all learning behavior from the begining entirely? I would like to do it if it resets atleast what it learnt from the technician's drive. Thank you for your feedback everyone.
 

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kz

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Not sure why they needed to test drive your car after installing mud flaps (and why are you installing mud flaps to begin with but there are weirder things people install on these cars) - you definitely have a right to complain here - but you car is fine and you most likely are telling yourself (or your brain is telling you) that it is different.

Don't baby it, enjoy it.
 
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kauljp

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I want to thank everyone for their feedback, I was very upset about what happened but mostly I was concerned about my engine's health. Everyone reassuring me that my engine's fine has helped immensely. I don't know if reporting ford corporate would help as this was a honda dealership. The ford dealership was far and they couldnt take my car in for a while so I took it to the closest dealership to me and I regret it. Never again
 

kz

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I want to thank everyone for their feedback, I was very upset about what happened but mostly I was concerned about my engine's health. Everyone reassuring me that my engine's fine has helped immensely. I don't know if reporting ford corporate would help as this was a honda dealership. The ford dealership was far and they couldnt take my car in for a while so I took it to the closest dealership to me and I regret it. Never again
You still should complain somewhere - it is your right and completely justified. You're paying them for service. It being a Honda dealership explains a lot - they don't get to see those cars every day, they deal with Civics and minivans like Pilot or CR-V.

Also - I took my car to an autocross event and ran all the way to the limit multiple times 7 days after I picked it up, on temp tags. It's fine, doesn't burn oil, runs great. Hopefully that will give you peace of mind.
 

Sivi70980

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I want to thank everyone for their feedback, I was very upset about what happened but mostly I was concerned about my engine's health. Everyone reassuring me that my engine's fine has helped immensely. I don't know if reporting ford corporate would help as this was a honda dealership. The ford dealership was far and they couldnt take my car in for a while so I took it to the closest dealership to me and I regret it. Never again
<cringe>

Glad to hear you've learned from your mistake although it also could have happened at a Ford dealership.
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