Took car in for alignment, left with burned clutch

[ice445]

UPDATE
Weeelllll, I filed a claim with my insurance, Firestone’s insurance, and I’m in contact with a lawyer. At my sister’s recommendation, I reported the shop to Bureau of Automotive Repairs since that shop has had complaints before. All of these parties now have the dash cam footage and the service invoice.

Now, I’m dead in the water until the 23rd when Ford gets a chance to look at it. I requested a full inspection and notified them of why it needs it. I sent the footage to the service manager so he knows what to expect and his reaction of “geez that doesn’t sound good” doesn’t give me hope of an easy fix.

I’ll update the situation on or around the 23rd when I find out what the damage is. Thanks guys for your great suggestions and support. Situation sucks and I’m glad you guys feel my pain.

It's gonna need a clutch and then it will be fine. Maybe a trans drain and fill to be extra safe. The clutch plates are probably glazed at the very least.

The only problem is without removing the trans, there's no real way to tell. So in order to confirm it, you're pretty much already doing the job.

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[opengl]

Saddened to read what happened. Becase of this, Im gonna program my spare as a mykey to use for service calls and I’m programming it for a “teenager”. I think you can set some parameters like top speed , always on traction controls and radio volume but won’t help with bad driving. Glad you had the dashcam to support your case.

None of that would do anything to prevent clutch abuse like this.

 

[DougS550]

I assume you have firearms at the ready now if you didn't before.

Your house should be set up, so that your never more than two seconds away from a FA, within your house or garage. Just food for thought.

 

[Thomas]

Your house should be set up, so that your never more than two seconds away from a FA, within your house or garage. Just food for thought.

I need….more guns to accomplish this. I’ll be sure to reference this post as a reason for the purchase(s). I may need you to help convince WA’s AG I violated our “weapons ban” with only the best intentions.

 

[DougS550]

I need….more guns to accomplish this. I’ll be sure to reference this post as a reason for the purchase(s). I may need you to help convince WA’s AG I violated our “weapons ban” with only the best intentions.

What country do you live in?

 

[WD Pro]

It's gonna need a clutch and then it will be fine. Maybe a trans drain and fill to be extra safe. The clutch plates are probably glazed at the very least.

He's got to get the brakes done too - the 'tech' on the video has already kindly diagnosed that for him ...

WD

 

[Johnny Rockit]

Your house should be set up, so that your never more than two seconds away from a FA, within your house or garage. Just food for thought.

Pistols. Pistols to get to your rifles. FA makes the pants get tighter until you have to load more mags.
ETA: By FA I am assuming you mean full auto.

 

[luc]

Friendly reminder that an alignment doesn’t require a test drive.

Yes and no, test drive is usually done to verify that the steering wheel is centered after the alignment
So i will say it’s needed.

 

[DougS550]

Pistols. Pistols to get to your rifles. FA makes the pants get tighter until you have to load more mags.
ETA: By FA I am assuming you mean full auto.

No, fire arms. No reason for me to go full auto.

 

[Dana Pants]

Yes and no, test drive is usually done to verify that the steering wheel is centered after the alignment
So i will say it’s needed.

If the tech uses a steering wheel holder and verifies the wheel is centered at final measurement, that’s the end of the story. Source: I do alignments, have never had a wheel off center.

 

[luc]

If the tech uses a steering wheel holder and verifies the wheel is centered at final measurement, that’s the end of the story. Source: I do alignments, have never had a wheel off center.

So you’re better than most… want to know how many times i had to crawl under a car to play with the tie rods because the steering wheel was off by a few degrees after an professional alignment?

 

[bankyf]

Friendly reminder that an alignment doesn’t require a test drive.

As a shop owner, not test driving after an alignment without a really good reason is a fire-able offense. I can't imagine any shop's procedure would not require a test drive.

 

[DougS550]

If the tech uses a steering wheel holder and verifies the wheel is centered at final measurement, that’s the end of the story. Source: I do alignments, have never had a wheel off center.

Agree, I just had one of my cars aligned and had them center the wheel, no test drive nessasary. Never has an alignment shop drove any of my cars after aligning.

 

[Superspirit]

As a retired auto tech. I drove every vehicle I aligned. If you don't want it test driven buy the machine and do it yourself! I had a boss that test drove every car that was aligned. If he couldn't let go of the wheel and drive a half mile without touching it. Back on the rack it went. That's all he ever did before buying a shop so it was his way of feeling important. But also if you don't drive them how do you know if there is anything else wrong that could cause a problem for the owner. The whole thing comes down to finding a reputable shop that you can trust.

 

[traxiii]

Normally I do wait, but after dropping it off at 230pm (my scheduled appointment time btw) and being told they wouldn't even get it to until 330 at the earliest, I went to lunch with my Dad. Either way, it happened down the street and around the corner so the only benefit would've been seeing it come back smoking and I'd still be in the same boat I'm in now. I was tempted to beat myself over it like it's my fault but the only thing I could've done differently would be demanding to ride along with a test drive if it was required or forbid the test drive in the first place. Had I known they were going to test drive it, I wouldn't have been comfortable with it. The last time I took it there for an alignment, there was no test drive so the thought never occurred to me.

Should have had a pizza delivered to the Firestone and ate there.

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