Howdy!

[AirborneVet]

Welcome. I hear that there is a car show down there this weekend. You might want to check it out.

We are both taking a long weekend (4 days) this coming weekend and we are looking for something to do. Car shows are cool and all but it will have to be really really good to keep us in Sierra Vista; this place is not exactly kicking with excitement

Thanks for the heads up though

[Casey39er]

Know what you mean dude. Spent a couple years there at Fort H. and got the heck out of Sorry Vista every weekend I could.

[4Jenna]

Welcome!

-Chris

[Ruckus46gt]

welcome to the site. I'm oversea's with a bunch of people form 82nd right now.

[El Jefe]

Welcome. Check out www.DesertStreetCars.com as well. Some Sierra Vista guys on there but mostly Tucson

How could you sell the Cobra for a GT!??!!

[AirborneVet]

How could you sell the Cobra for a GT!??!!

Well, the truth of the matter kinda hurts...

I bought the '04 Cobra new from an SVT dealership in Raleigh, NC, and shortly thereafter a long, sad, angry tale of drama ensued that ultimately resulted in me getting an attorney and the car being purchased back by Ford under the NC Lemon Law.

Yes, I had an '04 Cobra that was a genuine Lemon. Ford gave the option for a vehicle swap instead of them buying it back, but by the time all the legal mess was done there were no brand new ones left that were close enough to me to make me happy, and as we all know there was not an S197 Cobra available in the '05 model year (when all this was going on). I didn't swap it for the '06 GT though, I actually bought it later on down the road.

I'm sure someone will ask what went wrong, and it's a really long list of things to be honest. I will go ahead and tell the nutshell version of the story though, and how I learned that you do NOT buy a car like that with 230 miles on the OD. You never really know what went on during those 230 miles...

At about 1,000 miles the motor developed a bottom end knock. I had not tracked or modded the car in any way. The worst that this car had seen from me was passing aggressively for the fun of it, and that's about it. Multiple visits to the dealer(s) (I switched on advice from Ford once), with anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks downtime each visit (thank goodness that SVT offered free rentals for warranty work then) resulted in no fix. In the meantime, between visits, the ABS lit up after the first visit (never fixed), brakes literally failed twice (half-assed repair once, fixed the second time), the rear end started groaning at highway speed (never fixed), upper radiator hose blew off that the tech forgot to put the clamp on, which blew coolant through the heat extractor on the hood and all over the damn windshield, 1st and 2nd quickly got progressively harder to put into gear, etc, etc.

In about a 6-month window the car was in the shop about 3 of them. The only thing ever actually fixed was the brake issue - leaking hose at a caliper that the tech "tightened" the first time (fail) and replaced the second time. The dealer eventually told me that they didn't want to see me again. I confronted the service manager about it and he accused me of abusing the car, showed me warranty claims on the car where there had been 2 clutch sets, 1 replacement transmission, and a replacement center chunk (the whole differential) from the IRS had been replaced on the car. Problem was, and little did he know at the time, that all of that work was done by the original selling dealer BEFORE MY PURCHASE DATE AND WITHIN THAT FIRST 230 MILES.

Needless to say, I quit talking to the dealers and started talking to a lawyer. Ford asked me what would make me happy with the car and I said that the only thing that would really make me happy at that point would be for them to replace basically the entire drivetrain in the car, new engine on back, and I thought that was pretty reasonable to be honest. They wouldn't go that route so I sued and won.

In hindsight I do not blame Ford though - it was the original selling dealers fault. I don't know what really happened there but I envision the owners son joyriding in the thing for a few weekends and "daddy's dealership" fixing the harm done under warranty. The tires were in fine condition, so for all I know they were putting stickies on it and having a blast. Either way, even if they loaned it to some "loyal customer" for an extended test drive, 2 clutches means the idiot alarm was sounded at least twice, and on top of that was that I, the ultimate buyer, was not notified of any of the repairs during the purchase process. Who the hell runs a Car Fax on a brand new car?

Well, so much for the nutshell version, it still boils me a bit to this day. And considering everything that actually went on, this still is a nutshell version. They spoiled me forever for any car salesman I deal with now; I go over a new car like an Arab checking for his wife-to-be's virginity.

[AZSonicSnake]

welcome aboard!!!


::edit::

wow!! sorry to hear about your cobra. i got mine with over 40k on it 3 years ago, and though i knew it had been beaten before i bought it, its held up well. guess some just don't take it as well as others. sorry to hear about your troubles.

[RockysMom]

Welcome Welcome :)))