So I picked up my RS from Metro Ford in Miami. Please, if you need to service your Ford, don't go there. Let me tell you about my experience.
First off I drove to the dealer and noticed a nitrous blue RS waiting to get serviced right before me. I saw the owner right away because he was eyeing my car as soon as I pulled in. I got out of my car and ended up talking to him right before walking in the door. My soon to be new friend, let's call him Zeke, was trying to warn me about this dealer. I listened to his story about how they were to do some warranty work replacing his PTU seal and received his car with scratches on the door, dirty seats, and flywheel chatter as if he got an update to a diesel tractor. He was there to see if they ever got an not engineer from Ford to take a look at it. But it seems that Metro Ford was less than helpful in that aspect.
I was a bit worried. But wanted to still use this dealer for my replacement catalytic converter. I mean it's just a remove and replace of an exhaust piece, right? Also this is the closest dealer to my house and my normal dealer I go to is 50 min away near my old job where I no longer work.
I decided to go inside and talk to the service advisor anyway. She couldn't tell me how long it would take, which is fine, but she couldn't tell me when they would look at the car or an estimate of how long it would take to diagnose the error code. Ok, you guys are busy, but I just wanted to know if I should bring it back another time, of get a loner car. Nope. No loner car it an idea of time to when they would look at my car. Just leave my car and maybe I'll get it back.
Whatever.
I ended up talking to my new friend Zeke for a couple hours in the parking lot about cars. It so happens we have a bunch of connections to each other that we didn't know about. He offered to give me a ride back to my place since he happened to live near me.
4 no answers, 2 messages, and 4 days later, I finally get a call. We just ordered the new catalytic converter and should be arriving the next day. I asked how long it would take to install, she still had no clue.
Of course not. And still no offer for a loner car. I asked, and she said, of you should have it soon. Wtf?
The following week, I call. No answer. Left a message. No call back. Thursday arrives. She calls and tells me they can't install it because they need their "tranny guy". Either their main tech is non gender or the first tech is just incompetent. She proceeded to tell me that they need to drop the trans to get to the catalytic converter. They need only one more day. She finally offered a rental for me.
Friday comes, I call and the service advisor tells me that it should be done the following week.
Really? But no commitments when it would be done. Of course. Is this a cable guy where it would be done between the days of 3-1 month? For a catalytic converter replacement?
Of course, Tuesday comes and it's finally done.
So I returned my fancy red Focus SE back to Enterprise and got my ride back up the dealer.
Up until this point I've been worried after the story that Zeke told me about his car getting serviced at this dealer. I didn't want them to touch my transmission and fuck up my car. I still have a head gasket to worry about.
I look at my car. I walk around it, looking for scratches or missing panels. It seemed fine. I get into the car and take a deep breath and start it.
It sounds normal. I push in the clutch. No change in noises. No chatter from the fly wheel. Thank goodness.
I drive off. Boy I forgot what it's like to drive there RS! I smiled like it was the first time driving it off the dealer when I first purchased it. Check the clutch, everything is good.
As I get home I notice that I smelled something familiar. Like a burning smell, but not alarming. I remembered it was the smells from when I first got the RS. I was breaking in the catalytic converter.
The smell of a new cat.