Barrie Ford Really Disappointed Me

UPDATE:  This morning I received a message from Barrie Ford about my negative service review and it succeeded to make me more upset than I was.  It was from service guy Brian.  Brian was very upset not that I had a bad experience but that my review reflects badly on him.  Brian said, "I wasn't there when you picked up your car but I'm in charge of your service ticket so it reflects on me." 

The survey I received wasn't asking, "How did Brian do?" The survey asked, "How did Barrie Ford do?" If Brian is in charge of my service ticket then Barrie Ford must expect Brian to make it right either by calling the customer and apologizing &/or talking to the people that were there when I picked up my car and explaining they screwed up.  Brian should NOT be calling me up as if I did something wrong by giving a bad review.

I'm not asking for money back. I'm not asking for something free.  I'm just asking for Barrie Ford admit their fault and say they are sorry.  I'm not an elitist, I don't expect the dealer to kiss my butt when I come to visit because I have performance cars.  I just want them to care for the cars as much as I do.  I want to get my car back and have a feeling it was well looked after.  I did not feel this way when I picked up my car.  I felt like I was another person they needed to get out the door.

Last Wednesday I took my Focus RS into the Barrie Ford dealership because of the head gasket recall.  Barrie isn't close to where I live, it's about an hour from my home and several hours from my work. They had to do a pressure test and kept it overnight.  In the morning informed me that it failed the test and needed the head gasket replaced.  They offered a rental car but I said I’d just drive my Shelby.  Monday afternoon I received a call that it was ready for pickup  So they had the car 6 days.

I arrived Tuesday afternoon and when they brought the car around it was a mess, covered in dirt, water spots, and bird poop.  It also didn’t have a full tank of gas.  What they hell?  Where is the customer service?  I take my car in for a recall so something Ford screwed up.  I don’t use the rental service so saving them money and they don’t even wash off the bird poop??

Mechanically it seems sort of okay.  However since I got it back it seems to sputter a lot when you first start it until the revs drop.  We'll see if that develops into something bad.  Also I asked, "The head gasket change required they change the oil didn't it?" The guy said, "I dunno." "Well is there anything I need to watch out for or should a take it easy for a few miles?" He said, "I don't know. I didn't work on it."  WTF???

Barrie Ford is the only SVT dealership in my area so I suppose they suck up more to the higher paying customers but I bought the high priced Focus RS from them and I have a Shelby GT500 that I might want to trade for another someday.  But after this experience I REALLY don’t know if I will be returning to buy from them.

The GT500 has an airbag recall to fulfill and I haven’t decided if I’m going to take it there or not.  On the one hand it costs them money for free fixes so that’s nice but do I want them touching my Shelby??

My girlfriend has a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander and her dealership in Newmarket is really awful.  They talk down to her, talk her into doing unnecessary repairs, tell her they fixed something when they didn't, etc but even they always wash her car when they give it back.  lol

The Dream: 1968 Lamborghini Miura S

I'm not complaining, I have a couple nice cars.  Certainly nice enough to be happy.  But it doesn't stop you from dreaming of something more.  So what are my dream cars?  The Lamborghini Miura is almost the ultimate for me, and watching an episode of Harry's Garage inspired my to write this.

I love speed but I find when I think what would be the ultimate I tend to dream of beautiful cars rather than fastest.  For me one of the most beautiful is the 1968 Lamborghini Miura S and the Harry's Garage video highlighted one of the best examples. The blue interior is a little weird but still.  Those body lines, the headlights, the clam shell hood and boot.  Just amazing.  I'll link the video below.

The Focus RS Recall Letter

So Ford has finally admitted they screwed up some of the head gaskets on the Focus RS cars.  As I understand it the story goes that the 2.3 L is the same engine  that Ford uses in the Mustang EcoBoost car.  But unlike the Mustang the RS produces much more power and has a slightly different head.  But someone on the Ford assembly line didn’t get the memo so they were using the Mustang head gasket on the RS engines.  This causes under high pressure this causes the head gasket to allow coolant to get into the cylinder causing coolant loss, misfires, white smoke, and in extreme cases hydro lock.

At first it seemed Ford was trying to ignore the issue often blaming the problems on aftermarket performance parts or heavy driving.  However with multiple owners destroying engines as well as individual shops doing their own investigations it became clear the problem was on in Ford’s lap.  This issue was made even more clear when you looked at the part numbers for head gasket replacement.  The Mustang 2.3 head gasket and the RS head gasket replacement were totally different part numbers.  So finally the recall letters happened.

Ford said it really only affected around 45 vehicles so I had my fingers crossed that mine was not one of them.  However a few weeks ago I received my letter.  Now this doesn’t necessarily mean my car has the issue.  It is to be pressure tested to see if they can detect the problem.  This worries me a bit because what if they pressure test it and stress the engine but don’t see a problem, then the test creates issues that appear later. 

Either way it's going to have to wait until the Shelby is out of it's winter storage.  They say in the letter the process could take up to two days.  So if the worst happens I'll need to have something else to drive.  So I'll keep everyone up to date when the time to do it draws near.

Wish me luck.  

Shelby Walk Around

Hey guys.  I realized that since I've been doing the Daily Drive videos I have never really showcased the cars I'm driving.  Mainly I've just been shooting inside the cars.  Since we had a sunny day here in Ontario I thought it would be a good time to start.

I decided to start with the Shelby since it's only got a few more months of road time before it goes to sleep for the winter.  So my girlfriend and I found a nice spot and did a short video.  I hope you enjoy it.

She Thinks I Ordered More Car Parts

A few days ago while I was at work I got a message from my girlfriend Julia telling me that I had received a box from Ford Performance.  I hadn't ordered anything so I was a little confused.  But Julia was more confused.  You see just a few day prior I have paid about $600 on window tinting and protective film for the nose of the RS.  So he was a little upset that I had obviously spent more money.  But I hadn't.

To prove to her I told her I wanted to do an unboxing video to see what's in the box.  I had a pretty good idea what it was but why not make it into a production.  Check out the video below.

So as I expected it turned out to be the RS Owner's kit from Ford.  Frankly I didn't expect to get this because I was under the assumption that the owners kit only went to first year model owners but I guess not.  As I explain in the video I find this all a little confusing.  I bought the RS as a daily driver.  The special car is my Shelby GT500 that lives in the garage but it never came with any Owner's Kit. Also the Ford is cancelling production of the Focus RS in 2018 so there will be only 3 years of RS in North America.  I'm starting to wonder if I'm pampering the wrong car.

Anyway the kit was pretty cool.  Came with a bunch of nice documentation including a glossy with my car's VIN.  It came with a Blu ray about what makes the RS special, and also a weird gearshift knob trophy plaque thing. I was a little disappointed with that.  I mean what the hell do you do with that?  I was hoping it was instead a die cast Focus RS.  Overall it was really nice to get it and also nice to show Julia that I didn't order more parts.  One argument won at least.

New Thrustmaster Wheel for Only $800?!?!

One of the first articles I wrote on this blog back when it was called, "Unhealthy Obsession" was one about video game wheels.  I've got a very old Thrustmaster wheel at home but I'd love to get an updated one for more modern racers like the new Dirt 4.  So it was cool to see Thrustmaster's new offering. However $800?!?  Do you know what $800 could buy for my actual car??

 I'm not going to rewrite the article.  Instead you can read it.  http://kotaku.com

The RS is Now Tinted and Protected

Today I dropped the Focus off at D-Works Tinting and Auto Detailing to have the clear protective film added to the front.  While I was there Mike fairly easily talked me into getting the windows tinted too.  I've been thinking of getting that done so I took the plunge with a fairly dark tint.  I said, "I want it dark but I don't want the cops harassing me about it."  The one he suggested was what he described as the most popular.  I think it looks pretty bad ass.

I really should have taken it to get the protective film added much sooner because there are already several spots that had chips.  Unfortunately there isn't much that can be done about it and the film kind of accentuates them.  But hopefully future ones will be harmlessly deflected away.

The Focus looks so tough with that dark tint I'd really like to get it done to the Shelby as well but I think this concludes my car additions for the summer.

Thanks to D-Works for the great job. Check out the link to see some other examples of their work.
 D-Works Auto Tint and Detailing

Blue Bubble RS Lettering

Bought some blue RS lettering from DMB Graphics in UK.  They are just a little dress up  for areas of the Focus that have the RS logo but it isn't colored.  I got the ones for the rear spoiler which was just gray embossed.  I think the dash of color looks pretty good and matches the blue of the brake calipers. The two in the engine compartment just tie it all together really well.  For about $32 including shipping I don't think that's too bad.

I created a quick little install video just for kicks.  Please check it out.

Episode 2 of the Daily Drive is Live

Just posted episode 2 of the Daily Drive.  This time I'm in Iowa driving the Ford Focus RS.  I talk briefly about Farcry 5, the Focus RS, and show you around my hometown.  I buzz the RS around a few local turns but nothing too crazy.

I feel the vlog is getting better but still has a long way to go.  Added a little music this time and made it shorter.  Still struggling with audio quality using the SJCAM 5000 cameras.  Apparently they have no external microphone port.  UGH!  So I've been bumping the sound in Premier but I need to get this problem sorted out.

Still I feel it's a nice, casual drive around the tiny town of Belle Plaine, IA. where I grew up.  Next episode of Daily Drive I'll be back in Canada on my actual drive to work in Toronto.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted The First Episode of The Daily Drive!

Hey everyone PLEASE check out my first episode of the Daily Drive.  It's a little rough around the edges but I really hope it's something you can find interesting.

In this episode I drive the Shelby, give an overview of my plans for the series, we talk about being an American living in Canada, and how I came to the decision to buy a Shelby GT500.  I do a few small pulls to hear the engine whine as well.

I'd really appreciate if you would check it out.  Feel free to give some feedback.  Give a like if you feel it's worthy.

A Chic Flick for Your Stick Shift

A Few nights ago the girlfriend and I flipped on Netflix and I heard those dreaded words, "Can we watch a romantic comedy? Please?"  So with a sigh I agreed and she started flipping through them, each one seemly just as torturous as the next.  I went and grabbed some scotch assuming I was gonna need it.

Flip, flip, flip, WAIT! Go back.  I saw something that looked interesting.  At least there was a cool car in the thumbnail.  "Hit & Run, A Comedy That Never Takes it's Foot Off the Gas."  Honey maybe this I asked?  She read the description, "Determined to get his fiancee to L.A. to take advantage of an amazing opportunity, Charlie breaks out of the witness protection program to drive her." The genres was exciting romantic.  We were in.  The movie stars Dax Shepard and his real wife Kristen Bell.  For those that don't know Dax is a huge gear head and he wrote the damn thing so fingers crossed.

I have to admit it was pretty damn fun.  Without spoiling anything Dax drives a number of cars while running from his ex-con associates (Bradley Cooper) and a police agent (Tom Arnold). and thank god most of the movie is show on wheels.  The star vehicle is a heavily modified 1967 Lincoln which he claims is cranking out 700 hp.  I don't know but it sounds good.  There are lots of smoky doughnut and maybe the movie helps your partner understand you a tiny bit more.  She loved the movie and hell I'd even watch it again.

Overall terrible chic flick night was covertly diverted.

2020 Ford Bronco Rumors

There has been a lot of hype over the Ford Bronco concepts that have been floating around.  I have to admit seeing them does make me consider trading in the old Hummer.  The word now is that it is officially coming back according to AutoBlog (Link).  There hasn't been any word on what the power plant will be or even what it for sure looks like.  Here are some of the recent renders floating around.  Obviously they are just color swaps of the same render but I like the dark one personally.  Something about a white Bronco just doesn't sit well with me.  Can't put my finger on the reason why.  LOL

The rumors of the Bronco's return isn't a new thing.  A few years ago there was another concept of what the Bronco could be.  Back in 2004 Ford was flashing this concept around and personally I'm pretty happy it never hit production.



So why all the fuss?  Really it's just a less practical SUV with just two doors and less seating.  Well the reason is because people remember the original and see immaculately restored examples like the one below and realize it's just cool.  For me I really like my H3, it's rugged. capable, and unique so I'll be holding on to it for quite some time.  But DAMN! Doesn't the restored one below just make all the concepts look like crap?

Dodge's Latest Mess

Contrary to popular belief I am not a Mustang fan.  Of course I like them enough to buy them but they are not the car I’m always after.  In fact I absolutely hated them in high school.  The big reason I’ve owned so many is that they are fast out of the box and there are endless aftermarket possibilities.  A Mustang can be easily built to be whatever you want it to be.

Before I bought my first Mustang I was primarily a “Mopar of No Car” kind of guy.  I loved Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars.  To me they always seemed like the underdog that Ford and Chevy people wrongfully underestimated.  Once a guy pulled up next to me in my Duster 340 bragging that his Nova had a 350.  In his mind the bigger number mean he would stomp me and he was sadly mistaken.

So then why am I not driving around in a new Challenger or Charger instead of a Shelby?  Because Dodge treats its heritage like garbage.  To charge a few more bucks Dodge with slap R/T on everything from a minivan to a SUV.  It used to be an exclusive badge for performance vehicles meaning road and track, but now it means nothing.  Then Dodge created SRT as their exclusive performance car but of course we started seeing that show up on Ram pickups and even Jeeps.  Now we have Hellcat which has migrated over to Charger and the word is it will be on a Ram soon.  Dodge does not know how to keep something exclusive or special anymore.

So in the tradition of Dodge whoring out their heritage they announced the Challenger T/A package.  For those who don’t know way back in 1970 when things were good Dodge created a T/A variation of their Challenger to be raced in Trans Am races which is where the T/A comes from.  These were high winding small block 340s with what was called a 6-pack which was 3 two-barrel carbs. They were light and had upgraded suspension and brakes.  Today they are fairly rare and expensive cars.

Now with Ford creating the new track oriented GT350 Mustang and Chevy creating the track oriented Z/28 Camaro did Dodge follow suit and resurrect the Challenger T/A to be a track attack machine like in the old days??  Nope.  It’s a stupid sticker package along with intake and exhaust options that don’t change the horsepower numbers at all.  Oh, well surely keeping with tradition they have something special under the hood like a supercharged 5.7-liter or maybe even a turbo V6??  Nope, instead it’s got the standard 375hp 5.7 or the 485hp 6.4 same as all the other Challengers packages.  With the Challenger T/A they had the chance to stay relevant with Ford and Chevy and create their own track attack car to chase after the competition with.  Just like the special small block 340 6-pack engine of the '70s they could have used a turbo V6 or at the very least boosted the smaller 5.7 V8.  But that would take effort, research, engineering and testing to create.  Stickers and badges on the other hand are easy to apply and cost way less.

So this is why I no longer fly the Mopar flag, Dodge just doesn’t try anymore.  They aren’t the scrappy underdog anymore, they are just behind and not in a cool way.  Hell, they took the Charger which was an amazing iconic car and turned it into a 4-banger hatchback and then into a 4 door sedan.  I’m just glad that Plymouth is dead so we don’t see some modern Cuda abomination out there on the streets.



Pics and info courtesy of Car & Driver. 

Rims Or Wheels

People always say wheels when I feel they mean rims.  Maybe this is just my logic but here is how I see it.

No??

There's Yet Another Hellcat... oh Dodge, why?

Why the hell does Dodge have to Hellcat everything in their lineup?  They’ve got the Hellcat Challenger, then came the Charger, then came the Jeep Cherokee, and not they show the TrailCat Jeep concept.  They pimp out that engine to everything.  Have they never heard the saying, “If everyone is special then nobody is?”

Dodge Caliber SRT-4

This is one of the main reason I went with a GT500 instead of a Hellcat.  The Hellcat’s just aren’t as special as the Shelby’s.  Dodge does the same thing with the R/T trim.  Back in the 60s/70s R/T stood for Road and Track.  It meant a car that was just as potent on the road as it is on the track so you needed to watch out.  It was for Dodge’s big muscle cars.  But not they slap it on everything.  You could even get a Dodge Caliber R/T then later SRT.  Now it’s all just a joke and they are doing the same with their new Hellcat engine.

Ford on the other hand has said that the new flat plane Voodoo engine that’s in the GT350 Mustang will be exclusive to that vehicle and will not be found in any other model.  This makes it special and makes the cars with the engine more valuable.  The supercharged 5.8L Trinity engine in my GT500 wasn’t in anything else from Ford.  It was 662hp just for the GT500.  Classy.

UPDATE: ...and now a Hellcat Ram....of course. Shocking.

Car Stories: YouTube Video Series

I uploaded a few videos over on my YouTube channel.  One is about my first speeding ticket and the other is my views on street racing.  I mainly want to see people reaction and see if I want to do more stories.  Please feel free to check them out and leave a comment.  Thanks

GT500 Postmortem: Buyer's Remorse?

I’ve owned several what I would consider to be nice cars.  They were all “every man” cars, nothing too exotic or fancy.  The Mustang is of course one of these, you can count several on almost any drive.  The GT500 is sort of a Mustang but then it isn’t one and purchasing the GT500 had some implications that I did not expect.  What I’m referring to is the way owning one shifted people’s views of me.

I have a group of “car guy” friends and we were all kind of in the same boat, tuning and upgrading what we have and dreaming of something better.  We could all relate to each other and shoot the shit about car culture and what was happening in it.  Then I bought the GT500 and I was kind of surprised to discover I’d been kicked out of the group.  Not literally of course but the attitudes of the guys I used to talk to certainly changed towards me.  Instead of being excited and encouraging about my purchase they had a bunch of jealousy and hatred.  Two people flat out told me they were jealous, another said they hoped I wrapped it around a tree, one said they wished they had my problems, and even my brother said, “I kind of hate you.”

I really never saw this coming.  It’s not like I bought a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, it’s basically just a Mustang with some extra juice.  If I had built my Mustang GT up to 662hp with a bunch for track goodies everyone would be fine with it.  But something about purchasing the Shelby gave people the attitude that I had obtained something that they cannot and therefore I’m an asshole.

Just to be clear I’m not wealthy.  I’m not rolling in cash and on a whim decided to drop a pile of cash on a play thing.  If anyone looked at my budget they would say I should not have purchased it.  I’m going to be paying a lot of money every month for a very long time.  But I made the decision that I wanted to have this and I made the sacrifice to have this huge burden on my budget. 

I’m a car guy, cars are my hobby and passion so I did what I felt I needed to do to make me happy.  I went from a car that I was extremely bored with and a car that really had nowhere to go in regards to tuning and upgrades, to a car with loads of possibilities.  Even in stock form I have so much to learn from it.  And from an investment standpoint it’s a car that could even pass on to my kids for them to sell or whatever.

If I could do it all over again I would not buy the GT500.  Normally I don’t give a crap about what people think or say but these were my buds.  I don’t want them thinking I’m some rich twat dropping bills on whatever I want.  It’s not like that at all.  So I asked the dealer if we could forget the whole thing and just switch it all back.  They were not responsive to this idea so I guess it's mine.

An Open Letter to Chris Harris

Dear Mr. Harris.

I recently found myself suddenly having a great amount of respect for what you do.  I have been an auto enthusiast most of my life and I felt I had a firm grip on the definition of what fast is.  Reading statistics and comparing them to the cars I’ve driven I was sure I could imagine the feeling of hopping into a supercar and taking it around a track.  Having driven a few autocross track days I felt I understood what it takes to get those supercars around a track.  But I recently found myself to be very mistaken.

I just bought a new car, well new to me. I went from my old 2007 Ford Mustang GT and bought a 2014 GT500 Shelby Cobra.  I didn’t test drive it and had it shipped to me.  When it arrived I gave them my old car and just jumped into the GT500 to take it home.  I understood this car is a beast and I expected a change but I was really not prepared for the staggering difference it was.  I won’t go into details but it’s been a long time since a car made me nervous and this car made me fairly terrified.  Trying to get it home in chilly Canada, in the month of February, with summer tires was a festival of screaming engines and tires.  I started getting the hang of it after about an hour and was able to regain a little confidence before I pulled it into the garage.

I’m absolutely certain I would repeat this experience if I got out of my Shelby and into a super or hypercar.  I watched your review of the GT500 Shelby Cobra and you were much more confident in this overpowered monster.  I have so much to learn.  Getting out of my car I thought what you must go through.  For you to show up for a shoot, get into a new car you have no experience with, and blast it around a track the way you do is amazing, and you do it while fully expressing how the car feels to the camera.  The amount of mental stress and adrenaline you surely endure must be wonderfully exhausting.

I truly admire your work, your attitude, and the professionalism in your car reviews and videos.  I look forward to learning what my GT500 has to teach me about my driving skills this summer, and I look forward to seeing your amazing track work with my new understanding of fast.

Thank you.

Chad Bordwell