In June of 1995 I purchased a 1994 Mercury Cougar. During the first year of operation the transmission had to be replaced. Hayward Ford originally sold me the car, and replaced the transmission. However, I have continued to have the automobile serviced at Lithia Sun Valley Ford of Concord, CA. Therein lies the problem. On the 30k mile service, little was done to the car except possibly check all fluids, however just before I was to pick up the car, I received a call about the serpentine belt needing replacement. This was not part of the warranty.

On the second service (60k miles) the automobile service wasn't completed in a timely fashion, and although I had an early bird appointment, the dealership did not begin to work on the automobile until afternoon on that Friday, therefore I had to accept a smaller rental for the weekend. When service was complete, I had to return the car for oil and water leaks. This was corrected.

This time, I took the automobile in to Lithia Ford for the 90k mile service. The automobile was returned and the paperwork clearly showed that the transmission had been tampered with. However, the service department stated that they only changed the fluids.

My problem is this. The automobile went into the service department with no noticable problems, however, when the car was returned to me with a bill for $1300 which included a new water pump which was not leaking when the car went into the service department, the transmission hesitates/slips when changing from reverse gear to drive, and the spark plugs had not been replaced because the automobile now had cold morning starts (very sluggish).

I complained to the service mechanic and he had me drop the car off in the early bird morning (before opening). The car was not touched till around noon, and after a couple of hours I was called and told that I would have to pay for the transmission to be repaired or replaced. Although I complained that the automobile did not have the problems when it was brought into the shop, the service mechanic said that if I wanted the transmission fixed/working properly, I would have to pay the expense.

Recently this same shop has undergone a complete face-lift. It has expanded and renovated. My worry is that I am being made to pay more than my share of the expense of the overhead remodeling of the shop.

How can I get my automobile back without having to pay all of these additional charges for things that were working fine when the car first went into the shop?