Clarkson sends back his Ford GT!

[Jack_Bauer]

Seems the reality of owning a full-blown supercar does not quite live up to the fantasy! After endless problems with the immobiliser and alarm system he phoned Ford and asked for his money back. Amazingly they said yes, and even lent him a DB9 while he finds something else he likes. I doubt very much whether they'd be so generous if he wasn't a national TV and newspaper motoring journalist. :rolleyes:

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-1677058_1,00.html

I can't help thinking it would've been a lot easier for him just to get the whole alarm system taken out and replaced with something more reliable, instead of just throwing his toys out of the pram and demanding his money back.

[dydzi]

Amazingly they said yes, and even lent him a DB9 while he finds something else he likes.

as far as i remember he was given focus diesel before :p

it's a shame that the car the he waited so long for is crap

i wonder how many people will by ford gt now :rolleyes:

[johnnyperl]

buy a supercar from a supercar-maker


I wonder how many people will by ford gt now :rolleyes:
doesnt matter, they're sold out. I talked to a dealer here who said they sold theirs for over $300,000!

[pimento]

Ford are probably hoping he'll buy the DB9 with the refund.

[Cotterik]

oh deary me, thatll surely be a highlight on top gear tonight. What a disaster..

[Egg Nog]

What a picky bastard :)

[Niko_Fx]

i wonder how many people will by ford gt now :rolleyes:

Like if him crying over the alarm system would stop me from getting one.

[my porsche]

he will obviously get an f430, read this month's top gear

[TheOne]

its all cause he doesn't like american cars..........don't you guys see on the shows where he bashes american cars all the time?:)(EDIT: forgot to add flame suit)

[Matra et Alpine]

its all cause he doesn't like american cars..........don't you guys see on the shows where he bashes american cars all the time?:)
You confuse "bashing crap" and "bashing American".

Shame that for sooo many cars they are one and the same :)

You can't take factory immobilers OUT of modern cars, they are linked to the ECU and in this case the anti-theft system.

As most Ford GT owners won't actually drive their cars for any great distances (if at all) then the isues JC had with his won't bother 99% of them !!!!!

No comment on Top Gear from him abotu it. My daughter came up with the most plausible reason for that. Ford proabbly told him he coudl ONLY get his money back as long as he doesnt' slag them off :)

[car_fiend]

No comment on Top Gear from him abotu it. My daughter came up with the most plausible reason for that. Ford proabbly told him he coudl ONLY get his money back as long as he doesnt' slag them off :)

that might be tha reality of it. its sounds like a legitimate reason to me , but, hey we're all opt to our own opinions.

[Rijoh]

buy a supercar from a supercar-maker



:)
I agree completely :)

[matek]

I can't help thinking it would've been a lot easier for him just to get the whole alarm system taken out and replaced with something more reliable, instead of just throwing his toys out of the pram and demanding his money back.

well without it the insurance would have more than doubled, all supercars in england have them, but obviously this car wasn't very compatable with it :p

[ruim20]

I would have bought the DB9 and saved all that bother in the first place :D

[h00t_h00t]

No comment on Top Gear from him abotu it. My daughter came up with the most plausible reason for that. Ford proabbly told him he coudl ONLY get his money back as long as he doesnt' slag them off :)

I'm sure he'll forget that as soon as he gets his money. :cool:

[ruim20]

I'm sure he'll forget that as soon as he gets his money. :cool:

He already has the money, ford are giving him some time to think it over, it's really a shame that a "supercar" is spoiled with something that small, i mean, should all supercars be perfect, all parts the best there can be... how come ford put a lousy alarm on this car, this car isn't even suppost to make a profit, it's an image product, how could someone make such a decision and put a bad product that could spoil the rest...

[KeRmIt]

they need a decent mechanic or auto electrician to fix the friking thing thats all... ford wasnt even fixing the cars in the first place it was another company which was fixing the alarm.... i dont no i think he over did it but i guess if all the fords are doing it then theres something wrong.... or maybe the car just didnt like him ? :)

[Jack_Bauer]

they need a decent mechanic or auto electrician to fix the friking thing thats all... ford wasnt even fixing the cars in the first place it was another company which was fixing the alarm.... i dont no i think he over did it but i guess if all the fords are doing it then theres something wrong.... or maybe the car just didnt like him ? :)

The company in charge of the servicing are Roush, who are reknowned as a specialist high performance Ford engine tuning outfit. I doubt whether they know much about the finer points of advanced alarms and tracker systems. It was a bit harsh for Clarkson to call them "incompetent" as it really isn't their line of expertise. Ford probably chose Roush for their experience in dealing with extremely high performance engines, not extremely high performance immobilisers!

[spi-ti-tout]

I'm very sorry to sound stupid but what does an immobilisers do? Is it like a handbrake which doesn't let the car to go anywhere?

[Radoman]

^^^An Immobiliser kills the engine. It's part of the security system, obviously.




He already has the money, ford are giving him some time to think it over, it's really a shame that a "supercar" is spoiled with something that small, i mean, should all supercars be perfect, all parts the best there can be... how come ford put a lousy alarm on this car, this car isn't even suppost to make a profit, it's an image product, how could someone make such a decision and put a bad product that could spoil the rest...


Because it's ford. They suck at making cars.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

It is an electronic device that disables the Ignition unless you have the exact key. Trust me, there a bitch to try and remove or replace (Our jeep took 2 weeks, a Specialist car like the Ford GT, god knows)......

And if they aren't working, the car is basically undriveable.

[targa]

i would tell them to fix the bitch and give it back

even if that meant puting in a new one, for free

[Vindesh17]

my dad wanted to buy one of these cuz he also wanted one when he was younger. is this just a problem with the UK version of the car or is it a model wide problem?

[KELSA]

hahaha, welcome to the ford "prestige" owner ship experience program, no shit how much trouble i had with the eleanor after got the big block, other electronics fitted by a ford designated workshop.

within two month of delivery, on my service log book, 3 fuel system failures (dies in the middle of the road, cannot start the car, towed it home or to workshop), twice immoboliser problem wouldn't start the car in my house (tow to the shop, it was cheaper to tow there than get one of the dickheads out), once radiator blew (WTF) lucky the engine didn't blow just died and i parked on the side. and the last one, it die on a downhill right turn without power brakes and power steering, i pretty much did the same thing picked up the phone and yelled at the workshop who fix my cars for something they clearly didn't fix.

last September i put on the ads and just wanted to get rid of it, i advertised for $85K AUD, which was almost 40% of what i paid, funny thing was no one actually brought it. as i was doing the road worthy from a shop down in Calton, they asked why i was forced to sell it, and i told them the problems, and the mechanic said he'll have a crack at it. then two days later i got a phone call, and went to pick it up, he hand me over the immobolizer and said he did a little something in the car, which i had no idea what the hell it was. the only thing i care about was i paid $140 for his "service", and i brought a made in china $75 alarm and immobolizer from ebay and he installed for $50. and the car never had a problem till now. i had a offer for my eleanor at $220K AUD, and i said no, love it too much.

althrought i sworn that's the only ford i'll ever have and they are just a big peice of junk, but then again, sometimes it could be just a tiny little peice of thing that stuff the whole car up. I knew a Diablo SV which for some strange reason switch off all electronics while you're driving on the road (yikes)! number of times goes to the workshop, no one could fix it, until some apprentice found a little sensor that was bugared, only $50 for the part, and problem solved!

sorry guys for my blahbing on, but i totally understand what this guy is going through, if it was me i'll take the car somewhere else, and it might have been just a tiny little problem, and he'll have smile on the face for a long time to come, he's complaining, god knows how many time i did what Nick Cage did in the movie "start Eleanor, i need you, i need you"!

[nota]

I guess the above is a good definition of perceived value. I think a cheap Mustang might represent good value, but less sure about one for ± AUD$200k :eek:

[targa]

hahaha, welcome to the ford "prestige" owner ship experience program, no shit how much trouble i had with the eleanor after got the big block, other electronics fitted by a ford designated workshop.

within two month of delivery, on my service log book, 3 fuel system failures (dies in the middle of the road, cannot start the car, towed it home or to workshop), twice immoboliser problem wouldn't start the car in my house (tow to the shop, it was cheaper to tow there than get one of the dickheads out), once radiator blew (WTF) lucky the engine didn't blow just died and i parked on the side. and the last one, it die on a downhill right turn without power brakes and power steering, i pretty much did the same thing picked up the phone and yelled at the workshop who fix my cars for something they clearly didn't fix.

last September i put on the ads and just wanted to get rid of it, i advertised for $85K AUD, which was almost 40% of what i paid, funny thing was no one actually brought it. as i was doing the road worthy from a shop down in Calton, they asked why i was forced to sell it, and i told them the problems, and the mechanic said he'll have a crack at it. then two days later i got a phone call, and went to pick it up, he hand me over the immobolizer and said he did a little something in the car, which i had no idea what the hell it was. the only thing i care about was i paid $140 for his "service", and i brought a made in china $75 alarm and immobolizer from ebay and he installed for $50. and the car never had a problem till now. i had a offer for my eleanor at $220K AUD, and i said no, love it too much.

althrought i sworn that's the only ford i'll ever have and they are just a big peice of junk, but then again, sometimes it could be just a tiny little peice of thing that stuff the whole car up. I knew a Diablo SV which for some strange reason switch off all electronics while you're driving on the road (yikes)! number of times goes to the workshop, no one could fix it, until some apprentice found a little sensor that was bugared, only $50 for the part, and problem solved!

sorry guys for my blahbing on, but i totally understand what this guy is going through, if it was me i'll take the car somewhere else, and it might have been just a tiny little problem, and he'll have smile on the face for a long time to come, he's complaining, god knows how many time i did what Nick Cage did in the movie "start Eleanor, i need you, i need you"!has anyone called for the Egg Nog test yet?

if not, i am right now

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Only about 6 times now.

It's unbelieveable, but true.

[targa]

damnit, i see why people like his and LovinVanquishS' post counts are so low

[ScionDriver]

Wow that is one of the saddest things I have ever read and that blows for Ford. And JC. Poor guy.

[Spastik_Roach]

he's complaining, god knows how many time i did what Nick Cage did in the movie "start Eleanor, i need you, i need you"!

Best movie begging ever.

[r1ckst4]

Poor JC.... his dream of owning a ford gt40 is shattered...

i'd be as mad as JC to the mechanics, JC paid a sh!t load of money for the car and the freakin thing breaks all the time. Those guys deserve the bad name...

[6'bore]

Wow it's ashame that the car is so crap. But form the June edition ofTop Gear magazine, he will be trying to buy the Ferrari F430.


So, is the Ferrari F430 better than the Ford GT? Of course it is, it's better than everything.

From the June Edition of Top Gear, to end his review on the Ferrari F430.

[6'bore]

hahaha, welcome to the ford "prestige" owner ship experience program, no shit how much trouble i had with the eleanor after got the big block, other electronics fitted by a ford designated workshop.

within two month of delivery, on my service log book, 3 fuel system failures (dies in the middle of the road, cannot start the car, towed it home or to workshop), twice immoboliser problem wouldn't start the car in my house (tow to the shop, it was cheaper to tow there than get one of the dickheads out), once radiator blew (WTF) lucky the engine didn't blow just died and i parked on the side. and the last one, it die on a downhill right turn without power brakes and power steering, i pretty much did the same thing picked up the phone and yelled at the workshop who fix my cars for something they clearly didn't fix.

last September i put on the ads and just wanted to get rid of it, i advertised for $85K AUD, which was almost 40% of what i paid, funny thing was no one actually brought it. as i was doing the road worthy from a shop down in Calton, they asked why i was forced to sell it, and i told them the problems, and the mechanic said he'll have a crack at it. then two days later i got a phone call, and went to pick it up, he hand me over the immobolizer and said he did a little something in the car, which i had no idea what the hell it was. the only thing i care about was i paid $140 for his "service", and i brought a made in china $75 alarm and immobolizer from ebay and he installed for $50. and the car never had a problem till now. i had a offer for my eleanor at $220K AUD, and i said no, love it too much.

althrought i sworn that's the only ford i'll ever have and they are just a big peice of junk, but then again, sometimes it could be just a tiny little peice of thing that stuff the whole car up. I knew a Diablo SV which for some strange reason switch off all electronics while you're driving on the road (yikes)! number of times goes to the workshop, no one could fix it, until some apprentice found a little sensor that was bugared, only $50 for the part, and problem solved!

sorry guys for my blahbing on, but i totally understand what this guy is going through, if it was me i'll take the car somewhere else, and it might have been just a tiny little problem, and he'll have smile on the face for a long time to come, he's complaining, god knows how many time i did what Nick Cage did in the movie "start Eleanor, i need you, i need you"!

How the hell did talking about JC end up in you bragging about your car, and you in a totally different situation. This car is brand new form the factory, your isn't. You have done things tourself to your car, he hasn't. I mean what relevence does the Diablo have?!

[Rockefella]

How the hell did talking about JC end up in you bragging about your car, and you in a totally different situation. This car is brand new form the factory, your isn't. You have done things tourself to your car, he hasn't. I mean what relevence does the Diablo have?!
Look at the Aussie Forums, they start off talking about V8 Supercars, and end w/ which beer tastes the best or something. It's a forum thing, a topic hardly ever stays on course.

[clutch-monkey]

How the hell did talking about JC end up in you bragging about your car, and you in a totally different situation. This car is brand new form the factory, your isn't. You have done things tourself to your car, he hasn't. I mean what relevence does the Diablo have?!
if you can't see the relevance read it again :rolleyes:

[IBrake4Rainbows]

I resent that.......







So, What beer do we all like? :p

[Rockefella]

So, What beer do we all like? :p
Foster's of course. ;)

[johnnyperl]

...i did what Nick Cage did...
JC should've done what Cage did...

[matek]

i thought that u would have said guinnes :D

[Matra et Alpine]

i thought that u would have said guinnes :D
For Rocke "old peculiar" woudl have been more fitting :)
http://members.lycos.co.uk/hoary/Theakstons_OP.jpg
:D

[spi-ti-tout]

Attachment system!!! :p

[Wouter Melissen]

Attachment system!!! :p
What are you talking about? It's perfectly fine to post images inline as long as they are less than 801 pixels wide.

[RS6]

Because it's ford. They suck at making cars.

Not in Europe they don't.
;)

[matek]

he he u r so right european cars :p

they'll go 10 miles further than the american cars before it breaks down but 10 miles less than the japanese :p

[Prius]

well, I'm not suprised that Clarkson sent his GT back, because I heard that is is so unreliable that Ford demanded that dealors never let anyone test drive it, they have to buy it to drive it!

[IBrake4Rainbows]

well, I'm not suprised that Clarkson sent his GT back, because I heard that is is so unreliable that Ford demanded that dealors never let anyone test drive it, they have to buy it to drive it!

I suppose this is another anti-ford rant, Prius.

He's perfectly entitled to, if he wants, get his money back, but I doubt if he was just someone other than a Journalist it would happen.

Then again, the resale they could do is incredible.

[matek]

so what now the 430?

nah for the 140 grand he spent in the end he should find something better shouldn't he? on paper the GT is an amazing car for the money aswell, whata shame owell these rich people they really have a tough life :p

[Prius]

I suppose this is another anti-ford rant, Prius.

He's perfectly entitled to, if he wants, get his money back, but I doubt if he was just someone other than a Journalist it would happen.

Then again, the resale they could do is incredible.

I don't make the news, I just report it. then again, maybe Clarkson's GT was one of the dreaded Lemons. He could of reported it to the Lemon laws, because when you think about it, it was a factory Lemon.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

I don't make the news, I just report it. then again, maybe Clarkson's GT was one of the dreaded Lemons. He could of reported it to the Lemon laws, because when you think about it, it was a factory Lemon.

Heres the thing; Your reporting an Unsubstantiated story that is based upon other web accounts of pissed off people when it comes to "Ford Lemons".

This might be a one off, but it's irresponsible to tar every Ford GT with the same brush. Many Enzo's are fragile cars, and everyone just accepts it, but when it's a Ford you jump on it.

Remember that if you want to be taken seriously.

[matek]

NOBLE M14

now thats what he should replace it with :D

[TheOne]

no no!, he should buy 2 ariel atoms!, 1 for him so the skin of his face goes flyin like in top gear, and the other for me!:).(register as kit car or drive it illegaly in US:))

[Prius]

Heres the thing; Your reporting an Unsubstantiated story that is based upon other web accounts of pissed off people when it comes to "Ford Lemons".

This might be a one off, but it's irresponsible to tar every Ford GT with the same brush. Many Enzo's are fragile cars, and everyone just accepts it, but when it's a Ford you jump on it.

Remember that if you want to be taken seriously.


the only thuing I hate about Ford is the Focus. As I said, maybe JC bought a Lemon, somebody has to be the poor sap that gets the Lemon, and this time it was JC. end of story.

[r1ckst4]

well, I'm not suprised that Clarkson sent his GT back, because I heard that is is so unreliable that Ford demanded that dealors never let anyone test drive it, they have to buy it to drive it!
i dont mean to flame u or anything but where exactly did u get this fact from??? :confused: JC test drove the GT in the US and then he drove the car again on Top Gear. So he had a clear idea about the car's performance and everything... most of the problems he had with the car was just the alarm system... nothing to do with engine what soever.

[BMW325]

As I said, maybe JC bought a Lemon, somebody has to be the poor sap that gets the Lemon, and this time it was JC. end of story.

[ They put £126,000 in my account and sent a man to pick up the car. “Is it the alarm system?” he said. “They all do that.” ]

so now youre saying it was just the example JC had? nope, thats incorrect also.

[2ndclasscitizen]

i wouldn't be surprised if he said to ford, i'll buy the DB9.