Vista Ford in Woodland Hills Doesn't Respect It's Customers' Cars

Let's start from the very beginning, over 11 years ago. Here we go.... (this might take a while).

Flashback to the Spring of 1997. My now ex-wife had her 1995 Toyota Camry into the Vista Auto Body Shop for some bumper repairs. She was rear-ended in a minor highway fender bender on the 101 freeway. The day we were to pick up the Camry from the bumper repairs, we received a call from the body shop manager at Vista advising that our Camry was in a major accident and that the car was now a total loss due to the nature of the accident. What? It was just in for a bumper re-alignment and color skin replacement, a half days work. Why would such little damage now be considered an un-repairable "total loss" ?!?!

Well, it turned out that one of the Vista Auto Body Shop workers decided to take our newly repaired car our for a little joy ride, for cocktails, during his lunch break, 11 miles from the shop, without a driver's license resident documentation or other legal proof of US citizenship. Vista refused to provide any other information, citing "insurance rules", on the name of the person who was driving tour Camry at the time of the accident. They did tell me the employee no longer worked for them 3 days later.

Since the car was totaled, Vista and their insurance company offered us a minimal discount on a then brand new 1998 Ford Taurus. We liked the idea of having a new larger car to replace the Camry, but were not too thrilled of the minimal discount they offered. After 10 days of back and forth haggling, plus our final threat to report Vista and their insurance company to the State of California Bureaus of Auto Repair and Insurance, they finally offered us a decent settlement which in effect gave us full high Blue Book value for the now destroyed Camry, and the new car for $4.25k USD less than their printed invoice. They also paid for our car rental until we had a settlement with them (from their own rental stock of course) Whew! That experience was behind us.

Slide forward to early 2002. I purchased a new 2001 Ford F150 XLT truck from Vista Ford. I got a pretty good deal, but only very marginally so compared to another dealership. They had no idea of my past experience with them 5 years earlier.

Slide forward again to Fall of 2006. I buy for my new wife a new 2007 Lexus IS350 from Vista Lexus (same dealership). I pay cash and opt in for the 7 year bumper to bumper service policy in addition to an additional 7 year bumper to bumper extended warranty.

Our relationship with that dealer had been good to great ever since. But something happened this morning that really has me thinking twice about my relationship with Vista Ford/Lexus.

Flash forward to the present, today about 9:10 am. I was riding my bicycle down Ventura Blvd taking part in my 3 day a week workout regime. I was about 1 1/2 blocks West from the Vista Ford/Lexus dealership itself. I noticed a car engine revving up pretty high, shutting down, and then coasting past me FAST. I turned my head in time to see a white 2007 Ford Mustang speeding to make a left hand turn onto a narrow side street. The Mustang was trying to complete the turn before the on-coming traffic negated the opportunity. The Mustang sped up, and with tires squealing and smoking from the short turn attempt left, the car lost traction and ended up plowing into the building on the far corner of the intersect, narrowly missing the fire hydrant on the corner. The car indeed barely made it by the hydrant which ended up just behind the drivers side door... less than an inch from the Mustang's rear quarter panel.

The damage to the Ford was significant to serious to the right front bumper, fender, hood, front right wheel assembly and hub (seriously bent), light clusters, etc. Pretty much anything that was in the front right corner of the Ford was mangled. After the impact to the building, which itself only suffered some minor chips and cracks, it was a concrete wall with a vertical 4 x 12 deccoratve wood facade, the driver of the Ford just sat in the car and called someone on his cellphone. He never initially got out.

Many people in the surrounding businesses came out and inquired with the driver if he was indeed OK. He kept saying he was, but would still not get out of the car. He made a cellphone call to someone, hung up, and continued to sit in the car, trying to re-start the engine. He said he wasn't trapped and not hurt continually to all who approached and asked. I sat there on my bicycle and continued to watch. I noticed the driver of the wrecked Mustang was avoiding all eye contact to all who were standing around him, at times putting his hand up in front of his face. What the driver didn't immediately see were the 4 to 5 people frantically snapping cellphone and digital camera pictures of him, the car, the building, and all that was interacting among the three. I thought it was strange for him to keep trying to start the car after the accident. He obviously wanted to leave the scene as soon as possible, so I jotted down the 'stang's license plate, car and driver descriptions... just in case.

Two minutes after he placed the cellphone call, and while he was still trying to start the wrecked car, a 2007 silver Ford Focus 4 door pulled up. A man got out of the car wearing a black Vista Ford logo vest. He nervously surveyed the damage, shaking his head vigorously. After a few minutes, the driver of the Mustang finally got out of the car under his own power. Well what do you know, he had a gray work shirt with a Vista Ford logo on the front. The puzzle was starting to solve itself, but I needed to be sure.

I walked the 50 feet to the Mustang, and in an off handed inquiry tone, asked the guy in the black vest if the Mustang driver was test driving the car after some repairs. He quickly responded that the car was indeed being test driven and that he's not sure what happened as the tech attempted to turn left.

I knew what happened. Remember, I actually witnessed the accident, and I pointed out to the guy in the vest (who ended up being Vista Ford's Service Manager so he says) that the skid marks left by the mustang started 150 ft plus from where the impact occurred, and that the car left braking and acceleration marks transferring the tire skidsmarks from the single rear drive side mark (acceleration) to the 4 wheel skid marks (braking) the last 40 feet. As a former sheriff's deputy, I've seen this before... and it usually gets written off as a diver exhibition of speed and unsafe turning movement infractions. But what laws were broken are not important here.

Now I began to wonder. Over a period of ten years now, I have either witnessed or experienced first hand the way Vista Ford/Lexus allows its service techs and body repairmen to treat their customers cars with little or no respect. One has to wonder as to how many other vehicles the Vista Dealership services get treated in the same fashion.

I rode my bike down to the Vista Dealership, which was only 1 1/2 blocks away to the East, and spoke with the Sales Manager (the Service Manager was unavailable, guess why). His name was Charles and he listened to my concerns with great intent and assured me that the treatment of customer vehicles, being serviced or not, it always done with great respect. I told him I had a very hard time believing that - and he agreed with me after I told him my experiences. I thanked Charles for his time and rode the bike back to the scene. I noticed that even though the car was still on the curb and into the side of the building, the police had not shown up... 40 mins after the accident. More guys from Vista Ford had shown up. I watched as one of them seriously banged his right knee on the fire hydrant while trying to move the Mustang from the scene. I wanted to complete my workout so I left continuing West down Ventura Blvd, the direction I traveling before the incident. I rode by en-route back to the office about 35 minutes after that and they were just starting to get the car off the sidewalk.

So somewhere out there is the owner of a 2007 white Mustang (6 cyl) who, by later today, will be told their pride and joy has been in a serious accident... and that it may or may not be repairable. Personally, if the car is totaled, they better get a new car just for Vista's sheer incompetence in handling a customer's property.

I am really thinking twice now about continuing my relationship with what I thought was one of the better car dealerships in the San Fernando Valley. You might consider the same as well if you do after sale/service contract business with them.

My Highway A-hole Experience with Prime Time Shuttles Los Angeles

You know this company. They are one of many airport livery services that specialize in transporting the casual or business traveler from their home or office to one of several Southern California airports, harbors, bus or train stations.. and back again. This particular company has the dark red vans with the white lettering stenciled on all sides that says in big block letters PRIME TIME.

I have personally used this particular airporter company for almost 20 years now, usually to and from LAX. Overall I have been happy with their service and promptness. Todays rant doesn't hinge on my customer experience with them however. Nope, today I was just another vehicle and another driver.

I had to run into the Torrance Fry's Electronics store to return a hard drive enclosure. I had bough an extra one for a project I was doing and discovered after I got back to work I didn't need it afterall.

As I walked across the always stiffeling Fry's lot returning to my vehicle at about 1:37 pm, I was about 100 ft from where I parked my vehicle. I looked up to see one of the Prime Time shuttles parking next to my driver side door. The driver of the very large red passenger van pulled into the stall rather quickly - which is what drew my attention to it in the first place. His driver side door opened just as a 'thud' was heardas the driver hopped out. A mere 2 seconds later my vehicle alarm went off. I started to walk quickly to my vehicle to see what kind of a damage I had taken. For my alarm to have gone off, it would of had to be a substantial hit.

The driver of the ran around to the back of his van and across it's rear to the Fry's entrance probably because the alarm was now howling. He was walking in a very hurried pace, almost running. I approached from the front of the van and scooted up to the space between our vehicles. I discovered that indeed he opened his driver side door into my vehicle's left rear quarter panel (I had backed into the parking spot). I immediately ran around the the rear of the van as well towards the driver and called out to him "PRIMETIME DRIVER!", but that caused him to hastened his pace as he dashed up the steps to the Fry's enterence and bolted in. This particular Fry's is a big place and it's packed with people. I had no clear description of the man other than he was about 5'-6" or so with black hair and was wearing a medium blue colored jacket with an even darker pair of slacks. I saw no reason to cause a scene, chase the guy down or search the store looking for him. He would probably just deny it was his van anyways if I did find him.

At this point I knew he wasn't going anywhere without his van and I had some time to kill, so I decided to wait for him to come out. Forty minutes had passed and no sign of him. At this point I needed to get back to work, so I made note of the Primetime Van number ( van 570 ) and it's CA license plate number ( CA license plate 7F27247 ). As I drove back to work, I called the 1-800-REDVANS number on the side of the van and talked to a gentleman named I believe Roger. He then transferred me to "the person who takes care of the driver complaints".

After a few rings it became obvious that the person in charge of driver complaints was either overwheled, or had just stepped out for lunch. It was now 45 minutes since the incident. I left a voice mail message and provided details about the incident, providing van number and license plate info. That was yeasterday. For not returning my phone message within 24 hours, Primetime Shuttles are Highway A-holes.

So far, I have heard absolutely nothing from the company aasking about more details or anything one would want to know. You would think that a company would want to find out the specific details of the event before they get handed a small claims summons. So because of their office not responding in a timely fashion, they might be expected to appear in Los Angeles Superior County Courts Department 232 for a date of appearance bewteen May 5th and 9th 2008.

I'll keep you posted.

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APR 04, 2008 - 4:25 PM PT

Up to now, I have not heard back from anyone at Prime Time Shuttles corporate offices, where I last left a message advising them of the incident. I called the number and extension as I did before and left another message essentially stating that if I did not hear back from them soon, I will move forward taking whatever steps are necessary to claim my damages from that day.

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MAY 29, 2008 - 11:52 AM PT

Due to a lack of response by Prime Time Shuttles over this incident, a small claims suit was filed last week. They were served the papers at their corporate offices on MAY 28. The court appearance date is JUN 27, 2008.

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JUNE 3, 2008 - 10:09 AM

Received letter from judge finding in my favor to the amount of $1000. Primetime Shuttles didn't even show for the court date. Now the process of collection begins.

Ready or Not California, Hands-free Cell Phone Usage Will Be the Law

It's not a suprise to anyone. Drivers all over the State of California have been told for over a year now the days with a cellphone plastered to their ears while driving are numbered.

Coming this JUL 01, 2008 all users of cell phones must use a hands-free device while driving anywhere in the state, as in on any public road, highway, freeway or interstate. Wired, speaker/mic, Bluetooth... it doesn't matter so long as you can keep both hands on the wheel without being encumbered by holding the phone itself up to your head. I like engadget's take on the issue.

Now if anyone thinks that this will put a definative deterrent on people driving like Highway A-Holes, they are terribly wrong. I see more A-Holes showing up on the highways and byways of this state. I blame the "new cool" factor for the potential upsweep.

But there's another issue.

The experts (whoever they are) say that it's not the action of holding the phone up ot the ear that's been the contributing factor to being unsafe while driving, but rather the actual mental activity of focusing on a caller's voice and responding that really causes the problems associated with driving and cellphone suage. It appears that a driver cannot fully fuction safely while driving and talking on the phone in any way - hand's free or not.

So let's review;

- Driving with a cellphone up to your head while driving is not safe.
- Drivers utilizing a handsfree device to use a cellphone when driving is also not safe.
- The State of California says drivers have to use a handsfree device when using a cellphone.

It's all coming clear now, isn't it?

9 Year Old Boy Dies, and Why the Amber Alert System Sucks

On MAR 19, 2008, a 9 year old boy and his 11 year old friend were playing in a vacant lot near their homes in Bakersfield, CA. Sometime during this happy time the 11 year old ran to his parents and authorities reporting that the 9 year old was shot, and subsequently abducted by, a black clad man driving a dark colored Honda Civic with one white door. Authorities in the area instantly issued an Amber Alert and the statewide electronic sign displays along almost all interstates and major freeways lit up. Amber Alerts, with these electronic signs, provide basic information to highway drivers alerting them to keep and eye out for the car and child, and to report any sightings to the local authorities or California Highway Patrol.

In this particular instance, the original report of the 9 year old being kidnapped was very much incorrect. A few hours later it was determined the poor lad had been playing in the vacant lot with the 11 year old in a tunnel they were digging under a derelict concrete slab, leftover from an old construction. As the 9 year old was inside this tunnel it collapsed, trapping the boy under many hundreds of pounds of earth and concrete pieces. A tragedy for sure, especially since the 11 year old initially panicked and told an un-truth about what really happened to the 9 year old - that is the 9 year old being shot and abducted - and not a victim of earthen entrapment. The 9 year old perrished under the tunnel collapse. Perhaps if the 11 year old had told the truth about what happened right up front the 9 year old could have been saved. We will perhaps never know. Our hearts go out to the 9 year old's parents, family and friends for his passing.

But what allows this sad story to be doccumented here isn't what the two boys were doing, or the actions of the 11 year old to not tell anyone what really happened until it was too late. What make this one filed under HIGHWAY A-HOLE status, is that the people who run the Amber Alert system totally fell down in managing the info to the highway motorists. How you ask? Read on.

The 11 year old reported the false shooting and abduction to Bakersfield authorities between 10:15 am and 10:30 am. The Amber Alert for the "abduction" was on the highway message boards by 10:45 am. Local news agencies had the story on the wire services and local TV news by 12:00 noon.

The sad relevation as to what really happened to the 9 year old was confirmed by approximately 3:05 pm as his body was located and excavated in quick time by urban rescue teams from Kern County, the county Bakersfield is in.

The problem however, is that the Amber Alert remained up and on display throughout the Southern half of CA until 7:20pm - that's over four hours AFTER the 9 year old was recovered, which is when the Amber Alerts should have been cancelled and removed from the highway sign displays.

When an Amber Alert is displayed on these very large, very bright highway signs, cars passing always slow down to read them. This causes traffic to slow to a speed one half of normal way before, to just past, the Amber Alert displays. When an Amber Alert is displayed during one of Southern CA's rush hours - like between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm - traffic flow is destroyed to a very slow crawl.

Now I can totally understand displaying Amber Alert messages during rush hour if there is truely an active abduction in process. The authorities should do whatever possible to find abductors and abductees. But when an incident has been resolved for a period of time nearly longer than the total running time of the films "Ben Hur" or "The Ten Commandments" combined it's un-excusable.

I think that for not performing due dilligentce to the law agencies involved in the tragedy, as well as to Southern CA commuting drivers, the people who run the Amber Alert system should be considered, for at least one day this week, Highway A-Holes.

Also, thanks to the falsely extended Amber Alert, my commute from Sunset Blvd N to the 101 freeway W, a distance of less than 6 miles, took 1h 9m to complete. It normally takes about 16 minutes to travel the same distance that same time of day.

The UK Strikes Back at Highway A-Holes.

Well I'll be damned! The UK might finally be taking the issues of Highway A-holes serious after all. 10 MPH on the M32? If you can't handle a stretch of road where everyone else regularly drives upwards of 60 MPH, stay the Hell away from it! And no, it doesn't matter if she had a medical condition. If the condition hinders her ability to drive SHE SHOULDN'T DRIVE! Enough rant, here's the Reuters story;

LONDON (Reuters) - A woman banned from driving for seven days after traveling at speeds of less than 10mph on the motorway told Reuters on Friday: "that road's my nemesis." Stephanie Cole, 58, of Fishponds, Bristol, straddled the hard shoulder and inside lane as she dawdled along a stretch of the M32 near her home last August.

In the back window of the car was a sign which said: "I don't do fast, please overtake".

Cole admitted driving without reasonable consideration at North Avon Magistrates' Court on Friday and was told she would have to take another test at the end of the ban.

"I didn't intend getting onto the motorway, but all of a sudden I found myself on it and I could not get off," she told Reuters after the hearing.

"I just panicked. I hate that particular stretch of road and I avoid it normally. It is my nemesis."

Cole had been traveling from her home to a stationer's when she was arrested in her Perodua Kenari mini people-carrier.

"I thought "thank God" when I saw the blue flashing lights," she said. "I thought they could help and I asked them if they could drive me home."

Cole, who has multiple sclerosis, said she depends on her car for getting around.

"I will try and retake the test," she said. "I will have to do my best when driving, and hope it is better than it was."

JANUARY 3, 2008 @ 11:31AM - NB 405 at Mulholland Drive

Happy New Year, let's hope 2008 is a year with fewer Highway A-holes affecting our lives.

I know, it's been a while. But today's sighting was an obvious one - and one I had not seen in a few months.

Asian lady in another beige Honda Accord. Interstate 405 NB just before Mulholland Drive. She was driving in the fast lane at a blistering 40 MPH. A reasonable speed if the road is packed with traffic. But when everyone else is cooking along at a 65 MPH clip. the Honda is a hazzard, and the Asian woman driver a Highway A-hole.