CONTACTS 
0201 - S & C Ford                         415 553 4400 fax or 800...
020101 - Mr. Carl Redling; Service Advisor; Service Department     =Telephone/fax

SUBJECTS
Millie's Mercury Sable, 940423
Re-inspect brakes, tire inspection, Service
Tires, Replace 2 General Tires with Unocal,
Change Oil, safety check
Transmission

0707 -    ..
0708 - Summary/Objective
0709 -
070901 - Follow up ref SDS 26 0000, ref SDS 23 0000.
070902 -
070903 - Had car serviced, included brake inspection which showed no apparent
070904 - problems, but transmission required service, so we did that.  Replaced
070905 - windshield wipers.  S&C forgot to give us the sticker for the next
070906 - service.  Received response from Charles Mori on the tire failure.
070907 - Advised that Charles analysis seems to conflict with the tire tread
070908 - report issued today.
070909 -
070910 -     [On 970127 sent letter on flat tire problem. ref SDS 27 9655]
070911 -
070912 -
0710 -
0711 -
0712 - Discussion
0713 -
071301 - Talked to JD.  He wrote up a report for Barbara Stone.
071302 -
071303 - I asked that the windshield wipers be replaced.
071304 -
071305 - JD suggested a brake inspection.
071306 -
071307 - I asked when the last inspection was performed.
071308 -
071309 - JD looked this up and reported it was done at 47K miles.
071310 -
071311 - Our records show this occurred on 960724, ref SDS 17 9742, as reported
071312 - on S&C invoice at ref DRP 3 5681.
071313 -
071314 - JD feels the mileage now at 53K warrants another inspection.
071315 -
071316 - I agreed to this.
071317 -
071318 - Actually the inspection on 960724 was found to be in error, and was
071319 - corrected in a follow up inspection on 960802, ref SDS 20 6822, as
071320 - reported in the invoice ref DRP 4 8500.
071321 - ..
071322 - I asked that service include a report on tire tread wear since
071323 - that is necessary for the warranty on the Hankook tires S&C sold us to
071324 - replace a failed General tire on 951009. ref SDS 7 5511 960724  On
071325 - 960724 S&C forgot to do this inspection and it required rework to
071326 - accomplish the required inspection. ref SDS 17 0085
071327 -
071328 -     [Tire inspection is reported below. ref SDS 0 3333]
071329 -
071330 -
071331 -
0714 -
0715 -
0716 - 1202 called S&C
0717 -
071701 - The receptionist said the car is ready to be picked up.
071702 -
071703 - I asked about the windshield wipers because they are not listed on
071704 - the Workorder JD prepared.
071705 -
071706 - The receptionist said the invoice does not show that S&C replaced the
071707 - windshield wipers.
071708 -
071709 - I asked her to have this work performed.
071710 -
071711 - She said I have to talk to the service supervisor.  She said her
071712 - records show it is Carl Redling.
071713 -
071714 - I noted that the Workorder lists Barbara Stone as the service
071715 - supervisor.
071716 -
071717 - She said Barbara is at lunch, so I have to talk to Carl.
071718 -
071719 - I agreed, since Carl has helped us a lot.
071720 -
071721 - She said I have to hold for Carl because he has another call.
071722 -
071723 -
071724 -
071725 -
0718 -
0719 -
0720 - 1215 Carl came on the line
0721 -
072101 - He will add a windshield wiper to the invoice and have the work done.
072102 -
072103 -      This work is shown in the invoice at ref DRT 2 0759.
072104 -
072105 - I asked if I can pick up the car in about an hour.
072106 -
072107 -
072108 -  ..
072109 - Transmission Service
072110 -
072111 - Carl said that is enough time to do the windshield wiper work, but the
072112 - mechanic noted that he found fluid leaking from the transmission. Carl
072113 - advised that S&C recommends a transmission service which replaces the
072114 - gasket, a filter and replaces the transmission fluid.  He said it
072115 - costs about $130.  He will try to get it done for us for $99.  The
072116 - work will take an hour after the mechanics return from lunch.
072117 -
072118 - I agreed to the work at the $130 quote.
072119 -
072120 - Carl said the work should be be completed by 1500.
072121 -
072122 -
072123 -
0722 -
0723 -
0724 - 1553 picked up car
0725 -
072501 - Talked to Carl and he put me in touch with Ron who performed the work
072502 - on the car.
072503 -
072504 - Ron showed me the transmission gasket that was replaced.  He said the
072505 - cuts in the gasket occurred during replacement.
072506 -
072507 - I asked if the condition of the gasket warranted replacement?
072508 -
072509 - Ron said he believes the gasket is sufficiently warn to require
072510 - replacement, as evidenced by the leak he observed reported in the
072511 - invoice, ref DRT 2 4444, per above discussion with Carl? ref SDS 0
072512 - 7872
072513 -
072514 - Ron showed the filter that was replaced with the service. There was no
072515 - evident damage to the filter. Ron wiped his finger across a metal
072516 - surface and showed it is covered with an oily substance, as would be
072517 - expected for a filter of transmission oil.  It was not clear if this
072518 - substance was different from what it should be if the filter did not
072519 - need to be replaced.
072520 -
072521 - Ron explained this filter is smaller and has a different bracket.  He
072522 - was unable to explain how the new design improves upon the prior
072523 - version, but indicated his belief that it is a better filter, apart
072524 - from being new.
072525 -
072526 - I was very pleased with his help and impressed by his expertise.
072527 -
072528 -  ..
072529 -
072530 - Millie pointed out that they forgot to give us a next service
072531 - sticker.
072532 -
072533 -      [On 970211 received sticker calling for next serviced at 56587
072534 -      miles, ref SDS 28 9976]
072535 -
072536 -
072537 -
072538 -
0726 -

SUBJECTS
Brakes

0804 -
080401 -  ..
080402 - Brake Inspection
080403 -
080404 - Follow up ref SDS 20 6822.
080405 -
080406 - The reading on the brakes today is
080407 -
080408 -           FRONT BRAKES HAVE 6/32 LEFT
080409 -           REAR HAVE 8/32 LEFT
080410 -
080411 -   ...per ref DRT 2 4462.  On 960802, ref SDS 20 6822, S&C's inspection
080412 -   showed:
080413 -
080414 -           front 8-32
080415 -           rear 10-32
080416 -
080417 -   ..., and Carl hand wrote that 2/32 is the approximate time to
080418 -   replace brake linings. ref DRP 4 8500
080419 -
080420 -
080421 -
0805 -
0806 -

SUBJECTS
Millie's Mercury Sable, 940423
Replace 2 General Tires with Unocal, 961214
Safety Checks
Tires

1407 -
140701 -  ..
140702 - Tire Inspection
140703 -
140704 - Follow up ref SDS 26 8896.
140705 -
140706 - Per request above, ref SDS 0 1440, S&C's invoice shows...
140707 -
140708 -             TIRES HAVE 9/32 OF TREAD LEFT
140709 -             REAR HAVE 7/32 OF TREAD LEFT
140710 -
140711 -     ...and mileage of 53587 per ref DRT 2 4462.  It is assumed that
140712 -     the 9/32 reading is for the front tires, since there are only two
140713 -     choices.  At the inspection on 960802 when the mileage was 47211
140714 -     the invoice shows:
140715 -
140716 -             LF 8-32 LR 8-32 RF 9-32 RR 8 32
140717 -
140718 -     ...per ref DRP 4 3277.  This seems to compare with the reading
140719 -     today, 970121 per above, as follows:
140720 -
140721 -             LF 8-32 RF 9/32
140722 -             Both rear tires have 8/32 of tread left.
140723 -
140724 - Since the tires have not been rotated, because we just installed new
140725 - tires on the front, it appears that the rear tires have worn 1/32
140726 - since August, from 8 to 7, over a span of 6,000 miles, based on S&C's
140727 - invoice report, while the failed tire wore 8 or 9 32nds, 800% more.
140728 -
140729 -
140730 -  ..
140731 - Why Did General Tire Fail on 961214?
140732 -
140733 - Since S&C reported in the invoice dated 960802 that the front tires
140734 - had respectively 8 and 9 32nds of tread life, which was equal to or
140735 - greater than the tread life reported for the rear tires, how could the
140736 - right front tire wear out, as occurred on 961214, ref SDS 24 6892,
140737 - without the other tires incurring comparable wear, since all tires
140738 - performed the same level of effort, i.e., 6000 miles on the same
140739 - vehicle?
140740 -
140741 - Would not General Tire, or any tire manufacturer, wonder why one of
140742 - its tires experienced accelerated wear to complete failure from 8 or 9
140743 - 32nds over a 6000 mile exposure, when other tires only incurred a 1/32
140744 - wear, as shown by S&C's report?  Would they not be interested to know
140745 - what formula or manufacturing method enabled the other tires to
140746 - avoid failure, or alternatively what caused accelerated wear, as seems
140747 - to have occurred here?
140748 -
140749 - General Tire should advise if its testing shows that its tire can
140750 - change from 8 or 9 32nds to no tread during the time when the other
140751 - three tires experience a 1/32 tread wear, a difference of 800%.
140752 -
140753 - One explanation is that tread wear was inaccurately reported.
140754 -
140755 - Perhaps the older General Tires had less than 8 and 9 32nds of tread
140756 - life remaining on 960802, or perhaps the Hankook tires had more than
140757 - than 8 32nds of tread wear on 960802.  Normally it would be expected
140758 - that tires 3 years older and with 30K or so more miles would have less
140759 - tread than newer tires.  So, maybe there is simply another error in
140760 - capturing the record; except S&C's invoice says:
140761 -
140762 -        These are the correct readings SA 5 previous brake reading were
140763 -        not correct.  Todays readings are in fact accurate.
140764 -
140765 -    .., ref DRP 4 8500, referring to brake inspections, and thereby
140766 -    indicating a heightened focus on accuracy the day these readings
140767 -    were taken.  Was a special effort made to be correct for brake
140768 -    readings but not for tread wear?
140769 -
140770 -
140771 -  ..
140772 - Safety Inspection, Defective General Tire
140773 -
140774 - Received ref DRT 1 from Charles Mori responding to ref DIP 4 issued on
140775 - 961214, ref SDS 24, and to ref DIP 5 issued on 961227. ref SDS 25ref SDS 25 9976
140786 - and so may have been issued prior to receiving my letter, ref DIP 5.
140787 -
140788 - In any case it is unclear why S&C would not have our correct address,
140789 - since all of their invoices are correctly addressed, see for example,
140790 - ref DRT 2, and since our correspondence has our correct address.  On
140791 - the other hand a busy executive may not have used the company's
140792 - contact data base, and may have instead copied the address incorrectly
140793 - from another source.
140794 -
140795 -
140796 -
140797 - Adjustment Due from General?
140798 -
140799 - Charles indicates in his 961227 letter that no further action is
140800 - needed on the tire failure problem because it occurred at 50,000
140801 - miles. ref DRT 1 9987
140802 -
140803 - What is the expected or warranted mileage of these tires?
140804 -
140805 - Work with S&C on 951020 to correct an earlier problem on the other
140806 - General tire shows that Generals are warranted for 60,000 miles, not
140807 - 50,000, which Charles cites. ref SDS 8 2146  This is the same warranty
140808 - as the new Royal tires installed to replace the Generals on 961214,
140809 - ref SDS 24 9555.  The General Tire warranty replaces free of charge
140810 - including mounting and balancing, if there is a failure within the
140811 - 60000 mile warranty period, ref SDS 8 4209, as seems to have occurred
140812 - here. ref SDS 24 6892
140813 -
140814 - Charles' letter does not indicate whether General Tire was notified of
140815 - this record, i.e., that two of its tires failed prior to 60000 miles,
140816 - and that a tire wore 8/32s during the same time and over identical
140817 - conditions when three other tires wore only 1/32, as reported above.
140818 -
140819 -
140820 -  ..
140821 - Improving Preventive Maintenance
140822 -
140823 - S&C does not explain how the preventive maintenance effort can be
140824 - improved to avoid system failures through better inspection, as
140825 - discussed with Barbara on 951009. ref SDS 7 9533 and ref SDS 7 6937
140826 -
140827 - There was an inspection on 961104, when the mileage was 50200, see S&C
140828 - invoice ref DRP 5 4723.
140829 -
140830 - What did S&C observe on 961104 concerning accelerated tread wear on
140831 - this particular General tire?
140832 -
140833 - S&C's lack of notice on 961104 suggests the General tire failed over a
140834 - span of 1000 miles without any noticable difference in tread wear
140835 - between it and the other tires on 961104.  Is this really likely, or
140836 - was there an oversight?  How can we help improve upon this record?
140837 -
140838 - One approach would be for the S&C mechanic to review the record of
140839 - prior inspections, to ensure continuity in the data.
140840 -
140841 -     [On 970127 submitted warranty claim. ref SDS 27 9655]
140842 -
140843 -
140844 -
140845 -
1409 -