Two Providence residents are left questioning a local car dealer's repair

SM Headline: Controversy involving a local dealership, read more here.

Headline: Two Providence residents are left questioning a local car dealer’s repair

By Brian Petty

A repair made by a Ford dealership in Logan is being questioned by the owner of the vehicle — and an independent technician believes the customer may have a valid complaint.

Providence resident Kathryn Johnson had just turned onto Mountain Road in River Heights when she felt a sudden bump.

“It felt like I ran over a rock,” Johnson said.

The front right tire of her 2013 Ford Focus had jammed into the fender.

The car had been at Wilson Motor Company two days before the accident for a front axle repair — and Johnson believes the dealer may have made a mistake.

“What they told me is the ball joint had fallen out of its socket,” Johnson said. “I’m thinking that in the process of installing the axle they must have kind of jostled it and it just wasn’t secured properly.”

Wilson service manager Lynette Lewis disagreed.

Lewis knew the car — which was purchased at Wilson four months ago — and also knew the technician who had worked on the vehicle.

“It wasn’t even related,” Lewis said. “You don’t touch the lower control arm when you are replacing the axle. The ball joint had popped out of the control arm.”

DeMar Nielsen, who helps customers communicate with Wilson's mechanics, said very seldom do technicians undo the lower control arm to replace an axle because the ball joint is harder to unbolt compared to the upper control arm.

But Ford senior master technician Zac Jenkins, who works at Woody Smith Ford in Rexburg, Idaho, had a different opinion.

Utah, he noted, is a high corrosion state. It's possible, then, that what Wilson's mechanics contend happened is true, "but the dealership would have been able to see it and would have said something about it before it happened," he said. "There are usually warning signs of wear that tell you before it breaks.”

Jenkins also said removing the lower ball joint is the recommended way, by Ford, to replace a front axle.

“There are some trust issues now,” said Johnson's husband, Tyler. “I’m hoping if we talk with someone in management we can come to terms with what has happened.”

Lewis said Wilson always stands behind its work. If a mistake has been made, the staff will admit the mistake and correct it at no cost to the customer, she said.

In this case, however, she said there was no mistake — but she noted that the repair to the Johnsons' vehicle will be covered under the manufacturer’s warrenty.