kmk008
New Member
- Joined
- April 12, 2018
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2015 Explorer Sport
Hello everyone, I wanted to share my latest ownership experience regarding my CPO 2014 Explorer Sport.
When purchased, the liftgate was misaligned which Washington Ford in Washington, PA graciously allowed me to expense the realignment due to the issue existing upon pick up.
Fast forward 7 months and the exterior of my liftgate is rusting from the inside out. Since I have 2 months remaining of the factory corrosion warranty, I stopped by my local Ford dealer, Astorg Ford of Parkersburg. Upon inspection, the manager recognized the issue and acknowledged it was a warranty concern, but said they would not repair the issue due to me purchasing the Explorer from a different dealer. After a call to Ford customer service they advised me to, “visit a different dealer as each dealer is independently owned, and corporate cannot overrule a dealers decision.” This was strike 1 learning that Ford has no accountability over their dealers to perform factory warranty work. Additionally, upon requesting to speak with a manager, I was denied and told one would be informed to contact me. Sadly, no one ever contacted me. Strike 2.
Since I had the time, I drove to another dealer in the area, Matheny Ford. Upon arriving, 3 technicians looked at my liftgate and acknowledged the issue. However, they also noticed that the area that was rusting had been poorly patched and sealed as part of a previous repair that they could guarantee was not a factory job. Upon learning this I realized that the previous owner must have had an issue and patched it up which also lead to my misaligned liftgate when I purchased it.
While clearly this would void the factory warranty regarding corrosion, I bought this Explorer as a CPO vehicle. According to the CPO checklist, all body panels and specifically the trunk/tailgate must be inspected. Additionally, any part that does not meet factory standards must be repair or replaced in accordance with the Ford CPO inspection certification. However, since three Ford technicians were able to quickly identify that this was not a factory quality repair, this obviously went unnoticed during the inspection. Upon discussing this with Ford, there is evidently no accountability regarding the integrity/accuracy of the CPO inspection and certification. Strike 3.
After driving 5hrs round trip to Washington Ford, their sales manager refused to take any responsibility.
I love this car in all regards, but Ford has proven that there is no accountability within their warranty or CPO program. As a result, I personally will not be replacing this 2014 with a newer Ford once I am done with it. While Matheny Ford did provide excellent customer service, the poor attitudes of all other parties involved have sealed the deal that Ford vehicles are not in my future. Hopefully this experience sheds some light to other owners and potential owners of how Ford handles claims and issues.
Essentially, by acknowledging that an improper repair led to the corrosion that was not covered by warranty, Ford has admitted that there is no accountability in their CPO program. Compiled with poor attitudes and customer support, I see no reason to continue support this corporation despite myself holding a large position of Ford stock. Hopefully everyone here has had more positive experiences, but to those who read my story put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself if you would buy another.
Copied below is the review I have left for Washington Ford:
You might seek out a Ford Certified Pre-Owned vehicle in order to have greater peace of mind with the expectation that you will purchase a quality used car. In Ford’s words, “The Ford Certified Pre-Owned Program takes the risk out of buying a previously owned vehicle.”
Unfortunately, don’t expect to pay a premium in return for that quality assurance if the CPO inspection was performed by Washington Ford. On my 2014 CPO Explorer I originally noticed that the liftgate was misaligned the day I purchased the car. According to line item 27, “Doors, Hood, Decklid/Tailgate Alignment”, of the CPO checklist, the liftgate alignment should have been explicitly check and corrected in order to receive certification. This clearly went unnoticed despite being certified as the left side stuck out about 1”.
Fast forward to present day 8mo later and my liftgate has rust bubbles penetrating the exterior. After taking the car to a local Ford dealer, they noticed that the liftgate has been unprofessionally patched (not to Ford quality) and where it was damaged is now experiencing rust. With this information I reached out to Washington Ford since this was not a disclosed issue when the vehicle was purchased despite line item 26 of the CPO inspection calling for a “Doors, Hood, Decklid/Tailgate and Roof Inspection” and being that I had a documented issue with the liftgate previously.
It was requested that I drive to Washington Ford (5hrs round trip) in order for their people to inspect the liftgate. Upon doing so, the sales manager (not a service/warranty manager) looked at the liftgate and claimed that “if the issue is less than the size of a credit card there is no problem.” Furthermore, he stated that he would still pass this vehicle as a CPO car despite seeing the flaws in the repair work. After a 15 minute debate of the sales manager, Kevin, contradicting himself whenever I would question his judgement on the issue, he ended the conversation claiming that he had “customers to deal with,” as if I was not a paying customer of Washington Ford. Ultimately he left me with two options, “trade it in for something we have that you think is clean enough for you, or get on the road.”
To borrow another few quotes from Ford:
“Before you hit the road in a Ford Certified Pre-Owned vehicle, we put every car, truck, SUV and crossover to the test. Only the vehicles that pass our 172-point inspection become
Ford Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles.”
“Before any vehicle can be called a Ford Certified Pre-Owned vehicle,
it must pass a stringent 172-point inspection. Factory-trained technicians recondition any component that does not meet program standards, or they replace it with only new Ford Motorcraft® or Ford Authorized Remanufactured Parts.”
Kevin, the sales manager insisted that these quotes and their interpretations were merely my opinions despite the clear technical language written by Ford Motor Company regarding their CPO inspection.
In conclusion, Washington Ford does not accurately and honestly inspect all of their CPO vehicles. If I could go back in time, I probably would not purchase another Ford due to the lack of accountability dealers are held to, but I ABSOLUTELY would not make a purchase from Washington Ford ever again based on their unwillingness to take responsibility for their shortcomings and treating a customer rudely in addition to being inconsiderate regarding the time and expense for me to make a 5hr drive for them to “inspect” my issue.
When purchased, the liftgate was misaligned which Washington Ford in Washington, PA graciously allowed me to expense the realignment due to the issue existing upon pick up.
Fast forward 7 months and the exterior of my liftgate is rusting from the inside out. Since I have 2 months remaining of the factory corrosion warranty, I stopped by my local Ford dealer, Astorg Ford of Parkersburg. Upon inspection, the manager recognized the issue and acknowledged it was a warranty concern, but said they would not repair the issue due to me purchasing the Explorer from a different dealer. After a call to Ford customer service they advised me to, “visit a different dealer as each dealer is independently owned, and corporate cannot overrule a dealers decision.” This was strike 1 learning that Ford has no accountability over their dealers to perform factory warranty work. Additionally, upon requesting to speak with a manager, I was denied and told one would be informed to contact me. Sadly, no one ever contacted me. Strike 2.
Since I had the time, I drove to another dealer in the area, Matheny Ford. Upon arriving, 3 technicians looked at my liftgate and acknowledged the issue. However, they also noticed that the area that was rusting had been poorly patched and sealed as part of a previous repair that they could guarantee was not a factory job. Upon learning this I realized that the previous owner must have had an issue and patched it up which also lead to my misaligned liftgate when I purchased it.
While clearly this would void the factory warranty regarding corrosion, I bought this Explorer as a CPO vehicle. According to the CPO checklist, all body panels and specifically the trunk/tailgate must be inspected. Additionally, any part that does not meet factory standards must be repair or replaced in accordance with the Ford CPO inspection certification. However, since three Ford technicians were able to quickly identify that this was not a factory quality repair, this obviously went unnoticed during the inspection. Upon discussing this with Ford, there is evidently no accountability regarding the integrity/accuracy of the CPO inspection and certification. Strike 3.
After driving 5hrs round trip to Washington Ford, their sales manager refused to take any responsibility.
I love this car in all regards, but Ford has proven that there is no accountability within their warranty or CPO program. As a result, I personally will not be replacing this 2014 with a newer Ford once I am done with it. While Matheny Ford did provide excellent customer service, the poor attitudes of all other parties involved have sealed the deal that Ford vehicles are not in my future. Hopefully this experience sheds some light to other owners and potential owners of how Ford handles claims and issues.
Essentially, by acknowledging that an improper repair led to the corrosion that was not covered by warranty, Ford has admitted that there is no accountability in their CPO program. Compiled with poor attitudes and customer support, I see no reason to continue support this corporation despite myself holding a large position of Ford stock. Hopefully everyone here has had more positive experiences, but to those who read my story put yourself in my shoes and ask yourself if you would buy another.
Copied below is the review I have left for Washington Ford:
You might seek out a Ford Certified Pre-Owned vehicle in order to have greater peace of mind with the expectation that you will purchase a quality used car. In Ford’s words, “The Ford Certified Pre-Owned Program takes the risk out of buying a previously owned vehicle.”
Unfortunately, don’t expect to pay a premium in return for that quality assurance if the CPO inspection was performed by Washington Ford. On my 2014 CPO Explorer I originally noticed that the liftgate was misaligned the day I purchased the car. According to line item 27, “Doors, Hood, Decklid/Tailgate Alignment”, of the CPO checklist, the liftgate alignment should have been explicitly check and corrected in order to receive certification. This clearly went unnoticed despite being certified as the left side stuck out about 1”.
Fast forward to present day 8mo later and my liftgate has rust bubbles penetrating the exterior. After taking the car to a local Ford dealer, they noticed that the liftgate has been unprofessionally patched (not to Ford quality) and where it was damaged is now experiencing rust. With this information I reached out to Washington Ford since this was not a disclosed issue when the vehicle was purchased despite line item 26 of the CPO inspection calling for a “Doors, Hood, Decklid/Tailgate and Roof Inspection” and being that I had a documented issue with the liftgate previously.
It was requested that I drive to Washington Ford (5hrs round trip) in order for their people to inspect the liftgate. Upon doing so, the sales manager (not a service/warranty manager) looked at the liftgate and claimed that “if the issue is less than the size of a credit card there is no problem.” Furthermore, he stated that he would still pass this vehicle as a CPO car despite seeing the flaws in the repair work. After a 15 minute debate of the sales manager, Kevin, contradicting himself whenever I would question his judgement on the issue, he ended the conversation claiming that he had “customers to deal with,” as if I was not a paying customer of Washington Ford. Ultimately he left me with two options, “trade it in for something we have that you think is clean enough for you, or get on the road.”
To borrow another few quotes from Ford:
“Before you hit the road in a Ford Certified Pre-Owned vehicle, we put every car, truck, SUV and crossover to the test. Only the vehicles that pass our 172-point inspection become
Ford Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles.”
“Before any vehicle can be called a Ford Certified Pre-Owned vehicle,
it must pass a stringent 172-point inspection. Factory-trained technicians recondition any component that does not meet program standards, or they replace it with only new Ford Motorcraft® or Ford Authorized Remanufactured Parts.”
Kevin, the sales manager insisted that these quotes and their interpretations were merely my opinions despite the clear technical language written by Ford Motor Company regarding their CPO inspection.
In conclusion, Washington Ford does not accurately and honestly inspect all of their CPO vehicles. If I could go back in time, I probably would not purchase another Ford due to the lack of accountability dealers are held to, but I ABSOLUTELY would not make a purchase from Washington Ford ever again based on their unwillingness to take responsibility for their shortcomings and treating a customer rudely in addition to being inconsiderate regarding the time and expense for me to make a 5hr drive for them to “inspect” my issue.