Ford pre owned certified means what?

[skywatcher11]

So one week ago my wife and I purchased a 2012 Ford certified pre owned explorer. The car now sits in the drive way my wife refusing to drive it because the A pillar trim on the outer passenger side is halfway off and could easily fly off and hit another car. I'm guessing the dealership isn't going to help me out there.

After test driving it before purchase i noticed the rear brake disk were grooved really bad and brought that up to the dealership and they said they would fix that. Well they did turn the rear rotors but reinstalled the same pads on the newly turned rotor. I have always been told to replace the pads when ever you turn your rotors.

So far as a new to me explorer owner this is not starting out so well. But I'm wondering even how these items that are wrong can pass as a certified vehicle.

 

[NEWPORTNJ]

Did you buy from a ford dealer ? And if you did they did not do a proper vehicle inspection. What is the miles on it ? If they are under you should have warranty. And if not you should have at least 12k or 12month warranty. And or get in contact with crystal from ford she is on this forum to help us she is great at getting help for us with issues.

 

[skywatcher11]

The explorer was purchased from a dealer and has over 60,000 miles on it. Yes I have the 12 month warranty but I'm pretty sure that trim is not covered. It just upsets me to know that these problems can slip by the certified inspection process. Even further inspection i found the ford logo on the grill hanging on by one nut and the other side of it missing the entire retainer.

 

[InspectorGadget]

Sorry to hear your having issues. As NEWPORTNJ said in a previous post contact Crystal here is the link http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/private.php?do=newpm&u=157968

She is with Ford Service and is a great asset to all of us.

 

[Halwg]

Wow, a 2012 with over 60,000 is a LOT of miles. I would suspect that Explorer was a company vehicle, or at least a hard used work vehicle. I would have avoided it like the plague!

 

[skywatcher11]

The higher mileage doesn't bother me knowing it wasn't a company car but used by a single owner to drive to work. Everything here is a long drive to find work. Finding 2012 vehicles just wasn't in the budget and this has extremely well taken care of. I do all my own repairs unless it can covered under warranty. The problems I'm finding are things i think that should have been addressed at the Ford certified inspection.

 

[amd2800barton]

Wow, a 2012 with over 60,000 is a LOT of miles. I would suspect that Explorer was a company vehicle, or at least a hard used work vehicle. I would have avoided it like the plague!

A 2012 vehicle could have been bought in 2011, which would make it 3 years old. Thats only 20,000 miles per year, or an average of a 27 mile trip + 27 mile return drive per day, really not that many. My other vehicle is a 2012 and has just above 55k miles, and it only got driven on weekends for most of last year because I was putting most of my miles on a work-owned vehicle.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

Wow, a 2012 with over 60,000 is a LOT of miles. I would suspect that Explorer was a company vehicle, or at least a hard used work vehicle. I would have avoided it like the plague!

Not sure about Fords but typically fleet/rental vehicles are not eligible for CPO.

IMO, the only real difference between CPO and non-CPO is the warranty that you end up paying extra for as the dealer can ask more because it is "certified". Don't get me wrong, CPO programs have their benefits but consumers easily can be sucked into the idea that a CPO vehicle will have no major issues.

CPO vehicles undergo some reconditioning to restore the vehicle back to original condition, i.e. replacing original equipment such as owners manuals, 2 keys, headphones for DVD player (if equipped), etc. They also go through a more rigid inspection but if you ever look at the inspection checklist, most of the items are of the "inspect/verify" variety rather than repair/replace.

To the OP, I would ask the dealer if the a pillar frame trim is under warranty. Same thing happened to us (but on the driver side) and was replaced under warranty but ours was still under original manufacturer warranty and not CPO warranty.

 

[FordService]

The explorer was purchased from a dealer and has over 60,000 miles on it. Yes I have the 12 month warranty but I'm pretty sure that trim is not covered. It just upsets me to know that these problems can slip by the certified inspection process. Even further inspection i found the ford logo on the grill hanging on by one nut and the other side of it missing the entire retainer.

Hi skywatcher11,

Welcome to the forum! As others have mentioned, I'm the resident Ford Service rep around here, and I'd like to do what I can to help. As a next step, I'd recommend bringing these issues to the attention of your dealership so they can check them out. Once you've received a diagnosis, be sure to come back and post your results. I'll be able to check out ways to help once you've had your visit.

Crystal

 

[blwnsmoke]

Ford CPO has a 1yr/12k bumper to bumper and a 7yr/100k powertrain. It should be covered under warranty.

 

[skywatcher11]

Thanks everyone for your input..... My first step will be going to the dealer Friday and see what they can do to help. From all i have learned from this forum the front pillar trim seems to be a widespread problem. I'm really hoping they don't just lift up the trim and glue it with trim adhesive if they elect to help me. Thank you all again for being so helpful and I will post updates after i visit the dealer.

 

[Halwg]

A 2012 vehicle could have been bought in 2011, which would make it 3 years old. Thats only 20,000 miles per year, or an average of a 27 mile trip + 27 mile return drive per day, really not that many. My other vehicle is a 2012 and has just above 55k miles, and it only got driven on weekends for most of last year because I was putting most of my miles on a work-owned vehicle.

Even 20,000 miles a year is a lot. I put 20,000 - 24,000/ year on my work vehicle and it's driven a lot. I'd stay away from any car driven more than 12,000 - 15,000 miles a year.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Thanks everyone for your input..... My first step will be going to the dealer Friday and see what they can do to help. From all i have learned from this forum the front pillar trim seems to be a widespread problem. I'm really hoping they don't just lift up the trim and glue it with trim adhesive if they elect to help me. Thank you all again for being so helpful and I will post updates after i visit the dealer.

The TSB is very simple. They order a replacement A-pillar. They MUST replace it with new clips. Many of the issues that kept reoccurring was dealers using the original clips which were either broken already or breaking when they were reinstalling it. With new clips, you should not have the problem again.

Even the glueing was mainly dealers originally replacing and not knowing about replacing the clips so when it made noise (vibrated) they used a glue or silicone to secure it. It took a little time for dealers to realize they needed to replace all clips along with the A-pillar.

 

[Miami-Beach]

Not sure about Fords but typically fleet/rental vehicles are not eligible for CPO.

IMO, the only real difference between CPO and non-CPO is the warranty that you end up paying extra for as the dealer can ask more because it is "certified". Don't get me wrong, CPO programs have their benefits but consumers easily can be sucked into the idea that a CPO vehicle will have no major issues.

Actually all my vehicles since the mid 80's [Ford] were all CPO vehicles..All were former rental cars..I put way over 200K miles on all of them [Town Car&Crown Vic] with no major issues..When I sold them [privately] everything worked perfectly even with close to 300K miles.

For the most part they were dealer serviced cause the Ford dealer I was using at that time was awesome and never tried up selling me anything.

I do not fly so end up putting more miles on my vehicle then I like.

 

[skywatcher11]

Update: all it took was a simple phone call and my local dealer ordered the defective parts and said they would do the work with no charge. I'm now sitting in the waiting area while they are installing the new parts and also doing the recall on the steering. So far kudos to my local ford dealer

 

[FordService]

Update: all it took was a simple phone call and my local dealer ordered the defective parts and said they would do the work with no charge. I'm now sitting in the waiting area while they are installing the new parts and also doing the recall on the steering. So far kudos to my local ford dealer��

Fantastic news, skywatcher11! It sounds like your dealership is taking great care of you.

Crystal