Ford Dealer doesn't want to cover warranty :(

[onestout]

I went to change my oil at 60k and check things over and while doing this I saw that I had a leak at the front passenger side axle. Ok, I'll call the dealer and have them fix it, the car is still under the 60k powertrain warranty and it says that seals are covered. I call the dealer and tell them my mileage and the issue. They said they didn't have any opening for 1.5 weeks with the holidays. Ok, but I need to take my family to see family over the holidays and it will get more miles on it and then be out of warranty. They said no problem just bring it in and see me next week when we have the appointment. Today I bring it in and now the dealer doesn't want to cover it. They confirmed the issue (the axle seal) but that the miles show it out of warranty. I asked about the call we had last week and that it was in warranty then and you said it wouldn't be a problem. Nope, nothing they can do, they said I would have to call Ford to figure it out.

What a useless dealer, Hudson Ford in Hudson WI.

 

[onestout]

oh, great first post....I hate the negative trolls but this is first hand experience that I am dealing with right now and it is BS. Now I won't have the car back until after Jan.1....Wish I had this experience before I bought my 18 F150, it wouldn't have been a Ford.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
Did you take this up with the dealership manager or just the service people? You might try contacting a customer service rep. They used to monitor this Forum but left about 2 years ago. Here is the contact info they always posted. They would get in touch with the Regional Customer Service Manager. Results were mixed.
FORD SERVICE

p: 800.392.FORD
t: @FordService @Ford
f: facebook.com/FordExplorer facebook.com/Ford

In hindsight, it may have been a good thing to take it in and have them verify or just open a work order with the mileage at that time.

 

[onestout]

They did open the work order and are not denying that it was in warranty then, but they didn't have anyone to look at it. The service manager at the dealer doesn't want to cover it plain and simple, even made the comment that I don't bring my vehicles in for enough service. I called the Ford service line and the case is open. I just want a copy of the service report with it in writing that they are denying the claim to share with others, not much else I can do at this point. Wish I had my car for the weekend, it shouldn't be this big of a PIA to get warranty work done.

 

[Mlarv5]

First off it is Not Ford denying the work it is your dealer is. You went on vacation knowing you would be over mileage when you returned. So here are a few things you can do
Open a case with Ford
Have dealer note how many miles out of warranty you are

Do you have proof of how many miles you went after your call to the dealer? If so make sure you keep it and show dealer and have them submit it to Ford.

You are bashing a company because of a dealer that is doing their job. They could repair your EX and not get re-payed by Ford for warranty work. Or have you open a case and alert Ford of the problem and see if they will take care of it under warranty.

You are the one who went over the miles any way you look at it. You could have dropped the EX off at the dealer and took a rental for your trip. Yes I have done this, (just returned my rental yesterday with 2200 miles I didn't put on mine). Or what you should have done is go to the dealer and have them note the mileage at the time, so when it came time for the repair they could have proven to Ford you where covered and get the warranty payment from Ford.

As for your F150 purchase did you buy it from the dealer you have servicing your EX? If not then why would a dealer go out of their way to service a customer that doesn't buy from them?

Not trying to bust on you just pointing out a few missed opportunities.

 

[peterk9]

In his last post he mentioned that a case was opened.

Peter

 

[KayGee]

Gone are the days of yore when a person's word was worth something. Never, ever trust any dealer based on a verbal conversation, unless you can legally record the conversation as evidence.

Wish you the best of luck.

 

[onestout]

First off it is Not Ford denying the work it is your dealer is. You went on vacation knowing you would be over mileage when you returned. So here are a few things you can do
Open a case with Ford
Have dealer note how many miles out of warranty you are

Do you have proof of how many miles you went after your call to the dealer? If so make sure you keep it and show dealer and have them submit it to Ford.

You are bashing a company because of a dealer that is doing their job. They could repair your EX and not get re-payed by Ford for warranty work. Or have you open a case and alert Ford of the problem and see if they will take care of it under warranty.

You are the one who went over the miles any way you look at it. You could have dropped the EX off at the dealer and took a rental for your trip. Yes I have done this, (just returned my rental yesterday with 2200 miles I didn't put on mine). Or what you should have done is go to the dealer and have them note the mileage at the time, so when it came time for the repair they could have proven to Ford you where covered and get the warranty payment from Ford.

As for your F150 purchase did you buy it from the dealer you have servicing your EX? If not then why would a dealer go out of their way to service a customer that doesn't buy from them?

Not trying to bust on you just pointing out a few missed opportunities.

Already mentioned that a case was opened. The problem is a dealer that isn't doing their job, they are supposed to take care of the customer, not give them the run around. They aren't disagreeing that it was in warranty when the ticket was opened so I don't understand how taking it to them would have changed anything, please explain. They just won't cover it now that they have the vehicle.

As for my F150 I didn't purchase it from them (the EX was), they couldn't get the truck I wanted and also said they didn't want to order the truck I wanted, so I had to go to another dealer.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Already mentioned that a case was opened. The problem is a dealer that isn't doing their job, they are supposed to take care of the customer, not give them the run around. They aren't disagreeing that it was in warranty when the ticket was opened so I don't understand how taking it to them would have changed anything, please explain. They just won't cover it now that they have the vehicle.

As for my F150 I didn't purchase it from them (the EX was), they couldn't get the truck I wanted and also said they didn't want to order the truck I wanted, so I had to go to another dealer.

I am not saying it is your fault as the dealer should have never said it was ok to wait after you are past your mileage.

The warranty is black and white for term and mileage. Unless a Work Order was created prior to you going over the mileage, the dealer has to enter the current mileage when you dropped it off and Ford would not cover it. This is the dealer screwing you, not Ford. They should have opened a W/O (not just make an appt) so the proper mileage qas entered whem the issue was brought to their attention.

Hopefully Ford will cover it for you but this is strictly on the dealer. Shame on them for pulling that crap.

 

[onestout]

This is just a bad dealer but since they are a Ford dealer they are a reflection of Ford. The dealer is what can make or break your name in an area, I have a bad Ford dealer near me forces me to buy something different (they didn't used to be this way but I was starting to suspect something when they weren't willing to order a new vehicle). When I worked at a dealer (heavy equipment) something like this would have never been an issue, we took care of it and sent the customer on their way, we then went back to the OEM to get our money back. We always had very happy repeat customers and never lost money on warranty claims. If Ford dealers are worried about Ford denying a claim like this then Ford is part of the problem.

 

[blwnsmoke]

This is just a bad dealer but since they are a Ford dealer they are a reflection of Ford. The dealer is what can make or break your name in an area, I have a bad Ford dealer near me forces me to buy something different (they didn't used to be this way but I was starting to suspect something when they weren't willing to order a new vehicle). When I worked at a dealer (heavy equipment) something like this would have never been an issue, we took care of it and sent the customer on their way, we then went back to the OEM to get our money back. We always had very happy repeat customers and never lost money on warranty claims. If Ford dealers are worried about Ford denying a claim like this then Ford is part of the problem.

Fortunately for me, I can separate a bad dealer from a bad product. They are not the same thing so for me a bad dealer does not make me shop for a different product, it makes me shop for a better dealer.

 

[VCFP153]

Fortunately for me, I can separate a bad dealer from a bad product. They are not the same thing so for me a bad dealer does not make me shop for a different product, it makes me shop for a better dealer.

Particularly since our friend lives in the greater Twin Cities area where Ford dealers are outnumbered only by ****roaches, and even then not by much.

 

[Mlarv5]

I know you stated a case was open. Then you also stated you would not have bought an F150.

"oh, great first post....I hate the negative trolls but this is first hand experience that I am dealing with right now and it is BS. Now I won't have the car back until after Jan.1....Wish I had this experience before I bought my 18 F150, it wouldn't have been a Ford"

I was just pointing out what you should do now. Step one is done.

How many miles over are you? I have not seen it stated yet, I might have missed it.

Documentation is your friend now. Get proof of the miles you went after your call to the dealer and make sure you get them to Ford in your case. It is the holidays and everything is in slow motion until Wednesday or Thursday this week.

Next time bring it to the dealer and have them look at it and document it and the mileage. Just state to them I know you don't have time to work on it, but please take a look and open a work order. That way there should be no problem with a little over mileage. If they can not do it then maybe rent a car for a few weeks to keep the mileage off your car. I do it all the time, but I travel a lot and have a lot of free rentals.

Happy New Year
Mike

 

[Sixonemale]

They did open the work order and are not denying that it was in warranty then, but they didn't have anyone to look at it. The service manager at the dealer doesn't want to cover it plain and simple, even made the comment that I don't bring my vehicles in for enough service. I called the Ford service line and the case is open. I just want a copy of the service report with it in writing that they are denying the claim to share with others, not much else I can do at this point. Wish I had my car for the weekend, it shouldn't be this big of a PIA to get warranty work done.

It sounds like a work order was opened, so there must some documentation of it somewhere at the dealership, more than likely on the service adviser's computer. Hopefully you documented the conversation with the date, time and name of the service adviser along with detailed notes of the conversation. In addition to that, it would be helpful if you have some sort of documentation of your mileage at about the same time of this event showing that your vehicle had less than 60k miles.

With all of that said, the service manager is very short sided and is clearly not a long term thinker, hence the reason he is complaining that you don't bring your vehicle in as often as he would like to see it for service. If he was a long term thinker and really cared about his customers and business, he would have said something to the effect, "even though I don't agree with what occurred and it's against our policy, if that's what my service adviser told you, then our dealership will honor your warranty and do the repair at no cost to you", regardless if they get reimbursed or not. It's not like this is a super expensive repair or that this identical scenario happens a lot.

In summary the service manager is penny wise and dollar foolish. If he would have honored what the adviser promised you, it would have been a positive experience and you would probably not hesitate to get your car repaired there again if necessary. If I was in your shoes, I would go up the chain of command talk to his superior or even higher up the food chain. Generally speaking, those that are in senior management understand the big picture and would probably handle this much differently than the service manager did.

 

[Mbrooks420]

This is why I record every single conversation I have related to money or service.

 

[blwnsmoke]

This is why I record every single conversation I have related to money or service.

Maybe in your state, but my state requires 2 party consent otherwise it is a felony (if you dont tell them) and a misdemeanor (if you do tell them but they dont agree to it and you continue).

So these types of comments dont really help without knowing the laws of the state.

 

[Mbrooks420]

The majority of states are single-party consent (including Wisconsin where this dealer happens to be) and if it wasn’t an option I’d have taken the truck in, and gotten it in writing.

I’d surely never trust a dealer to do the right thing.

 

[expoman55]

I am sorry this is happening. I am fortunate enough to have a good dealer. I have been over warranty on items and they have gone out of their way to make it happen under warranty anyway.
I think the dealer is just being a jerk.

 

[VCFP153]

Maybe in your state, but my state requires 2 party consent otherwise it is a felony (if you dont tell them) and a misdemeanor (if you do tell them but they dont agree to it and you continue).

So these types of comments dont really help without knowing the laws of the state.

Can you give a link to the relevant statute? This is the first I hear of that being a crime. Now, I HAVE heard of information thus obtained not being admissible as evidence, but that's a rather different issue.

 

[VCFP153]

This is why I record every single conversation I have related to money or service.

Starbucks, too?