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Goodbye Ford

W

w1kedz

Was just blessed with a call from a Ford "CSM". I was basically told that my concerns about squeaking brakes (that I've been reporting continuously for 6 months) are not valid if a tech can't reproduce the problem. Regardless if Ford has now publicly acknowledged there is an issue by releasing a TSB last week.

I was told that regardless of how I felt, that the "customer is not always right". I was told that in order for the dealership to order the parts to reapply the streaky windows and a-pillar fixes (even though they have already confirmed they exist by doing the repairs on them once before) that I had to take the car in to be diagnosed first (requiring multiple trips to fix the problem).

As soon as it's financially feasible I will be trading in my brand new ford on something more consumer friendly, back to Honda, or Mitsubishi for me. At least when they had issues, they fixed the issues w/out hassle or much disturbance in my daily life or routine.

Should have listened to the plethora of people that begged me to stay away from Ford. I love my Explorer, but I don't love it as much today. Sick to my stomach at the way I'm being treated...

Am I off base here?
 



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Sounds like you have a crappy dealership. I've never been treated that way by my local Ford dealer when I've had problems.
 






Changing dealership ASAP would be a less costly solution.
 






Was just blessed with a call from a Ford "CSM". I was basically told that my concerns about squeaking brakes (that I've been reporting continuously for 6 months) are not valid if a tech can't reproduce the problem. Regardless if Ford has now publicly acknowledged there is an issue by releasing a TSB last week.

I was told that regardless of how I felt, that the "customer is not always right". I was told that in order for the dealership to order the parts to reapply the streaky windows and a-pillar fixes (even though they have already confirmed they exist by doing the repairs on them once before) that I had to take the car in to be diagnosed first (requiring multiple trips to fix the problem).

As soon as it's financially feasible I will be trading in my brand new ford on something more consumer friendly, back to Honda, or Mitsubishi for me. At least when they had issues, they fixed the issues w/out hassle or much disturbance in my daily life or routine.

Should have listened to the plethora of people that begged me to stay away from Ford. I love my Explorer, but I don't love it as much today. Sick to my stomach at the way I'm being treated...

Am I off base here?


I feel your pain.

If not for my wife wanting the Ex now that I've sold her on it, I'd have walked away from my transaction with Ford Canada. They get their "1" sale to me.
 






Changing dealership ASAP would be a less costly solution.

This was not the dealership... Ford Customer Service Manager... Ford denied the dealerships warranty repair claim, because the documentation said the tech couldn't reproduce the problem. I don't want the dealership to lie, I want Ford to take care of its customers.. and I don't want to have to drive 30 miles to get my car serviced and repaired.. the dealership is less than a mile from my home.
 






You know ... I feel for ya. It's like Ford is overpromising and undervalued delivery.
 






This was not the dealership... Ford Customer Service Manager... Ford denied the dealerships warranty repair claim, because the documentation said the tech couldn't reproduce the problem. I don't want the dealership to lie, I want Ford to take care of its customers.. and I don't want to have to drive 30 miles to get my car serviced and repaired.. the dealership is less than a mile from my home.

The tech and service department should know the drill and how to work around it, not good service department at dealership.
 






I'm always puzzled by posts like this. All brakes squeal.. Porsche Cayenne brakes squeal. Audi brakes squeal. It happens sometimes at low speeds and at a narrow vibration frequency. It may squeal today, but not tomorrow. Often at fast food drive-throughs or bank ATM lanes.
You know when it's going to happen, so you can choose not to let it happen by applying a little more or less pressure. It is controllable.
What exactly do you want the dealer to do? They use factory-supplied pads just like all dealers do. It's not a defect, it's what modern pad materials do at certain frequencies.
Find another dealer that is a little more comforting.
I have a customer that somehow discovered a resonance in the trans/trans tunnel at about 12 MPH on level ground. He practiced finding that vibration so well he could demonstrate it to me. We told him to stop doing it, and it wouldn't happen.
It seems that many of these complaints like the streaking windows has been blown all out of proportion. For God's sake clean the windows once or twice and it's gone!
These issues aren't that big a deal.
A big deal is a 22-year old coming home from Iraq with both legs missing.
Sorry you aren't happy. Buy something else then go on that forum. I'm sure the next car will be perfect.
I'm know i'm for it now, but that's how I see it.
 






These issues aren't that big a deal.
A big deal is a 22-year old coming home from Iraq with both legs missing.
Sorry you aren't happy. Buy something else then go on that forum. I'm sure the next car will be perfect.
I'm know i'm for it now, but that's how I see it.

If I paid $30k-$40k for a vehicle I expect it to perform FLAWLESSLY. If it doesn't then the warranty needs to cover it until it is working FLAWLESSLY. If Ford sold me a $40k vehicle and said to me "It might have some issues that we will not fix after the sale" then I would have bought another brand.

Also, WTH does a soldier losing their legs in battle have to do with a person being dissatisfied with Ford or any other company? Do you think we should all suck it up and take whatever treatment we receive from a car dealer? If you are the norm for what attitude prevails where you work then please tell me who you work for so I don't make the mistake of buying anything there.
 






I'm going to have to agree with boss377 here. Brakes make noise. Should it be excessive or constant? No. Can a technician fix something he cannot verify? Not usually.

Have you tried washing the brakes (i.e. just shooting the brakes down with a garden hose through the wheel spokes?) You'd be surprised how many annoying brake noises can come from simple brake dust builup.

One of my favorite complaints as a tech was the customers that brought in their F350 Super Duty trucks complaining of a rough ride. The basis for those complaints was always "I paid $50,000+ for this truck and it shouldn't ride like this."
 






I'm always puzzled by posts like this. All brakes squeal.. Porsche Cayenne brakes squeal. Audi brakes squeal. It happens sometimes at low speeds and at a narrow vibration frequency. It may squeal today, but not tomorrow. Often at fast food drive-throughs or bank ATM lanes.

You know when it's going to happen, so you can choose not to let it happen by applying a little more or less pressure. It is controllable.
What exactly do you want the dealer to do? They use factory-supplied pads just like all dealers do. It's not a defect, it's what modern pad materials do at certain frequencies.

A big deal is a 22-year old coming home from Iraq with both legs missing.
Sorry you aren't happy. Buy something else then go on that forum. I'm sure the next car will be perfect.
I'm know i'm for it now, but that's how I see it.

Alright... You're ridiculous...
1) our $19,000 subaru does not squeal under any of the same driving conditions

2) our $25,000 honda does not squeal under any of the same driving conditions

3) our $25,000 nissan did not squeal under any of the same driving conditions

yet our $40,000 ford explorer sounds like a jalopy leaving the driveway at 5am in the morning and on numerous occasions has caused neighbors to look out their windows at me.

Further more Ford has released a TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN describing the exact problem, and a FIX for it. Meaning that it's not normal, enough people have complained its not normal for Ford to have investigated it, and come up with a solution.

And ... I don't appreciate you comparing me complaining about how I was negatively treated by Ford representatives, on a Ford related message board, to my lack of sincerity toward the troops coming home from Iraq. You have no idea what I have contributed, or what I may have lost due to the war in Iraq. For all you know I may be one of those 22 year olds that came back with missing limbs, Or I may be a parent or friend of one of those 22 year olds. You are on a forum related to Ford Explorer vehicles, you need to put your responses into perspective.
 






I'm going to have to agree with boss377 here. Brakes make noise. Should it be excessive or constant? No. Can a technician fix something he cannot verify? Not usually.


Again .. it is constant for me, it's not my fault that the tech is heavy on the brakes and can't reproduce the problem, and that when they are available to go on a ride along the temperature, or state of the brakes isn't the same. Almost every morning when I back out of my driveway they squeal enough to wake up my wife inside our house w/ insulated double pane windows. When I go through drive throughs on most occasions anyone outside will turn their head toward me as I pull through, it's embarrassing.

Ford acknowledges it is an issue. They released a TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN last week regarding it. It means enough people are complaining and having the same issue. The wording in the bulletin describes exactly the problem as i have been describing it for the last 6 months. It's a 20-40$ fix on a $40,000 vehicle. They should apply the bulletin regardless if they can reproduce it themselves. I've complained of the issue on 4 to 5 visits over the last 6 months.
 






Well if the TSB applies and your vehicle is within the correct date range of the TSB then I don't know many techs or dealerships that would not perform the TSB regardless of whether they could reproduce the concern. Maybe some of the other guys were right in telling you to find a different service department.

I'm going to log onto oasis right now and see if I can find the TSB for this concern.
 






Ok, calm down, guys and gals.


<on soapbox>

The brakes on our 2010 F150 squeal sometimes. Mostly not. Fusion is quiet, my 2007 Camry will squeal if it's cold. Dash rattles. Door seams are junk, and it's had 3 water pumps in 95,000 miles. All cars are nuts and bolts, and all are mechanical. Stuff breaks. Should you expect a new vehicle to work as advertised? Yes. Will it be perfect? No. I had leaf springs swapped on a 2001 Explorer Sport before I even took delivery. **** happens, you've got to roll with it, and not let it consume your life.

I think the gist of what Boss was saying is that- while not in this case IMHO- there is an underlying trend that every little thing that goes wrong on these things gets a major push for recalls, TSB's, and general malaise.

While it would bug me if I was paying $700/month for a new car if it sounded like a steel drum when it rained, or if the pillar trim fell off, or if the MFT was a pile of crap- it's all perspective. That was the point of the war comment. I don't think in any way Boss was diminishing anyone's feelings, sacrifices, or whatever- he is simply saying 'keep it in perspective- this is a chunk of steel, not human life.' For one, I can't believe how many issues are still unresolved on this thing, and quite frankly, that's why I didn't buy one. I want one, but I'm waiting. I don't want to be a guinea pig, and lets not even get into the argument of "well, if you didn't pay cash for it, you didn't pay $40,000 for it anyway" since I've heard that one a few times. Financed is still on the hook.

The point is, we all know- we know that MFT is a disaster for some people. We know that the fans are prone to fail on the early builds. We know that the A-pillar trim is crap, and we know that the roof should have probably had some sound deadener. Beating a dead horse about the same 5 or 6 issues here over and over and over and over and over and over isn't accomplishing anything, or it already would have. Cory escalates, and I honestly don't know if that helps, because it seems like most people that have an issue and get it escalated, disappear. Maybe that means that they're fixing things in most cases?

To me, you have a $40,000 vehicle financed. If it bugs you enough, drive 30 miles and get it fixed someplace else, you have to live with the damn thing. My Dad drives 40 miles to his closest dealer. If you're on the hook for x years and $40,000 is 30 miles with a chance of having it fixed really a deal breaker? Really? Call the dealer first, tell them the issue, tell them that it may or may not do it. If it's that reliably consistent in the morning- take a video of it and take it with you to the dealer- whatever it takes, to get your sanity back. Should you have to do that? No. If you're looking at a half-decade of payments and daily sanity- do yourself a favor- get the camera. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, and when you keep going back to the same dealer when you already know that they won't fix it- that's what you're doing, Ford rep or not.

It annoys me how Ford handles this stuff, which is why I'm not buying one. Not that I think it won't have issues if I wait, because I know it will, I just don't want to have to deal with them like you all are. It annoys me how there will be 5 posts in a thread about an issue, one that says "the dealer fixed xxxxxxxxx and I love it!" and the next post is from one of the Ford people (not Cory) saying "glad you're happy with your Explorer... yada yada yada", and ignore the other four. I appreciate them being here, but that torques me off. It's patronizing. Stop treating people here like a call center, and just talk to them- it would go a LONG way to improving the experience.

I do think that some people really have to lighten up though- the post about "do you think our brakes are big enough?" really did me in- I mean come on- really? Like they didn't pass NHTSA testing? Seriously?

If Ford would just fix the stupid things, there wouldn't be issue. Seriously- take a couple of deep breaths, then go to a different dealer.

Hey- My uncle had a brand new 1992 Taurus SHO that he took in to the dealer and they refused to work on it because it had an "aftermarket Yamaha engine installed in it." Really? Talk about dim dealerships- It could be worse... :)

<off soapbox>
 






If I paid $30k-$40k for a vehicle I expect it to perform FLAWLESSLY. If it doesn't then the warranty needs to cover it until it is working FLAWLESSLY. If Ford sold me a $40k vehicle and said to me "It might have some issues that we will not fix after the sale" then I would have bought another brand.

Also, WTH does a soldier losing their legs in battle have to do with a person being dissatisfied with Ford or any other company? Do you think we should all suck it up and take whatever treatment we receive from a car dealer? If you are the norm for what attitude prevails where you work then please tell me who you work for so I don't make the mistake of buying anything there.

Nothing performs flawlessly. And the relatively modest dollar amount you mention has little to do with anything. All products have warranty issues regardless of price.
And my reference to returning soldiers was only to illustrate how relatively unimportant the problems with our material possessions really are.
I don't think you should suck anything, and should sell your Explorer as soon as possible.
Most of us here have had zero problems and would recommend the Explorer to anyone looking for a fantastic vehicle.
 






Here's the TSB. Does your vehicle fall within coverage?




tsb.png
 












I would go to the service manager and tell him to please perform the TSB after giving him a copy of it.

I don't know your exact circumstances but a lot of technicians will dismiss brake noise complaints quickly if they are not immediately apparent as abnormal on a test drive.
 






Nothing performs flawlessly. And the relatively modest dollar amount you mention has little to do with anything. All products have warranty issues regardless of price.
And my reference to returning soldiers was only to illustrate how relatively unimportant the problems with our material possessions really are.
I don't think you should suck anything, and should sell your Explorer as soon as possible.
Most of us here have had zero problems and would recommend the Explorer to anyone looking for a fantastic vehicle.

But this board is specific to that material possession. And my issue isn't with the car, I don't care if a car has issues, I don't mind it needing service. Ford has publicly recognized that my problem exists (TSB) but is refusing to do the required fix, my issue is with how I've been treated as a consumer. I've spent a lot of money, I expect Ford to do what they can to make the vehicle perform as expected. If there was no known fix for the issue than I'd understand, and wait for one to come.

I haven't complained about MFT cause they have said they are working on a solution, and they will apply to my vehicle when it's available. I only am asking for the same service in regards to the brakes, the annoying farting A-Pillars that were supposedly already fixed, and the streaking windows that were supposedly fixed last time it was in. These are all problems recognized by Ford as real issues, and all problems I'm experiencing.
 



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Techs get a lot of brake noise complaints, and most of them cannot be considered abnormal.

This TSB is dated Oct 31, 2011 so it has only been out for 2 WEEKS!!! Honestly most techs probably are not even aware of it yet.
 






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