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From: Ford's Warranty is a joke. Your claim has been denied.


JasonH

13,856 views

Why your Ford warranty is worthless...

I don't usually post rants, but I'm sure this has happened or will happen to someone else.

 

I'll shorten the story down to a few simple points:

 

It all starts with my 2007 Ford Mustang. The rear differential went out at 36k miles; the drivetrain warranty is 5yr/60k.

My car gets towed to the nearest dealer, they spend 4 days looking at it, then tell me it's not covered under the warranty due to "driving beyond the vehicle's limit" and now wants $2600 to repair it. I ended up buying a new rear end assembly from new take off and had my dealer install it, it came out to $2133 with rental car expenses, which I'll be seeking in reimbursement.

 

I did attend an arbitration meeting regarding the $2k differential reimbursement, for which I of course was denied, since it was a Ford arbitration... The absolute ignorance of Ford astounded me. I expected to actually talk to some engineers or at least product managers during the arbitration, however it was basically just a dealer service rep and two other equally clueless people. They made grossly inaccurate statements during the arbitration, things like: "If you spin the tires...it's not normal, and we're not responsible to fix it". "An open differential will spin both tires" and "a 3.55 gear ratio is not factory and is used for racing" The people trying to fight me didn't have the slightest clue what they were talking about, It was like arguing with a 6 year old, no intellectual conversion, just infuriating rewording and repetition over and over. I'll have the audio recording posted as soon as I get a copy of the tape. Update: They will not give me the audio recording, they will only provide a transcript...

 

UPDATE 2/18/11: So after replacing the rear end, guess what breaks about two months later? The driveshaft... I'm driving (80ish) along on the highway and the driveshaft basically exploded...it honestly sounded like a bomb went off under my car, a piece of something came up through the bottom of the car and broke the plastic around the handbrake. Anyway, Ford is using the same "not normal conditions/abuse" excuse and refused to replace the obviously defective driveshaft under warranty; the service manager stating "it wouldn't have broken if you were driving normally". Great logic there Ford... So I'm out another ~$800, bringing the total to about $3000. I can't wait to see Ford explain their logic in court.

 

Update 2/24/11: After paying the $800 and waiting 5 days for a new driveshaft (the dealer said it would be done the next business day)...I go and pick it up, after paying, the service adviser comes out and says "If you bring it back we'll void your entire warranty, just some friendly advice". I replied, "You've pretty much already done that." and left. I was absolutely disgusted with Ford, and just knowing that the car cost me $3k under warranty for no legitimate reason made me sick. I decided to cut my losses and trade it in for a 2011 VW GTI. The GTI is a great car, handles SO much better, it's light, nimble, great on gas, and the build quality is phenomenal, leaps and bounds above the Mustang.

 

So the moral of my story is this: If you have a Ford vehicle, the dealer and/or Ford Corporate/Field Service Tech can deny your warranty repair for literately any reason they want, even if it's just some "expert's opinion" or some nonsensical cause like "non-factory wheels/tires" (another excuse Ford Corporate tried to use when I called them, even though they were OEM Shelby's with the same factory overall diameter... )

 

If you don't have a Ford, consider yourself lucky. If you ever have a warranty claim and it gets denied, you're in for a hell of a time. I'm never buying any Ford or Ford owned vehicle ever again.

 

Source: Ford's Warranty is a joke.

10 Comments


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36k and the differential went out?! That's pretty low, man. Either the diff. was faulty or the stealership is right about driving beyond the limit. Not saying you were, just saying that sometimes that IS the case.

 

There's a reason I call it Fix Or Repair Daily :P

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It's BS. I would ask to speak with the Owner of the dealership. I would explain the situation and explain that you really want to settle this without legal involvement. As far as "driving it beyond it's limits", what exactly is that supposed to mean? So, if the mirror falls off it's because you are driving it beyond it's limits? They designed the car to be able to function when driven, and after all, it's a mustang. If it fails, then the warranty needs to cover it. Now I could see if you put after market parts on to make more HP like a blower or nitrous or something, but sounds like you are stock. If you google it, you will find that there are some complaints about this issue.

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That Northgate Lincoln Mercury dealer where it was towed gave me so much BS including trying to blame it on pieces of rubber in the wheel well. They even went as far as (with a Ford Service Rep's help) blacklisting my car's VIN for any drivetrain warranty service at any Ford dealer. I ended up paying to have my car towed out of the dealer from hell to my local Ford dealer. I also ended up paying out of pocket for a new rear-end from newtakeoff.com whom my local dealer installed for $400.

 

Needless to say I'll be suing Ford and Northgate Lincoln Mercury for $2133 in reimbursement. It's my only course of action for justice at this point.

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Holy shit man, I wish you lived closer. I would have put in a new differential for you for nothing more than some of your helping hands, and a copious amount of beer.

 

 

Mmmmm.... beeeeeeerrrrrrr

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"...Ford said, on the record 'if you spin the tires...it's not normal'..."

 

IT'S A MUSTANG!!! If it's not "normal" then why did/do they make it look like so much fun in their TV commercials? Is it a case of "do as I say, not as I do"?

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"...Ford said, on the record 'if you spin the tires...it's not normal'..."IT'S A MUSTANG!!! If it's not "normal" then why did/do they make it look like so much fun in their TV commercials? Is it a case of "do as I say, not as I do"?

It's difficult to understand Ford's reasoning. I don't think anything Ford says will hold up in court.

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"...Ford said, on the record 'if you spin the tires...it's not normal'..."IT'S A MUSTANG!!! If it's not "normal" then why did/do they make it look like so much fun in their TV commercials? Is it a case of "do as I say, not as I do"?

 

 

This is why they put "Professional driver, do not attempt" in almost unreadable text at the bottom of the screen. <_< Shifty bastards.

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Those computers that all manufacturers install record a hell of a lot more info than you realize. They can tell what time of day you broke it. Owners beat the hell out high performance cars and when they break they expect the manufacturer to make everything right. Guess who pays in the end? These failures didn't come from driving back and forth to church with grandma in the back seat. You broke it! Grow up, act like a man and be responsible for your behavior. Or find other web sites to cry on. What the hell does you broken driveshaft have to do with a Pioneer radio? Damn kids!

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@jetjoe

 

So you would consider driving down the highway at 80mph as "breaking the car"? That shouldn't cause a driveshaft to split in half unless there was an underlining issue with it.

 

As far as the differential: I really doubt a 200HP V6 Mustang has enough torque to rip apart a differential with only 37k miles unless there was a defect in the gears to begin with. The vehicle was maintained as recommended; full synthetic oil changes every 3k, differential service at 30k, etc, it was not "abused or neglected".

 

It simply came down to Ford not wanting to repair the vehicle for free and using a generic clause of "not driving normally" to avoid paying for it. I hope you don't have a Ford and find out the hard way.

 

This is an automotive site, thus anything automotive related is welcome, although yes, the main focus is on Pioneer AVICs'.

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