He's not asking you to bash Ford. He's asking you NOT to bash those who have not had great experiences. HUGE difference. And let me make this clear, I will never buy another Ford. You seem to think that is just a empty angry statement. You are wrong as it is simply a FACT. If Ford can't back up their product, why in the world would I buy another?

 

1. I wasn't trying to be polite, I was relating my past experience.
2. This assumption would have been true of me a year ago Chief. I've purchased many new Ford products since 1985 and at times have had 2 in the garage. However. since my purchase of a 2011, F250, 6.2L, I have had numerous contacts with Ford customer service. First while it was in the shop for 46 days (3208 miles). Customer Service was no help in getting parts.
46days
Second, When on Feb 1 Ford offered to reacquire the vehicle and with the constant "just one more thing and Ford RAV will release the check". Latest is I may see the check next week.
So I think that I have had quite a bit of experience with Ford customer service. Oh, when I wrote a letter after the truck was released from the shop after 6 weeks and 4 days, the response from Ford was that the information I received from customer service was correct.
3. I never said that I would never buy another Ford. Never say never. In 1984, when I purchased my 1st Mercury, I said I'd never buy another Toyota. I've been reconsidering that decision lately.

SGM, USA (Ret)

 

Look gentlemen, it's not real important to me personally if either of you buys a Ford again or not. I understand the dilemma that both of you have with Ford and I can certainly sympathize with both of you. Ford should step up and cover the running boards, likewise the 6.2L engine shouldn't have all these issues, not one. I would be upset as well.

Just remember, all car companies have issues and the world is imperfect. Good luck in your future automobile purchases.

 

An amazing thing happened today. Apparently my demand to talk with Kyle's boss, whom I was told was not an customer resource, did not fall on deaf ears. I received a call from Scott Johnson this morning. I told him my story. I also made two points that I did not to Kyle. One is, if it is an environmental issue, why did it not happen to the rest of my chrome. My bumpers, mirror caps, tow hooks, etc. have no rust. All these areas see the same amount of salt as the running board that failed. Therefore it would seem logical that either the running board was not chromed correctly or that there is a design flaw in the running board that trapped salt from my shoes when I stepped on them that caused the corrosion to begin. My second point was about the 12 month 12k corrosion warranty. This problem started before the truck was 12 months old or had 12k miles. I told my dealer who actually recommended waiting until it got worse so it would be easier for them to get the running board warrantied! I also asked about all the others on this forum that have had no issue with getting issues like mine covered and that a dealer employee on this site actually has seen this in the past and had no issue getting the part covered. Scott seemed pretty down to earth and said he worked in a dealership himself for 22 years so he had a better grasp on this than Kyle did. He said the dealer recommending my waiting was certainly a game changer, but there was still no way to get the warranty department to change their mind. What he could do was see what the cost of the board was and see if he could get the Ford good will fund to cover part of it. To me, a partial covering won't be acceptable. I'm guessing they will offer half cost, but base that on full retail. The thing is, the half they would cover is the markup to MSRP so essentially they would just be offering me a part at cost. Not good enough, but this is just a guess at this point. Will find out Tuesday what the verdict is. I have Scott's direct phone number, so if the offer that comes across isn't acceptable, I can call him back and work on this further. Will see....

 

Your exactly right. My thought is this though. I would never leave Ford because chrome peeled on a running board. I still think they are the best trucks on the road. I would leave Ford for not covering the peeling under warranty. That is my gripe, not the chrome failure. I had a Volvo S60R sport sedan back in 04. Was full of first year bugs and was in for warranty repair all the time. I never complained about that car once on the Volvo forums though as everything that went wrong was ALWAYS covered no questions asked. To me service and support is actually slightly more important than reliability. (Although, I'd really prefer both!!!) Heck, I can say the same for all other brands of vehicles I've owned. Never been denied warranty coverage on any vehicle for any reason ever. And you're talking to a guy who has had a LOT of new cars. 7 or so in the last 12 years. Same deal with other suppliers as well. Had Reese Hitch send me replacement parts with no proof of purchase and Firestone Airbags do the same....

 

I'm with you 100% sir and don't give up the ship.

 

If I were you I would also call the BBB and report this incident. It's been a while but the BBB used to have an arbitration board for all of the auto manufacturers to settle disputes like yours. Most of the time when it went to arbitration, the customer won. My 2008 grill started to bubble a month after my warranty ran out but I haven't and probably won't mess with it.

Pap

 

Remember back when you first posted about this I said it was not a simple warranty claim and to get it documented under the 12k/12mo warranty. Your situation is the senario I pictured happening and this is why I suggested you getting it documented as soon as possible but you said your truck was over 12 months old. I had a feeling you were in for a battle.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ml#post8970746

I give the same advice to all people that discuss warranty issues to me - don't wait, get it documented as soon as possible, even if no immediate action will take place by the dealership and by all means get it documented under the 12k/12mo warranty if possible.

I guess just wait and see what their offer is. It may be worth while - Good luck!

 

Yep, I remember. Believed the dealer rather than you.

 

Interestingly I washed my truck on Sunday and I paid a lot more attention to the running boards. I normally wipe the grooves out after blowing the water out with a leaf blower. I noticed scaling similiar to your pictures and some areas around the edges of the chrome that I think are starting to fail. For six months it sure seems odd. The design of the running board itself is going to be prone to failure by how much water or other stuff gets into that grooves. I can honestly see in your situation that salt would breake it down.

Now why not other parts? Well the mirrors are plastic and the front tow hooks would actually get sprayed off fairly easy by rain, snow, etc. while the running boards would literally just sit. Even if you cleaned the boards or rinsed them off. Take and wash your running boards with soap and water, rinse and wipe down. Take a leaf blower to them can you'll see a ton of dirt and soap come out. It's not your fault, just a poor design IMO.

My wife loves the flat steps but I already told her that tubes would be put on to replace these so for me it's disappointing but not a show stopper.

You can look up the price of the boards on fordparts.com. Tousley Ford has their site set to cost plus 10%. You'll know if you're getting the run around on pricing.

 

16450
Running Board
Crew Cab 5" Angular Chrome Running Board ; RH $456.39 $351.42

16450
Running Board
Crew Cab 5" Angular Chrome Running Board ; LH $977.96 $753.03

Very odd, the LH one is double the cost of the RH? I think something is wrong on the list. If ONE board is $753.03 I would actually take Ford to small claims court.

My wife did it on an antifreeze issue with a Chevy Blazer back in 2002 and won. Chevy knew there were issues with the long life coolant and ultimately had to pay all the repairs related to the water pump and radiator. This was after a lot of correspondence where Chevy tried to work a deal.

You may have to see how many years this running board has been on Ford trucks and start looking at failure rates. Ultimately a $2,000 set of running boards (assuming suggested list without install kits) better be chromed to withstand more than a year in the elements.

 

We will see what's what tomorrow. I'm not expecting much. I looked at the passenger side yesterday and the same thing is starting so I'm guessing the same thing will happen there in another year or so. I'm not going to take this any further than I have. I've spent hours on the phone and at the dealer and so far gotten nothing for it. I think I've reached a point of diminishing return here. They won't rust as the boards are aluminum. The chrome will just keep peeling a little at a time. Will let the dealer I trade my truck to in 3 years when the power train warranty runs out worry about it. What scares me is what happens if something major goes wrong in the power train after the 3/36 is out? How good is Ford at backing that warranty. I am now really scared that any warranty other than the 3/36 is a joke. I buy new so I don't have to worry and now I'm worried anyway. Just what I didn't want. Which again is why I am done with Ford if this is the case with their warranty support. I guess in a small way I'm grateful. What if this was a trans or motor problem that wasn't covered. Then not only would I be upset on principle but over a barrel with cash output...

 

Personally I don't like the chrome round running boards anyway. They may look good but I found them very impractical in the long run. With all of the openings, even with mud flaps, mud, snow, dirt, etc, gets thrown up into the crack along the bottom of the doors. It is a PITA to get all that mud out. I ordered my 2008 with the standard fiber running board as it is a closed setup. No mud, snow, ice, or dirt gets into the crack and no worries about chrome peeling either. It may not look as "cool" but they sure work.

Pap

 

Pap, would have preferred your setup, but wanted the grill that came with the chrome package. Now I wish I was back in a sport type package like my Dodge Ram's had in the past. All body color and black anodized aluminum steps with one long step pad running the entire top of the board. No place for salt or dirt to collect and easier to keep looking clean. Next time....

 

Well, the squeaky wheel MAY be getting the grease. I got a call yesterday from Christina who said she was working on getting my dealer to get this covered under warranty but needed another day. Well, today I get a call. Amazingly, it was from Kyle. He tells me that they have reviewed my issue and sent it to some techs who agree it should be covered under warranty. I wanted to remind Kyle that he told me 10 times that "a decision had been made" by the warranty department and that "it could not be reversed." I didn't want to rock the boat though. He was very polite as was I. So, now I go back to the dealer when the part is in. (Still waiting to hear from them) Keeping my fingers crossed as it's not over til it's over. My faith may be restored if this works out, but it's amazing the hoops I had to jump through to get it done. Will update if and when I'm stepping on a new board...