Neh, I take him at his word that what he says happened, happened. I just don't see this as any liability on the dealer. Now had the dealer filled the wrong tank and fired it up, then absolutely without a doubt the dealers problem. I'm sorry, I know I wouldn't take somebody's suggestion over the phone....dealer or otherwise. Again, sorry it happened to him, but it is his responsibility IMO.

 

While I do not have first-hand experience I have been told that claims again your insurance (yes for the Comprehensive part) will cause your rates to go up.

 

No, because then it would've been documented (if he thought of it).

I don't know that too many people are defending the dealer, though realistically it's hard to put the entire liability on the head of the dealer on the allegation that some random guy who answered the service desk phone at night said it would probably be OK. The real tragedy is blaming Ford, as he seems to think Ford caused or should have some role in fixing this mess.

By ~$11,000? You sure about that? That's IF it goes up at all.

 

I believe this horse has been beat to death.

 

One thing I've learned in this business, anytime you talk to the customer, YOU'D BETTER USE YOUR WORDS VERY CAREFULLY. There is a tendency to hear only the stuff you want to hear (not that everyone does, but it happens enough to be wary of it). How hard would it be for someone to misconstrue that statement? Is that what happened here? Did the question asked of the "dealership employee" get misunderstood? Was his question to the "tech" the same question, word for word, that the customer asked?

 

I didn't say he had it towed in and opened a service ticket.

I concur.

No not hardly. I did a number to my 96 Impala SS. All told it was about $36K in repairs to the two cars. While I wasn't cited, it was my insurance company that paid.

Excuse me what? I was not at fault. The short story is that the insurance company didn't care who was wrong, just so long as I continued to pay my premium. Excuse me again? There certainly was someone in the wrong here and it certainly wasn't me. I provided the names of witnesses. The insurance company didn't care. Short of me filing suit ain't nobody going to do nothing. So, it would have cost me about 3K to pursue and surprise surprise, my rates doubled for the next year.

This is my point about a whole lot more than my case and the OP's. Folks need to be held accountable. The dealership should step up on this one.

 

Well I certainly wouldn't mind hearing Valley Ford's take on the matter. I'm almost certain they'll deny the conversation ever took place; however, it just my nature to side with the little guy.

 

Only if you do not take the OP's words at face value. But if you do, is this not a case that just about anyone could be outraged over?

Remember, I can just as easily believe that the whole story (other than the damage) is fabricated and the OP is just trying to get something for nothing. Or perhaps he hoped to come to a public forum to guilt Valley Ford/Ford corporate into doing something about it; in which case it's a little like Rick and yes that horse WAS beat to death.

I just don't think that is the case here...

 

Truth, untruth it don't really matter.

The bottom line is the guy poured DEF into his clearly marked fuel tank despite repeated warnings NOT to do that. Maybe I live in another world but I don't think I know anyone who drives a diesel that thinks water is a good thing in diesel fuel. Leave out the fact that the owners guide is pretty plain that water and diesel fuel is a bad thing, then consider that the guy knew it wasn't a good thing otherwise why call the dealership at night to ask if it was REALLY that bad.

Then despite all this he accepted the advise of an unknown individual who may well have been a tech or he might have been the night janitor.

I don't particularly care that much for dealers, having had my own bad experiences with them. But if I were unfortunate enough to have done exactly as the OP related I'd just have to go hide from my friends and hope none of them ever found out. I dang sure wouldn't blame anyone but myself.

Then after having the truck fixed I'd do exactly as the OP suggested and sell the truck 'cause I darn sure ain't qualified to own one.

 

Okay, so the predominant thought here is the OP shouldn't rely on the advice given from the Dealer that he purchased his truck from and who just happens to be a certified repair facility for Ford. The OP knew he had made a mistake when he realized what he had done and in his mind he tried to limit any additional mistakes by calling his dealer for "Professional advice" from the people who represent the dealer on the phone. They gave him wrong information that ultimately cause severe damage to his truck. There are 2 mistakes here, the original issue of pouring DEF into the fuel tank and the dealer providing poor information. Any reasonable person would say that both parties are at fault but some of you posting here say that he should not have listened to the dealership's rep who answered the phone. Is that the same conclusion that you would have if your child drank some household cleaner and became seriously ill and you called the poison control center for instructions on what you should do and the instructions that you received and followed caused greater harm to your child? Who here hasn't spoken to a sales clerk who told you a wrong price or sold you the wrong part and then you "demand" that the company make your situation right because the clerk works for the company and represents the company in their business dealings with the public? We all have and this situation is no different, he called his Ford dealer for advice and their representative on the phone gave him advice on how to handle DEF in the fuel tank. The dealer should accept some responsibility for the OP's problem and come to some agreement on fixing the problem. Should the dealer be responsible for the entire cost, no, but IMO they should bear a significant burden because they are the experts, they are who we all go to in order to tell what is wrong with our trucks and what we should do about it. If they use the excuse that we are not sure who answered the phone was qualified to answer that question, then the dealer has the responsibility to either tell only certain trained and qualified employees to answer those types of call or to instruct the caller to call back when there is someone qualified to answer the question. You do assume some responsibility has a business when your employee represents "you" the business when dealing with the public.

I am truly sorry about you situation and I hope you can get it resolved soon.

Randy

 

Did not we just see a thread that the dealer filled a new diesel with gas and ran it until it was showing problems? They drained it and refilled it and claimed no problem because it didn't go far.

 

Yep, and that dealer is very liable for any of the damages to that engine.

 

Iread a lot of posts but not very sure about conclusions. I have recently made the same mistake dumping a whole container of def into my tank. I am sick as posts vary from minimal problem to 19,000$. I ran my truck about ten miles before water in fuel light came on. I drained the filter and ordered new.I got about a quart of water out of the filter. I am thinking I will drain all the fuel but wonder---It seems as though the damage from def comes when the system is dry. should I try adding the suggested octane booster and keep filtering. ???? I am sick

 

Drain and flush with new filters.


Don't run the motor.

 

Turning the key will be enough to ruin the motor. I traded my brand new 14' platinum for a 15' after it died on me and I only dumped about two cups. I didn't drive this truck at all in fact I believe it was the tow truck driver who turned the key when he removed it off his tow truck.