National Backorder for catalytic converter.

[hjsimpson]

Is anyone esle experiencing this god awful issue? I have an 07 Expy which I brought in for a check engine light mid August. My inspection was due Aug 31 and wanted to have it all set for Sept. They deemed that the CEL was due to a faulty catalytic converter. Since I have 65k miles on the vehicle, fortunately under the Federal Emissions warranty of 8 years or 80,000 miles the part is covered. Well.. Ford told me it was on National backorder till Sept.14.. .. So I waited..I myself called the dealer...on the 15th of Sept. When I called the dealer they told me told me its been pushed back until Oct. 28th. This is a business vehicle and I cannot be driving around with an over due inspection. Since I had to drive the vehicle uninspected (over a month), the dealer gave me an invoice print out of the backordered part so that in the event I got pulled over and questions I could show the officer that. WTF? So I called Ford Customer Relations... because of the special circumstances they told me I would get a equivelent size rental vehicle until the part arrives. On Oct 5th they tried giving me a Ford Escape....the Ford Customer Relations representative apologized and told me she was incorrect. There are negotiated rates between Ford and the rental company (Enterprise) and the max is $38/day. That price will NOT cover a full size vehicle. I called personally Enterprise and they did me a favor and gave me a Ford Flex (the closest in size to an expedition) for the $38/day rate. So basically I negotiated the price as well as found a larger size vehicle, thanks Ford Customer support! This will be week#5 with my rental vehicle, Ford has not given me a call for an updated status and last I heard the Backorder has again been pushed back till Nov.25th. Yet Ford Reports Earnings of $997 Million this year...and they can't produce a catalytic convertor? Take one off a new Expedition and put it on mine....Solve the problem..don't prolong it. By the time the part comes it and if it does on schedule (Nov25th)....Ford will have paid over $1200 just in rental costs... Both very true statements IMO. Ford= Fix Or Repair Daily or Fords Only Run Downhill This will be my LAST Ford product. Sorry for the rant.. but it needed to be done considering the circumstances !

[berry1234]

Man, what a waste. The converters are not rocket computers. I don't know why they can't find an alternate source. Heck, weld a F150 converter on there.

Look at the good side, you are not putting miles on your SUV.

[ktprtygal]

We went through the process and it took 3 months to get the truck fixed. Feel fortunate you have a rental vehicle that runs well. Our truck broke down in another state and we had to drive the dealer loaner POS with bald tires for three months. Ford customer relations only would give us $28 a day if we chose to drive the loaner 600 miles back for a third time to turn in the POS for an actual rental so consider yourself lucky to get $38. We gave up and bought a new truck since the dealer locally would take it off our hands. Amazingly when we bought the new truck the old truck got fixed. Of course this all happened a week ago..and the truck broke in July.

[Fearsam]

Wow, I can't even imagine your frustration level..... So i'm curious of the origin of the converter. Is this a U.S. part or made overseas? If we had a WWII scenario we would be screwed these days. Companies are outsourcing everything now. If we can make it, the part will only be available in very limited quantities due to the lack of available equipment to make these parts. Pretty scary when you think about it.

We are a proud Ford family, but this would have sent me into a world of pissed off they would have never seen before. Customers need to come first, especially when you have spent 40 grand on a vehicle. You would think Ford would at least get you a vehicle of equal size and capability. It seems that companies are spending alot of money on advertising and making the sale. But after that, good luck getting quality help and support. Very few Ford dealerships have that mom and pop shop feel. Where the customer actually feels important and is taken care of. I had to switch dealerships because of this. They couldn't give a rip about my SUV. It was all about how quick they could get me in and out. It didn't matter if it was fixed correctly or not, just leave us alone and go away.

I don't mean to go off-topic, but GM is trying to sell HUMMER to China. Many people say good riddance, it was a horrible product, etc, etc. Yes, some of that may or may not be true. People are missing the fact that we are giving China access to U.S. automotive technology. The blueprints, CAD designs, high tech manufacturing machinery and all the ins and outs to creating an SUV. 30 years ago that would have been considered treason. Yes, they will make a quick buck, but its going to bite us in the a** in the long run.

Sorry for another rant on this thread, but I felt this needed to be said as well.

[ktprtygal]

Okay, apparently the truck still has issues. Driving it back from the dealer the truck has a check engine light, transmission fault light, and overdrive light flashing. This of course after my husband drives 6 hours to go pick it up and drop the POS loaner back at the dealer. All we want to do is get it to the dealership we bought the new truck from so we can be done with this nightmare!! Nice to wait over three months, have to drive 6 hours one way and try to get home only to basically limp to the the next dealership to find out another issue, makes me wonder if the cats were the problem in the first place!!! This fiasco has cost us at least $1000 with gas, travel expenses and lost work time, not icluding the 3 months of truck payments, and it's supposedly a warranty issue! Yet we haven't received a dime from Ford to reimburse us for any of this!

[ktprtygal]

if the codes show the left and right fuel rails are running lean..re-check to make sure the fuel pump isn't bad