I'll toss this out in the "for what it's worth" department. When I was still going service work, I hated warranty work purely because it was a major drain on profits so I would almost never take it on. Lots of hoop jumping and BS to get paid so for a regular customer who used me for other stuff maybe, but for anyone else it was not happening.

Now I can't speak for all Ford dealerships or anything like that, but did have a chance to discuss this issue with the service manager at our local Ford dealership and that person was also quick to say they had the same feelings about warranty work that I did and being a regular customer cuts through a lot of fog. Not saying it is right, not saying it is fair, just saying -

Steve

 

Im headed to the dealership, ill let you guys know how it goes. thanks for all the support.

 

Really? You are going to sue Ford and the dealership because you purchased a vehicle without maintenance records and without a good inspection or without even removing the oil fill cap to see what the engine looks like inside? It is not Ford's responsibility to warranty neglect and abuse, regardless of owner. You bought a truck that was poorly maintained from the start. You purchased the problem. Either pay the diagnostic fee you owe them and tow it to someone else to fix it, or swallow your pride and cut them a check for the engine. Or if your really foolish, go ahead and sue. It's the American thing to do nowadays right? Just be prepared. You have no case. The cards are stacked against you. You wont win...

 

plus 10 characters

 

I usually don't respond to ignorance but this time I will. I actually tracked down the previous owner, who is actually deceased... died of cancer. Anyways I was able to get the maintenance records from the Carfax, which showed he did METICULOUS maintenance. It also showed where he had a roller/ engine repair under warranty at 28,000, some thing similar to what the tech said may have went wrong in the vehicle now. I don't have to sue them because after I went there and threatened to sue them, and expose them, and rewent over records they called me a couple hours after I left and said they would cover the repair. I actually did have a case, the FTC has laws in place for things like this, to not cover a warranty is AUTO FRAUD and breach of contract.. A lawyer actually picked up my case and was going to represent me because he believed I had a very good case. The fact that FORD has done a warranty service on this vehicle less than 2 years ago, and failed to mention it in all the visits and phone calls that I made to them shows me EXACTLY what type of business they were willing to do. Information that is clearly in their national database because its tied to the VIN, and on the Carfax, they did not mention once. Instead they tried to act as if I bought a vehicle that went 30,000 miles without maintenance, which I knew wasn't true because the vehicle was in immaculate condition inside and out when I bought it. So yes I was willing to sue them for the damages to my vehicle, the damages to my company, and the breach of contract. The problem is things like this happen more often than we would like to believe, but most people don't have the resources to hire an attorney so dealerships are not held accountable. I would have sued them, and I would have won, because they were wrong, and ultimately admitted they were wrong, and a jury of my peers, or a judge would have seen they were wrong. Anyways your an idiot for your comments, and proof free speech is to big of a responsibility to just give to anyone. Ford is fixing the vehicle, thankfully. I feel like for an autoshop that is constantly doing warranty repairs, if the only issue was lack of maintenance records, why wouldn't they assist me in trying to get maintenance records. Surely they knew I could check the car fax (something I didn't know, until I spoke to my lawyer) . As a self made millionaire and owner of three businesses I just look at how they handled me as shady. Ive owned cars from bently, aston martin, Mercedes, jaguar, and never been handled like that. Mercedes once covered a part of my vehicle even though I was 1500 miles OUTSIDE of warranty, they covered 75% of it as a courtesy. I guess I was just expecting to much from this ford dealership. Atleast its covered, saves me about $12000.

 

It all boils down to customer for a repair is additional revenue over warranty work.

Next time I would have any repairs/service and purchases elsewhere.

 

I think the take-away from this that is most important is when considering legal action, facts reign supreme so gathering as much evidence as possible is important. When you doing your own work, record keeping is good. I don't think there are any absolutes when it comes to dealerships. Some I am sure are honest, some less so. What I was going to suggest before reading this last post is when considering legal action, consult with legal counsel.

I am glad this ended well for the O.P, as he made an honest presentation of the situation and he followed through in a logic manner. Kudos for that!!!

 

Sounds like you have a handle on this and their tactics

 

I always scour forums for information , I hope at some point this thread can help another consumer. I wasn’t trying to get one over on Ford, I just wanted them to honor the warranty as it’s part of what we all pay for when we purchase a vehicle.

 

The conclusion of this situation leaves me wondering how much truth there is about the presence of sludge inside the engine. Were you able to get a visual confirmation of their claim that sludge was present? If not, I would be strongly questioning that claim. After all, $2000 in teardown labour if you had declined to follow through with repair, should have the engine torn down enough to get a very clear visual access to the internals of the engine.

I'm glad to hear it worked out in your favour nonetheless.

 

I am not so concerned about the presence of sludge as that would amount to outright lying. i think an issue of possibly greater concern is what caused it and will it happen again.

Steve

 

We all know a dealer would never lie to avoid warranty work. Nooooo.

 

My thought was not that dealers do not avoid warranty work, but rather what caused the sludge. I have only ever known one tech center that welcomed warranty work and they set up a team that specialized in hoop jumping. Blaming the owner is always the easiest way out, but not everyone specializes in the "owners are dumb asses" diagnosis.

I have noted on the Internet dealerships of other brands denying coverage for "sludge" which seems to automatically be equated to lack of maintenance. In this case, we know maintenance was solid. That makes this a great example. So supposing sludge is an issue and suppose it was present, what I came away with in this case is how important good records are when a conflict arises. I wonder if the same thing that almost happened here has happened to others in the past. Just wondering.

Steve

 

The truck was sold used through a dealer or outside? It is that dealer's responsibility to inspect a traded vehicle for re-sale, and if found defective sent to wholesale. If they sold the vehicle with an extended warranty and no mention/disclaimer of no warranty coverage due to alleged lack of service which may have happened under previous ownership, it is fraud.

This dealer simply has no desire to fight FORD MOTOR (or whomever underwrote the policy (yes, a dealership will sell cheap non-FORD policies). FORD has huge problems with it's dealership network and quality of product.

IT IS A NEW FOMOCO




.

 

Yes, yes it is. But if they are putting a Ford reman in, there is going to be more to the story in a few years.