skigalini brings up and interesting point - I can understand a mechanical or safety item that is non-repairable being cause for buy-back, but whatr about something as vague as mileage? If a truck only gets 8 or 9 MPG what recourse would a consumer have when all the adds tell us "you mileage may vary"

Since a lot about mileage seems to depend on how heavy a foot the driver has the factory would deny responsability.

Jerry

 

Okay Guys; sometimes the lemon law just does not work. I had a problem with a GMC truck, lemon law didn't help. Went on the net and looked for Ralph Nader the cousumer advocate, he has a series of law firms across the nation through and organization called the C.A.S. Center for Auto Safety. These folks took our case against GM at no charge. We sued GM under a federal statute that basically says 3 strikes and your out with regard to auto manufacturers. Meaning that if you take a vehicle back for the same problem 3 consecutive times, THEY have to satisfy you in some way.

My truck was tied up nearly every week for 1 1/2 years in the shop with out anyone knowing why it would just quit running for no reason at all.

We sued in court, WON and GM took the truck back from us, they had about $55,000.00 tied up in it.

You need to keep documentation of your problems and copies of maintenance work for court action, subpoenas will get the rest.

The one point I want to stress here is get the right attorneys to do the job, under the ferderal process the corporation in this case GM had to pay my attorney fees which were over $2000.00.

Most private attorneys don't know what to do with these kind of cases and there is a process out there that can work for you as well as not cost you.

 

yep - here in Maine that "three times in the shop for the same problem" is written into the law. Briefly, it say's:

1. Three times in the shop for the same problem, or,
2. accumulative 15 business days in the dealer shop, or
3 a brake failure or safety issue.

There is a lot more than this but your point about the law not having any teeth may be valid. I hope I don't have to find out. I pick up my truck tomorrow (christmas eve) and the brakeing problem still is not fixed. But, the dealer has had it since Nov 19 and has not repaired it so I go to FMC for buy-back.

FMC has sent me a Dispute Resolution Board application too. Now the fun begins.

 

Speaking from past experience, once the ball gets rolling with your case, dont be a bit surprised that your case will drag on for months. Mine lasted nine months, I finally received what I was looking for three days before my court appearence was to be held. This is a common thing, the automakers hope to discourage you in hopes that you will throw in the towel! You will probably get three offers ranging from a few thousand dollars off towards purchasing a new vehicle with your "LEMON TRADE". The last one being full buyback including tags and taxes. Also make Ford pay all lawyer's fees($2000-$2500) included in your suit. If you have a solid suit they will do it. Also keep in mind that the calculation for the money you receive starts at the mileage that your problem first occured, regardless of the mileage now. Ex: My truck started with problems at 10miles (brand new) by the time the case was settled I had 43000miles, I still received a full refund+tags,taxes and lawyer fees. Keep good records and BE DETERMINED!! Good Luck.

 

yeah, I'm pretty aware about how big company's can stonewall trying to wear you down. I have an attitude about this whole thing that is fairly upfront and pretty clear. My truck went ****-up at 550 miles. The Dealer can't fix it within the time constraints the company agreed to and now I have told FMC I want my money back. That's not an offer, gents. They ask what I wanted and that's my positon. I'll play the paperwork rules and give them everything they want and expect my request will be acceeded to. If FMC comes back with an "offer" my next move will be to find an attorney and let FMC begin paying him.

Even though this has been a major disruption in my life and plans this year I'm not so dependent on this truck as to be in a hurry to get another. I have another set of wheels and if I really "need" a truck I can afford to go down the street and buy a beater for a couple of thousand till this FMC thing is settled.

Thanks for your info.

 

I went over and picked up the truck today. The time window is up and I gotta press my case. Service mgr was resolved about it and I was philosophical. The drive home was timid and I didn't do any hard braking. When I got home I parked it and that's where it will remain till FMC comes and gets it.

I was interested in the pile of paperwork I have to submit. Dealer has over five grand in parts and labor in that thing now. I can remember when I could have bought a whole house in Indianapolis for $10K.

sigh...

 

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I recieved a call from FMC this afternoon. A very nice young man told me the FMC would like to put me into another new truck this week. I'm inclined to acccept if the offer includes an "agrivation factor" for continuing to make payments on a truck that was in the shop for half the period I owned it. Anyhow, I think it was nice of them to call.

 

that was pretty nice of them

 

Well....if you don't want it, send it my way......without the payments!

-Matt

 

Well, today I went back to the dealer and we sat down and created another new truck for me. I made a few adjustments to my wish list and decided on a different color. Same basic 350 PSD Lariat 4X4, but I orderd a long box and dual alternators and gave away electronic shift on the fly and that 6 disk CD player which I really didn't need any more. With my laptop mounted in the truck and piped through the truck speakers so I can use my GPS program on the road, I have a thousand tunes running all the time and no need for a bunch of CD's to clutter up storage space. I also dumped the two-tone color which is only eye candy anyhow.

With the long box I pick up a larger fuel tank (another ten or so gallons I think) but trade away a couple of hundred pound of pay load due to the weight of the extra fuel on board. That's acceptable cuz I also increase by a factor of 10 the number of slide-in camper models available for the long box over the short. Everytthing is a trade-off. The new truck will come out about $90 difference from the original price but I can live with that too.

So, maybe in another month or so I'll have a new truck that is built right and I'm happy wth.

Stay tuned.

 

Keep us informed! I really hope that your new truck works out really good for you! I am glad that they have resolved this without any lawayers or anything. I am also glad that this has not left a bad taste in your mouth and you will continue to buy Ford vehicles. That's all we use at work and they are excellent trucks. Good luck!

-Matt

 

I've said from the beginning that while I'm pretty disappointed in the truck experience I'm not in a rage at anyone over this. I do wish FMC could have offered some incentive to compensate me for the agrivation of having to deal with all this. But I'm not acusing anyone of screwing me. I'm looking forward to several hundred thousand miles of usefulness out of the new vehicle and only time will tell about that.

Besides, how many of us get to rethink the options on our major purchase like this after owning it and driving it for a month? This has allowed me to tweek the design and accessories to where I'll benifit more in the long run. Just adding the dual alternators was a mega-buck upgrade I'll get a lot more use from than an in-dash CD player.

 

Well gent's, it appears my tail of woe will turnout ok. I've been in negoiation with the point man for FMC in this region and in spite of bumping heads now and then we have been cordial and respectful of each other. Ford is going to exchange my lemon for a new truck with upgrades and I'm willing to drop the Lemon Law review board to get my money back. I'm happy with the new vehicle and actually the whole incident let me tweek my perfect truck a little after owning it and knowing how I will use it. Like getting a second chance at a virgin.

I rebuilt the vehicle going from a short box to the long and added two alternators, I discarded the high end 6 disk in dash radio in favor of the low end vanella kind because I'm going to operate my laptop in the truck and not have to mess with a stack of CD's. I also didn't like the white when it got here so I'm ordering silver (call me the Lone Ranger for those of you who remember radio).Bottom line is the new truck is about $100 more than the old and Ford will swap me even so I'm now a happy camper.

I've been aggrivated and upset by this whole scenario but I really haven't been angry at anyone. I wish it hadn't have happened but better now than 50,000 miles down the road.

Thanks for all your input and support. Add me to the list of the BBA (Buy-back annonomous) club. I can now assist anyone else having this malady and be supportive of them

When my new 350 arrives I'll change my signature some.