Hi folks,

I'm absolutely livid right now and I have no idea on what to do. I took my truck into the dealership to have a clunk checked that was coming from the drivetrain and to have a couple of oil-leaks fixed. I bought the extended warranty for $2600.00 and I was expecting to pay the deductible of $100 for the repairs. I just got a call form the service manager at Denham Ford and he advised me they would not put my truck on the hoist until they were sure I was going to pay fpor the repairs out of pocket. He said that because my truck had an aftermarket exhaust, and levelling kit (not a big lift kit or anything) that Ford would not cover the warranty. I argued with him for about 20 min and got nowhere. I had asked him what his problem was because 2 months ago they fixed the FICM and made no mention of any of these parts? I also mentioned that they changed out the EGR cooler and head gaskets last year without any questions being asked?

His reply to this was "Ford is cracking down on the dealerships and sending reps out to look at the claims. When you got those repairs done it was because we were able to slip them by but they are becoming more strict".

My question is this... why the F*** didn't they say something to me when I went in to pay the $2600 for additional warranty if I had the levelling kit and exhaust on since new? Who do I speak with about this? The bloody service manager is doing squat for me. I asked him how the hell an oil leak could be from and exhaust system or shocks and springs and he didn't say anything. What can I do here guys? I basically blew $2600 on a warranty they tell me I can't use. I could see them denying me warranty if I had a 6" lift or programmers and crap on there but this thing only has 77,000 kms on it and they have been "babied" kms. Please help.

 

Unfortunately I think your up the creek without a paddle! Did you have this stuff on their when they sold you the extended warranty? If so you might have a case but not likely... They are looking for any excuse to deny warranty claims these days. Could you take it to another garage? I don't even think what would work.

Next time don't buy an extended warranty.

 

I dont think taking it to another garage will work. They more than likely flagged the vehicle and it is now in the system.

 

WWWWWWWAIT A Minute!

77,000km? Are you in Canada?

I need to know because the law is quite different.


If you can, send me some pics of the oil leaks, and describe the driveline clunking noise as accurately as you can.. or better yet, record it... and let us hear it.


I need to know whether your mods have anything to do with the issues.

 

With the experiences I have had with the truck and the dealerships.... I think the term should be "next time don't buy Ford"!

 

Yup from Canada... right around the Edmonton area actually. I'm not a computor tech savy guy so you're outta luck with the recording idea lol. It sounds like U-joints but I went underneath and can't feel anything loose. I couldn't pin point where the leak was coming from but the oil is sitting on the drivers side sway bar bushing on the frame (if that helps).

 

Here is a quick bit of info. But I am unsure of the laws in Canada, worth looking into:

Federal law sets forth requirements for warranties and contains a number of provisions to prevent vehicle manufacturers, dealers and others from unjustly denying warranty coverage. With regard to aftermarket parts, the spirit of the law is that warranty coverage cannot be denied simply because such parts are present on the vehicle, or have been used (see Attachment A).The warranty coverage can be denied only if the aftermarket part caused the malfunction or damage for which warranty coverage is sought. Disputes in this area usually boil down to arguments over facts and technical opinions, rather than arguments over interpretations of the law.

 

I would request they the dealership call in the factory rep to come inspect it and let HIM tell you why they won't honor the warranty!! I'll bet that once to request that from the dealer, they will reverse their decision.

This is UNLESS that Canadian law on warranty is different than US law.

 

Here are my observations:


A) Generally, Ford dealers are not bad, though you can always get a bad one.

B) You sound like you have had some issues (which for all we know, can be personal) with them.

C) The laws in Alberta, Canada is roughly the same as the US, though there are different twists.

However, the rule of thumb I have found with Ford is generally they are reasonable.

However, sometimes, it take the polite application of the law to ensure that reasonableness is the outcome.



Here is what I suggest you do:

A) It is time to call Ford Customer Service

B) Be polite, calm, cool (get someone else to make the call if needs be).

Record the call (if legal in Alberta), OR, at least, take copious notes with a witness doing same.


Tell them factually, unemotionally, what happened.

Stress to them that you don't want to appear to be unreasonable --- and you are willing to assume responsibility / costs for any issues caused by your mods.

Ask for the Ford Zone manager to do an inspection if needs be.

See what happens.

 

You may want to consider finding out for certain whether or not the issue has been recorded on your oasis.

If not, take the truck to another dealership that wants the work.

If it has, then call Ford customer service.

 

I spoke with both the service manager and the Store manager yesterday and explained to them both why I thought their reasoning was ludacriss. They both responded with that they agreed with me and thought Ford was cheaping out on the warranty claim due to too many claims against the 6.0. They also said that Ford looks at each dealership to see how much work they have done for warranty as opposed to full cash work and they were at the limit in which Ford requires pics of each warranty job and now sends a rep out to look at the truck before they commence work. They said the rep is who would fail my truck. They said that they got away with servicing no problem until last year when Ford put their foot down on warranty claims. The store manager told me to try a few other dealerships and gave me their names (told me not to say he had mentioned them lol) and said that they have more cash deals on service vs warranty repairs and that they would probably put it thru without a rep or pics being taken. I want my bloody money back if they aren't gonna honor the warranty though!

Oh yeah... they said my oil leak was coming from my turbo and that my free flowing exhaust is what did it. They say it flows too freely and it doesn't give the turbo time to heat up to where it needs to be and causes the oil tube seal (or something like that) to expand and contract abnormally! Hogwash in my opinion. They said that that's what the books claims!

 

That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard! LOL

 

I think you definitely need a new dealership.

 

Your in Edmonton? If your truck isn't flagged take it to Hanson ford in Grande Prairie. I got my Hg's, and a couple other things done under warranty 2 months ago and I have lift on my truck. They were real good to me and many other people I know.

 

No they didn't flag my truck and it has not been flagged as of yet.... that I made sure to ask! GP is 5 hours away... a long drive to make on a "might work" idea. I have 2 dealerships around here to try before I go that drastic but thanks a million for the input. A 5 hour drive is minimal if the bill is going to be a couple grand or something! I had to laugh a bit at the store manager. He said to me that I hadn't got enough out of pocket work done on my truck and that was sending up red flags. He said that most of the work I came in for was warranty related. I asked him "isn't that the whole point of buying the extended bumper to bumper warranty? So I don't get stuck with the big bills associated with diesels? I used to get them to change my oil, air filter, fuel filters, tire rotations etc... but after they left that little air gauge deal off of my air intake housing (so it had been sucking in crud through a hole the size of a pencil for a good month) I quit going there and started doing the tune up stuff myself. Who can't change oil or clean an air-filter? At least I'll make sure everything goes back together! Not to mention the money I saved allowed me to run synthetic oil instead of Ford stuff.