So long Ford!

F U and your entire company!

A couple weeks ago, I took my 2004 F150 in to the shop because it was having engine troubles. Ford is claiming abuse and lack of maintenance on the engine, and has denied the warranty new engine.

WTF?!? Lack of maintenance??? Oil changes between 3K and 5K since I owned it. Their primary evidence is some sludging in the engine and the fact that I can't produce receipts (I do my own service). Even the warranty inspection rep admits that receipts aren't proof that maintenance has been performed, but that is still their basis. I think I have this maintenance thing figured out, as the car I drive to work every single day has 220K miles on it, and runs fine!

Time to head off to Dodge and Chevy to see what they will give me on trade (the damn thing still runs, even though two different dealers say the engine is shot ). I'll take a $5K bath on the trade before I pay Ford $9K to replace the engine.

This is the type of action that can (has) cause(d) a person to never ever buy another Ford product for the rest of their (my) life.

Most likely going to take a pass on that Expedition I was looking at too...not a chance Ford! F*CK OFF!

So, tell us then, how do you really feel about Ford??

So Dargo gets the Excursion and Dave is opting out of the Expediton but is going to take the new Ford Exclusion? Works for me........

Dave Its crap when in a position like you are in, but I think they are (car manufacturers) are all much the same, arse holes.

I went through a similar thing recently, I'm now driving a Dodge after three Fords. It will be a long time before consider another Ford vehicle.

I wouldn't tell the other dealers there is anything wrong with your engine. Get the most you can for it.

Good Luck!

Dave, PM me with the dealer info and any details if you want me to see what I can do for you.

Dave,

I have one of them, how many miles are on the engine?


murph

and here i had a similar (thought not to that extreme) hiccup with the Dodge dealership that sold me my Dakota.
I took it in for the winter service special THEY mailed and emailed me about, (iol change, rotate tires and 29 point inspection) and they got mad at me for setting an appointment and showing up for it, then they tried to bill me for all the services provided, I never got the inspection sheet, and the tires weren't rotated, which is why I went in to begin with, because I was having major vibration and wanted it checked out. (service tech assured me the tires were rotated and there was nothing wrong with any of them)
2 days later i took it to the other dodge dealership and they told me the tires had not been rotated and there was a huge bubble in the middle of the tread. cost me an extra $25 to get the answer to my original question.
I stopped on the way home and bought tires.
I sent an email to dodge asking abut my options for satisfaction - their response was they have nothing to do with the dealerships and wouldn't help me. then they emailed me a satisfaction survey about their online help function.

I agree with you on "So Long Ford!" Ford has a fairly decent vehicle, however, their service depts. in my area suck!

Took my Taurus in because the engine was not running right. I was surprised that the service advisor was not interested in my problem, but was real interested in trying to get me to agree with changing the transmission fluid; antifreeze; power steering fluid; flushing the brake lines, etc.

I told him I did not want to do anything to the car until the engine problem was fixed.

The next day, the service advisor called and said the engine problem was resolved, and wanted permission to do the other service. I agreed to changing the transmission fluid, but not the other stuff. He was pissed and tried to lay a guilt trip on me. I said forget it, just change the transmission fluid.

Picked up the car late that afternoon. Within a block, the original engine problem was back. Turned around and went back to the service dept. The service advisor said the next appointment was 2 weeks away. I complained that I had only been one block and the car was running as bad as when I brought it in. Basically he said tough, bring it back in 2 weeks and we'll look at it.

I told him to shove it, went home and tried to call Ford to complain. Turns out, all complaints had to go through a contractor Ford had hired to handle complaints. The lady I talked to tried to get me to take it back to the dealer, but I refused. She said there was nothing she could do. She would not give me Ford's mailing address, but would give me her company's address. She said they take all problems, put them into a database, and periodically show Ford executives the type of problems customers are having.

Ended up taking the Taurus to a different service dept., one that is small enough that I could actually talk to the mechanic who work on the vehicle. He just shook his head when I described the problem I had with the first service dept. He ended up fixing the problem. I had to pay him, as I expected I would, but I did not get the runaround from him.

Bottom line, I know you should never say never, but I never intend to purchase another Ford product, be it Ford, Jag, Lincoln, Mercury, etc.

Bob

Dargo said:

Dave, PM me with the dealer info and any details if you want me to see what I can do for you.

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Thanks Brent, but this is no longer a dealer issue. The ESP department has sent out an inspector, and it is they who have denied the warranty coverage. It has been rejected "higher up" so to speak. I have telephoned and talked with the inspection department manager, and verified that it is not simply the dealer "passing the buck".

thcri said:

I have one of them, how many miles are on the engine?

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58K miles. It has had noise from the cam phasers since the day I bought it (sounds like a diesel at idle). I was told that the noise is normal for these engines, and "don't worry about it". B.S. The cam timing is exactly what got screwed up on my engine due to low oil pressure. If you have any noise from your engine that sounds like it's a diesel, or really loud injectors then I suggest you get it looked at ASAP.

Apparently Dodge is practically giving away Ram trucks. I just got home from the dealer, and their first offer was $13,500 off a sticker price of $37,700. That was cash basis, with no discussion of a trade.

DaveNay said:

Apparently Dodge is practically giving away Ram trucks. I just got home from the dealer, and their first offer was $13,500 off a sticker price of $37,700. That was cash basis, with no discussion of a trade.

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Don't forget the lifetime powertrain warranty if you think you are going to keep it for a long time. The full warranty is weak at three years but lifetime on the big stuff is pretty nice. Of course, whether or not you will have problems claiming on the warranty is still anyone's gamble.

DaveNay said:

If you have any noise from your engine that sounds like it's a diesel, or really loud injectors then I suggest you get it looked at ASAP.

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No I have not had anything like that. I had some trouble with the rear end but that is it. I have a 153K on mine right now and it sounds really good yet.

Sorry to hear it, I really have liked the way the truck rides. In fact my wife has a Suburban and would rather drive or ride in my pickup.

murph

DaveNay said:

58K miles. It has had noise from the cam phasers since the day I bought it (sounds like a diesel at idle). I was told that the noise is normal for these engines, and "don't worry about it". B.S. The cam timing is exactly what got screwed up on my engine due to low oil pressure. If you have any noise from your engine that sounds like it's a diesel, or really loud injectors then I suggest you get it looked at ASAP.

Click to expand...

That sound is not normal. We have a 2004 Ford F150 with 80K miles and have never heard that noise.

HEY!!! Have you heard? Ford is now putting in heated tail gates!!!!







Why? So you can keep your hands warm while you're pushing it.

I also told the Ford salesman that he has one chance to retain me as a customer, and he needs to make the deal of a lifetime on a new truck for me.

We'll see, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Blondie said:

HEY!!! Have you heard? Ford is now putting in heated tail gates!!!!







Why? So you can keep your hands warm while you're pushing it.

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Blondie that is not how I heard it. The heated tailgate was so when you put your hand on the tail gate to balance you while you hooked a chain on your hitch to pull out the GM's and Dodges you would have warm hands.

thcri said:

Blondie that is not how I heard it. The heated tailgate was so when you put your hand on the tail gate to balance you while you hooked a chain on your hitch to pull out the GM's and Dodges you would have warm hands.

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In reality it is to prevent the crap from freezing on in the colder climates.

LOVE my new Dodge 3500! Great Cummins engine!

thcri said:

so when you put your hand on the tail gate to balance you while you hooked a chain on your hitch

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OK Murph, How many beers do you have to drink to require balancing on the tailgate to hook up a chain?

thcri said:

to pull out the GM's and Dodges you would have warm hands.

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And even worse, how many beers do you have to drink to think you need to rearrange trucks in the parking lot of a gun shop?

Ohhhhhh Dave. I feel your pain! I had a 96 Thunderbird. It had a bad vibration at certain speeds. The dealership couldnt find anything and then the shop manager told me... out of the BLUE that I should take him to court because he doesnt care!!!!! WTF!?!??!?
I will NEVER buy a Ford again. GM was much better trying to help me but the bottom line is I dont want to even HAVE a problem!
My 97 Camry had gunk in the engine. It was 1000 miles out of warranty. They STILL did it for FREE!!!!!! From that point I have been a loyal Toyota customer. (no cracks about my air filter experience!!)

Well, no joy in mudville.

Ford flat refuses to budge on the warranty issue, so the truck is my problem. The dealer has offered $10K as-is, but I owe $15K, so I'd be taking a $5K loss, and not own a truck. I could try to quiet it down to get more on a trade at another brand dealer, but I suspect that wouldn't go too well. They probably can access the warranty records of the other manufacturers (CarFax?).

If I got rid of the truck, I'd also be throwing away $1200 worth of tires and brakes that I put on the week before the engine took a dump.

Even if I could cover what I owe with a trade, I would still be looking at buying a new truck, and I just don't feel comfortable laying out that kind of money at this time.

Sigh.....take a deep breath.

Soooooo....a re-manufactured engine will cost me about $3200, plus some other parts. I figure for about $4K I can replace the engine myself. I've never done it before, but I am a fair bit above your average idiot, and I should be able to do it.

Not that I love Ebay right now But.....http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-0...ryZ33615QQihZ015QQitemZ250221964790QQtcZphoto

Find a Mechanic that is not a dealer to put it in and have $2500 in it to fix.

mbsieg said:

Not that I love Ebay right now But.....http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-0...ryZ33615QQihZ015QQitemZ250221964790QQtcZphoto

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Thanks....mine (and all 2004+ models) is a three valve.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD...ryZ33615QQihZ015QQitemZ250221964786QQtcZphoto
Here is a 3V if yours is that.

mbsieg said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD...ryZ33615QQihZ015QQitemZ250221964786QQtcZphoto
Here is a 3V if yours is that.

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Hmmmmmmmm.....interesting.

Yours is not the only one that has done this check google. Lost oil on one side of the engine and started to make noises??? Couple of them they blamed the oil pickup screen had crude in it.... This will not cause oil loss to only one side of the engine.

mbsieg said:

Yours is not the only one that has done this check google. Lost oil on one side of the engine and started to make noises??? Couple of them they blamed the oil pickup screen had crude in it.... This will not cause oil loss to only one side of the engine.

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Yeah, I have found quite a few cases of similar failure. Ford has turned a deaf ear on all of them as far as I can tell.

Similar to the spark plug issues Dargo mentioned in another thread. Ford has taken the position of deny, deny, deny.