Warranty issues with Ford F350

PoonTang · #1 01-05-2009, 04:25 AM

Im not sure how it is here in Canada but in the US they have to prove that the modifications caused/contributed the damage.

my2rotties · #2 01-05-2009, 04:41 AM

I saw that this is the case in the states. It would make total sense that they would have to prove the cold air intake caused the damage. I have had a cold air intake on every one of my fuel injected vehicles with no ill effect. I made sure to have the truck customized by the dealer with dealer approved parts, just for warranty purposes. It cost more money this way since dealers charge a lot of money. However it was done to make certain of warranty coverage.

I was hoping there was a phone number for somebody that would deal with this issue, since I know we are not alone in this by all means...

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoonTang

Im not sure how it is here in Canada but in the US they have to prove that the modifications caused/contributed the damage.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #3 01-05-2009, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoonTang

Im not sure how it is here in Canada but in the US they have to prove that the modifications caused/contributed the damage.

^^^ I was just going to mention this. I had a similar problem with a car I owned down in the states where the dealer said the warranty was void because there were after market mods. In the end they could not prove that the mods caused the problem and had to honor the warranty. I would look into this first as other have said. Unfortunately I find Canada does not quite have the same protection for consumers that the US has and the consumer often seems to get screwed here...one of those situations where all the rights you have in the US is a good thing.

Really sorry to hear about this. Personally I find if you stay calm and work through it, it will get resolved. Just don't panic or stress too much and certainly don't give up. I find retailers will often try to get you to give up quickly or easily to get out of things but if you persist they often "cave" or end up working things out. Sometimes it just takes time.

Good luck!

my2rotties · #4 01-05-2009, 05:10 AM

Sadly this truck has been a lemon since we brought it home. It has been on a flat deck more times then I can count. Frank picked it up form repairs once, brought it to the car wash and had to have it flat decked out of there an hour after it was picked up. We put our trailer on it, and it blew the tranny, and Ford didn't want to fix it then, but the dealer fixed it.

I know the dealer wants out fo their responsibility to fix the truck. We had the truck taken to another dealer for head gaskets earlier this year and they told us the truck was not covered due to a lift kit. What the lift kit has to do with a head gasket is beyond me. We took it to our regular dealer and they fixed the EGR cooler instead of head gaskets. I told hubby the truk was still blowing white smoke and his air conditioning and heat hardly worked due to low coolant levels.

The amount of time and work that have been missed because of this truck is unreal. I know it seems like a good idea to take the 2009 truck but the payments are even more on the lease and I hate the truck. My husband had his truck fully customized and dealer built, which makes it an extension of himself. We also don't want another Ford and are stuck with this truck and are expected to pay for the repairs if we don't take the other truck. The dealer will have to pay to repair our truck anyways in order to sell it again.

My plan is to go to both dealers where the truck was serviced and obtain the records. Then I will call Ford and ask for their reasons for not fixing the truck in writing. I was thinking of getting the media involved in some way or another since this dealer is still building these trucks. I want to do some undercover work and find out what they do for warranty on these 2009 F350 with the lift kits and oversized tires and rims. Who would pay this kind of money for a truck only to have no warranty?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

^^^ I was just going to mention this. I had a similar problem with a car I owned down in the states where the dealer said the warranty was void because there were after market mods. In the end they could not prove that the mods caused the problem and had to honor the warranty. I would look into this first as other have said. Unfortunately I find Canada does not quite have the same protection for consumers that the US has and the consumer often seems to get screwed here...one of those situations where all the rights you have in the US is a good thing.

Really sorry to hear about this. Personally I find if you stay calm and work through it, it will get resolved. Just don't panic or stress too much and certainly don't give up. I find retailers will often try to get you to give up quickly or easily to get out of things but if you persist they often "cave" or end up working things out. Sometimes it just takes time.

Good luck!

my2rotties · #5 01-05-2009, 05:26 AM

Here is a link for even more of these trucks... this owns the other dealer we leased the truck with...

http://www.woodridgeford.com/lifttruck-archive.html

G1GY · #6 01-05-2009, 05:47 AM

Crappy,

I think the dealer should eat it if the modifications that THEY SOLD you voided the warranty.

Did you know that it only costs $100 to file against them in small claims court? I think you can sue for up to $5000 with that and up to (Don't quote me on this) $20000 if you pay $200. You act as your own lawer and if you lose......... There is no provision for them to ask for legal expences. Since they'll be sending a lawer.......... They'll be spending lots of $$$$$ to try and avoid paying for the repairs. If they think it over early on and there's a chance that they may lose, they may just decide to minimize the loss and just have the repairs done.

Just a thought.

Slick Fork · #7 01-05-2009, 06:24 AM

As another person who has spent time in the auto industry, I can't speak to Ford as my experience was in Chevrolet/GM, but in our "owner assistance/warranty booklets" there is a very clear disclaimer that the sales guys are supposed to go over which states that any aftermarket product WILL void the warranty. The disclaimer has been there since at LEAST 2004. A good rule of thumb is that modifications to the appearance of the vehicle are ok but as soon as you start to change the way that vehicle performs you will run into trouble.

If it is an aftermarket product causing the issue then going directly to Ford will probably not yield you any results as they simply will not cover a part that they didn't install or manufacture. The way warranty works is the dealer does the work and then the parent company reimburses the dealer. Contrary to popular belief Ford/GM/Honda/etc. do not own their own dealerships, each store is privately owned, so having the work done at a Ford dealership does not mean that Ford endorses or covers the modifications.

As a side note, what did they tell you about returning the truck at the end of lease? GM's policy is the truck must be returned "factory", if you bring them back a lifted truck they will bill you for the labour to put it back to factory condition.

I hate to say it but I think as far as warranty goes you're SOL. If the dealership installed the aftermarket parts then they should cover whatever damage those parts caused.

You're best bet is to stay calm cool and reasonable. Get the sales manager, service manager, and dealer principle/General Manager involved. Point out that you've spent a lot of money both in their sales department and service department and that you would like to continue spending money but you need this issue resolved. As a last resort you could contact www.amvic.org and they will do an investigation.

Good luck

wolf_bluejay · #8 01-05-2009, 06:47 AM

In Canada, there is a arbitration board, funded mostly by the car makers. But, it is designed to keep the court costs down and has less than 50% dealers and more than 50% consumer protection representation on the board.

It cost nothing, and they rule in favour of the consumer about 70% of the time. The only downside, is that it is a "final" solution. What is decided is NOT apealable, and not able to be taken to court afterwards if you lose.

The board can rule al the way to a "by-back". I've had a few friends that have fought out warranty work this way, and all but 1 did get the work done in the end.

And, as a bonus, it doesn't cost you a cent.

Some of the times, when you tell the dealer that you are going to go this route, they fix the issue without a fight.

I can't remember the website of hand, but you should be able to find it with a quick google search.

Edit ** found link
hxxp://www.camvap.ca/

mseepman · #9 01-05-2009, 05:42 AM

After reading your post here, I thought I would chip in my 2 cents. I previously worked for a Ford dealer and still work in the auto industry, but as a consultant/vendor to dealers rather than to consumers. I now deal with all brands, especially imports.

The first thing to note is that pretty much all mods to a new vehicle (whether done by the dealer or not) can have warranty implications. Even Ford Racing and Toyota Racing brand parts have a disclaimer about how they affect warranty. That does not necessarily mean that your warranty should be void.

The second thing to note is that I highly doubt that the dealer is truly just trying to stiff you. They really want to do the warranty work (that's how they get paid) but they can't go against the manufacturer. What generally happens in these situations is that the dealer spends some time looking to see if the mods influenced the failure. Often they would "help you out" by not disclosing all the info to the manufacturer in order to get your warranty work approved/done. This has often been especially true when they sold the mods to you.

Since the huge mess in the US banking system, all the manufacturers (yes Toyota and Honda too) are having some cash issues. This has been more prevalent with the US brands as they tend to loan money to consumers more freely than the imports. With this cash crunch, they've been looking at ways to cut costs and one of those ways is to really watch the dealers hard on all warranty work. This is something the imports have done all along (you would not believe how much warranty is refused by the import brands.) Since they are being watched, audited and measured constantly, dealers are unable to provide the level of help they previously provided.

Unfortunately, it sounds like somewhere along the line, Ford has been informed of the mods which immediately prompts the "watch list" My suggestion to you would be to re-approach the dealer and ask what they feel a solution will be outside of buying a new vehicle. Suggest to them that you will probably have to start discussing things with Ford directly and you will need the dealer to provide the manufacturer some details about the modifications they are doing to new vehicles. This may prompt them to "help" you further as many dealers have really started backing away from doing mods and don't really want the OEM to know they do it.

The last thing that strikes me is that it's not very common for someone who gets mods done by the dealer to only get the Cold Air return done. Is there anything else that they may be blaming for the problem? Maybe a combo of a bunch of things?

Sorry about writing a book here, but I thought some background info might help you come up with a solution or some more ideas. I agree with what was said earlier about keeping cool, calm and persistent is the best way to get this handled.