Lemon Law Thread: How many have or are filing Lemon Law for their S550?

This will be the official S550 Lemon Law thread.

How many of you have filed or are in the process of filing for your S550?

I want it to be based on facts - facts that will help others either through the process or facts from those who have successfully filed AND what their results were after filing.

All FORD 800# information:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/the-ford-800-info-for-those-needing-it.111571/


Lemon Law facts For NJ residents:
http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/News/Brochures/Lemon-Law-Road-to-Relief-Brochure.pdf

BBB Lemon Law Facts for NJ consumers:
http://www.bbb.org/us/Storage/16/Documents/BBBAutoLine/NJ-LLaddinfo.pdf
http://www.bbb.org/us/Storage/16/Documents/BBBAutoLine/NJ-LLsummary.pdf

Other good sites for excellent Lemon Law info:
Steve Lehto (wrote the "Lemon Law Bible"): http://lehtoslaw.com/
Kimmel & Silverman FREE Lemon Law Legal services w/ high success rates & Avvo rating of 10: http://www.lemonlaw.com/
BBB Auto Line for filing Lemon Law complaints: https://www.bbb.org/autoline/

My 2016 EB has been out of commission since June 6th because of an oil leak. Ford wants to put a rebuilt engine in my car instead of an entire new power plant. The car has less than 1000 miles on the odometer.

I've already filed with the BBB and I will be filing for Lemon protection in NC if they dont take my case to arbitration.

I filed NJ Lemon Law in March 2015 for a Chrysler 200 I leased in September 2014. It was finally over at the end of August 2015. It took 5 freaking months of Chrysler and lawyer going back and forth because "no one had seen a case like it before" according to Chrysler's and my lawyers...Whatever that means. What really happened is the dealerships knew about the issues, and knew there was no fix for them other than a bandaid (new transmission) which lasted under a week. So, no one wanted to attempt to fix the car, and because of that, the whole process was delayed because they have to make a reasonable effort to fix the vehicle.

Anyway, at the end, I got the result I wanted, but I did have 5 months without a vehicle because FCa doesn't give loaners.

Also, the lawyer I used was David Gorberg. I do not recommend his services just because I felt that the communication wasn't great and he wasn't particularly knowledgeable about what to do in my situation which probably was unique in his defense. He did end up charging FCA $2,000 for his services.

Great thread, should be a sticky to help out Ford owners having troubles with their cars and going the Lemon Law route.

every state will be different

Khyber said:

every state will be different

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While true AND that is the point of this thread, to gather such correct and factual info from those in State-X, however the process to get it to and through FORD is all the same.

There's so many threads on here in the TSB section where folks are or have "Lemon'd" their S550's, that this thread should be stickied, period.

I filed last week & Ford got their official notification thru the BBB on 7/1. Clock is ticking as they have 10 days to respond & then 10 days to attempt 1 last time to fully repair the car or (in my case) will have to buy it back per FL LL rules. They can wave the last repair attempt if they so choose.

Car has been @ the dealer for 50 days as of Monday and no one (techs or FSE's) has been able to affect repairs. Ford RCSR's get no response from the dealer & neither do I. Last time a spoke to someone there about my car was on 6/17.

There have been 4 other repair attempts totaling an additional 10 days out of service.

Car had ~1200 miles on the clock when dropped off on 5/24. I've not seen it since & hope to never see it again other than to remove my personal stuff.

I filed via the BBB process as they are the arbitrators anyway for most LL claims in FL.

My car has the driveline vibration issue (for those who have not seen my posts in the huge vibration thread) + some Sync 3 issues (random black outs).

Driveline fix attempts so far:
#1 - road force balance tires (1 found bad) - no improvement - tire ordered
#2 - replaced bad tire - no improvement - drive shaft ordered
#3 - replaced drive shaft - problem got worst - was told to return in 3 days, then told I needed to go back to the selling dealer
#4 - replaced drive shaft again - much better, but still some vibration that got worse over the following 3 weeks

car then basically sat in my garage for close to 2 months as I was too busy with expanding my rescue business to fool with dragging it back & forth

#5 - car to dealer on 5/24 (and still there):

• Sync 3 magically started working, so was not even looked into
• techs blamed the Ford 19" PP wheels & tires, swapped them for the base 18"s from another GT on the lot & vibration still there
• techs had no clue on vibration other than 'it seems to be coming from the rear of the car'
• car sat till 6/15 waiting on FSE
• FSE had no clue either, pointed to the Steeda stuff (any excuse will do) & left
• 6/20 Steeda stuff removed & OE stuff put back on
• vibration got slightly worse (like I told them it would be)
• techs & FSE have done nothing & still have no clue
• 6/27 I get sick & tired of the shenanigans, no communication & total lack of progress and begin LL proceedings with BBB

********************************************************************

7/12 update - still no word from Ford or the dealer - 10 day period for them to respond to the LL complaint expired & the BBB scheduled an arbitration/hearing date (7/27)

7/18 update - day 57 comes & goes with still no contact - Ford received notice the LL complaint has been filed with the FL AG's office in addition to the BBB - another member here spotted my car sitting @ the dealership, so it's still there

7/22 update - day 60 & finally some action - BBB called to say Ford legal approved the buyback and to review the $$ and what I needed to do next - since I accepted the offer, arbitration hearing is cancelled - ironically, dealer called (for the 1st time in 5 weeks) to say an FSE was there working on the car :shrug:

8/2 update - day 71 - Ford legal sent the final buyback worksheet for my approval & sent a document pkg to the dealer I need to go & sign, once they get that back the check will be issued. Ironically, 2 hours after I accepted the buyback the dealer called to say they believe they had finally fixed the car & did I want to stop the LL process. I said too little too late. Hopefully, this will all be history by the end of next week !

8/5 update - I went to dealer to sign the buyback pkg today & removed my personal stuff from the car. Just waiting on the check to be issued & sent to the dealer, should be there in a week or so.

8/15 DONE !! - Check from Ford arrived late Friday & I picked it up today, turned in spare keys, books etc. She was sitting in the same place I left her on 8/5.

VIN = 1FA6P8CF7G5241044

My Vette buy back took three days in Michigan, took 4 months to get the car....Long story. GM out sources it to 3rd party and they refused to pay the sales tax, despite it being a law in Michigan. Hope you didn't write a check for the car, because it makes it more complex. If you finance it the finance company gets it back, if you write a check, you own the old car until the new car comes in, but you don't have possession of the car so you still have to insure it..

I had to Lemon Law my 15 EcoBoost Premium PP, I filed in March 2015 and won July 2015. I purchased the car 1/20/15, it was a special order and upon delivery I pointed out that the trunk, hood, rear fenders and passenger door were badly misaligned and all 4 wheels were scratched. It was a Friday evening and of course the dealership promised to take care of everything on Monday.

Monday comes and I go back to the dealership and they took pictures to send to Ford for approval of repairs. I went home and waited to hear from the dealership. On Wednesday when I hadn't heard anything from the dealership I called and was told that they needed to take better pictures. I returned the following Monday and met with the Body shop supervisor and showed him everything, the passenger door was hitting the front fender when opening and closing the door, the trunk was 3/4" lower on the left, the clips on the passenger rear fender were visible because of 1/2" gap between the bumper and fender, rear glass was sagging on the driver side, the headlights were crooked, there were waves and creases in every panel and the wheels were scratched. He took me around the lot and every Mustang had serious panel misalignments and creasing in panels so he said he thought Ford would say it was within tolerance. On Wednesday of that week I got a call from the dealership to bring the car in Monday for the wheels to be repaired and the rear bumper to be repaired but the rest was within tolerance. I hung up and called Ford to get a case opened and a CSR assigned, I told them all of my concerns. On Friday I got a call from the CSR and brought the car in Monday.

I picked up the car on Friday and all that was done were the wheels repainted and rear bumper realigned. I was fuming by this point but took the car home and called the CSR. Monday comes and I heard back from the CSR who told me to go to a different dealership for a second opinion. I went to dealership number 2 that day and met with the Body shop manager. He saw my car from 20' away and said that if he didn't know that the car was brand new he would swear it had been in an accident and poorly repaired. With the naked eye he said it was the worst he'd seen and was definitely not within tolerance but said he wouldn't touch it. He said it couldn't be fixed without tearing it completely apart and cutting off wielded panels and it would never be right and that I should get Ford to replace it. He wouldn't put his recommendation in writing because he worked for Ford and he feared for his job.

The CSR called me the same day after he received a call from the body shop and he arranged for me to drop my car off the following week at the original dealership for the Ford field engineer to come look at the car. After leaving my car for the field engineer to look at it I received a call to pick it up and was told that it's within tolerance and no repairs were performed. I picked up my car Wednesday and immediately filed with the BBB.

Within 2 days I received a call from the BBB and I received a packet from them the following week. I signed everything and faxed it back to the BBB. About a week later the BBB called and the person I was assigned to was very helpful and noticed I didn't submit a copy of my letter to Ford demanding a final repair attempt and asked if I sent one. I hadn't so we put a hold on my BBB claim while I sent the certified letter. Ford called 2 days after the 10 days expired. I informed them that they forfeited their right to a final repair due to their late response but I would in good faith agree to the final repair attempt. I wasn't taking any chances and didn't want Ford to win on a technicality.

I took the car for a final repair attempt and they did nothing because they insisted it was within tolerance. I reopened my case with the BBB and requested an arbitration hearing. I did try to work with Ford on getting the car replaced but they laughed at my request and literally said they would never replace a car over misaligned panels. I told them that it was covered under the Lemon Law because it was a defect in manufacturing which significantly affected the value of the car if I were to try to sell it, no one would believe it hadn't been involved in an accident. Ford basically laughed and I filed with the BBB as soon as I hung up the phone.

My case was a little complicated because I didn't have enough repair attempts on record to qualify for the FL Lemon Law. I was 1 repair shy so I had to go through arbitration to force Ford to attempt a repair. I gathered all of my documentation, work orders, pictures of my car and didn't know how I was going to prove my claim of my car not being within tolerance. I'm not an expert and feared it was my word against Ford. I scoured the forums for photos of 2015 Mustangs with perfect panel fitment and downloaded as many photos as I could find. I had over 20 5x7 photos printed to show that my car was definitely not within tolerance.

I had my first arbitration hearing in mid June. The hearing was by phone and I spoke first, I showed my work orders and the photos of the perfectly aligned panels on the other Mustangs next to my crooked mess. The arbitrator and witness inspected my car and could clearly see that my car had serious panel issues. I could tell the way they were going over it and pointing out defects to each other. The hearing was about an hour total including inspection. After 5 days I received the arbitrator's decision. He ordered Ford to make the repairs that I had requested. I received a call from Ford about a week later to arrange dropping my car off for repairs. The body shop manager refused to touch my car when I dropped it of for repairs, the same idiot Field Engineer came to look over the car again and I got a call the day after leaving it at the dealership to come pick it up.

When I picked my car up I asked for the work order, I got it and no repairs were performed and the Field Engineer reiterated that the car was within factory tolerance. I wrote a letter to the BBB and requested a reconvening of arbitration. It was now the first week of July and I had a second hearing scheduled.

When I arrived at my second arbitration hearing Ford wasn't answering the arbitrator's calls at the time that had been scheduled. The arbitrator was not happy about not being able to contact the person at Ford that was supposed to be available for the hearing. After 5 calls he called another number and he finally got the person on the line. It was Ford's contention that my car was within factory tolerance and the arbitrator was not happy with the fact that they ignored his interim decision to repair my car. He argued that the car did in fact have defects in manufacturing that significantly affected the value of the car and that it was a loss in value to me. He actually told Ford that they should be ashamed and that he felt that they could do better. To top it all off the stupid women from Ford wasn't prepared for the hearing and didn't have all of the work orders, she claimed I didn't qualify for the FL Lemon Law because I was missing a repair attempt. I was not and he faxed her the missing repair order. After he went back and forth with Ford over the "missing" repair order, she faxed over the wrong documents and he was now as angry and disgusted as I was. He decided he heard enough and ended the call and the hearing.

I was completely distraught and felt defeated by the end of the second hearing after a rather heated argument between the arbitrator, myself, and Ford. He told me he was sorry and was trying his best to help me but not to worry because he had all of the work orders I submitted in my file at his home office and he just needed to gather up everything to be certain that I did have enough repair attempts to qualify for FL Lemon Law. He told me I would have his decision by the end of the week, it was a Monday.

On Friday I received an email from the BBB with the arbitrator's decision. I nervously opened the attached letter. To my surprise he ruled in my favor and ordered Ford to replace my car. I was so relieved that I actually cried a little out of relief. I had been fighting with Ford since January 23 and I finally had an end in sight.

A week later I received a call from Ford and started the replacement process. Because the Lemon Law states it's an MSRP to MSRP replacement it had to be equal in value or more not less. This was a problem because I had an EcoBoost Premium PP with the 50th AP package and every option but the active alarm, and Ford couldn't find an Eco with these options anywhere in the country making MSRP to MSRP impossible. I didn't really want another Eco after my experience and I was doubting the reliability of the engine reading of a few with blown engines after tunes and a few stock engines blown. I decided to go with a 16 GT Premium PP with all the options minus the active alarm. Since one could not be located Ford approved a special order.

I took delivery of my GT November 13 and couldn't be happier with my replacement. I probably should have to Ford to go pound sand and give me my $$ back after my experience but I was getting a really nice discount on the price difference and got it well below invoice. After all of my original incentives and discount off MSRP the price difference was $2800. After getting all of my $$ refunded from the original sale plus all payments and interest I only financed a few hundred more for the GT than the Eco.

Sorry for the long post but that's my Lemon Law experience.

I'm in the middle of a case through the BBB for the driveline vibration problem. They have been very good about calling and keeping me informed of the process. Ford made an offer through them of an extended warranty and small good will payment which I declined since I need the car fixed under the current warranty! It will go to arbitration next week at the Atlanta BBB office. Still waiting to hear from them on an exact time and date. In GA, the arbitration is binding on Ford but not the consumer. If I'm not happy with the outcome, I can still get a lawyer and go to court. Hopefully, this won't be necessary.

speedfrk said:

I'm in the middle of a case through the BBB for the driveline vibration problem. They have been very good about calling and keeping me informed of the process. Ford made an offer through them of an extended warranty and small good will payment which I declined since I need the car fixed under the current warranty! It will go to arbitration next week at the Atlanta BBB office. Still waiting to hear from them on an exact time and date. In GA, the arbitration is binding on Ford but not the consumer. If I'm not happy with the outcome, I can still get a lawyer and go to court. Hopefully, this won't be necessary.

Click to expand...

Just about to file for mine, also in ATL.

Case is open and going in under the grounds that the entire engine has been replaced and now the car has a driveline vibration and gurgling (for lack of a better word) sound is coming from the transmission.

Ford has deemed this normal as its simply "gear roll" over and said my vibration is due to the after market exhaust; a Ford Racing X pipe and a roush axleback. When the system is removed and ran off the cats the sound is still there...riddle me that.

With two major drive line components in peril I've had enough. Its a job 1 car and ford refuses to own up to the errors without the BBB.

More to come; but expecting a lengthy process that extends into 2017.

astolt12 said:

Just about to file for mine, also in ATL.

Case is open and going in under the grounds that the entire engine has been replaced and now the car has a driveline vibration and gurgling (for lack of a better word) sound is coming from the transmission.

Ford has deemed this normal as its simply "gear roll" over and said my vibration is due to the after market exhaust; a Ford Racing X pipe and a roush axleback. When the system is removed and ran off the cats the sound is still there...riddle me that.

With two major drive line components in peril I've had enough. Its a job 1 car and ford refuses to own up to the errors without the BBB.

More to come; but expecting a lengthy process that extends into 2017.

Click to expand...

Nope, BBB will have it settled in 40 days. Got my arbitration date today. They are very efficient...

speedfrk said:

I'm in the middle of a case through the BBB for the driveline vibration problem. They have been very good about calling and keeping me informed of the process. Ford made an offer through them of an extended warranty and small good will payment which I declined since I need the car fixed under the current warranty! It will go to arbitration next week at the Atlanta BBB office. Still waiting to hear from them on an exact time and date. In GA, the arbitration is binding on Ford but not the consumer. If I'm not happy with the outcome, I can still get a lawyer and go to court. Hopefully, this won't be necessary.

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Typical, laughable Ford response - what's the use of an extended warranty when they can't/won't fix the existing issues :shrug:

MikeD1 said:

Typical, laughable Ford response - what's the use of an extended warranty when they can't/won't fix the existing issues :shrug:

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Exactly.

I don't like the fact that this thread was moved from the General forum, as it had more viability there - but hopefully folks who need the info or are in the "Lemoning" process can still find this thread.

MikeD1 said:

Typical, laughable Ford response - what's the use of an extended warranty when they can't/won't fix the existing issues :shrug:

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They gave me the same hoopla when i had a well documented, very obvious and repeatable tick in my engine. After 4 attempts to have it looked at I flat out ran out of dealerships in my area.

So they gave me an "extended warranty" just in case anything happens.

Eventually i fought hard enough to get the engine replaced. Now the transmission is gurgling; which is also normal. So im throwing in the towel.

Maybe Mark Fields will read this and see that they need to fundamentally change how they handle vehicle repairs.