2015TitaniumAWD
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I realize this is a Mustang Forum however my car is a Ford and they actually do share some slight componentry so I feel that any owner that is having an issue and is needing to go through a lemon law process may benefit from my experience (maybe not, but at least you are aware of the process and problems) Also sheds a light on Ford's customer service... A good read for prospective owners as to what you might get into if your car has a problem they can't figure out.
Lets start from the very beginning - February 2015.
In February I had decided that I wanted a new vehicle. It was near the end of the month and the weather here in Ohio was still winter. So, I stopped in to a local Ford dealership (Autonation Ford North Canton) and looked at their selection. I was actually not looking to buy that day but the salesman was pretty convincing I should get my trade appraised and then see if there was anything I liked. While there I saw a 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium AWD. It was certified and had 32,000 miles on it. It was clean inside and out, and I test drove it in the aftermath of a snow storm that left a few inches on the ground. It drove very well in the snow and since I was already familiar with the new Fusions (My friend owns a 2013 Titanium AWD also)... I was sold. Needless to say we put the deal together and I drove off.
The following week after buying it the engine stalled while driving out of my driveway. It restarted but the check engine light came on. Took it in to Autonation Ford and they gave me a rental for a couple of days while they ordered a fuel pressure sensor. Part installed and returned running the same (no more stalling). I started noticing very strange things with the blind spot detection and the reverse warning system. It would almost always tell me a car was approaching from the left or right when backing out (of my own driveway on a private single lane road). There was nothing there - But it kept falsely telling me something was there. Fast forward a week or so of this and I finally opened the trunk and looked around. I thought maybe it was something loose. Pulled the trunk carpet and found the spare sitting in the well with little spots of rust that looked like welding slag. Pulled all the side carpets out and rear plastic latch guard and found the car had been wrecked hard in the rear and the repairing shop had actually used white base paint and painted the interior of the trunk. Like painted everything (wiring harnesses and all). It looked a mess. So I rolled underneath it with my creeper and found the underbody sections had ripples and signs it had been straightened (poorly). Took it back to Autonation Ford infuriated I had purchased a FORD CERTIFIED used car with obvious damage. In hind sight, its my fault I didn't have them put it up on a rack and inspect it (But 2 years old, 32,000 miles and Certified - Why should I?) Long story short - They replaced the car with a brand new 2015 Titanium (my payment went up BTW) however my problems didn't end there.
On March 15, 2015 I took possession of a Guard Green 2015 Titanium AWD. It had the same options as the 13 (although it had cooled seats and heated steering wheel as new options). Thought I was fortunate they stood behind their transgression and I should be good from here on out. So, brand new with 122 miles on it - I should be good to go - Or so I thought.
The first issue I encountered with the new Fusion was an intermittent central locking issue. The car would at times completely fail to open when the door handle was grabbed (proximity unlocking). This happened quite a few times and after a few more issues started occurring after 5500 miles I took it into George Waikem Ford (didn't trust Autonation Ford anymore after their clear glossing over issues).
That visit had an outcome of ordering an APIM (for poor HD radio reception and nav system issues), re-calibrating the transmission for hard shifts and no duplication of the locking issue.
Next visit was at 7,636 miles. They never called letting me know parts came in for the car (and hadn't scheduled with me to bring it back in before I left so I scheduled it back in). This was in October 2015 (first visit was probably 5-6 weeks earlier). This visit had APIM complaint again, NAV Faults, Hard shifts again going into reverse, central locking again, sunroof rattle from headliner and a recall (15S14 Steering bolt corrosion). They found nothing wrong with the APIM this time (even though they ordered one last visit and returned it (due to time frame). They could not duplicate my navigation issue with the nav system failing to load at times (only compass) and sometimes SD Fault message on center screen). They checked transmission fluid level from a SSM#45239 about this issue. It was spot on, no repairs made. This time I had to show the technician the unlocking didn't work when I picked it up and then they finally ordered an antenna for the headliner). Found free play in the headliner mounting causing a rattle in the sunroof area (fixed). The performed the recall and that rounded out the repair visit.
On 11/09/15 I returned the car for service to Waikem for the remote transceiver replacement (in the headliner) for the unlocking issue, Radio issues (WAIT message on display and poor HD reception), and intermittent hard bang from reverse to drive. They replaced the transceiver and could not duplicate the other two concerns and closed out the repairs.
This next visit is when I started having real serious issues with the car. These issues still persist and this is where my experience gets soured.
The car started stalling and then quit altogether. It started blowing the PCM fuse (#7 in the engine fuse box). It was towed into Waikem Ford on 11/14/15 at 8166 miles for a no start condition. All the lights would come on, but it would not start. They replaced the PCM and battery during that visit (11/16 - 11/25/15). Car drove fine home, then quit while pulling out of the garage next day. That was Thanksgiving Day so I waited until Friday (11/27/15) to have it towed back in. They kept the car from 11/27 - 12/11/15. This visit they replaced the Battery Junction Box (BJB) , battery and replaced the blown fuse from the #7 slot. They returned the car to me and I drove it home. Next day it seemed ok, then the following day (Sunday) I was running errands. On a trip from a local big box hardware store the check engine light came on. I didn't think anything of it, because the car was driving normal. However, 8 miles later the car shut off driving 45 mph down the road. Every warning light on the dash came on (ABS, AWD Fault, Blind Spot fault, Cross Traffic Fault, Engine Overheat)... It was a mess. Luckily I coasted to a safe spot (only a mile from my house) and parked it. Walked home and called Ford roadside assistance to come pick it up. This was the first time it ever stranded me driving (the last 2 times it was either dead when I came out to it or it died while still in my driveway).
So, on 12/14/15 It was towed in again (3rd time now). This time again it had blown fuse #7 and they called up the "Hotline" and was advised to overlay the engine wiring harness with a fused wire going from the Battery Junction Box (fuse box) to the PCM - Effectively re-routing the power and taking the harness out of the equation. They drove the car 120 miles this time while in their possession to ensure it was fixed. They returned the car to me on 12/16/15 and I thought maybe they had it fixed (finally). Fast forward to 1/11/16....
Around 1/6/16 I had a check engine light come on. The car was getting crappy gas mileage. Took it in on 1/11/16 to have the check engine light looked at and a burning smell in the interior (which has happened before but not noted by them - But I told them this). They replaced fuse #8 (next fuse to the one blowing before). They replaced this fuse and told me they would call the hotline and review the issue. So I drove the car home after it spent a day at the dealership. They called me the next day and told me they were ordering an engine wiring harness as advised by the Hotline. This harness came in and I returned the car on 1/13/16. They had the car for 9 days (1/13-1/22) and tried to give it back to me on the 22nd. I drove in after work to pick it up on the 22nd and when I went to drive the car away I got in the car to start it. Put foot on brake and press start button. Seems easy enough, however the brake pedal went almost all the way to the floor. I pressed it a few more times and it finally built up enough pressure to stay up. I refused to take the car and they put me back in the rental over the weekend (as the technician was working Saturday and would get it done). I picked the car up on Monday (1/ after work and everything seemed ok. I realized after talking to them they had to pull the brake booster, master cylinder and various other items to install this main engine harness. They also had to route it inside the car into the dash (why it took so long). At this point my new car has been violated six ways from Sunday and it seems everything has been touched at least once. After all that, they checked the harness from end to end and couldn't find any issues. No problems found (and my disbelief that here we are throwing parts at this car and nothing is fixing it!).
After what seemed like a little while I thought maybe all the pulling/tugging and general dis and re-assembly of the car may have fixed the issue. I was wrong. Around 2/4/16 the car started stalling again. It did it 3 times in a row and all the dash warning lights came on the last time I restarted it. It was like driving a pinball machine, bells/gongs and warnings going off. It did this for 5 miles and then I parked it and shut it off. Came out from shopping and started it back up. Everything went back to normal (not a light on anywhere - Like nothing ever happened). So I called Waikem and scheduled it back in. It went back in on 2/9/16 to get looked at. They replaced the battery again (3rd time I think within ~3 months) and then started checking grounds at the power steering rack. They found a bunch of codes in the computers but nothing pointing them towards a problem. So they said they would keep the repair order open for a while in case I had more issues.
On 2/23/16 I took it back in because it happened again. Car was parked outside and it was 20 degrees outside. I hit the remote start and the car did nothing and then beeped. I looked at the remote and it was flashing red instead of a green light like normal. So I opened the hood of the car and checked the fuses.... It BLEW FUSE 7 AGAIN! Because I was running late for work I ended up pulling the blown #7 fuse and installing the #8 fuse in it's place. The car started up (with a Check engine light) and I drove it to work. After work that night I drove it into Waikem Ford and handed them the blown fuse for #7 and told them it happened again and I swapped the fuses around so I could get going. They checked it out, and replaced the missing #8 fuse I removed and gave me 2 spare fuses and rescheduled me for the next Monday. Next Monday the 29th they took it back in and looked at it all day. They found nothing and told me the next time it blows the fuse to not replace it and just get it towed in. So I picked it up from Waikem on the 29th (leap year day) and drove home.
On 3/7/16 I drove home from work. This drive is normally uneventful but this night the transmission was acting strange and the car was driving lethargic. Also my navigation and radio were acting strange. The display started blinking on the center screen and at one point was just black. IT was playing music but no display. Every so often it would flash something on the lower left corner and then go away. I didn't really want to think about more issues so I just made it home and parked it in the garage. Fast forward to later that night. I am taking my dog outside and I pass through the garage and find the headlights on my car on. Just the headlights, no other lights. I let the dog out the man door and came back inside the house to grab my keys. I came back out and got into the car and turned the power on (not starting it - Just hitting the start button only). Everything came on normally and I checked the light switch. It was still in the AUTO position, I hadn't bumped it or somehow manually changed it by mistake. I shut the car off and the lights went out, but the fusebox started making a rattling noise like it had before when the PCM fuse blew. I thought to myself - Great! Here we go again!. So I just shut the car door and let the dog back in and went in the house. I figured I would call roadside assistance in the morning to pick it up since they requested it back if it blew any fuses again.
On 3/8/16 I called roadside assistance around 6:30am and had them dispatch a tow truck. I went back out to the garage and the left headlight was on (albeit very dim) shining an orange spot on the garage door). I got in the car and it was dead. Tow truck driver shows up, we jump it to get it out of gear (it won't start) and he winches it (for the 4th time in 5 months) up on the flatbed. At this point, the car is still at Waikem. They are pulling the harness back out and also checking other things as advised by Ford Hotline. An Engineer from Mexico has been involved (My car is a 3FAFP car built in Mexico) and they have informed the dealership there is some type of wiring harness issue they are aware of. They sent the technician a list of connectors and spots to check on the harness. This leads me to believe there is alot more to this story but I imagine Ford wants to keep this under wraps.
At this point, I'm tired. This has been 5 months of nothing but hell. I've been in rentals on and off since this started to a grand total through today (4/2/2016) at 59 days. The car has been in the shop for longer than that for these issues (as I was on vacation one stint and they didn't give me a car for a few days after it was towed in). I cannot blame George Waikem Ford in any way, the technician is only as good as the information he receives from the factory (which up to this point hasn't been very helpful but I fully believe there is alot they are not telling them). So as far as the dealership is concerned I am not in any way shape or form upset at them over this issue. This is a Ford Motor Company issue. The dealership technician is not an engineer and he can't be expected to figure out some engineering or part issue.
Funny part is I asked Ford Motor Company on 11/23/15 to formally buy back the car. On 11/24/15 a person named Scott (no last names, they never divulge that) was assigned to my case. Long story short as I called them almost daily at one point during the late Christmas holidays - They denied a buyback on 1/7/16. Seven weeks after I had requested it, they finally answered. What they did offer was an Extended Warranty on the car. I declined and stated an extended warranty isn't going to cover the numerous electrical issues I'm having.
On 1/7/16 I contacted a lawyer to officially start a buyback procedure through more formal procedures. This process was started and after numerous weeks of time (and after the state lemon law requirements were fully fulfilled quite a bit earlier) they came back and offered me $7,000 to keep the car. I told the attorney to decline the offer and request a buyback. They declined again and said they could only offer $7,000 and that was it. So my attorney filed through the BBB for mediation and arbitration. This process is underway and I was just told on Thursday that they will be out next week to inspect the car. It's still in pieces at the dealership (I assume) so I'll meet them there.
All in all, Ford doesn't care about the customer. Their customer service line is beyond worthless - They don't listen. They have all the facts at their fingertips yet somehow the Ohio Lemon Law is merely a guideline and not an arbitrary rule to consumer protection against owning a lemon. If anyone else is having stalling issues, and other electrical problems - You are not alone. And Ford is aware there is an issue... They are just betting the Goliath will keep David in check. That's a bet they are going to lose on my accord. I had considered another Ford as a replacement - Now, I'm not sure I care to spend any more money in any new Ford product as they truly don't care about the customer and only their bottom line. Thanks Ford - Message received loud and clear. I'll be sure to repost this on Twitter and Facebook to let more people know how an American company that portrays being all about it's customers can shirk it's responsibility to a customer that spent $36,000 on a brand new lemon. The reason I took so long to speak out is because normally I'm not very outspoken (learned over the years of being on forums that bitching doesn't do much) but a good friend just recently told me that Ford is keen on keeping their image clean on Social Media and I should share my experience with others so they can see they are not alone and that giving a loyal (35+ years) customer a hard time is really a crap thing to do!
Thanks everyone for listening and I'll answer any questions if anyone has any.
-Dominic
Lets start from the very beginning - February 2015.
In February I had decided that I wanted a new vehicle. It was near the end of the month and the weather here in Ohio was still winter. So, I stopped in to a local Ford dealership (Autonation Ford North Canton) and looked at their selection. I was actually not looking to buy that day but the salesman was pretty convincing I should get my trade appraised and then see if there was anything I liked. While there I saw a 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium AWD. It was certified and had 32,000 miles on it. It was clean inside and out, and I test drove it in the aftermath of a snow storm that left a few inches on the ground. It drove very well in the snow and since I was already familiar with the new Fusions (My friend owns a 2013 Titanium AWD also)... I was sold. Needless to say we put the deal together and I drove off.
The following week after buying it the engine stalled while driving out of my driveway. It restarted but the check engine light came on. Took it in to Autonation Ford and they gave me a rental for a couple of days while they ordered a fuel pressure sensor. Part installed and returned running the same (no more stalling). I started noticing very strange things with the blind spot detection and the reverse warning system. It would almost always tell me a car was approaching from the left or right when backing out (of my own driveway on a private single lane road). There was nothing there - But it kept falsely telling me something was there. Fast forward a week or so of this and I finally opened the trunk and looked around. I thought maybe it was something loose. Pulled the trunk carpet and found the spare sitting in the well with little spots of rust that looked like welding slag. Pulled all the side carpets out and rear plastic latch guard and found the car had been wrecked hard in the rear and the repairing shop had actually used white base paint and painted the interior of the trunk. Like painted everything (wiring harnesses and all). It looked a mess. So I rolled underneath it with my creeper and found the underbody sections had ripples and signs it had been straightened (poorly). Took it back to Autonation Ford infuriated I had purchased a FORD CERTIFIED used car with obvious damage. In hind sight, its my fault I didn't have them put it up on a rack and inspect it (But 2 years old, 32,000 miles and Certified - Why should I?) Long story short - They replaced the car with a brand new 2015 Titanium (my payment went up BTW) however my problems didn't end there.
On March 15, 2015 I took possession of a Guard Green 2015 Titanium AWD. It had the same options as the 13 (although it had cooled seats and heated steering wheel as new options). Thought I was fortunate they stood behind their transgression and I should be good from here on out. So, brand new with 122 miles on it - I should be good to go - Or so I thought.
The first issue I encountered with the new Fusion was an intermittent central locking issue. The car would at times completely fail to open when the door handle was grabbed (proximity unlocking). This happened quite a few times and after a few more issues started occurring after 5500 miles I took it into George Waikem Ford (didn't trust Autonation Ford anymore after their clear glossing over issues).
That visit had an outcome of ordering an APIM (for poor HD radio reception and nav system issues), re-calibrating the transmission for hard shifts and no duplication of the locking issue.
Next visit was at 7,636 miles. They never called letting me know parts came in for the car (and hadn't scheduled with me to bring it back in before I left so I scheduled it back in). This was in October 2015 (first visit was probably 5-6 weeks earlier). This visit had APIM complaint again, NAV Faults, Hard shifts again going into reverse, central locking again, sunroof rattle from headliner and a recall (15S14 Steering bolt corrosion). They found nothing wrong with the APIM this time (even though they ordered one last visit and returned it (due to time frame). They could not duplicate my navigation issue with the nav system failing to load at times (only compass) and sometimes SD Fault message on center screen). They checked transmission fluid level from a SSM#45239 about this issue. It was spot on, no repairs made. This time I had to show the technician the unlocking didn't work when I picked it up and then they finally ordered an antenna for the headliner). Found free play in the headliner mounting causing a rattle in the sunroof area (fixed). The performed the recall and that rounded out the repair visit.
On 11/09/15 I returned the car for service to Waikem for the remote transceiver replacement (in the headliner) for the unlocking issue, Radio issues (WAIT message on display and poor HD reception), and intermittent hard bang from reverse to drive. They replaced the transceiver and could not duplicate the other two concerns and closed out the repairs.
This next visit is when I started having real serious issues with the car. These issues still persist and this is where my experience gets soured.
The car started stalling and then quit altogether. It started blowing the PCM fuse (#7 in the engine fuse box). It was towed into Waikem Ford on 11/14/15 at 8166 miles for a no start condition. All the lights would come on, but it would not start. They replaced the PCM and battery during that visit (11/16 - 11/25/15). Car drove fine home, then quit while pulling out of the garage next day. That was Thanksgiving Day so I waited until Friday (11/27/15) to have it towed back in. They kept the car from 11/27 - 12/11/15. This visit they replaced the Battery Junction Box (BJB) , battery and replaced the blown fuse from the #7 slot. They returned the car to me and I drove it home. Next day it seemed ok, then the following day (Sunday) I was running errands. On a trip from a local big box hardware store the check engine light came on. I didn't think anything of it, because the car was driving normal. However, 8 miles later the car shut off driving 45 mph down the road. Every warning light on the dash came on (ABS, AWD Fault, Blind Spot fault, Cross Traffic Fault, Engine Overheat)... It was a mess. Luckily I coasted to a safe spot (only a mile from my house) and parked it. Walked home and called Ford roadside assistance to come pick it up. This was the first time it ever stranded me driving (the last 2 times it was either dead when I came out to it or it died while still in my driveway).
So, on 12/14/15 It was towed in again (3rd time now). This time again it had blown fuse #7 and they called up the "Hotline" and was advised to overlay the engine wiring harness with a fused wire going from the Battery Junction Box (fuse box) to the PCM - Effectively re-routing the power and taking the harness out of the equation. They drove the car 120 miles this time while in their possession to ensure it was fixed. They returned the car to me on 12/16/15 and I thought maybe they had it fixed (finally). Fast forward to 1/11/16....
Around 1/6/16 I had a check engine light come on. The car was getting crappy gas mileage. Took it in on 1/11/16 to have the check engine light looked at and a burning smell in the interior (which has happened before but not noted by them - But I told them this). They replaced fuse #8 (next fuse to the one blowing before). They replaced this fuse and told me they would call the hotline and review the issue. So I drove the car home after it spent a day at the dealership. They called me the next day and told me they were ordering an engine wiring harness as advised by the Hotline. This harness came in and I returned the car on 1/13/16. They had the car for 9 days (1/13-1/22) and tried to give it back to me on the 22nd. I drove in after work to pick it up on the 22nd and when I went to drive the car away I got in the car to start it. Put foot on brake and press start button. Seems easy enough, however the brake pedal went almost all the way to the floor. I pressed it a few more times and it finally built up enough pressure to stay up. I refused to take the car and they put me back in the rental over the weekend (as the technician was working Saturday and would get it done). I picked the car up on Monday (1/ after work and everything seemed ok. I realized after talking to them they had to pull the brake booster, master cylinder and various other items to install this main engine harness. They also had to route it inside the car into the dash (why it took so long). At this point my new car has been violated six ways from Sunday and it seems everything has been touched at least once. After all that, they checked the harness from end to end and couldn't find any issues. No problems found (and my disbelief that here we are throwing parts at this car and nothing is fixing it!).
After what seemed like a little while I thought maybe all the pulling/tugging and general dis and re-assembly of the car may have fixed the issue. I was wrong. Around 2/4/16 the car started stalling again. It did it 3 times in a row and all the dash warning lights came on the last time I restarted it. It was like driving a pinball machine, bells/gongs and warnings going off. It did this for 5 miles and then I parked it and shut it off. Came out from shopping and started it back up. Everything went back to normal (not a light on anywhere - Like nothing ever happened). So I called Waikem and scheduled it back in. It went back in on 2/9/16 to get looked at. They replaced the battery again (3rd time I think within ~3 months) and then started checking grounds at the power steering rack. They found a bunch of codes in the computers but nothing pointing them towards a problem. So they said they would keep the repair order open for a while in case I had more issues.
On 2/23/16 I took it back in because it happened again. Car was parked outside and it was 20 degrees outside. I hit the remote start and the car did nothing and then beeped. I looked at the remote and it was flashing red instead of a green light like normal. So I opened the hood of the car and checked the fuses.... It BLEW FUSE 7 AGAIN! Because I was running late for work I ended up pulling the blown #7 fuse and installing the #8 fuse in it's place. The car started up (with a Check engine light) and I drove it to work. After work that night I drove it into Waikem Ford and handed them the blown fuse for #7 and told them it happened again and I swapped the fuses around so I could get going. They checked it out, and replaced the missing #8 fuse I removed and gave me 2 spare fuses and rescheduled me for the next Monday. Next Monday the 29th they took it back in and looked at it all day. They found nothing and told me the next time it blows the fuse to not replace it and just get it towed in. So I picked it up from Waikem on the 29th (leap year day) and drove home.
On 3/7/16 I drove home from work. This drive is normally uneventful but this night the transmission was acting strange and the car was driving lethargic. Also my navigation and radio were acting strange. The display started blinking on the center screen and at one point was just black. IT was playing music but no display. Every so often it would flash something on the lower left corner and then go away. I didn't really want to think about more issues so I just made it home and parked it in the garage. Fast forward to later that night. I am taking my dog outside and I pass through the garage and find the headlights on my car on. Just the headlights, no other lights. I let the dog out the man door and came back inside the house to grab my keys. I came back out and got into the car and turned the power on (not starting it - Just hitting the start button only). Everything came on normally and I checked the light switch. It was still in the AUTO position, I hadn't bumped it or somehow manually changed it by mistake. I shut the car off and the lights went out, but the fusebox started making a rattling noise like it had before when the PCM fuse blew. I thought to myself - Great! Here we go again!. So I just shut the car door and let the dog back in and went in the house. I figured I would call roadside assistance in the morning to pick it up since they requested it back if it blew any fuses again.
On 3/8/16 I called roadside assistance around 6:30am and had them dispatch a tow truck. I went back out to the garage and the left headlight was on (albeit very dim) shining an orange spot on the garage door). I got in the car and it was dead. Tow truck driver shows up, we jump it to get it out of gear (it won't start) and he winches it (for the 4th time in 5 months) up on the flatbed. At this point, the car is still at Waikem. They are pulling the harness back out and also checking other things as advised by Ford Hotline. An Engineer from Mexico has been involved (My car is a 3FAFP car built in Mexico) and they have informed the dealership there is some type of wiring harness issue they are aware of. They sent the technician a list of connectors and spots to check on the harness. This leads me to believe there is alot more to this story but I imagine Ford wants to keep this under wraps.
At this point, I'm tired. This has been 5 months of nothing but hell. I've been in rentals on and off since this started to a grand total through today (4/2/2016) at 59 days. The car has been in the shop for longer than that for these issues (as I was on vacation one stint and they didn't give me a car for a few days after it was towed in). I cannot blame George Waikem Ford in any way, the technician is only as good as the information he receives from the factory (which up to this point hasn't been very helpful but I fully believe there is alot they are not telling them). So as far as the dealership is concerned I am not in any way shape or form upset at them over this issue. This is a Ford Motor Company issue. The dealership technician is not an engineer and he can't be expected to figure out some engineering or part issue.
Funny part is I asked Ford Motor Company on 11/23/15 to formally buy back the car. On 11/24/15 a person named Scott (no last names, they never divulge that) was assigned to my case. Long story short as I called them almost daily at one point during the late Christmas holidays - They denied a buyback on 1/7/16. Seven weeks after I had requested it, they finally answered. What they did offer was an Extended Warranty on the car. I declined and stated an extended warranty isn't going to cover the numerous electrical issues I'm having.
On 1/7/16 I contacted a lawyer to officially start a buyback procedure through more formal procedures. This process was started and after numerous weeks of time (and after the state lemon law requirements were fully fulfilled quite a bit earlier) they came back and offered me $7,000 to keep the car. I told the attorney to decline the offer and request a buyback. They declined again and said they could only offer $7,000 and that was it. So my attorney filed through the BBB for mediation and arbitration. This process is underway and I was just told on Thursday that they will be out next week to inspect the car. It's still in pieces at the dealership (I assume) so I'll meet them there.
All in all, Ford doesn't care about the customer. Their customer service line is beyond worthless - They don't listen. They have all the facts at their fingertips yet somehow the Ohio Lemon Law is merely a guideline and not an arbitrary rule to consumer protection against owning a lemon. If anyone else is having stalling issues, and other electrical problems - You are not alone. And Ford is aware there is an issue... They are just betting the Goliath will keep David in check. That's a bet they are going to lose on my accord. I had considered another Ford as a replacement - Now, I'm not sure I care to spend any more money in any new Ford product as they truly don't care about the customer and only their bottom line. Thanks Ford - Message received loud and clear. I'll be sure to repost this on Twitter and Facebook to let more people know how an American company that portrays being all about it's customers can shirk it's responsibility to a customer that spent $36,000 on a brand new lemon. The reason I took so long to speak out is because normally I'm not very outspoken (learned over the years of being on forums that bitching doesn't do much) but a good friend just recently told me that Ford is keen on keeping their image clean on Social Media and I should share my experience with others so they can see they are not alone and that giving a loyal (35+ years) customer a hard time is really a crap thing to do!
Thanks everyone for listening and I'll answer any questions if anyone has any.
-Dominic
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