Dirtyblueshirt
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- Joined
- Jun 18, 2015
- Threads
- 33
- Messages
- 1,371
- Reaction score
- 578
- Location
- Anaheim, CA
- First Name
- Aaron
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 Ford Ranger Lariat Tremor
- Thread starter
- #1
A few months ago, My EcoBoost suffered a catastrophic failure of the cooling system. Since AutoNation Ford (ANF) in Tustin was barely a mile from work where I discovered the leak, they were the logical choice to take the car.
It took two weeks, and the Service Manager finally called. He said he had "good news and bad news". The good news is that the new crate engine was installed and ready to go. The bad news? The technician had dropped the bumper cover and gouged the plastic. I would need to bring the car back in for repair of the bumper.
While I had the car at home, my parents had just happened to be in town, so I was proudly showing off the engine bay to my dad (of course
). I noticed at that time several long and deep scratches along the underside of the hood. Someone at the dealership had even decided to hide the damage with a black sharpie marker. Dumbstruck by this, I phoned the service manager immediately and demanded they repaint the hood as well, to which he agreed without question. During this time, I was in contact with a representative of Ford Customer Service.
They repainted the bumper, but it was sub-par. Divots in the paint showed where no work was completed to repair the gouge on the bumper cover, and there were paint drips and haze in the hood's paint. It went back and was mostly corrected (I still have clear coat haze on the hood, near the windshield on the driver's side). the Ford CS rep contacted me, and after expressing my displeasure with the experience, her only response was to ask if the dealer fixed the issue. I said 'for the most part' and she abruptly ended the conversation by saying that she was closing the case, etc etc... I did not feel that Ford handled this well, I felt the CS rep wa insensitive and was just in a mood to close the issue.
Weeks later, I finally filled out the "customer survey". I was not easy on them. I clearly outlined the deficiencies in the process. I was later contacted by a new Service Manager. Apparently the previous one was no longer employed there, and his first action was to fire the tech who damaged my vehicle. According to the new Manager, my car was not the first one the tech had damaged. He offered to meet with me to try to 'make it right', however at the time I was hesitant to allow them to look or touch my car. My trust in the dealer was already damaged.
Fast-forward a few more weeks. I have two problems. First, the air conditioning on the driver's side stopped working. I would get cool air from the passenger vents, but the driver's vents just blew ambient-temperature air, even when set to MAX. Second, my adaptive cruise control would fail on long trips. I would be cruising along, and then the car would disengage from cruise control, displaying the messages "Adaptive Cruise Not Available", and "Collision Warning Not Available". I could not disable adaptive cruise in the vehicle menu (to use normal cruise control) because the "Cruise Control" option would be greyed out and non-selectable. This was an intermittent probem that seemed to somehow resolve itself after anywhere from several hours to several days. I took the car into Ford of Orange, near my house, for diagnosis and repair.
It took 17 days, but here's what they report:
For the air conditioning: They have told me the condenser was cracked I don't yet have details on where the crack is located. This caused leakage of the refrigerant, which apparently has some sort of an effect on the blend doors for the AC system.
For the adaptive cruise: They found three breaks in the CANBUS from the engine bay to the rear.
Other: The left front fender shows evidence it was removed or otherwise realigned.
They repeatedly asked me if my car had been in a front-end collision. I had previously been up front with the prior rear-end collision and the engine replacement saga. I even showed photos of everything I had, including the lack of front-end damage in the accident.
At this point we have no other conclusion that the damage to the condenser and wiring were caused by ANF in Tustin. Meanwhile, my car remains in the custody of Ford of Orange while the two dealers negotiate payment, otherwise I would be charged for more than 10 hours of labor, parts, and 20-odd days of car rental. I literally can't afford to pay for someone else's negligence at this point.
Now, even if ANF agrees to pay for the repairs, what else did they damage that we haven't uncovered yet? Why was the left front fender moved? Why did they keep a technician in their employ after he was noted as having a history of damaging vehicles?
And I'm beginning to say these two words all too often: "What next?".
What next, Ford?
It took two weeks, and the Service Manager finally called. He said he had "good news and bad news". The good news is that the new crate engine was installed and ready to go. The bad news? The technician had dropped the bumper cover and gouged the plastic. I would need to bring the car back in for repair of the bumper.
While I had the car at home, my parents had just happened to be in town, so I was proudly showing off the engine bay to my dad (of course
). I noticed at that time several long and deep scratches along the underside of the hood. Someone at the dealership had even decided to hide the damage with a black sharpie marker. Dumbstruck by this, I phoned the service manager immediately and demanded they repaint the hood as well, to which he agreed without question. During this time, I was in contact with a representative of Ford Customer Service.They repainted the bumper, but it was sub-par. Divots in the paint showed where no work was completed to repair the gouge on the bumper cover, and there were paint drips and haze in the hood's paint. It went back and was mostly corrected (I still have clear coat haze on the hood, near the windshield on the driver's side). the Ford CS rep contacted me, and after expressing my displeasure with the experience, her only response was to ask if the dealer fixed the issue. I said 'for the most part' and she abruptly ended the conversation by saying that she was closing the case, etc etc... I did not feel that Ford handled this well, I felt the CS rep wa insensitive and was just in a mood to close the issue.
Weeks later, I finally filled out the "customer survey". I was not easy on them. I clearly outlined the deficiencies in the process. I was later contacted by a new Service Manager. Apparently the previous one was no longer employed there, and his first action was to fire the tech who damaged my vehicle. According to the new Manager, my car was not the first one the tech had damaged. He offered to meet with me to try to 'make it right', however at the time I was hesitant to allow them to look or touch my car. My trust in the dealer was already damaged.
Fast-forward a few more weeks. I have two problems. First, the air conditioning on the driver's side stopped working. I would get cool air from the passenger vents, but the driver's vents just blew ambient-temperature air, even when set to MAX. Second, my adaptive cruise control would fail on long trips. I would be cruising along, and then the car would disengage from cruise control, displaying the messages "Adaptive Cruise Not Available", and "Collision Warning Not Available". I could not disable adaptive cruise in the vehicle menu (to use normal cruise control) because the "Cruise Control" option would be greyed out and non-selectable. This was an intermittent probem that seemed to somehow resolve itself after anywhere from several hours to several days. I took the car into Ford of Orange, near my house, for diagnosis and repair.
It took 17 days, but here's what they report:
For the air conditioning: They have told me the condenser was cracked I don't yet have details on where the crack is located. This caused leakage of the refrigerant, which apparently has some sort of an effect on the blend doors for the AC system.
For the adaptive cruise: They found three breaks in the CANBUS from the engine bay to the rear.
Other: The left front fender shows evidence it was removed or otherwise realigned.
They repeatedly asked me if my car had been in a front-end collision. I had previously been up front with the prior rear-end collision and the engine replacement saga. I even showed photos of everything I had, including the lack of front-end damage in the accident.
At this point we have no other conclusion that the damage to the condenser and wiring were caused by ANF in Tustin. Meanwhile, my car remains in the custody of Ford of Orange while the two dealers negotiate payment, otherwise I would be charged for more than 10 hours of labor, parts, and 20-odd days of car rental. I literally can't afford to pay for someone else's negligence at this point.
Now, even if ANF agrees to pay for the repairs, what else did they damage that we haven't uncovered yet? Why was the left front fender moved? Why did they keep a technician in their employ after he was noted as having a history of damaging vehicles?
And I'm beginning to say these two words all too often: "What next?".
What next, Ford?
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Continue to throw you car payers my friend :cheers:
