California Lemon Law?

[BatteryBlue]

I special ordered a 2017 Mustang EcoBoost Premium, and it was delivered to me with the paint chipped and scraped directly from the factory. There was a chip on the drivers side rear window column where the trunk hit it when it was being installed at Ford's factory, a chip on the inside rear bumper from the trunk hitting it because the trunk was offset, and a scrape on the passenger side bumper. When I picked up the car, I didn't examine it for chips because I wasn't expecting a newly delivered vehicle to be chipped and scraped.

I took it back to the dealership the same day I picked it up and they told me they would fix it and it wouldn't cost me anything. It took about 9 months, but the dealer finally fixed it and I regretted it. The Mustang came back looking worse than it did with the original chips and scraped bumper. I assumed that the work was going to be done at the dealership because the way the salesman was talking sounded like they were going to fix it, but it ended up going to a Ford Certified Collision Center owned by a Chevrolet dealership, so now it's permanently on the carfax report.

Rather than doing a small touch up job, they resprayed everything and did excessive work (for example, rather than filling in the small chip caused by the trunk hitting it, they decided to spray the entire length of the rear window column), and the paint work was poor orange peel quality work with pits in it and a visible line in the paint and sanding marks and over spray, and they applied hand brushed on touch up paint to cover up on a couple spots. So it goes in to get the paint chips and scrape fixed, and comes back with new chips and excessive home garage quality paint work, and they did all the paint work, sanding, and buffing with the bumpers still attached to the car, and now the bumper is loose and squeaky, the paint is chipped under the headlight, and there's a gap between the bumper and headlight that wasn't there before.

When I picked up the Mustang from the dealership there was a chip in the front bumper that they just freshly painted. They also buffed through the clear coat, and the clear coat they sprayed on the rear bumper is starting to peel off a week after I picked it up. The sales man at the dealership told me he wasn't authorized to do anymore work on the car, so I called Ford and told them I wanted them to buy back the Mustang, and Ford sent me a letter stating that it doesn't fall under the lemon law and to file a claim with the BBB if I disagreed. A representative from Ford also contacted me and told me I needed to contact the dealership to resolve the issue and that Ford could not intervene. Anyone have any advice or experience with California's Lemon Law or know a lawyer who has successfully taken Ford to court?

Sponsored

 

[thehunterooo]

It took 9 months for paint chips?

Lemon law normally comes into play if there have been a certain numbers of attempts to fix an issue or if they have the car for a certain amount of time.

 

[BatteryBlue]

Yeah, it took about 9 months. After getting the car back, I wished they would have just ignored me and done nothing to fix the chips. It would have looked better if I would have applied touch up paint to it myself. I've been reading about the lemon law, and read somewhere that the lemon law includes factory damaged paint and bad paint jobs because it decreases the value and resell-ability of the car.

When I took the car in, I also told the dealer that my seats weren't cooling anymore and they didn't fix it. They just told me it cools the same as another comparable vehicle. I also asked them if they could replace my drivers side mirror because there are black spots in them, and they just ignored me.

 

[thehunterooo]

Oh the process took 9 months but they only had the car for a few days? That is kinda weird if it is just some paint issues. If they didn’t have the car for a long period of time then I don’t think you could file a lemon law claim yet (I think it is 30 days in a row) unless they attempted to fix the paint issue multiple times and are/were unable to.

Might want to try a different dealer if you haven’t already

 

[BatteryBlue]

Sorry for the confusion, it took the dealer about 9 months to respond and acknowledge that I existed and to schedule a time for me to drop off the Mustang. The Ford Certified home garage quality paint work only took a few days, and then the dealership threatened to charge me for the rental car they gave me if I didn't pick up the Mustang the same day they called.

 

[thehunterooo]

Sorry for the confusion, it took the dealer about 9 months to respond and acknowledge that I existed and to schedule a time for me to drop off the Mustang. The Ford Certified home garage quality paint work only took a few days, and then the dealership threatened to charge me for the rental car they gave me if I didn't pick up the Mustang the same day they called.

Ah gotcha. It doesn’t seem you could lemon law yet.

Got pictures?

 

[Bluelightning]

You can only lemon law for safety reasons as far as I understand, but I could be mistaken. Sounds like you need to get with the general manager of the dealership that you bough the car from. Sales people can only do so much.

 

[NoVaGT]

If it took 9 months to get the attention of your dealership, you need to be quite more forceful in your approach with them. To be honest, you're coming across as a bit of a door-mat in your description of the events.

Maybe you need to find someone you know with some cajones to walk into your dealership, get in their collective faces, and make them understand they will fix your car properly or there will be consequences. If that means paying for the entire car to be PROFESSIONALLY repainted, then that's what it means. Demand to meet with the dealership's owner, if it's what it takes.

It's time to put on your big-boy pants.

FYI, YOU need to read and understand California's Lemon Laws. I highly doubt this situation applies.

 

[Cobra Jet]

You also have to go to the TSB/Issues subforum on here and search for the Lemon Law and Buy Back threads - as I’ve posted a lot of helpful info in every one of those threads.

A Buy Back has strict guidelines - being unhappy has to be backed by facts, as well as documented timeline of events (either by you OR via Ford Service Center workorders). In some States, not all, the car has to be at a Ford Service Center for 30 consecutive days (key word = consecutive). Also the owner has to allow Ford to attempt the warranty repair under their discretion. If the repair is made, yes the consumer has the right to refuse the repair and have another go at it again - BUT again, Ford must be allowed to make the repair right and the owner whole.

Again, there’s protocols, processes and procedures that must be followed as well as documentation.

After the first poor repair, you should have called the Ford 800# and opened a Claim. A Regional Ford CSR would have been assigned to you and they would have reviewed the case and your concerns. They will and would have told you the same, that you have to try and work it out with the existing Service Center first. If you were still not happy with their repair, you DO have the option to request another local Ford Service Center to see if they could do the repair any better. If you’re still unhappy then, you would have to work with Ford Corp CSR to see what else cloud be done to make you whole.

Every State has different Lemon Laws and that all varies state to state, as well as length of time allowed to initiate a claim, mileage penalties, fee penalties, etc. Ford does adhere to State Lemon Laws and does not deviate from those at all. So you MUST do your research for your home state.

Paint work is tricky - however there is a member here who was able to complete a Buy Back due to shoddy paint work repair. His thread is in that subforum I mentioned above and if you search my user name there you may find it as I can’t recall his user ID.

Sounds like you had reached out to Ford Corp., if you’re not satisfied with the response you were given you can call back and ask to speak to a Supervisor to review your claim and concerns. There’s no guarantee they will side with you, BUT if you request for them to review high quality pics of your vehicle showing the paint problems OR ask them to send out an FSE to the Dealership to look at the car in person - you MIGHT have a shot at getting resolution IF there’s no conflict with your State’s Lemon Law stipulations.

 

[BatteryBlue]

Ah gotcha. It doesn’t seem you could lemon law yet.

Got pictures?

Original factory chip and scrape, and chip from misaligned bumper.

 

[BatteryBlue]

Ah gotcha. It doesn’t seem you could lemon law yet.

Got pictures?

Some of the pictures I sent to Ford to show them the paint work done by their Ford Certified Collision Center. The entire passenger side of the bumper was resprayed, the entire top part of the rear bumper was resprayed, and the entire rear window column was resprayed.

 

[BatteryBlue]

You also have to go to the TSB/Issues subforum on here and search for the Lemon Law and Buy Back threads - as I’ve posted a lot of helpful info in every one of those threads.

A Buy Back has strict guidelines - being unhappy has to be backed by facts, as well as documented timeline of events (either by you OR via Ford Service Center workorders). In some States, not all, the car has to be at a Ford Service Center for 30 consecutive days (key word = consecutive). Also the owner has to allow Ford to attempt the warranty repair under their discretion. If the repair is made, yes the consumer has the right to refuse the repair and have another go at it again - BUT again, Ford must be allowed to make the repair right and the owner whole.

Again, there’s protocols, processes and procedures that must be followed as well as documentation.

After the first poor repair, you should have called the Ford 800# and opened a Claim. A Regional Ford CSR would have been assigned to you and they would have reviewed the case and your concerns. They will and would have told you the same, that you have to try and work it out with the existing Service Center first. If you were still not happy with their repair, you DO have the option to request another local Ford Service Center to see if they could do the repair any better. If you’re still unhappy then, you would have to work with Ford Corp CSR to see what else cloud be done to make you whole.

Every State has different Lemon Laws and that all varies state to state, as well as length of time allowed to initiate a claim, mileage penalties, fee penalties, etc. Ford does adhere to State Lemon Laws and does not deviate from those at all. So you MUST do your research for your home state.

Paint work is tricky - however there is a member here who was able to complete a Buy Back due to shoddy paint work repair. His thread is in that subforum I mentioned above and if you search my user name there you may find it as I can’t recall his user ID.

Sounds like you had reached out to Ford Corp., if you’re not satisfied with the response you were given you can call back and ask to speak to a Supervisor to review your claim and concerns. There’s no guarantee they will side with you, BUT if you request for them to review high quality pics of your vehicle showing the paint problems OR ask them to send out an FSE to the Dealership to look at the car in person - you MIGHT have a shot at getting resolution IF there’s no conflict with your State’s Lemon Law stipulations.

Thanks, I think I found the post you mentioned (https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...with-ford-buyback-options.99680/#post-2177113). The dealership actually sided with him and helped him process the buyback, with me, the dealership is not siding with me. When I picked up my Mustang from the dealership, I told them I wasn't happy with the paint work and pointed out the new chip on the freshly painted front bumper that he didn't want to acknowledge was there. I even pointed out the areas I saw that had brushed on touch up paint and the finger print (see picture I posted). After I looked over the rest of the paint work, the sales man said he would have a manager contact me (which they never did, but I think that's because I contacted Ford the next day and they elevated the case for review under the lemon law). I obviously knew Ford wasn't going to approve a buyback and got a letter from Ford stating the case didn't fall under the lemon law. Then a Ford rep called me and I sent her a bunch of pictures, but all she said was to contact the dealership and that the dealership operates independently and that Ford could not intervene. I'm still waiting to hear back from her because I asked her who I need to contact at the dealership.

Sponsored