Approved body panel wait time

[tcador]

Question for you guys that are getting body panels aligned after picking up the car...how long from when you reported this issue to your dealer is the work approved thru Ford?

I've been to the body shops on two different occasions, got an estimate which i'm told was passed back to Ford/local CSR however it's been over 2 weeks and it's still not approved. When I speak with the CSR they sound helpful but day after day and still no resolution i'm beginning to get frustrated.

Is there an escalation path with the local CSR or am I SOL and needing to fall back to BBB paperwork?

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[FordService]

Question for you guys that are getting body panels aligned after picking up the car...how long from when you reported this issue to your dealer is the work approved thru Ford?

I've been to the body shops on two different occasions, got an estimate which i'm told was passed back to Ford/local CSR however it's been over 2 weeks and it's still not approved. When I speak with the CSR they sound helpful but day after day and still no resolution i'm beginning to get frustrated.

Is there an escalation path with the local CSR or am I SOL and needing to fall back to BBB paperwork?

Hey Travis,

I understand where you're coming from. I just checked your case notes though, and Marie is still working on getting this pushed through for you. She's trying to gather all the necessary information for the service manager. Rest assured that, even when not in contact, she's doing work on her end for you.

Jeff

 

[tcador]

Hope so!

Reason I asked to the larger group was to get a feel for how many trips on average and time it was taking to get these things sorted. I guess it's a case-by-case basis..my case I've taken little over a 1/2 day off work and numerous phone calls, which has kind of put a damper on owning a new car. I'll try to stay positive through this though....for now

 

[davekro]

Question for you guys that are getting body panels aligned after picking up the car...how long from when you reported this issue to your dealer is the work approved thru Ford?

I've been to the body shops on two different occasions, got an estimate which i'm told was passed back to Ford/local CSR however it's been over 2 weeks and it's still not approved. When I speak with the CSR they sound helpful but day after day and still no resolution i'm beginning to get frustrated.

Is there an escalation path with the local CSR or am I SOL and needing to fall back to BBB paperwork?

Travis,
I am sorry to hear that you got stuck with the body panel issues. :(

Just a heads up to those who have not taken delivery yet. Please take it from those who have had to and many still are struggling to get body panel issues fixed... Check your ordered or dealer inventory Mustang very closely BEFORE signing, paying and taking delivery.

I spent a good hour checking the body panels and every moving part I had heard any reports on Thursday morning. The doors were a hair low, but closed like butter (sweet). Trunk lid 'very slightly' skewed. I chose to not risk having the body shop mess with those. But the left side of the hood bulged above the fender and the LF corner of hood touched the fender. I told my salesman that I needed the hood adjusted prior to acceptance.

He had a body shop guy (place they use across the street) look at it with me. Ne said it looked like a mis-shaped hood (I agreed). I said I'd rather you professionals bend it into shape than me! He told my sales mgr that he could do it in 2 hours. The mgr said it was not on Ford, but out of their pocket, but wanted to make it right for me. I appreciated that sentiment. But I'm pretty sure 'that sentiment' would have taken much more coaxing to get a week or so after the glow had waned from the car sale!

Caveat emptor...

I hope you get your work done to your satisfaction.
PS. my hood was not perfect, but not the gapping gap it was. I was happy to get that, given the hood was likely a bit malformed.

 

[tcador]

Just a heads up to those who have not taken delivery yet. Please take it from those who have had to and many still are struggling to get body panel issues fixed... Check your ordered or dealer inventory Mustang very closely BEFORE signing, paying and taking delivery.

So so true unfortunately, but glad to hear you had your issues fixed and that you took the correct route in dealing with them. Wish I could turn back time on this one for sure!

The thing is, there are many other issues with panels that aren't quite perfect that I'm not going to raise, but that's ok. I'm just going after the two annoying ones - the door not shutting with normal pressure, which I experience every time I get in or out of the vehicle and a misaligned rear bumper. I also noticed my the fabric in my recaro seats bunching up in a strange way, although I expect this to be fixed in quicker fashion since it doesn't involve a body shop / collision center to get involved.

I'll report back my experience in this thread.

 

[Cueball]

I took delivery last Friday and car is in the shop today for a few issues. Hope it comes out ok.

 

[davekro]

I took delivery last Friday and car is in the shop today for a few issues. Hope it comes out ok.

I hope is comes out to your satisfaction. Is it a one day job and you pick it up tonight?

 

[tcador]

I have an update.

I received a phone call from my CSR today telling me that the original collision center I took my car to cannot handle the case and that I should try another dealer. It's really frustrating as I've taken multiple trips to this collision center already and they have acknowledged the repairs, written up estimates however when it comes to doing the work they are telling me Ford has not approved them, and when I talk to Ford they are telling me it's the dealer & collision not handling the paperwork correctly. Fine.

I visited the other collision center today (this was not my first choice) and after showing it to the collision estimator and talking thru the issues, he mentioned

every car has issues as they are built by humans

...and went on to say he's doubtful Ford would approve the fix. This particular issue is a large gap between the rear bumper and the quarter panel, which many others have the same issue. The hood gap he flat out said it would probably be worse after they're done with it since it's difficult to align in the first place. Mind you, the first collision center I took the car to never mentioned these things and acted like they could fix it within a day. To make matters worse, he told me he cannot initiate warranty claims and that this must come from the dealership/service center itself (who sent me to the collision center not 15 minutes prior).

To recap on the issues:

• Driver's side door sags / isn't aligned correctly (doesn't shut unless shut hard)
• Rear bumper misalignment on driver's side
• Hood and trunk misaligned (I will live with this one if I have to)
• Paint scratch with what looks like a big chunk of dirt along with a 3 inch scratch. Just noticed this one today and will live with it if i have to...collision center estimator called this one "junk in the paint which all cars have"

I have owned this car for a little over a month and couldn't drive it due to extensive ice / weather issues. Finally when I'm able to take it in I get the run around for WEEKS. I have been extremely courteous to everyone I've spoken to and they have been friendly to me as well, however there are NO results. I've had it.

I have no recourse, my wife is about to kill me due to all the time I've spent running around and talking about this and I too, while normally extremely patient, am at wits' end.

I'm returning to the original Ford collision center I visited weeks ago and making an appointment. I will pay out of pocket to have these repairs made to my one month old, 35k car and then it's up to Ford to pay for it. This is ridiculous that it's come to this point.

 

[Blackdog]

Tcador. I'm sorry to hear that. That situation just plain sucks. I hope it gets fixed to your satisfaction. I've seen many Mustangs at my local dealers with various panel alignment issues. One had a rear bumper just like in your last picture. It was so bad (like yours) what drew my attention to it was that snow was accumulating where it meets the fender like in your picture. So Sad :(

Rich

 

[Mustang1260]

In the last 3 weeks while trying to buy a daily driver EB--I've rejected over a dozen cars...just for the reason of the pic above...huge gap where the rear bumper cover meets the body--when the gap is big enough that you can see the internal clip etc ...that is just too big and should NOT be to Spec.

I've been to over 7 dealerships and each one had at least 2 cars with significant panel alignment issues. I've owned 9 Mustangs since 99 to present --99 Limited Edition to a 15 LE GT and I have never seen these CONSISTENT kind of body panel flaws on such a high percentage of a car run. Welcome to the Mark Fields CEO (bean counter, not a car guy) approach to car manufacturing- get'em out the door, QC be damned.

 

[CherubAbaddon]

this kind of stuff makes me sad, especially since you are paying out of your own pocket. If there's one thing i learned from this, is that I won't take my delivery if my car has issues.

 

[Blackdog]

^^

Roger that, me too.

Blackdog

 

[Papaya]

Issues getting taken care of?

Travis,
I am sorry to hear that you got stuck with the body panel issues. :(

Just a heads up to those who have not taken delivery yet. Please take it from those who have had to and many still are struggling to get body panel issues fixed... Check your ordered or dealer inventory Mustang very closely BEFORE signing, paying and taking delivery.

THIS!

Please! If the car has issues and you still like or need it, get everything in writing! Later on your dealer is doing this :shrug: and you are doing this :rant:

 

[Cueball]

My update from last week;

Hood alignment a little better, but not perfect. I may look at the latch in the middle as a culprit. Dealer did not want to break the seal with the bolts in the fender and I agreed.

Small dent in lower side panel - fixed to my satisfaction although still a tiny one there - dealer says it was the way the panel was folded into the frame.

Small paint chip repaired near door handle.

Rear panel with GT on it did not align with left taillight at bottom -dealer thought replacing the plate would not cure problem since the holes for mounting are fixed. Did not want to break seal around taillights if that was the reason. I agreed. Don't want any leaks. I will live with it.

 

[Papaya]

My update from last week;

........

Rear panel with GT on it did not align with left taillight at bottom -dealer thought replacing the plate would not cure problem since the holes for mounting are fixed. Did not want to break seal around taillights if that was the reason. I agreed. Don't want any leaks. I will live with it.

Looks like you have the same problem some of us have. There is somewhere a picture of a white Mustang with everything taken off on the back. Member said the body is crooked and has nothing to do with the seals but with wrong welding on the left quarter panel.

My dealers bodyshop will take a look after the 1st of April.

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