Body panel alignment issues

[Papaya]

B.S......

Again. *and sorry if I always come over like the biggest jerk in the Universe!*
We customers shouldn't even deal with that B.S. ! I mean we all bought a brand new car! FORD should give all the dealers a KICK somewhere, so you guys as customers, shouldn't even run after the parts - and service guys at the dealers. Reading all that B.S. customers have to do to get a car in shape is IMO the worst *advertising* FORD could ever make with the new S550's. Period!

I wished from the 10,000's of sold Mustangs so far, everyone should check their body panels, gaps and creases and complain right away at the dealerships, FORD itself and the BBB. I was really hoping that FORD would have fixed the QC in Flat Rock but it looks like that they actually do nothing but pushing out cars. :tsk:

I am measuring my 4 corners and both sides on my Mustang today. I will keep you guys updated..... addle:

Sponsored

 

[davidw76]

Again. *and sorry if I always come over like the biggest jerk in the Universe!*
We customers shouldn't even deal with that B.S. ! I mean we all bought a brand new car! FORD should give all the dealers a KICK somewhere, so you guys as customers, shouldn't even run after the parts - and service guys at the dealers. Reading all that B.S. customers have to do to get a car in shape is IMO the worst *advertising* FORD could ever make with the new S550's. Period!

I wished from the 10,000's of sold Mustangs so far, everyone should check their body panels, gaps and creases and complain right away at the dealerships, FORD itself and the BBB. I was really hoping that FORD would have fixed the QC in Flat Rock but it looks like that they actually do nothing but pushing out cars. :tsk:

I am measuring my 4 corners and both sides on my Mustang today. I will keep you guys updated..... addle:

Agree completely.. there is no way for customers to win here.. either you live with the badly fitting body panels or you let someone take your brand new car apart and risk scratching it, etc. And these cars are likely never going to be completely straight no matter how many times you get the panels "adjusted".

We should never have been put in this horrible situation in the first place. I wonder if some kind of legal action would be possible considering that Ford must be aware of these defects but has decided to sell the cars anyway?

 

[Papaya]

Agree completely.. there is no way for customers to win here.. either you live with the badly fitting body panels or you let someone take your brand new car apart and risk scratching it, etc. And these cars are likely never going to be completely straight no matter how many times you get the panels "adjusted".

We should never have been put in this horrible situation in the first place. I wonder if some kind of legal action would be possible considering that Ford must be aware of these defects but has decided to sell the cars anyway?

You see. In the USA, I am sure you could get something out of it. In Canada, I don't think we could. In Europe, no way that customers could do anything legally. We do not have a "lemon" law in Germany as far I know (I did leave there 2005). FORD should offer us something for our lost time and money. Nobody will buy a 2015 Mustang used if they know our cars got already dozens hours of body work done on them.

I actually checked out on what difference I have on the under the hood rubber stoppers to align my hood. The stopper on the passenger side is 19 mm high, the driver side stopper is 35 mm high. :doh: In short terms. The stopper on the driver side is close to double of the height to align "somewhat" the hood to the fenders.

My question. What is wrong with the front of my car? I mean. Nobody has to be an engineer to figure out that this can't be right. I am dropping off my car at Kentwood Ford in Edmonton and will wait until the "Engineer" is showing up. Period! :frusty:

 

[Papaya]

Trunk lid!

You should get in touch and work with a Ford CSM (area manager). PM FordService on here and have them open a ticket with Ford, and a CSM should give you a call within a few days.

I would ask them to replace the trunk lid on your Mustang! If you don't go after them, you will regret it later if you like to sell your car. It looks like you got rear ended! :tsk:

 

[GiddyUp15]

I would ask them to replace the trunk lid on your Mustang! If you don't go after them, you will regret it later if you like to sell your car. It looks like you got rear ended! :tsk:

Ugh I know...I hate to get anything repainted (nothing like what you're doing! :eyebulge but I'm worried that the replacement lid won't fix it. Heck I can't say for sure it's the lid and not the fender...hard to tell for sure. I need to figure out how to contact the CSM and see what she can do for me.

 

[Papaya]

Ugh I know...I hate to get anything repainted (nothing like what you're doing! :eyebulge but I'm worried that the replacement lid won't fix it. Heck I can't say for sure it's the lid and not the fender...hard to tell for sure. I need to figure out how to contact the CSM and see what she can do for me.

Here is the point. My Ford dealers body shop was asked from my CSM Cindy, btw a very helpful lady, to order a new lid for me. When the lid arrived I got a call from the body shop: "We can't use it. It actually looks worst then the one what is on your car...."

That's when the body shop guy started to cut off the right edge of my trunk lid because she looked like your left edge. :doh: He welded a new edge, used hammer and grinder to get the lid closer to the form of the right quarter panel. :faint:

And still it looks not like a brand new car - more like a car what did fall off a hoist. :eyebulge:

Contact Jeff from FordService here and send him a PM with your VIN# , phone# and dealer ship you are dealing with. He will get in touch with you to let you know who is your CSM.

 

[5starr0]

Just talked to the service manager at the dealership who said he will get me an answer today. He said i sound like a pretty reasonable guy after venting...dont know about that but glad he is on it. Most unenjoyable car buying/servicing experience ever

 

[davidw76]

Ugh I know...I hate to get anything repainted (nothing like what you're doing! :eyebulge but I'm worried that the replacement lid won't fix it. Heck I can't say for sure it's the lid and not the fender...hard to tell for sure. I need to figure out how to contact the CSM and see what she can do for me.

I highly doubt it's the lid. How hard can it be to make the lids straight? That's why I'm not going to take mine in and let them screw around with it.. at least not yet!

Probably it's not the lid or the fender.. but the entire car is crooked.. That's the only way to explain why so many things are out of alignment on so many of these cars, and why fixing one thing just creates a problem somewhere else. It would be good if someone with the right measuring equipment and expertise could prove this.

Then the next question would be a legal one because there's no way they could fix crooked frames. Ford would probably try to argue they are "within tolerances" and that any faults are not unreasonable. But the fact is, we owners will take a hit on resale value either way. If we leave the cars unfixed, or if we have major bodywork done to "hide" the problems.

 

[davidw76]

Here is the point. My Ford dealers body shop was asked from my CSM Cindy, btw a very helpful lady, to order a new lid for me. When the lid arrived I got a call from the body shop: "We can't use it. It actually looks worst then the one what is on your car...."

That's when the body shop guy started to cut off the right edge of my trunk lid because she looked like your left edge. :doh: He welded a new edge, used hammer and grinder to get the lid closer to the form of the right quarter panel. :faint:

And still it looks not like a brand new car - more like a car what did fall off a hoist. :eyebulge:

Contact Jeff from FordService here and send him a PM with your VIN# , phone# and dealer ship you are dealing with. He will get in touch with you to let you know who is your CSM.

You should contact someone in the automotive press and tell them the whole story (if you can find a publication that isn't in bed with Ford).

I would wager they'll soon "make things right" once it gets national attention.

 

[5starr0]

They just ordered me another glass since this one is "missing" but he (service manager) did agreee that two weeks is a bit crazy

 

[Papaya]

Suicidel car magazines?

You should contact someone in the automotive press and tell them the whole story (if you can find a publication that isn't in bed with Ford).

I would wager they'll soon "make things right" once it gets national attention.

Until now, nobody likes to go on it. Not car & driver, no winding roads magazine. They are all still "happy" from driving the test cars. BTW. What North American car magazine like to report the poor North American quality issues? They risk a couple 1,000 readers not buying anymore...... :gossip:

 

[GiddyUp15]

Here is the point. My Ford dealers body shop was asked from my CSM Cindy, btw a very helpful lady, to order a new lid for me. When the lid arrived I got a call from the body shop: "We can't use it. It actually looks worst then the one what is on your car...."

That's when the body shop guy started to cut off the right edge of my trunk lid because she looked like your left edge. :doh: He welded a new edge, used hammer and grinder to get the lid closer to the form of the right quarter panel. :faint:

And still it looks not like a brand new car - more like a car what did fall off a hoist. :eyebulge:

Contact Jeff from FordService here and send him a PM with your VIN# , phone# and dealer ship you are dealing with. He will get in touch with you to let you know who is your CSM.

I highly doubt it's the lid. How hard can it be to make the lids straight? That's why I'm not going to take mine in and let them screw around with it.. at least not yet!

Probably it's not the lid or the fender.. but the entire car is crooked.. That's the only way to explain why so many things are out of alignment on so many of these cars, and why fixing one thing just creates a problem somewhere else. It would be good if someone with the right measuring equipment and expertise could prove this.

Then the next question would be a legal one because there's no way they could fix crooked frames. Ford would probably try to argue they are "within tolerances" and that any faults are not unreasonable. But the fact is, we owners will take a hit on resale value either way. If we leave the cars unfixed, or if we have major bodywork done to "hide" the problems.

Yikes! I don't want them doing that much cutting and "rigging"....that's why I'm afraid to complain any further. I'd rather just keep it as-is and live with it....I'd be cool if they fixed the issue with just a lid replacement, but I doubt that will work unless Ford actually modifies their lid stamping tools to compensate for the mis-alignment. Regardless which part is really out of spec (the fender or the lid), they can modify one or the other to compensate and mask the issue, as people like you and I wouldn't even notice either way. I'm an engineer, though not for a product that is THIS involved, but I'd think they have some engineers working on fine tuning the tooling to fix mis-alignment issues like this. This is likely a normal thing that goes on during a new car launch like this (we have stuff like this with the products my company makes). Ideally they'd do all this before launch but I know how these things always go. I also assume Ford stamps the body parts in-house and not from a supplier? So it should be a quicker turn-around for them. Either that, or they are playing a bean-counter game of "number of expected complaints do not warrant the cost of the tooling change" in which case we will never get good parts. :frusty:

This is why I usually try to keep to my rule of not buying a car (or any product really) when it is just released, and try to wait for at least the 2nd year of the body style. I did this with my Fusion (2011) and it's been a pretty solid car. Although, my 1994 Mustang GT was the first of it's body style (though I bought it used); it was and still is a pretty solid car and I've never noticed any errant body lines or anything remotely like this crap we are dealing with now! :rant:

I highly doubt us consumers would have any legal path to take considering it is only an aesthetic issue, which we all had the chance to not buy our cars (or refuse delivery) since we got to see what they looked like before we signed the paperwork (at least I did). I'm sure you guys were like me, and didn't really go over with a fine-tooth comb like I should have as I was too Giddy to get the car.

I believe my CSM is Randi, but I didn't get her number when she called me, so I will have to check with the Service Adviser as I know he talked to her at least once. I figured she'd call me back now that I have my car back to follow up, but haven't heard anything yet.

 

[GiddyUp15]

Until now, nobody likes to go on it. Not car & driver, no winding roads magazine. They are all still "happy" from driving the test cars. BTW. What North American car magazine like to report the poor North American quality issues? They risk a couple 1,000 readers not buying anymore...... :gossip:

Motor Trend is pretty notorious for being anti-Ford. Even Ford is kind of a dick sometimes and won't let them test certain cars in comparison tests. :lol:

Consumer Reports or something like that is probably the only source for something like this. The auto mags like to concentrate on brand new car's performance and packaging; they never really get into reliability/durability data...which I wish they would factor in when they do their comparison tests....

 

[Papaya]

I took delivery on the 12/12/14 with lots of ice on the dealers lot. When my sales guy and I had a quick look, I pointed out that my Mustang looks kinda crooked but my sales guy said it was because of the ice on the ground. Next morning, I figured out that my garage had no ice on the ground but my Mustang still looked crooked from any kind of view. Since than I have a run a round to get things fixed. I am not yet got my brakes replaced or my seat covers fixed. If FORD puts me in a different car, the dealer can fix all this and what is coming.

I am already that far, that my wife is driving the Mustang and I drive the Jeep GC because every time I see it, I go mad.....

Motor Trend did never contact me after I did let them a message with a LINK to this forum.

 

[5starr0]

So my rear glass was missing for two weeks because they said they got in touch with ford got the tracking info and the glass was returned by fedex because it was broken. The service manager said they should have been more proactive checking into it. New glass has been ordered. Crazy right.

Sponsored