Ford Service Center Quick To Point Out Mods / Bring Up Warranty

[ORRadtech]

First, never leave the car unlocked for ANYONE to take it upon themselves to open the car or it’s hood. Your post isn’t clear on that part, but in over 30+ years of owning vehicles and taking any Brand-X to a Service Center, I’ve never had Techs just help themselves to my vehicle in the parking lot or even if parked in front of the Service Center, ever.

I would have made an immediate complaint about that to the Dealership GM.

Yeah, that part about them opening the hood, not to mention the door to get to the latch, kind of stunned me. I'd have been livid!
As it happens mine is at the dealer now for a couple of smallish things that the dealer is trying to justify not doing under warranty, but that's a different story.
When mine was in the service line no one even touched it. When the service writer and I walked out to go over what I wanted looked at he asked my permission to open the door to get the milage before he even touched the car.
I would certainly speak with the GM about their employees trespassing, if not outright breaking and entering, in my car.
If you'd gone to a tire shop and noticed people with your hood up and going through the car would you shrug it off or would you call the police?
I know what I'd do.

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[green97probe]

Yeah, that part about them opening the hood, not to mention the door to get to the latch, kind of stunned me. I'd have been livid!
As it happens mine is at the dealer now for a couple of smallish things that the dealer is trying to justify not doing under warranty, but that's a different story.
When mine was in the service line no one even touched it. When the service writer and I walked out to go over what I wanted looked at he asked my permission to open the door to get the milage before he even touched the car.
I would certainly speak with the GM about their employees trespassing, if not outright breaking and entering, in my car.
If you'd gone to a tire shop and noticed people with your hood up and going through the car would you shrug it off or would you call the police?
I know what I'd do.

Exactly. Also, after a bad experience with employees at a Ford dealership "test driving" and abusing my former 2010 GT, my vehicle doesn't leave the lot unless I'm in it.

I've had techs and service writers ride with me or drive while I sat in the passenger seat.

As far as contacting a GM, that sems nearly impossible. They seem to hide behind employees.

 

[Sawyerjames]

First off you were treated poorly by your dealer, period. Since you bought the car there why did you not go to the GM or the owner? More times than not these folks will be able to resolve your issues. Secondly, since you suspected that something could be wrong with your transmission, why did You wait 9000 and then add a possible warranty ending mod? This part just does not make any sense to me. And lastly, go find another dealer, preferably one who is mod friendly.

I agree, the customer service was not the best. I didn't escalate the issue to the owner or GM because it was not to that point. It was brought in simply for a diagnosis. Warranty was never mentioned on my end, as I don't mod my cars and expect to receive a warranty after the fact (that's actually a big pet peeve of mine, when someone "has" the money to purchase a power adder, but does not have the money for repairs). I brought the car in expecting to pay full price if the car needed any work. Good news is they did not find anything wrong, and chalked it up to be "normal behavior" of the 10r80 and did not charge anything for the diagnosis.

 

[Sawyerjames]

The Dealership would have to prove, without any doubt that the supercharger (or any other modification) was the immediate cause of the transmission issue (OR any type of XYZ failure).

If it were my car - I would have done things differently. First, never leave the car unlocked for ANYONE to take it upon themselves to open the car or it’s hood. Your post isn’t clear on that part, but in over 30+ years of owning vehicles and taking any Brand-X to a Service Center, I’ve never had Techs just help themselves to my vehicle in the parking lot or even if parked in front of the Service Center, ever.

I would have made an immediate complaint about that to the Dealership GM.

As soon as the Service Writer blurted out anything about what the car has OR might have installed on it and implying that magically he knew it wasn’t going to be “warranty related” because of XYZ mod, I again would have asked to speak to the Dealership GM.

I would also have mentioned on the spot to “hold on, while I call Ford Corporate” and started dialing the Ford 800# to lodge a compliant and to get a Case started.

You also should have asked to take the Shop Foreman or Lead Tech on a test drive with you driving the vehicle to demo when and how the trans acts up. Then let them drive it back to the Dealership to confirm the problem exists. Why? Because now you left the car and they’re gonna pull the typical “it’s normal” BS and you’ll be stuck taking the car back and forth to try to get resolution and repair. Also don’t be surprised if they are total dirtbags by noting on your work order or within OASIS the car has been modified.

I’m not gonna preach, BUT, if the trans problem was persistent when the car was new up through 9k miles, you really should have taken it in for diagnosis before any major mods.

My guess is the problem is going to be 1 of 3 (or a combo of) common 10R80 issues:
1) low fluid from factory
2) may need 10R80 software update via Ford IDS
3) may be a valve body issue

Whether or not your Service Center will do the right thing by proper diagnosis and not trying to magically link the issue to aftermarket modifications is the bigger question at this point.

appreciate the feedback. You are right, they did chalk it up to normal behavior. I am going to check the fluid this weekend because I am curious. Then again, it could very well be me trying to make this 10 speed something different than what it is. I would think if their was something wrong it would have shown itself after 27K miles of daily driving.

 

[Bikeman315]

Good news is they did not find anything wrong, and chalked it up to be "normal behavior" of the 10r80 and did not charge anything for the diagnosis.

So what did they actually do to determine that your transmission was normal? I ask because "normal behavior" is code for "we didn't do shit". Did they take it out for a test drive? Did they actually check the fluid and do the software update/reset? If they didn't then they did nothing except humor you. At least they didn't charge you for doing nothing.

I am going to check the fluid this weekend because I am curious.

See above comment.

And by the way based on description of your transmissions behavior it does not appear to be normal.

 

[Sawyerjames]

So what did they actually do to determine that your transmission was normal? I ask because "normal behavior" is code for "we didn't do shit". Did they take it out for a test drive? Did they actually check the fluid and do the software update/reset? If they didn't then they did nothing except humor you. At least they didn't charge you for doing nothing.


See above comment.

And by the way based on description of your transmissions behavior it does not appear to be normal.

I agree, I know for a fact they did not check the fluid because the car was never on a lift. I drove the car with the shop manager in the passenger seat for a little while, and he drove the car back to the dealership. He claimed that it actually felt more smooth than others that he has driven. My issue is that I have never had a major problem, no CEL's, or anything directly pointing to the trans being bad. It is more the characteristics of the transmission in my car do not fall in line with the way some peoples are running that love the 10 speed. I just feel like I am missing out because of all the good reviews about the trans, and I am not getting the same feeling as far as "this is an amazing transmission" like others I talk to. I have never had the clunk from park to drive, when I first got the car it did like to flare some, but the tune got rid of that immediately. My logs are always on point, but I still can't get over the hunting for gears, and the whole not downshifting until almost a full stop (this does not happen at every stop, but does happen often). Another crazy thing is that WOT the shifts are like butter. All of the quirks that are present, or in my mind are under very light load, which also has me thinking "maybe I just need to push a little further on the go pedal for the trans to respond like it should. Do you by chance know the symptoms of the failing valve body? I am going to check the fluid this weekend. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Cueball]

I would unplug the battery for a while to reset it and then it can re-learn your driving style.

 

[Cobra Jet]

.....I have never had the clunk from park to drive, when I first got the car it did like to flare some, but the tune got rid of that immediately. My logs are always on point, but I still can't get over the hunting for gears, and the whole not downshifting until almost a full stop (this does not happen at every stop, but does happen often). Another crazy thing is that WOT the shifts are like butter. All of the quirks that are present, or in my mind are under very light load, which also has me thinking "maybe I just need to push a little further on the go pedal for the trans to respond like it should. Do you by chance know the symptoms of the failing valve body? I am going to check the fluid this weekend. Thanks again for your help.

I’ve put together a very comprehensive 10R80 thread in the transmission sub-forum:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...hift-conditions-facts-and-resolutions.135463/

That thread I created not only has many 10R80 facts, but read the Tech report I included from my recent 10R80 repair (which is the valve body diagnosis and repair). I didn’t have any symptoms from taking delivery of the car new in Feb 2018 all the way up until I created that thread (@35k) a few weeks ago.

Hope that helps.

 

[WildHorse]

1) low fluid from factory

Isn't the PDI supposed to check for this kinda thing?

 

[torqued]

I just feel like I am missing out because of all the good reviews about the trans, and I am not getting the same feeling as far as "this is an amazing transmission" like others I talk to.

The impression I think one gets from this place is that the mt82 is garbage and the 10r80 is something from heaven. The truth is probably both are really decent transmissions, but not perfect.

I didn't drive the auto so don't take my word for it, but for me I'd heard of somewhat violent shifts being the norm, and had watched point-of-view videos on it where the constant shifting drove me up the wall. But I like a transmission that stays where I put it so I'm not the target audience for the AT.

It might be the case that it's a fabulous AT compared to past ones, and maybe it's in that sense that it's "amazing". But still has drawbacks. Just like the MT.

 

[newmoon]

If there were any potential issues with the transmission to begin with you should have brought the car in prior to modifying it. IMO you knew when you supercharged your car that your warranty was gone, no big news there.

Hopefully it is something minor and not too costly, good luck.

 

[tcman54]

My last dealer experience was horrible, brought it in for oil change, they came back with a silly list of needing new wipers, tires needed weight adjustment, needed new battery, needed 36000 mile service, blah, blah , blah.

After denying virtually all of that service work, i finally got the car back 2 hours later and my clean windshield was covered with dirt, told them to go clean it and they did.

Before bringing in the car the called me wanting to buy it and then after the service work they called wanting to know if I wanted to trade it in, how do these people sleep at night?

TC

 

[Bikeman315]

Isn't the PDI supposed to check for this kinda thing?

Sorry, that would be a no. Just fluids accessible with the hood up.

 

[Bikeman315]

Before bringing in the car the called me wanting to buy it and then after the service work they called wanting to know if I wanted to trade it in, how do these people sleep at night?
TC

They don’t!

And if they really want your car that badly hand them a piece of paper with the value of your car with all mods and tell them that what you want. Please take a pic of their face when they see it.

 

[FreePenguin]

Why do dealers want our cars? I keep getting mail from my dealer for trade in now! We want your Car etc. I never subscribed to that subscription letters, all I do is oil changes

I called and demanded be removed from all spam solicitation

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