Hey everyone,

Okay, 3 weeks ago I bought a new 2014 F150 XLT. 4wd, leather seats, 5.0.

The truck currently has 800 miles on it, and I bought it in Mesquite, Tx.

I have had to take it back NUMEROUS times for small issues over the last few weeks, and it has spent more time with them than me.

However, this issue takes the cake.

Due to my schedule I bought the truck at night, which I have done several times before and never had an issue.

Well long story short the ENTIRE paint job on the truck is factory defective. The base and metallic coats were not laid down properly and it looks like parts of the truck were hit with a grinder and steel wool.

Ford has acknolwedged the issue and wants to do a full repaint at the dealer but they WILL NOT CALL ME BACK so I can discuss my concerns.

I know that aftermarket paint jobs are not as durable as factory due to the baking process, and honestly, I am just not happy at all with having to have my brand new truck totally dissasembled and re painted.


Please help. Does anyone have a number I can call and actually speak with someone that can help me? The regular customer care people are sending me to local reps and those people are not called me back. This is day 5 now.

Any advice you have would be great.

My cell is 214-952-1446.

Thank you so much.

-Dennis

 

Sounds like Town East Ford. I bought my truck there and won’t ever go back. I can’t help with your issue but you can take it to any dealer. If Ford is paying the bill it doesn’t matter which dealer does the work. Town East fixed my 08 twice and I didn’t buy it from them.

Also, I doubt they will take your truck apart to paint it. They will paint it like they do any other vehicle. If you have only had it that long I would go for a replacement. Got pics of the paint?

 

A well done respray is not a problem. A lot of body shops offer a lifetime warranty on their paint because they know it will last. If they properly sand it down and get the trash out of the paint then do the repaint you should end up with a very good paint job. The key is a WELL DONE respray.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no re-spray paint job is ever as good as a properly executed factory paint job - which yours obviously was not. Period, end of report. And I can say that since I used to supervise a painting operation for a Fortune 500 company and know more than a little bit about painting. And the big difference is not baking, it's process control over the whole series of operations. There are more variables to control in painting a car or truck body than most people would ever believe. And absolutely no dealer or collision shop has the time, money or facilities to duplicate a factory paint job - period.

The other big difference will be what gets painted and how. Your truck was originally painted as what's called "a body in white." That means it was a recently welded together bare steel (and aluminum) body with nothing else on it.

The painting process started with an Electrodeposition Primer. (The "river of paint" you've no doubt seen) And this primer - which cannot be duplicated out in the field - followed a multiple step cleaning and Phosphating process to improve adhesion. BTW, once you sand through this primer in the field, your corrosion resistance goes to hell in a hand basket.

Next, the body goes through a basecoat / clearcoat painting process where the layers are precisely applied by automated equipment to give you even coating thickness and a prefect surface that needs no buffing (which reduces thickness). After all of this, they (finally) start assembling the truck.

Any body shop is going to slightly disassemble your truck, DA sand it (sometimes going through the primer), mask off the parts they didn't disassemble, then shoot it by hand. The quality of the paint is entirely dependent on the painter. With any luck, it might look half way decent. As for corrosion resistance, sorry, but it will suck. But - and this is important - you will always be able to tell the vehicle has been painted. You can guess what this does for resale value.

I had a Ford F-150 with a similar "bad paint job" a number of years ago. I was able to prove beyond a doubt - due to the testing means I had access to - that my truck's finish did not meet certain critical factory specifications. Ford eventually offered to repaint it and I refused for the above mentioned reasons. I held out until they (after a long battle) made it possible for me to get a new truck.

Good luck in your battle. (And it will be a battle.) Let this be a lesson to never buy anything without a proper full inspection. Hope that helps.

 

First,

Thank you all for the responces, I do not have any pictures of the issues as the truck has been with them for two weeks now. It basically looks like large areas of dark spots.

I spoke to a FORD representative yesterday named Robby, who told me that Tommy, the manager of operations is supposed to call me tonight.

Robby offered me the Ford ESP (extended service plan) that would cover major parts on the vehicle till 75k or 5 years. The plan has a 100 dollar deductable.

I went over all of my concerns with him.

1. Yall messed up the most obvious part of the vehicle, what else is wrong?

2. This process relies on the absence of human error.

3. It will most likely not hold up as well.

4. What other issues could come up from the process.

Their offer thus far is to repaint at Town East Ford in Mesquite where I bought it, and throw in their extended warranty.

I turned that down because I dont feel like that addresses my concerns.

I am in very uncharted territory and am not very sure of what to do next.

Any suggestions? The more I read the more uncomfortable I am with the truck being repainted.

Thank you all so much.

-Dennis

 

I would never be happy with that truck. I would try to get it replaced, one way or another. It should never have been sold.

 

I agree. But honestly, you left out alot of details and with no pics its hard to tell if its really that bad or if you are being picky. But, I know Town East Ford so I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. I can't see something that obvious (If it is as noticeable as you say) being aloud to leave the factory to be honest. What color is the truck?

 

So how do I go about getting a replacement?

Is there any official or factual documentation anyone knows of regarding factory vs repaint?

Ive read stuff all over the forums but have not found anything other than here say.

 

You are worrying yourself with details. If you are not happy, throw a fit until they replace it. They are not going to offer a replacement just because you show them a printed article that you consider proof. You are going to have to become a thorn in their side that they WANT to get rid of.

 

I AM being picky yes, some of the defects are harder to spot but they are there. A portion of it looks like there is a matt coat on the truck instead of a gloss. The cab (roof, rear pillars) is where it is the worst, the scratches are so dark you can see it from looking behind the truck towards the cab.

My theory is that the dealer knew about it, and when we went to deal and I pushed on the price because I knew they were trying to move the remaining 14's, they thought that it would be an easy way to remove a truck with issues from the lot.

Truck is Silver.

At the end of the day, it was a a 48 thousand dollar truck (sticker) and I am in no way happy with what I got for my money, time and trouble.

 

I have no idea how to go about it. Maybe see if the favctory rep on this site can help. User name is FordService, I believe.

I would get rid of it even if it cost me trading it in. I would try to get the dealer to work with me on a trade, if nothing else. Otherwise, I would get mad everytime I walked up to the truck and saw the problems.

 

10 4. Im good at that.



Hopefully the operations manager will call me tonight and we will get started from there.

 

Here you go. Send her a PM, see if she can get involved.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...rdservice.html

 

I don’t think that is being picky one bit. If you can see it when you are not close enough to touch the truck, it has issues. I would keep telling them “I didn’t buy a used truck and none of the others on your lot look like this, I expect it to be replaced.” And climb the chain of command. Call them daily, hourly if need be. I can get you my ex’s phone #. She annoyed the hell out of me, should be able to have you a new truck in a matter of days. Might even get an upgrade.

 

Done. Thank you.

Thank you all.

This is becoming a PITA.