Well now im fuming mad. I have a 2006 Fx4 and im having a serious issue with the fender flares fading. I called the ford dealership two weeks ago and he said bring it up here in to weeks and we will look at it and get you some new ones under warranty. So today i called up there and he said bring it on up. So i drove up there of course getting my usual 11 mpg. I get up there and he goes out to look at. I follow him becuase he has two bottles of stuff in his hand, i dont trust anyone with two mystery products on my truck. He goes over and start scraping my fender flares with his finger nails and yells "its coming off when i scrape it". I told him to quit scratching my damn truck and not to touch it again. He then take glass cleaner and attempts to clean my flares, of course it being a windy day overspray gets everywhere and he wipes my paint with a dry dirty rag. So i am about ready to kill this guy by now. He then tells me that he would like to interest me in a product that Ford make that protects the trim. I told him i shouldnt have to protect the trim the truck isnt even 2 years old and only has 18k miles.Plus the crap he was selling was water based and we all know how long that stuff last. After all this he says let me try a little glass cleaner. I told him no and of course he tried it anyway. It made the flares look 10times worse than when i brought it in. After all this and me ripping this idiots head off he says well i am backed up with warranty claims bring it back in tow weeks. I swear yal i could have murdered this guy. And the thing about it was he was the manager of the body shop. He said well if they keep doing it he will try to make something happen. I hate to tell the moron that the flares are not going to get any better. I know i can just put black wow on them but i shouldnt have to when the truck is practically new. It now looks like i am driving a new truck with 10 year old fender flares. Any suggestion guys? Now ia m worried he screwed my paint up with all that crap he was spraying. Im just glad i had alot of wax on it.
Nothing against you, but any plastic trim that sits in the sun for 2 years (mileage has nothing to do with time; just because you don't drive it a lot doesn't mean time slows down) with nothing on it will fade. That is after all, the reason they make dressing for it.
Suggestions: Glass cleaner overspray won't ruin the paint. I'd just wash it anyways so it's clean! When you get the new flares in two weeks, put dressing on them.
Remember, you are dealing with people and some are not so smart...
My whole arguement is that the truck is under warranty and the flares should not be fading. I realize that it has set out in the sun for 2 years. But mileage does make a difference because the flares take direct spray off the tires when the road is wet. That spray contains chemicals and oil from the road. These chemicals could possibly speed up the oxidation process.
no wonder ford is losing money...they will prob replace at no cost to you...the only "sure" way to keep them from fading again is to paint them, as mentioned above...but then they will only be good for maybe 14 years before they fade...
sorry, but what would be acceptable in your eyes for lenght of time and fading...are you the first owner of the truck..was the truck purchased in august of 2006 i would guess it may indeed be three years old or very close to it...2006's were avalible by sept 2005, thats about three years from now...
also is it just the fender flares or are the bed caps fading also, if not are they under a bed cover...if they are open like the flares they should look about the same or worse since the catch the sun a bit more directly....
not to be mean, just want you to not have dreams of these things not fading...its just plastic open to the elements, its not going to look new for years without some protection
I didnt realize so many people on here could be so ignorant. I am not asking for anything special here. The truck was issued from Ford in Oct. of 2006 so it was a late 2006 release. All these people are jumping my case but i have a feeling that if it was the dealership scratching your fender flares and spraying god knows what on your paint then they would have a different attitude. i bought the truck knowing about the warranty and i expect ford to honor their warranty. All you guys that are taking up for the dealership can shove it. If ford warranties something then its my right to exercise that warranty. Im just hoping that everybody on this forum isnt like a couple of the smart asses that commented so far.
Well... This got off to an interesting start... Let's try to keep it relaxed here-- many of us here have seen a bit of bite go too far with hotheaded posts...
Anywho, here are my thoughts:
First off, I will state my disclaimer: I have a 2003. That said, I have no fender flares. However, my further words are NOT based on needing experience with it. (Although I do have experience restoring that stuff)
--Where do you live? Depending on your environment, this could be perfectly reasonable (ie: Arizona sun wouldn't be too nice to plastic, whereas Seattle would be more acceptable for long lived plastics). I say this because if you live in a hot and dry area, 2 years isnt too shabby...
--Even at 2 years, you're starting to get into the timeframe of needing to be more protective of your plastics. Honestly, plastics aren't too good at maintaining their looks over time in the sun. TBH, from day 1 you should be using some sort of protectant. I bought my truck used; I still have to deal with the lack of protection for 2 years of truck life today. No amount of BlackWow will bring back the color that was lost. Note that the downward facing plastics are still black... The bedrails are greyish... As such, there is a reason why all sorts of people have plastic protectants/dressings with UV protection and such...
--I feel for ya' on the body shop guy. He's a flippin' moron. Glass cleaner there is a no-no as we all know...
-- I'd ask to have the dealerships body shop also detail your truck-- the dirty rag has micromarred/swirled your paint. That they should fix
-- no, I dont think they should replace the fender flares... BUT: You mentioned scratching paint off... Please describe more here... Pics would help, too... My attitude could very well change depending on how this part goes... Fair enough?
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4.2L V-6 manual
Westin brushguard
Leer camper shell
A/T tires
plenty of strobes.... Yay for Firefighters!!!
So, instead this is abbreviated. I had an 03 Lariat with gold fender flares. The paint started flaking off a year after I got the truck. I took to local dealer and they repainted all the flares under warranty.
Thanks for the level headed input it means alot to know people can respond with out trying to offend people. Im not saying that Ford should cover this under warranty i am just saying that Ford does cover this under warranty and there are other people on here that have had this replaced under warranty. I just think if i buy the truck the warranty is a part of it and it Ford wants to replace it under there warranty then why in the world would i not let them. And on top of everything the guy told me not to put protectant on the plastic. He said it would not do it any good and would void the warranty.
The guy came over and took his finger nail and actually starting scraping the hell out of the fender flare. He was more or less digging through the top layer of the flare to get through the oxidation.I dont have pictures but he actually said hey look its coming off when i scrape it. This guy told me that he has had way to much warranty work lately and he is back up on warranty work. Thats why he was trying to find a way out of replacing it. He has already told me that Ford honors that as a warranty covered part.
ErnScott thanks for the reply man. In my opinion they should treat my flares just like all other. The painted flares should be under warranty just like the plastic ones. Im glad you had some luck and got the service you deserved.
hold up-- so if I'm understanding this correctly, Matt, yours are plastic, right? Just wanna be on the same page... If they're painted, then that's a whole 'nuther ball game.
Also-- If he told you they are warranty covered but he just doesnt want to do more, I'd take it up a level... That's a douche move to say that he *could* do it but wont...
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4.2L V-6 manual
Westin brushguard
Leer camper shell
A/T tires
plenty of strobes.... Yay for Firefighters!!!
And don't freak out about fender flares that are faded next time. That stuff is gonna happen. You are gonna just my case and say I'm ignorant, but roushstage2 is correct. You need to listen to people like him that know tons about detailing. Sorry about your flares and the idiot that messed with them. Hope you get it cleared up. Next set you get, Hyperdress them.
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