I submitted this in the "Other Powertrain" forum but I guess it really belongs here

As posted in a previous string, I've been hearing some noise from the rear end. Well, it turned out that I had a leak on the front seal of the rear diff. I took the truck in to a local Ford dealer here in Kingsland, Ga. They stated that I "burned out" my diff and needed to pretty much replace the whole thing. Mistake #1: I didn't physically see the gears that were burned out. I spent a couple of days looking around for a used one with no luck, so I told them to go ahead with the work. $1400 in parts and $700 in labor.

Let me just spend a second to tell you about me and the dealership. I've been a Ford guy my whole life and have had allot of experiance with Ford service centers. For the most part, they have treated me fairly and provided good service thru the years. I now have a black 06 SCAB with a 6' foot bed and a 3.73 rear diff. This is my baby and I treat it as such. I don't pull anything with it but am planning on a small boat in the future, so that's why I got the truck. 90% highway miles goin to work. 41K total miles and just out of my warranty. The dealership is just down the street and is very small. They hold very little in inventory and I think they have 3 mechanics at the most. I figured that they're "Ford" so it wouldn't matter. Boy was I wrong. After the first week of dealing with this place I knew I wasn't dealing with craftsmen.

I got fed up with them after 2 weeks of broken promises of completion times. They kept saying they'll call me back and never would. I would call them and the guy would say he was just about to call me. Yeah, right. The place just did not appear professional. I finally got my truck back on a Friday at 5:30 P.M. The service manager took me for a short ride and said that there was still some noise and it would work itself out after a couple of hundred miles. It needed to "break in". If I still heard anything, it would probably need some more "shims". The 200 miles came quick over the weekend and if anything it sounded worse. There was a high pitched whine once I got to 35 mph w/ acceleration, then a more deeper "rub" type of noise w/ decelleration.

I had lost confidence in their ability to repair the vehicle. I called Ford Customer Service and asked if I could take it to another dealership to get it fixed right the second time. The customer service rep told me that as long as it was a rear end issue, it was covered under the Ford 12K parts and service warranty. If it was anything else, I was liable for the additional repair. Fair enough, it has to be the diff. I took the vehicle to a dealership that is higher volume and has a mechanic who specialises in rear ends. They had me obligate to a 4 hr evaluation before they would look at it but said that it would be covered under the 12K service warranty.
After a couple of days they called me back and said they had some bad news. It WAS a rear end issue, but not with the parts. Basically, they said that whoever put it together didn't know what they were doing. Didn't know what they were doing?!?! I don't have the paperwork yet, but the tolerances in quite a few areas were way off. This dealerships Ford rep said that since this was another dealerships "workmanship" issue, it would not be covered under warranty. I needed to pony up another additional $700 for 8hrs of labor so they can tear it apart and put it back together. Or I could call the first dealership and have them pay for it. WHAT?????

I called back Ford Customer Service, who originally told me to go ahead and take it to the 2nd place, and was told that "Unfortunately, we don't warranty workmanship". WHAT???????? This is Ford workmanship!!!!!

The first dealership is telling me they won't pay the 2nd dealership but if I bring it back they'll fix it for free. Yeah, great, but do they know what they're doing? Was it in need of a complete overhaul in the 1st place?. The 2nd dealership won't even release the vehicle unless I pay $350 for the 4hr evaluation. Ford Customer Service is absolutely no help. I told the Cust Service Rep that I wanted to speak to a superviser. They told me that one is not available and might call me back in 1-5 days. AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please somebody, do I get the bite stick and bend over, or do I have any other recourse in this situation? I swear, if I get screwed here I'm going to scream loud and clear in every publication what I think of Ford's "Customer Service" 41K for a rear diff to go bad and being made a fool of by 2 dealerships. Ridiculous.

 

What about asking the dealership for the name and number of the Regional Service Rep. I think thats what they are called. See if he can do something. How can they not warranty workmanship, Labour is part of the repair, are they saying yes, we warranty the parts but if one of our repair guys screws up then too bad?? I would even go to the dealership and tell them that if they dont cover this under warranty then they will have to settle this issue with your lawyer.

Also see if a local TV station has one of those reporters who does stories on ppl getting ripped off by businesses. I'd bet they'd fix it all for free if they know they are gonna get some bad publicity from it.

 

BOOM and BOOM!! If he exhausts all routes within Ford's infrastructure, legal action and media publicity will fix what his first approach didn't!

Good luck!!

 

I went ahead and told the 2nd dealership to go ahead and fix the vehicle on Monday. I'll eat the $750 for now. At this point I need my vehicle to go to work with. No other choice. I refuse to let the original dealer touch it again.
My next door neighbor took his 01 F150 there for a front and rear fluid change in his diffs and is now experiencing all sorts of problems.
I'll talk to a lawyer, but since both dealerships got their money, I don't think they'll care. I definately will be calling every local paper and news source to voice my complaints.

In retrospect: I took my vehicle to a "Ford" dealership because I'm new to this area and am not familiar with the local mechanic shops. I believed that by taking it to a Ford dealership, I would be receiving quality service by factory trained mechanics who are backed by Ford. Boy did I learn the hard way. Apparently the only thing that Ford will back up is their parts. I could have slapped the diff together myself with the same poor results and had gotten the same lip service from the Company.

I dare anyone on this site to offer me a benefit for taking their vehicle to a Ford dealership vice a well established local company who will back their service up 100% at a much cheaper labor rate than 75 an hour.

I work in the medical repair industry. I could just imagine if I told some physician or hospital that I won't back up any of my employees service. That if the tech screwed up repairing something that only that particular technician is liable and not me or my compny. I would never get work. This is how Ford Motor Company treats it's customers in relation to it's service centers. It's wrong.

 

Many on this site have a trusted garage in their local area. I know you are new to where you live and that makes it hard to find such a place, network at your work place and ask who your coworkers trust, get to know some trusted local shops and start going there. Keep all your receipts from the two Ford dealerships, though, the media might like to see those if you go that far. Good luck!!

 

You must rember that Ford backs the product/part that you purhsed against defects,they do not back a defective mechanic whom installs the parts.If the part failes due to workmanship they will cover parts and labor to replace it.In you situation it is the responsibility of the Dealer to back his workmanship not Ford Motor company.Again remember Ford does not own the dealerships, they manufacture the parts and sell them to the dealership.Make sure you are talking to the srvice manager,if you cant get satisfaction from him/her then ask for the owner.If you still cant get satisfacion the I would consider filing a claim at your local magistrates office and I am not a lawyer but I think you have a good case to get your money back in full and then take you vehicle to a repair shop so you can have it repaied,perhaps try a larger well known Ford dealer near you and ask if they have a fatory trained technician that knows how to repair rear differenials.

Good Luck!!

 

If you used a credit card, try disputing the charges.

 

if i had read your post here, I would not have bought a ford car. My recent experience told me that I would never buy a Ford car

 

if you're ever in need of a good dealer in coastal south carolina, try conway ford and all the good guys there...barry, roger and the rest. good service department too. upstate sc, try vic bailey.....jam up service department when you are in a jam....keith elliott, nichols, s.c. oh and i am not affiliated with either in any way other than i bought a truck from conway (near myrtle beach) and had emergency repairs to a crown vic at vic bailey in spartanburg, sc.c while on vacation!

 

Not sure if you have local TV stations in your area that do those ‘News on you side!” stories that do investigations on these exact incidents like we have here in Phoenix. There is nothing that a dealership wants less than a ‘local TV report” on bad service or problems. All of the TV stations here have those types of investigative reports. Might try that.

 

I also wouldn't use this particular dealer's service department for anything other than an oil change! I purchased an 2007 FX4 Supercrew. Had it 2 weeks and had one of the headlights blow up. Went there and they replaced the bulb under warranty. But they didn't even attempt to remove the headlight assembly to get the broken glass out. They said it wasn't covered under warrany. What a bunch of c?%p. I took it to Mike Shad Ford in Jacksonville. What a difference. They took my truck in and replaced the headlight under warrany. Even bought me a soda while I was waiting. I know it's a long way to drive but for good service which lately is hard to find I would take my truck there next time.

 

I thought the powertrain warranty was longer than 36k? Am I wrong?

 

i bought my 05 stx with 28k and my powertrain warranty is up to 60k i believe. my bumper to bumper ended at 36k. im not sure if it was the dealer or ford but i know i have coverage for a little while longer

 

I use to be able to handle that Ford products were hit and miss in reliability because they came with pretty good service and I like Ford trucks. Now Ford service has gotten so bad, I am having to take my F150 to my wife's Honda dealer for service and repairs. The service department at Berge ford in Mesa, AZ was absolutely unable to fix electrical problems on my Ranger...I took the truck to a Chevy dealer and had the problem solved in an afternoon. The service department at Superstition Springs Ford is providing false information (Employees are lying to the customers) and then strong arming its customers into paying unreasonable fees after the service is completed. They took me for some $$$ and I am not easily taken. Like to know what they are doing to other customers. Its the principle more than the money and I wondered if anyone realized as I left how bad their tactics are for the Earnhardt name or business. My question to Ford has been....Is there anyone there who really cares? If so, can I speak to them? To date, I have received nothing but a pre-computer generated response...

 

We have four Ford vehicles. One a 2005 F-150 truck that has less than a hundred miles on it that has sat in the driveway for two and a half years now. It was ordered for maximum towing but Ford left off equipment. No one from the dealer to Ford will respond. The dealer said it was up to me to get Ford to put the equipment on the truck. The dealer said they did not manufacture it so they are not interested. In case you are not looking to get taken then avoid Latham Motors in Latham, N.Y. I have had to use a Dodge Ram 1500 for towing. I found out that Ford does not really have a warranty on its vehicles. If the dealer says no then you are out of luck. The sooner Ford declares bankruptcy the better. It will give people time to buy Japanese instead of the american made garbage. Let the buyer beware in buying any vehicles made by Ford.