Has anyone filed a claim through the Dispute Settlement Board with satisfactory results? Or, would I be better eating my losses, call the local tv station and destroy the dealer who sold me my vehicle as well as Ford's reputation in the Milwaukee area??????

 

The Warranty book says to follow these steps:

1) Contact your Sales Representative or Service Advisor at your local/selling dealership

2) If the concern remains unresolved contact the Sales Manager or Service Manager at the dealership

3) If the concern reamains unresolved at the dealership level contact the Ford Customer Assistance Center

What I did was read all the information I could about the lemon law for my state. I then wrote a well thought out letter documenting all the problems. I sent the letter to the attention of the Sales Manager and copied the Service Manager. In the mean time I requested a copy of the DSB Application, assumming I would be going to arbitration. The dealership called me after reading my letter and I was expecting them to say I had no cause for complaint, instead they simply said "we are applying to Ford for a buyback". Don't know what you situation is but thats how mine worked out. One thing is for sure putting it in writing forces them to take it more seriously, but they could also use it against you so try to think like they do.

 

I suggest you do a search for of my posts from back in May of this year. I didn't go the route of the DSB, but rather the local news. It can be done, you just need patience. Again, I'd recomment you do a search for my posts from then, I documented the progress of my buyback attempt every step of the way.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the tips. It sounds like my situation isn't much different than other's. I remember reading Y2k's threads when my problems first occurred, for some reason "search" will not pull up any info on DSB, Dispute, Arbitration, etc????????

 

Myself and one other f-150 owner on this board did arbitrate through the DSB and won our cases. It took about 8 months once I filed my case. Our case was for the notorious bad idle in fords 5.4.....

 

Fife, you do not say what kind of problem you are having. I went thru the buy back process once with ford and they treated me very well. I kept working with the service manager and the district rep. It took a few months and patience on my part as well as theirs. Only advice I can give is be polite but firm, you dont want to make them your enemies. Remember, they are just like you and I, just people and they would rather try to help you out, or at least I hope so. Also, if you can do it on friendly terms, it will happen that much faster. Look at the different time frames. I think they are doing a buyback or replacement now. I wish you luck, hang in there.
Terry

 

Terry w 123,
I need a "fourth" 4.6l engine in my '99 Expedition. You can understand my frustration. All I want is what I paid for truck less mileage. The truck has been in the shop all together for about 2 of the 12 months I've owned it. Now the truck isn't driveable because of the risk of complete mechanical failure (it has a rod or some sort of LOUD knock). I don't tow or drive like a maniac, for some reason the engine just keeps failing, this one lasted 2,000 miles. I don't have time for DSB to process the claim, what to drive in the meantime?? I'm going to post for a regional contact.

 

I sure don"t blame you for being mad. Four engines, that is ridiculous. I was able to reach my zone rep thru my service manager. If that does not work, the general manager of the dealership has the info and he can give it to you. There is no reason that the info should not be given to you, so do not take no for an answer. Ford at 800-392-3673 should also be able to provide this. I hope this helps.
Terry

 

I suggest you first file a suit with the DSB, then give them 2 weeks to respond. Send the letter certified mail, return reciept requested. (I think the post office calls it signature certification or something like that) Give them 2 weeks to respond. Then hire a Lemon Law attorney. You DEFINATELY qualify... 4 times in the last year for the same problem... I can't reccomend the attorney I used (he was a putz) but his web site had some good info...

www.lemonaid.com

also, for anyone who wants to contact their zone reps, BlueOvalNews had a listing of all the area service reps for the country. I can't find the link right now, but it's there somewhere...

-Joe-

 

fife, don't expect the DSB to solve all of your problems for you. I went through the DSB process with a '99 F-150 and their reply was "give Ford another chance to fix it." I told them just what I thought of them and their idea and told the dealer that I'd file a Lemon law suit to solve the problem. To make a long story short, an attorney was not needed and Ford bought the truck back. The total time from when I first picked up the '99 F-150 until my new '00 SD F-250 was about one year. The biggest holdup once Ford agreed to buy the truck back was waiting for the '00 SD trucks to start being produced. Good luck with your problem and keep after them. One more thing, make sure that you keep real good documentation of everything that has transpired with your vehicle. It can really save your backside!

 

I have never had problems with my FORD's, but all kinds of Hassle with 2 Chevy Trucks. Chevy and GM, could care less about Lemon's, atleast with my two. This was in Central TX., several years ago.

Best of Luck, and keep us posted.

R1968

 

WWBF150: thanks for the advice. You know, your initial outcome is what I am afraid of. "Give them a chance to fix it" Again? How many times do you let them fix it. I have engines replaced before oil changes. I gave them three tries already, maybe I'm wrong but I think replacing the truck less money for mileage isn't being unreasonable. By the way, isn't it fun trying to get a problem solved through Ford's customer service?

 

fife, I gave Ford the allowed 4 times for repair, which is what has to be done here in Michigan. After that, I filed with the DSB because it is also required in Michigan before the Lemon law can be used here. I rejected the DSB decision, which then allowed the MI lemon law to be applied. Your state may have a different procedure to follow, so you'll have to check that out. The Ford "Customer Assistance Center" is a total joke. I also notified them about the truck. It didn't do much good though. They are complete idiots. As I said earlier, keep good documentation and you have to let Ford and your dealer know that you are determined to solve your problem in a way that is beneficial to you. Good luck to you!

 

I've been meaning to respond to this thread sooner but I can never seem to remember when I have the time. Fife, originally you asked if anyone went to the media, well I did. I decided to try my luck on TV before trying the DSB (a lengthy process) or the lemon law (a lengthy and potentially expensive process). I don't think I did as well as I could have, I didn't get the full buyback that I was looking for, but I did get $4k back on the truck I had been leasing for a year at the time. But what else I got was priceless... I got to embarass Ford again on TV, and what is even better is that I was able to shine the spotlight on my dealers crappy service and make it known to his entire market which alone is priceless to me.

The DSB itself is a good idea, but I don't put much faith in them being fair, after all it is sponsored by Ford! Many states so require that you go through the motions with the manufacturers mediation board before applying the lemon laws, so be sure to check your state laws before proceeding. One of the suggestions I read on this thread was to write the DSB and give them 2 weeks to respond. That is incorrect and bad advice. Fords Dispute Settlement board has in their charter that they must respond to you within 30 days of your application and must hear your case within 45. Don't go changing the rules to suit your needs, it won't help you and may even hurt your case.

It is going to be a fustrating and upsetting process, that much I can guarantee. But you must try to remain calm and cool when dealing with Ford even if it gets you nowhere. But before you contact the media, read on.

The first thing I would do is ask your dealers' service manager to contact the Zone Rep and arrange a meeting to discuss your concerns. I'd also suggest that they bring in a FSE (Field Service Engineer) to the meeting to look over your truck as this will save you the step down the road because at some point or another Ford will insist on having one inspect your truck so you might as well get it out of the way from the start.

Once you get that meeting out of the way and you do not feel that Ford's response is satisfactory then go ahead and write the DSB or contact the local media. If you choose the DSB just remember to be patient, because it can take upwards of 30 days. If you appear to be too eager or in a hurry to get a new truck then Ford will think that's all you're in it for.. While you are doing this to get a new truck or some kind buyback, don't make it look like that's your only concern because your real concerns are the problems you're having with your existing truck and the inconvenience that it is causing.

If you have Windows Media player 6 installed on your computer visit my old F-150 page to watch the clip of my lemon's story on the 6pm news. My Old Lemon Page

The last bit of advice that I can think of at the moment is to keep perfect records of EVERYTHING. Document EVERY phone call, EVERY service visit, and if you do meet with a Zone Rep take lots of notes during the meeting. Not only will that benefit you in the end, it will also serve to show him that you mean business. Make sure you have official records of every repair attempt done showing the date the vehicle was dropped off, picked up, and what parts were replaced, etc. Also don't hesitate to print off info from this site if it pertains to others having problems similar to those with your truck.

When the reporter came to tape the interview I had 2 - three ring binders of documents I had collected about the problems I was experiencing plus a folder of all my service records that he looked over and used in the interview (but was later edited out). If I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't do anything differently. If you have any questions feel free to drop me an e-mail. Good luck!

 

Y2K OffRoad>
Thanks for taking the time to explain your experience. Seems like my situation is exactly like yours minuns the final result. If you thought like I did, then you know a consumer could never afford to sue a company as large as Ford, and they realize that when they train their customer support to give us the run around. Frustration, it sure is! I'm at the point where I might just get the truck fixed (again), then trade it in. I'm sure that is just what Ford wants. However, I will still make sure Ford gets their's! I think the treatment for my wounds, is revenge. Maybe that sounds psychotic, but when I spend $36k on a truck, I expect reliability at the least. Fortunatley domain names are cheap, and the media needs stories like ours. I know all Ford vehicles aren't bad, but the way they handle known problems sucks. If I can get one person from buying an Expedition, and Ford knew they didn't buy it because of the Ford handles problems, I'd be happy!