moseinsocks

I don't want to simply throw another thread in the "complain about my truck" pile, but I am looking for some advice regarding some issues I've run into with my truck over the past year. I bought my 2017 F150 Platinum last May and I've encountered several issues - mostly minor issues that have been made worse by my dealership's inability or unwillingness to address them. First, I noticed the paint was chipped off the lower left corner of my tailgate and I figured out that it was from the tailgate not being centered and the corner was rubbing the hinge. The dealership put some touch-up paint on it and called it a day. Then, I noticed a popping sound in the driver seat when the seat massagers were on and anytime I shifted my weight around in the seat. The truck was at the dealership four times for that issue, and four times they sent it back to me without touching a bolt. They've at least sent documentation of the issue to Ford looking for direction now. I had the mis-aligned doors that shook and chattered over bumps. It was at the dealership twice for that - both times they said they couldn't hear the problem. It took me five minutes with a torque wrench to fix that on my own. I had the oil pan leak. The dealership did fix that, at least.

Going back to the last visit for the seat issue - the service advisor ran my truck into a pole or something in the parking lot, putting a very deep scratch in the lower bedside. They assured me they would "fix it right", which apparently meant body filler and a re-paint at the body shop. I can still feel the dent on the backside of the body panel. Then, I noticed that, for whatever reason, the body shop felt the need to remove the bed from my truck while they had it, so someone took a utility knife to the Line-X liner at each of the bed bolts and hacked the liner material off of them.

So here's where I'm looking for advice. I know, step 1 should be "find a new dealership", but I'm in deep with this one now that I've called Ford's corporate customer service line about the seat issue that wasn't being resolved after four trips to the shop. Should I make a big deal about the liner looking hacked up now that they've cut around the bed bolts? Does something like that void the warranty for my liner? Should I be ticked about having a <1 yr old truck with (probably) body filler and a re-spray on the bed paint?

I'm mostly just irritated and venting, but I'm also interested to know how you all would handle this.

dhmcfadin

Yes you should make a big deal. You need to make a huge deal. The dealer dents your truck, says they will fix it, and fills the dent with body filler? Time to get a lawyer. Like yesterday!

tvsjr

I would be pissed in both cases. You should be talking directly to the dealership's GM at this point.

03XColby

jp2012

You definitely have every right to be ticked. I don't know if I'd be ticked at anybody in particular. It sounds like the service department wants to make things right, but they've just gone about it all wrong.
I'd set up an appointment with the GM and the Service manager to discuss everything. IMO, some of your issues are small potatoes, but the poor manner in which the dealer has addressed them all is a big deal. The lousy bodywork and hacked up bedliner would be a very big deal to me.

mikeinatlanta

Warranty is one thing, but damage you are entitled to be made whole. I would give the GM one chance in a nice polite conversation and then go legal.

EDIT: You are in small claims territory. For anyone who doesn't come across as a scumbag, judges tend to be pretty rough on dealerships and shops. When you sue, go after the dealership and the person who actually did the damage. Regardless of who is legally liable, that move will put huge strain on employee relations if they allow one of their own to be dragged into court.

moseinsocks

Let me dial back on the bedside repair - it actually LOOKS really great, as in, I can't even tell where it happened. The paint and everything came out great - they painted the area that was damaged and then blended the clearcoat with the rest of the bedside. I mentioned body filler because I can feel a slight impression from the original scratch on the backside of the panel, and I assume they probably used body filler to even everything out. I guess that's probably a perfectly acceptable way to make the repair - I really don't know, I'm not a bodywork-guy. Obviously my preference would be to have a fresh OEM bedside with no repairs.

I really think what I'm mostly irritated about - and confused about - is the bed bolt situation. I paid extra to have the "Premium" Line-X liner sprayed in, the stuff with the UV protection, so it was about $600. I'm confused because after looking at it again this morning, it appears that they didn't cut enough material out of the liner to actually remove the bolts. So I'm going to call this morning and see what went down. I don't even know what to ask for at this point, though. I don't want them trying to "patch" over the bolts with their own bedliner material - I want the Line-X Premium stuff. I'm also concerned that if they've loosened the bolts with the liner partially over the bolts still, has that caused areas to de-laminate from the bed around the bolts? And, it just looks hacked up to me at this point.

I guess I'll call them up and see what happens!

mikeinatlanta

LineX can do the repair and your warranty remain intact. The dealership should pay them to do so.

Speculating here, but dealerships are fairly used to not doing this repair on warranty work. If they were doing a warranty job that required bed removal, this would be customer responsibility. This is the one risk you take going with an aftermarket bed liner. Obviously here they need to have it fixed.

I wouldn't let the dealership fix it unless and authorized LineX installer. Once again, a talk with the GM should clear the issue.