On May 25 there was an announcement that Ford was recall around 270,000 2013 and 2014 F150's with Ecoboost motors for potential brake failure. The day before while driving home, I had the exact issue happen to me (2014 F150 Crew Limited with Ecoboost - 42K miles). Dash light came on for low brake fluid and shortly after I lost brakes - pedal would go all the way to floor. Fortunately I was able to safely get to shoulder of turnpike.


I had the truck towed to the dealer I purchased it (after hours). Service rep called me and they had diagonised the problem as a leaky master cylinder which leaked into the booster (exact condition as recall notice) - $1100 to fix. This was just prior to the release of the recall notice. Service rep said it would be a couple of days as they didn't have the parts in stock. Later that day after I saw the recall notice, I called the dealer back and advised them. They were able to enter my VIN in the system and now they could see the "Advance Notice" of the recall.


To make a long story short, they stated that because it is an advanced notice, I will need to pay for the repair now - and hope to be reimbursed later when I actually receive the recall notice. I called Ford and opened up a case, but they said I need to work with my service manager. I spoke with him again this morning and he stated he spoke with Ford and they are stating they will not pay for the repair right now.


This is absurd and makes no sense! I have been a loyal Ford truck owner - this is my 3rd F150 and this is making me lose faith in them. Why should I have to pay for this out of my pocket?

 

Botton line ...you will be reimbursed if you have to pay now...you could always s wait and get it fixed when the official recall comes out.. that may not be an option for you. The Dealerships hands are tied. if they fix it they will not get the money from Ford. I would think a 2014 warranty would cover such an item.

 

I appreciate the response. Waiting is not an option as you can't drive a truck without brakes. It still doesn't make sense - why announce a recall if it isn't really a recall yet.


What bothers me most is that this is clearly the result of a known defective part, a recall has been announced, a vehicle is in the shop with the exact conditions, diagnosed by Ford technicians and Ford will not do right for the customer - no flexibility to keep customer satisfaction. I know I'm only one customer and apparently not enough to matter.

 

I'm not Disagreeing with you Buddy.

 

If I had to guess, so Ford can get customers into a database for reimbursement before all the bureaucracy is completed for the actual recall to commence.

 

Based on what I see on the forum, the service rep(s) that sometimes respond can do nothing more than the what you already did - open up a case. They sometimes get the Regional rep involved, but again it seems that nothing more than you're doing gets done.

You can try DMing them here: https://www.f150forum.com/members/fordservice-47652/

And based on the 42,000 miles is why it's not covered under warranty per techrep's question.

 

He's at 42K, brake booster is only covered under the 3/36 warranty.

And yes, I have been in that situation before with Dodge. I had to pay to have my Clockspring replaced, then when the official notice went out, I filled out the paperwork and got reimbursed.
Dodge also stated that the part they used in the repair was the one under recall and they replaced it again with the redesigned unit. It sucked being out of the $600 for six month.

 

Dang...my bad My 08 came with a 5/60K warranty

 

The answer is that Ford does not have a redesigned part that fixes the issue yet, they are waiting on the parts supplier to get them the redesigned part.
Ford will not pay for the dealer to put the same defective part back in.

Manufacturers have a certain amount of time between the time they are notified by the NHTSA to issue the recall and the time they start fixing the vehicles. This is to allow them to come up with a redesign or fix of the affected part.

So for now you will have to pay the dealer, it sucks! But if you want you truck, you will have to pay and then they will reimburse you once the recall is officially out. Also, once the recall is out, you might want to check with your dealer to make sure they have a good part in there, it is possible that the part they used in the fix is the defective design and will need to be replaced again with the redesigned part.

 

So the Ford dealer you are working through should pull an OASIS on the truck each day...it's probably a timing issue with the Recall and notification. This will show any outstanding applicable Recalls due on the vehicle.
The recall says: Affected vehicles include certain 2013-2014 Ford F-150 vehicles equipped with 3.5-liter GTDI engines built at Dearborn Truck Plant, Aug. 1, 2013 through Aug. 22, 2014; and Kansas City Assembly Plant, Aug. 1, 2013 through Aug. 31, 2014. There are 270,873 vehicles affected including 225,012 in the United States and federalized territories, 43,682 in Canada and 402 in Mexico.


So the reluctance you're feeling from the Ford dealer is them Covering their A@@. On the "ODD" chance your truck falls outside the above stipulation, and they arbitrarily cover the repair only to discover your vehicle wasn't part of the Recall how then do they then get the $$ from you? Chalk it up to timing and politics.


You say it makes no sense but it really does...the dealer doesn't want to eat the repair money on the "slight" chance your truck wasn't included in the Recall. And they can't really come back to you and say, "oh by the way, you owe us $1100 because your truck wasn't part of the Recall. "


The dealer's hands are tied until they hear from Ford on your VIN status and the Recall.


I realize this isn't what you wanted to hear but it's the reality of it.