Ford Powertrain Warranty is an Absolute Joke
05-17-2017, 01:47 PM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Ford Powertrain Warranty is an Absolute Joke
Back in March, I was hearing a humming noise coming from the rear of my truck. I immediately took it to my local Ford dealership. The noise was constant and could be heard at any speed, which I thought would make it easy to diagnose. Ford had the truck for over a week and informed me that my left rear axle bearings had gone bad, and had to be replaced. Strange that they'd wear out that fast, but okay.
I get my truck back, drive it off the dealership lot, and immediately notice the noise is still there. I make another appointment. The truck goes in a second time, and I'm told that the truck is fine, and the noise I hear is my tires. Are you kidding?!? My tires??? I explain that I know the sounds my tires make, and there's no way they can make that type of sound. Ford is insistent that it's my tires, so that's that.
For the next month, I rarely drive the truck because I'm convinced it's not the tires, but I figure I'll buy a new set in June and then bring it back to the dealership for a THIRD time. Anyways, I needed to drive it yesterday, and at 10 mph, I can hear the noise has gotten louder. Since I know that Ford will dismiss me because they're convinced the truck is fine, and it's my tires making the noise, I have no choice but to take it to an independent mechanic. I bring it to a mechanic who specializes in rear-end repairs. He drives the truck and immediately states there's no way that's your tires, it sounds like either your pinion bearing or carrier bearing has gone bad. The truck goes back to his shop to have a full diagnosis of the problem. I get a call this morning confirming that the pinion bearing is bad, and that it's so obvious, he's going to give me the part to show it to Ford.
I contacted Ford corporate customer service, and was told that if I wasn't saftisfied with my dealership (after misdiagnosing my truck TWICE), the only remedy is to bring it to another Ford dealership; however, they still may not cover it under warranty. At that point I ask what exactly is covered under the powertrain warranty for my truck that has only 36,253 miles on it? The rep puts me on hold, comes back, and confirms that the entire rear end is covered under warranty, but Ford would have to determine whether they'd cover the parts. Okay folks, all these parts are internal. Why wouldn't they be covered?
Bottom line, it seems as if Ford purposely looks for ways not to honor their warranty. I assume it must be likely due to them being paid much less for warranty work than non-warranty service and repair work. I've owned 14 Ford vehicles in my lifetime. All that means nothing now that I'll be shelling out $975 for a repair that should have been diagnosed and performed by Ford. Maybe it's better because I'm not even sure I would trust Ford to do the work correctly, and I'm not about to risk my life or my family's.
I'm fairly certain I'm not the first one (or the last) to have this happen to. It's extremely disappointing considering the high regard I used to have for Ford. Not sure I'll ever buy another Ford again because of this.
I get my truck back, drive it off the dealership lot, and immediately notice the noise is still there. I make another appointment. The truck goes in a second time, and I'm told that the truck is fine, and the noise I hear is my tires. Are you kidding?!? My tires??? I explain that I know the sounds my tires make, and there's no way they can make that type of sound. Ford is insistent that it's my tires, so that's that.
For the next month, I rarely drive the truck because I'm convinced it's not the tires, but I figure I'll buy a new set in June and then bring it back to the dealership for a THIRD time. Anyways, I needed to drive it yesterday, and at 10 mph, I can hear the noise has gotten louder. Since I know that Ford will dismiss me because they're convinced the truck is fine, and it's my tires making the noise, I have no choice but to take it to an independent mechanic. I bring it to a mechanic who specializes in rear-end repairs. He drives the truck and immediately states there's no way that's your tires, it sounds like either your pinion bearing or carrier bearing has gone bad. The truck goes back to his shop to have a full diagnosis of the problem. I get a call this morning confirming that the pinion bearing is bad, and that it's so obvious, he's going to give me the part to show it to Ford.
I contacted Ford corporate customer service, and was told that if I wasn't saftisfied with my dealership (after misdiagnosing my truck TWICE), the only remedy is to bring it to another Ford dealership; however, they still may not cover it under warranty. At that point I ask what exactly is covered under the powertrain warranty for my truck that has only 36,253 miles on it? The rep puts me on hold, comes back, and confirms that the entire rear end is covered under warranty, but Ford would have to determine whether they'd cover the parts. Okay folks, all these parts are internal. Why wouldn't they be covered?
Bottom line, it seems as if Ford purposely looks for ways not to honor their warranty. I assume it must be likely due to them being paid much less for warranty work than non-warranty service and repair work. I've owned 14 Ford vehicles in my lifetime. All that means nothing now that I'll be shelling out $975 for a repair that should have been diagnosed and performed by Ford. Maybe it's better because I'm not even sure I would trust Ford to do the work correctly, and I'm not about to risk my life or my family's.
I'm fairly certain I'm not the first one (or the last) to have this happen to. It's extremely disappointing considering the high regard I used to have for Ford. Not sure I'll ever buy another Ford again because of this.
05-17-2017, 01:52 PM
#2
Senior Member
So you took it back to the dealership and they denied the warranty claim?
05-17-2017, 01:59 PM
#3
No he took it to an independent specialist who fixed the issue that Ford said was his tires....Ive been down this frustrating path with Ford service and certain dealerships. Do more damage that diagnosis. Went in for vibration issues came out with same issues AND damaged wheels...smh
05-17-2017, 02:02 PM
#4
Senior Member
Sorry, I missed where the independent replaced the part. I thought he just diagnosed the issue.
05-17-2017, 02:05 PM
#6
Administrator
Every warranty claim, regardless of whether its under manufacturers original warranty or not, has an administrator at the dealership. Whenever a dealer replaces a part under any manufacturers warranty, they're always inventoried, numbered/identified, and then they wait for a call-back report from the manufacturer. Those parts then get sent back to the manufacturer for examination and occasionally the parts are rejected. If the part is rejected, the dealership eats the costs of replacing those parts because the manufacturer won't cover it for whatever reason. It happens. Every manufacturer/dealership relationship does this.
The extra long powertrain/corrosion/SRS/emissions warranties tend to get scrutinized much more since the vehicle is outside the (*usually* unquestioned) bumper-to-bumper warranty.
So what I'm trying to say is that your experience with the potential for it not to be covered isn't the fault of the manufacturer. That's common practice with all of them. It seems to me that your dealer is unwilling to put forth the effort to actually diagnose and repair this issue, and subsequently submitting it to Ford.
The fact that out of frustration with your dealer, you took it to an independent- while somewhat understandable, is your own fault. Playing devil's advocate- if I were Ford, I wouldn't want to warranty a part a customer brought in that some potential slack jaw pulled off- maybe he had half an idea of what he was actually doing, maybe not. Also, since it was removed NOT by the certified dealer, there's no way for the dealer to prove to the manufacturer that it actually came from your truck. You're looking at it from your point of view, and that's perfectly fine- but remember- Ford pays a dealer $XX for a certain repair. If you brought it to your independent and paid $YY for the job, there's no way for Ford to pay the independent mechanic you took it to, there's no work order with billable labor hours for them to pay the dealership for. There's just your word... which means nothing.
The extra long powertrain/corrosion/SRS/emissions warranties tend to get scrutinized much more since the vehicle is outside the (*usually* unquestioned) bumper-to-bumper warranty.
So what I'm trying to say is that your experience with the potential for it not to be covered isn't the fault of the manufacturer. That's common practice with all of them. It seems to me that your dealer is unwilling to put forth the effort to actually diagnose and repair this issue, and subsequently submitting it to Ford.
The fact that out of frustration with your dealer, you took it to an independent- while somewhat understandable, is your own fault. Playing devil's advocate- if I were Ford, I wouldn't want to warranty a part a customer brought in that some potential slack jaw pulled off- maybe he had half an idea of what he was actually doing, maybe not. Also, since it was removed NOT by the certified dealer, there's no way for the dealer to prove to the manufacturer that it actually came from your truck. You're looking at it from your point of view, and that's perfectly fine- but remember- Ford pays a dealer $XX for a certain repair. If you brought it to your independent and paid $YY for the job, there's no way for Ford to pay the independent mechanic you took it to, there's no work order with billable labor hours for them to pay the dealership for. There's just your word... which means nothing.
Last edited by Lenn; 05-17-2017 at 02:10 PM.
05-17-2017, 02:41 PM
#7
Super Member
Thread Starter
Every warranty claim, regardless of whether its under manufacturers original warranty or not, has an administrator at the dealership. Whenever a dealer replaces a part under any manufacturers warranty, they're always inventoried, numbered/identified, and then they wait for a call-back report from the manufacturer. Those parts then get sent back to the manufacturer for examination and occasionally the parts are rejected. If the part is rejected, the dealership eats the costs of replacing those parts because the manufacturer won't cover it for whatever reason. It happens. Every manufacturer/dealership relationship does this.
The extra long powertrain/corrosion/SRS/emissions warranties tend to get scrutinized much more since the vehicle is outside the (*usually* unquestioned) bumper-to-bumper warranty.
So what I'm trying to say is that your experience with the potential for it not to be covered isn't the fault of the manufacturer. That's common practice with all of them. It seems to me that your dealer is unwilling to put forth the effort to actually diagnose and repair this issue, and subsequently submitting it to Ford.
The fact that out of frustration with your dealer, you took it to an independent- while somewhat understandable, is your own fault. Playing devil's advocate- if I were Ford, I wouldn't want to warranty a part a customer brought in that some potential slack jaw pulled off- maybe he had half an idea of what he was actually doing, maybe not. Also, since it was removed NOT by the certified dealer, there's no way for the dealer to prove to the manufacturer that it actually came from your truck. You're looking at it from your point of view, and that's perfectly fine- but remember- Ford pays a dealer $XX for a certain repair. If you brought it to your independent and paid $YY for the job, there's no way for Ford to pay the independent mechanic you took it to, there's no work order with billable labor hours for them to pay the dealership for. There's just your word... which means nothing.
The extra long powertrain/corrosion/SRS/emissions warranties tend to get scrutinized much more since the vehicle is outside the (*usually* unquestioned) bumper-to-bumper warranty.
So what I'm trying to say is that your experience with the potential for it not to be covered isn't the fault of the manufacturer. That's common practice with all of them. It seems to me that your dealer is unwilling to put forth the effort to actually diagnose and repair this issue, and subsequently submitting it to Ford.
The fact that out of frustration with your dealer, you took it to an independent- while somewhat understandable, is your own fault. Playing devil's advocate- if I were Ford, I wouldn't want to warranty a part a customer brought in that some potential slack jaw pulled off- maybe he had half an idea of what he was actually doing, maybe not. Also, since it was removed NOT by the certified dealer, there's no way for the dealer to prove to the manufacturer that it actually came from your truck. You're looking at it from your point of view, and that's perfectly fine- but remember- Ford pays a dealer $XX for a certain repair. If you brought it to your independent and paid $YY for the job, there's no way for Ford to pay the independent mechanic you took it to, there's no work order with billable labor hours for them to pay the dealership for. There's just your word... which means nothing.
Understandable. And , I agree where you're coming from. Unfortunately, I was left no choice.
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05-20-2017, 04:03 PM
#8
Super Member
Thread Starter
I have the cause of the problem in my possession. The pinion bearing went bad. The visible damage is obvious. Bottom line, Ford looked at my truck twice, and somehow misdiagnosed it. Ford said my truck had nothing wrong with it, and that it was the tires making the noise. If I brought it in a third time, I would've been charged labor for the diagnosis based on their stance that it was my tires. That's what led me to an independent mechanic. I plan to keep my truck several years, and wasn't going to take any chances causing further damage, when I knew something was wrong with the rear end. All of Ford's work performed and ultimate diagnosis that the truck tires were causing the noise is documented on their work order. They can deny all they want. Small claims court here I come.
05-20-2017, 07:06 PM
#9
King Hater
Sounds like it was a poor dealership not Ford. Pick a better service shop.
05-20-2017, 09:14 PM
#10
Administrator
Originally Posted by TuxBlackEB
I have the cause of the problem in my possession. The pinion bearing went bad. The visible damage is obvious. Bottom line, Ford looked at my truck twice, and somehow misdiagnosed it. Ford said my truck had nothing wrong with it, and that it was the tires making the noise. If I brought it in a third time, I would've been charged labor for the diagnosis based on their stance that it was my tires. That's what led me to an independent mechanic. I plan to keep my truck several years, and wasn't going to take any chances causing further damage, when I knew something was wrong with the rear end. All of Ford's work performed and ultimate diagnosis that the truck tires were causing the noise is documented on their work order. They can deny all they want. Small claims court here I come.
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