New Legal Forum!

[mchastek]

At Mark Grobbel's request, I have created a new forum dedicated to legal issues. If you have questions (or answers) relating to the law, please post them here. Remember, this is a forum for discussion only, and this should not be taken as legal advice. Always consult your attourney.

Having said that, please feel free to start a new topic of discussion by clicking on the "New Thread" button!

Thank you,
Mark

[hrman]

I think this is a great way to share information about any Human resource issues that dealerships face.
What human resource programs do your dealerships have in place to positively impact employee retention?
There is a lot of buzz regarding HR compliance as it relates to interviewing and hiring. What steps are your dealerships taking to comply?
Do any of you use HR consultants to assess and design your compliance programs.

[chuck]

What are my legal rights to demand a new vehicle from Ford?

Ford Motor Company, July 3, 2007

My name is Chuck Schaefer. I have driven and owned Ford vehicles all of my life. That is about to change. Since October of 2000 I have purchased over $100,000 of vehicles from you on the A-Plan through a corporate employee. I have three sons that will be driving in the near future that I thought I would get Ford vehicles. I would think that would qualify me as a good customer. In July of 2004, I leased a F-250 Super Duty Diesel. I planned on purchasing the vehicle at the end of the lease. I have maintained this vehicle like clockwork.. Every time I take it in for an oil change, I tell them (Rancho Ford of Temecula, CA) to check the vehicle bumper to bumper for anything else that may need to be done. I try to catch things before they become a major problem. I drive a lot of miles for my business, which is why I chose the Ford Diesel. I have been told that a Diesel should go 300,000 - 400,000 miles if maintained properly. I chose a $45,000 truck because I thought I would be driving it for the next 10 years.

In November of 2006, the truck started giving me problems. It was running badly. It had 91,772 miles, still under warranty. I took it it in for repairs to get it fixed while under warranty. Instead of replacing the failed part at that time, all they did was clean it. In March of 2007, the mileage now at 105,280 and out of warranty, I had problems on the road and had to pull off the freeway and go to the closest Ford dealer (Heller Ford of Escondido, CA). They had to replace the same part that Rancho Ford just cleaned off in November. The cost of that repair was $1,922.10.

On March 30, 2007, while traveling home from a vacation with my family, the truck broke down while driving through the desert in Indio, CA. I took the truck to Fiesta Ford of Indio, CA. They replaced the Map Sensor. That repair cost $346.71. (It actually cost me hundreds of dollars more because I had to wait 3 days for the part and pay for a rental car and hotel). Fiesta Ford also wrote on my ticket that I may still have a problem with the EGR system. That is what I paid $1,922.10 to replace just 23 days earlier.

On June 15, 2007, I took the truck back to Rancho Ford because the engine light was on and the truck was running very badly. This time they cleaned the EGR valve and tightened EGR valve harness terminals. For this I paid $242.52.

Just 10 days later on June 25, 2007, the check engine light came on again, so back to Rancho Ford I went. This time they installed a new EGR valve, for which I paid $408.99. I drove away from Rancho Ford and didn’t get 2 blocks away when the engine light came on, the temperature gauge was on HOT and thick smoke was blowing out of my tail pipe. I turned around and went back to Rancho Ford. I actually talked to the technician that worked on my truck. As I’m venting my frustration to him, he informs me in his own frustrated manner, that he “cannot even keep these 6.0's on the road!” That really makes me want to keep this truck. This time they replaced the EGR Cooler and the Engine Oil Cooler. The EGR Cooler is what I had replaced in March for $1,922.10. At this time Mr. Bruce Priesing informed me that it was my “Lucky” day. I would only be charged $1,200 for replacing this part all over again. They had my truck for seven days!

That is a grand total of $4,120.32 of repairs from March to June. All of which should have been done in November while my truck was still under warranty. That cost is just the amount paid to Ford. It cost me thousands more in car rental, hotel, and lost work, since I am a self -employed contractor who needs my truck everyday to make money.

One reason that I chose this truck to buy was the piece of mind and confidence that I could travel around the country with my family and know that I would get to where I was going safe and sound. I have lost that piece of mind and confidence in this truck. All the repair bills have caused me to be late on my last lease payment. I also planned to purchase this truck upon the end of the lease. Now I do not even want to keep this truck.. It has totally let me down. I need to talk to someone who can restore my faith in Ford Motor Company. Like I stated earlier, I have been a faithful Ford customer for years, and will continue to be in the future if I am reimbursed for my nightmare experience with this Ford vehicle. If I am not satisfied, not only will you lose all of my future business, but I will tell every contractor that I come into contact with who asks me “So how do you like your Ford Super Duty?”, that driving that truck has been the worst experience of my life!


Sincerly,
Chuck Schaefer
office/fax 951-506-0876
cell: 951-375-7169
E-mail: schaeferconstco@yahoo.com

Account number:00000037443719
VIN # 1FTNW21P34ED05464


I picked my truck up on July 2, 2007. At 9:28pm on the evening of July 3, 2007, the “check gage” light on my dash came back on. I will take the truck back to Rancho Ford on Thursday morning July 5th.
3:00pm July 4th. I came out to my front yard and noticed a huge puddle of oil on my driveway leaking out of the engine of my truck that I just picked up from being repaired just two days earlier. Now I will get fined by my Home Owners Association for having a oil stain on my driveway. Rancho Ford will get that bill.

[CarSalesGuy]

Chuck,

Not sure you have a legal right to demand a "new" vehicle from ford. Most vehicles that have issues outside of warranty should have an extended warranty coverage offered. Most dealerships have those that would cover outside the normal factory. More than anything it seems like you just got a bad one from the bunch and is probably one of those lightning strikes within the industry. Hope things work out.

Regards,
Jim

[mfarmer908]

I don't see any hope for a "Lemon Law" case. I am sympethic to your problems with the truck. Ford knew pretty much right from the start that the 6.0 was a bad motor...otherwise they would have work with it to tweek the kinks out. Ford shelled out a lot of money on R&D on that motor before putting it into production ...amazing that after spend alot of loot they scap it that quickly... shortest shelf life I have ever seen in a diesel. Even GM 350 conversion last longer.