Page 1 of Opinions on Mondeo warranty dispute

I`m going around in circles with my Ford dealer (EMG Cambridge) and the Ford Customer Relations Centre. I`m sure I have a decent case, and I think I`m going to have to threaten Small Claims Court. Before I do, I wanted to get the views of my favourite petrolheads , and find out if anyone had any similar experiences:

I bought my Mondeo estate 2.0 petrol Zetec on a `02 plate in June this year. It originated from Lex Leasing, so when I took delivery it didn`t have a service book, but it did have a service printout with the servicing details on. I have subsequently obtained a replacement book, and had the garages stamp the services.

On purchase, the car had 29,800 miles on the clock, and the 3-year warranty ran out on 11 July. The engine was rattling slightly, and the car was stuttering. I went to EMG Ford before the end of the warranty (I can`t recall the exact date, but it was about 10 days before the end) to book it in for it`s 30,000 mile service, and to get the stuttering looked at (I didn`t mention the rattling). However, I need to get a courtesy car to get into work from the garage, and they didn`t have one free until 22 July. On that date, they serviced the car, fixed the stuttering under warranty, and told me that the manifold was cracked around the `butterfly swirl intake valves` ? The dealer said this would NOT be carried out under warranty because it had now expired, and that the bill would be £370.

As far as I`m concerned, this is a problem that must have occurred during the warranty period, and the only reason it wasn`t identified within the period was because they didn`t have a suitable appointment. Further, regardless of the warranty period, if the manifold has cracked 11 days after the warranty has expired, I would still expect some form of assistance with the repair ?!

I`ve written a couple of times to Ford, but they are still sticking to their guns. They say that because I had only just bought the vehicle, and because it`s out of it`s warranty period, they won`t fix the problem under warranty, or offer any kind of goodwill assistance. They aren`t exactly persuading me to keep sending custom their way - even though I`ve clearly just bought a nearly new Ford !!

Anyone got an opinon, or had a similar experience ? Are Zetec manifolds fragile ?

Cant help out, but probably the best place to get help with Mondeo problems is here.

Maybe Lex leasing would have notes on thier system that it had been in for a service and the cracks were present? Or perhaps the previous driver had asked for it to be fixed but they hadnt due to it being end of lease.

As I understand it (I look after a small fleet of company cars),car warranties are the same as any other warranty and they simply cannot turn their back the minute the warranty runs out.
It`s clear that your car is far from high mileage,so the part has hardly lasted a `reasonable time`.
I would e-mail auto express excellent consumer affairs watchdog.
They assisted us in getting a gearbox issue sorted,which was similar to yours.
Rover ended up paying half the bill,which was a marked improvement on their first offer of `stuff you`. :/

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fixed the stuttering under warranty,

Do you know what this entailed?

I don`t remember exactly, but it might have been a distributor cap replacement or something similar.

deremusnoc[at]ku.oc.sserpxeotua

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However, I need to get a courtesy car to get into work from the garage, and they didn`t have one free until 22 July.

Blimey, if my car was running that roughly there is no way I would have waited for it to be looked at!

Couldn`t you have borrowed a car - or, spend £30 hiring one for the day yourself??? Might have saved you a lot of hassle.

Do you remember when garages didn`t supply courtesy cars?? What did you do then??

Good luck - I hope you get it sorted.


why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

Quote:
I don`t remember exactly, but it might have been a distributor cap replacement or something similar.

If you can see any work carried out under warranty on any paperwork (you can ask for copies from the dealer, if they did any warranty work it will be shown somewhere, they dont always pass the customer copies) you can try asking what the difference is between one item being coverd and the other not, thus taking the stance they have been which is `its either in warranty or its not`. Which is a hard argument to loose.

Nick.

Think you`ve got a good case. Going to dealership and stamping feet ought to help. I too have suffered similar poor customer service from a major dealer, but becoming very vocal in front of potential customers seems to bring the dealership manager running out to help, and your not unreasonable demands get met.

I had a similar "we have no cars available" but told them to get me a rental car instead and meet the bill. After initial "that`s not possible" resistance, it soon became possible (and set a precedent for the next time when I went back with the same problem needing to be fixed!)

Might be worth an email to / post in

www.honestjohn.co.uk