My truck in shop and dealer isn't giving me loaner. Options?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

FordTechOne

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Posts
6,665
Reaction score
13,044
Location
Detroit
Well, I got the new loaner and I'm channeling The Who. Meet the new POS. Same as the old POS. Only 900 miles on this one. Ecosport. Gag. I'd rather have a Prius. A pink one. I had the SA look to see when the part would be in and he said it's supposed to ship on August 11. If that's right, and it's a huge if since all this guy does is lie to me, I'll be without my truck for five weeks plus. Most of the damn summer when I want to be out hiking and camping. To say I'm hugely disappointed is an understatement. Just in time manufacturing is biting Ford on the ass. Too bad it got a chunk of my ass too. If I lemon law it, I figure to lose $10,000 and there's nothing other than a Raptor that I even want. And I'd have to wait until August 12, at which point the end is in sight. I'm feeling totally screwed and depressed. I wish I'd ignored the drip and just driven it until the transfer case exploded, or until winter, whichever happened first. I'll bet it's quicker to get a whole transfer case rather than part of one.

Sorry to hear about the delay. Have you asked your Ford customer service rep if the part has been placed on emergency order to expedite the process? If it can't arrive any sooner, I'd suggest asking about replacing the transfer case as an assembly due to lack of parts availability. Or, at minimum, have them put you in an F-150. An EcoSport loaner for that duration of time is somewhat insulting considering you purchased a Raptor.
 
OP
OP
GordoJay

GordoJay

FRF Addict
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Posts
7,459
Reaction score
15,974
Location
Colorado
Sorry to hear about the delay. Have you asked your Ford customer service rep if the part has been placed on emergency order to expedite the process? If it can't arrive any sooner, I'd suggest asking about replacing the transfer case as an assembly due to lack of parts availability. Or, at minimum, have them put you in an F-150. An EcoSport loaner for that duration of time is somewhat insulting considering you purchased a Raptor.

I'll do that. Thanks. Yeah, the Ecosport is lame. Phil Long, the dealer, sucks. Too bad Ford can't revoke their franchise. They sure aren't helping the company image.
 

Proflyer

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
May 21, 2020
Posts
336
Reaction score
355
Location
Denver
I'll do that. Thanks. Yeah, the Ecosport is lame. Phil Long, the dealer, sucks. Too bad Ford can't revoke their franchise. They sure aren't helping the company image.
Man...what about just going and getting your truck and taking it to a different dealer? Give Oz at Lakewood Ford a call, he's awesome.

As far as lemon law--out of service for the same thing 3 times OR 30 days qualifies for lemon in CO. You will NOT lose any money as they have to give you every penny you paid (including taxes/title etc.) PLUS any money you put into it for parts/mods. You'll have to submit receipts. I'd call Ford customer service back and tell them that if you don't have your truck back by day 29, you're going to file a lemon law claim and they'll have to deal with your attorney from here on out. I had to do the same with a denali dmax in 2015. They tried to charge me for the miles I had put on it. I had an attorney buddy send them a nastygram letter and all of a sudden I had some regional guy call me to come get the truck with a check. Sent him my receipts for the tint/lift/bedliner etc. and they gave me a check for every red cent. The state does not **** around with lemon law stuff, and the mfgs know it. PM me if you want some more help and I'll see if my buddy can get nasty for you.
 
OP
OP
GordoJay

GordoJay

FRF Addict
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Posts
7,459
Reaction score
15,974
Location
Colorado
Man...what about just going and getting your truck and taking it to a different dealer? Give Oz at Lakewood Ford a call, he's awesome.

I'd have to have it towed or trailered. At this point I'm thinking that I'll ride it out. I've been getting better treatment since I got FMC involved and I don't want to make things more confused by switching locations. I still don't trust the SA farther than I can spit a live rat ...

As far as lemon law--out of service for the same thing 3 times OR 30 days qualifies for lemon in CO. You will NOT lose any money as they have to give you every penny you paid (including taxes/title etc.) PLUS any money you put into it for parts/mods. You'll have to submit receipts. I'd call Ford customer service back and tell them that if you don't have your truck back by day 29, you're going to file a lemon law claim and they'll have to deal with your attorney from here on out....

I didn't know that, thanks. I figured that I would have to eat TTL and depreciation for mileage. If I knew for certain that it was going past 30 days, I'd say I'd be tempted to buy a new one now, but that's trash talk. I want my truck back, not a new one. I'm going to wait and see how this plays out. If at 30 days, it's still "two week out", I'll reconsider my options. If I could find a base 801a/Torsen or a base 802a at a reasonable price within a reasonable distance, I'd be tempted. Supposedly one of their customers has been waiting 100 days for a part. He must be past the one year anniversary. Thanks to @FordTechOne, I've asked for a new transfer case and they have supposedly requested permission from Ford to do that. Supposedly. See comment about rats above. I also let the customer service guy at corporate know in case he can expedite things somehow. Anyway, it's an interesting experience.
 

Proflyer

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
May 21, 2020
Posts
336
Reaction score
355
Location
Denver
I'd put Ford on notice. I'd get the email for the person you've been talking to (if you haven't been emailing them already) and let them know that your truck went in for service on X date, and per CO Lemon Law statutes they have until X date to have the truck back to you or you'll engage the attorney you just spoke with (wink). The 30 day rule is 30 days period within the warranty period (3yrs/36,000 miles) being out of service. Read the law more specifically here: https://www.allenstewart.com/lemon-laws-by-state/colorado-lemon-law/ I had success with my attorney in making them give me all my money back, and didn't allow them to deduct for mileage. When I first had the issue (DPF System) the truck only had 800 miles on it. By the time it was all said and done, the truck had almost 10,000 miles on it. They wanted to charge me all 10,000 miles at .50/mile. The attorney argued that since it first had the issue at 800, they could only charge to that. He then pressed that them paying him would cost a lot more than the $400, so they might as well just give me my money back, which they did. The law makes them pay fees for the prevailing party (the owner).
 

smurfslayer

Be vewwy, vewwy quiet. We’re hunting sasquatch77
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
Posts
17,566
Reaction score
27,054
If at 30 days, it's still "two week out", I'll reconsider my options.

Loaners are a mixed blessing. you do have wheels, however, under some, perhaps most or all, I’m not familiar with all 50; if the stealership or mfgr. provide you with a loaner vehicle, that you do not have to pay for, the time that you have the loaner does not count toward triggering the lemon statute. This should always be the last resort, but, if you’re at 3 weeks time down for 1 or more “related” repairs, you should be talking to a lawyer qualified in lemon law suits in your state, so that if it really goes south, you have the contact already made and can more more quickly. Over the last 3 decades, the manufacturers have responded to developing case law, and begun implementing preemptive replacement programs. They don’t do this for customer service or out of the kindness of their hearts, they do it because of judgments against them in courts of record. They do the absolute minimum required to extricate themselves from a financial burden. For example, if you sue and then win a substantial judgment, then several other people do for the same reason, a subsequent case may come along and illustrate to the court a pattern of deception and obfuscation about a known issue and that judgment could be significantly more.

Most LL suits are sort of routine stuff, but drag on forever. Manufacturers have TEAMS of lawyers on payroll. My suit was opposed by a lead counsel and 2 assistants, plus 2 expert witnesses.

Your best bet is to work with the current stealership unless they prove harmful. Bite your tongue, hold your nose and get your truck out of the current facility as expeditiously as possible.

DO NOT mention suing, lemon law, magnusson-moss, or anything else to the service advisor, tech, manager or any dealer staff, or FORD c/s. Express your disappointment, personalize the impact to you and your family to all who will listen. Channel your inner Bill Clinton to make these people want to pull for you now matter what kind of person you really are.

If you aren’t able to keep your truck there with confidence, coordinate another close dealer via Ford C/S. I had to do this with another manufacturer when a repair was done incorrectly. I told them I couldn’t trust their shop given the nature of the failure, service mgr. gave me no static whatsoever, it was a pretty serious screw up. It cost me some time but the mfgr. covered a tow. You potentially burn the bridge of this dealership if this is not done diplomatically.

Only if it drags on for a month or more should you ask Ford CS to intervene and either buy the doggone thing back, or procure the part. You paid 70 large for the truck and should get better than 7 dollar per hour service.

Only if all of this fails and you end up 30 days down and down without a loaner should you consider pursuing a lemon law suit. It’s a major PITA, takes onwards of 6-18 months start to finish and you won’t make anything out of it. You will likely be asked to arbitrate, then settle, then settle again the day of trial with a sweeter deal, then trial. At trial anything can happen. You may prevail and get all expenses paid, or some expenses, maybe even some extra $$$ for intangibles. You may be asked to negotiate more/harder by the judge, who may indicate to one or both parties they should come down off their high horse. You could prevail and get no expenses, meaning you’d have a new vehicle but have to pay the lawyer, expert witnesses, etc. Or you could lose.

@FordTechOne has a ... unique, and particular dislike for lemon law lawyers and let’s be honest, dislike of lawyers isn’t entirely undeserved. But they’re like a toilet plunger; when you need one, nothing else will really do(o).

Good luck with the repair.
 
OP
OP
GordoJay

GordoJay

FRF Addict
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Posts
7,459
Reaction score
15,974
Location
Colorado
Loaners are a mixed blessing. you do have wheels, however, under some, perhaps most or all, I’m not familiar with all 50; if the stealership or mfgr. provide you with a loaner vehicle, that you do not have to pay for, the time that you have the loaner does not count toward triggering the lemon statute.

Interesting. Lotsa potholes on that road. I hope never to learn the ins and outs of that.

Most LL suits are sort of routine stuff, but drag on forever. Manufacturers have TEAMS of lawyers on payroll. My suit was opposed by a lead counsel and 2 assistants, plus 2 expert witnesses.

I figured it would be harder than it sounded. A PITA I'd prefer to avoid. I didn't realize it could get quite so complicated. Thing is, it isn't a lemon, it's just a bad transfer case housing. No big deal if they could get the part. It's not like it's haunted by electronic gremlins. I don't want them to buy it back, I want it myself.

Your best bet is to work with the current stealership unless they prove harmful. Bite your tongue, hold your nose and get your truck out of the current facility as expeditiously as possible.

DO NOT mention suing, lemon law, magnusson-moss, or anything else to the service advisor, tech, manager or any dealer staff, or FORD c/s. Express your disappointment, personalize the impact to you and your family to all who will listen. Channel your inner Bill Clinton to make these people want to pull for you now matter what kind of person you really are.

This is the path I'm on. I mentioned that I was going to be without my truck for at least five weeks and that it was keeping me from being able to camp and hike this summer, but I didn't mention anything else. I had to get angry to get the rental, but I've been nice enough since then. I didn't have to push to get them to try for a new transfer case, I just had to ask if it was possible. Should they have thought of it first? Hell yes, but I'm not yelling at them, I'm sure they're putting out the hottest fires first. I just need to keep fanning mine gently. I do get the feeling with these guys that if you're too nice, they'll take advantage of you. A fine line. I'm not even pushing them for a loaner F150, I'm just taking the Ecosport to the trailheads I want to go to and if it gets bent a little, so be it. I'm not going to bend it on purpose. Biggest problem is it's so small that jamming camping gear into it is nearly impossible.

You potentially burn the bridge of this dealership if this is not done diplomatically.

I'm probably burning that bridge when I fill out the customer satisfaction survey at the end of this mess. The SA is going under the bus. He went out of his way to inconvenience me, misled me, lied to me, always found someone else to blame, and pretty much acted like a ****.

Only if it drags on for a month or more should you ask Ford CS to intervene and either buy the doggone thing back, or procure the part. You paid 70 large for the truck and should get better than 7 dollar per hour service.

I had to get CS involved to get the rental. They offered to help expedite the part and the SA said he would take them up on it and then actively avoided doing so. Now the SA says that he's trying to get CS to help expedite a new transfer case. We'll see. That was yesterday. I haven't heard anything yet.

Good luck with the repair.

Thanks. Worst comes to worst, I can probably buy a used transfer case off Ebay from a truck that was stolen and stripped. :)
 
OP
OP
GordoJay

GordoJay

FRF Addict
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Posts
7,459
Reaction score
15,974
Location
Colorado
Just heard back from CS. The SA did not get in touch with CS like he said he had. I wonder if he even put in for a new transfer case or whether that was just another lie? What a freak show.
 
Top