Anyone had luck with Ford Customer Service?

I have a 2002 Explorer with 58,000 miles on. I have begun to get the dreaded rear end "whine" that seems to be all too common in this model year. Apparently, according to the dealer, there is nothing wrong with the rear end at this point. However they did diagnose a "rattle" in the torque converter with the fix costing a fantastic $1,188.08.

Am I the only one who thinks it a bit ridiculous for a torque converter to go at 58,000 miles? I plan on putting a call into customer service to see if I can get any goodwill from Ford (read: any attempt to make me feel like buying another Ford in the future).

Here's the question:

Has anyone had luck with customer service on things breaking that obviously shouldn't when the car is out of warranty? Is my call going to just be a waste of time?

Thanks

Reply to
Luchini
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You are wasting your time...

Ford WILL NOT side with you against ANY dealer. They will spew the standard mantra, "we support the dealer Yada yada yada".

Been there done that, more than once...

Reply to
351CJ

Reply to
Big Shoe

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!

Ford is there for you right up to the moment of sale. Once you have signed your name, they are gone. Same as any other auto mfr, I suspect.

Bill (who has tried many times)

Reply to
Bill Jeffrey

I think this is the result of changes in the car business over the last 20 years. I think the following factors (and others) are at play

1) State laws protect dealers from manufacturers' pressure in most states. This particularly affects older brands that have franchise agreements written many many years ago. At one time Ford investigated trying to consolidate dealer service in central locations and was slapped down in most states. Ford's attempt to reward "good" dealers resulted in them being sued by the "bad" dealers on the grounds that identifying good dealers violated the franchise agreements. Some states also restrict manufacturer's from owning dealerships. So they can't pressure dealerships, they can't own dealerships, and they can't even pull franchise agreements in most cases because state laws prevent them from doing so. 2) There are not many truly local dealers left. The Ford dealer I have done business with is part of a giant company. They own multiple dealerships for multiple brands. If Ford tries to push them over service issues, they can just threaten to push sales of competitor's cars. 3) Cars are actually a lot better today than years ago. This means the volume of high profit (i.e., easy) service business is down. At the same time, many of the problems are much harder to diagnosis, and Customer expectations are much higher. My first Japanese car was a 1975 280Z. When I bought it, I thought it was really good. Today, I would considered it a lemon. 4) There is a major disconnect between the sales and service departments. The Ford dealer I use has the sales and service departments separated by a half a mile. They introduce you to some guy who they claim is the service manager, but he sits in the sales building. I've never even seen him over at the service department. 5) Dealerships underpay technicians and over charge Customers. This was particularly obvious at one of the local Toyota dealers. It seemed like they would hire a technician, train them, and them have them quit, and set up an independent shop. 6) Ford (and other manufacturers) try to control warranty costs by underestimating the time required to perform a service procedure. While the times might be possible for highly trained and experienced technicians, they are often unrealistic for a technician performing the service for the first time. Naturally, the best technicians try to avoid such repairs. And their is a tendency for shops to be less than ethical in an attempt to compensate for a perceived injustice.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Waste of time.

I missed the rear window recall by a couple months, and the hinge broke dropping the window on my last xmas. Customer service wouldn't budge - totally useless group of individuals. Quality might be job one, but certainly NOT customer satisfaction.

Murph

Luch> I have a 2002 Explorer with 58,000 miles on. I have begun to get the dreaded

Reply to
Murph

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