28th Nov 2009, 12:49

I find this hard to believe. I worked for Ford years ago, and Ford not only was very scrupulous about fixing any and every complaint, but even paid for meals, lodging, rental cars and gas for any customer having warranty issues who were stranded on trips. That was their policy then and still is today. For Ford to recall 10-year-old cars for minor non-safety issues is very much typical. Not even GM does that.

28th Nov 2009, 13:42

Then you should tell Ford that the 2 separate dealers I tried weren't living up to expectations. I couldn't get them to replace anything under warranty, and when my car was in the shop, they wouldn't even provide me a loaner. I had to go down to Enterprise and rent a car at my own expense!

29th Nov 2009, 13:00

You need to be more assertive. It isn't the DEALER who should be making the decisions. Many dealerships are run by people who could care less about you OR your car. Go directly to a branch of Ford's executive offices. (You can phone them, not go in person). I had a very minor issue years ago that a very stubborn local dealership refused to fix. We were preparing to leave on a long vacation trip. I called the executive office and simply said "We are leaving on a trip. If we have any issues with the problem we have complained about repeatedly Ford WILL pay all our expenses and punitive damages."

15 minutes later the dealership called me and said "Sir, we will gladly replace the part you are concerned about." I dropped off my car, picked up a new Ford with a full tank of gas and was happily on my way. And this time, my car DID get fixed properly. NEVER leave these things to some dealership flunky. Go up the chain of command. I know these tactics don't work with Japanese cars because they are not headquartered in the U.S., but they DO work with American companies.