Finally Some Warranty Action

[hypnodoc]

Before I start this I have to say that I've had 4 FPVs and this car is a great thing mechanically, as they all have been, and it has NEVER given me a mechanical issue. The rest of the car is a different story and has been an on going battle to try and get sorted, like 16 times to try and fix a boot leak, just as many for a knock and rattle behind the dash, a drivers door that goes phwwt phwwt phwwt phwwt in my ear driving down any road at any speed, and a myriad of paint issues and Ford workshop inefficency. The last straw was when the clear on one of the rims started to corrode so they replaced it with a dark argent rim and told me that FPV never did any over runs for the light argent on the R Specs, in the meantime the other 3 have developed the same corrosion, so if you have an R Spec check your rims around the centre cap holes.

Anyway after months a pleasantries and lip service from the dealer I threw it at my solicitors. Now that makes a difference!

Result: Give it back to them for a week so they can

1. Replace 4 Rims in Light Argent

2. Remove the back window and weld up the crack that opens up in the seam at the bottom of the window and lets water drip into the boot.

3. Replace the dash, which is also starting to buckle on the ledge above the glove box.

4. Replace the drivers side door and body door rubbers

5. Fix up the crappy paint in the rear bumper insert and align the doors.

I told them if I come to pick it up and its not 100% it can stay there and I'll leave it with the lawyer. So it will be interesting when I go to pick it up. The dealership has otherwise been great and the car has to0. If you have a serious issue with your car and your not getting any satisfaction from the dealer a lawyers letter seems to turn their complacency into action. Its just a shame you have to find the cause of your problems and go to such extremes to get them to co operate.

[rspecf6]

Spot on , whilst I have not had the qty of issues as you list , however little minor issues are a problem to fix

had a call from ford customer care at the dealer I went through discussed some of the issues , and was told service will call you back , still waiting..........................................

[R-SPEC]

And wait you will...

Good to see some legal action there Rick, but how much is a solicitor's letter?

[hypnodoc]

Well I dropped the car off this morning. 4 new rims waiting and a panel beater to sort the dash and pull out the back window to seal up the seam beneath it, and various other non mechanical issues. The most frustrating thing about this car is that its mechanically excellent. It will be interesting to see the results when they finish it this time.

[nang3]

this is what sh*ts me about ford dealers - prolly the same at Expensive Daewoo etc too - is that it takes the threat of legal action to actually get them to do something that should be 100% covered under warranty and should be done anyway in order to show good customer service FFS !!

not just fob the customer off with BS about the non-existence of light argent rims or similar.. they managed to find some once the lawyer letter arrived !!

[Under-Pants]

Glad to hear the mofo's are doing something mate.

I'll be interested to see what they say to me when I eventually take mine to Fraud, a section of paint on the rear bar is de-laminating & has peeled off. The insert/bezel on the bar is also sticking up in two places & developing a gap where it's side edges join the rest of the bar, farkin.

Would you recommend these guys for warranty work? If not, who?

[hypnodoc]

Hey Man-Pants.

You shouldn't have any problems getting Ford to fix the paint, the quality of the fix will depend on the subbies the dealership uses and the ones that Titans use ain't too flash so far. Ford isn't really the problem, they don't have issues with passing warranty stuff, and Titans are fine for mechanical work if its remove and replace issues, but hopeless with any QC stuff, paint, squeaks and rattles etc.

Your buckled insert seems to be a metamorphising standard feature, mine has got the same thing. I don't really see how it can be fixed as the insert clips into the bumper and once the plastic bends its cactus. There is another post in the trim and panel forum about that.

Edited 08/09/09 03:49 PM by hypnodoc

[John_]

this is what sh*ts me about ford dealers - prolly the same at Expensive Daewoo etc too - is that it takes the threat of legal action to actually get them to do something that should be 100% covered under warranty and should be done anyway in order to show good customer service FFS !!

not just fob the customer off with BS about the non-existence of light argent rims or similar.. they managed to find some once the lawyer letter arrived !!

See this is the problem here. Why do most of you all blame the dealers? Did they build the car? These are serious problems. I mean the car needs to be welded for f@#k sake, is that acceptable? Why not get on Ford / FPV's case to improve their build quality instead. How about stop hiring monkeys to build the cars in the first place would be a good start. Australia isn't a third world country; we should be building top quality cars. The Germans can do it; the Japanese can do it, for crying out loud the Koreans are even doing it now. Why the f#$k can't we get our sh*t together and build quality as well.

Fixing a car shouldn’t be the norm; it should be the last resort. But as long as Australian built car buyers accept these quality issues as part and parcel of owning a Ford or Expensive Daewoo we will never see improvements. Don't know stupid little puppet jump on here claiming that other manufacturers have the same problems. Bullsh*t! I owned cars from all over the world and with the exception of American built cars nothing comes as close the sh*t build quality of Aussie cars.

I can't believe it. Pull the window out to weld parts of the body??? For f@#k something is not right here. Mate I feel for you, if it was me I’d piss the thing off after they fix it.

I’ve had a few problems with my FG F6 as well which pisses me off, but if my car needed welding to the body I’d lose it.

[hypnodoc]

Hey John. I think in General the Australian quality has come a long way forward and in defence of FPV this is the only FPV I've had any issues with and they are not mechanical or reliability problems. I think every brand gets a hurried friday car slip through evry now and then.

The main problem I've had is the lack of integrity, or complete non product knowledge or inability and a lack of interest in fixing the car, this is a dealership issue as FPV and Ford have never knocked me back for any issue so I think its more of a dealer problem.

[hypnodoc]

Well the show goes on.

Boot leak repaired, paint done, door rubber fixed, dash fixed, doors aligned, and believe it or not, apparently all of a sudden there is NOT A SINGLE LIGHT ARGENT R Spec RIM IN THE COUNTRY. Apparently they have been on back order for nine months and there is still no promise date on their arrival, which in my opinion translates to "We havn't ordered them as yet because there were only 300 of the cars made, so we don't know when we will bother.

Service manager said, we don't know when they will arrive.

I said, so that means sometime before 2012.

Service manger said, I don't think it will take that long, so you can pick the car up and we'll replace the Rims when they get here.

I said, Like f@&k, you keep the car until they do and I'll keep the loaner and throw it back to the solicitor.

Dealer said, oh OK let me call Melbourne and see what we can do.

I said talk to you tomorrow then.

What is with FPV? This is like all the poor buggers who couldn't get a rear bumper for months, or whose bumper inserts have buckled and are now made too small.

I can't blame the dealer for this, but I'm not taking the car back until the correct replacement rims are on it, so unless FPV have a set hidden away somewhere this will get very interesting. Someones gotta give them a hurry up, and after taking the thing back 20 times I've decided it can be me. 10k down with the legal dept tomorrow to launch an action at them on principle.

Watch this space