Beware: Heat Exchanger not covered under warranty

[Ranch]

Here's a link to the Ford 2022 model year warranty guide. I don't see a heat exchanger listed in it. There are quite a few hybrid items listed as covered under the 8/100,000 hybrid/electric unique component warranty and the California emission warranty. Not sure if your state applies those CA warranties.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/conten...id-Warranty-version-4_frdwa_EN-US_06_2021.pdf

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[Johnkn]

My take, that if pressed correctly, Ford would discreetly cover this complaint...


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[Charles]

moral of the story….buy the ecoboost!

 

[bgn]

moral of the story….buy the ecoboost!

I think OP might already have enough in gas savings to pay for the repair as compared to having a fully functional Ecoboost model.

 

[Greg_in_GA]

I have tried to contact corporate and have been told by three different customer service reps that the only way to contact the warranty department is through the dealership. They don’t have a direct way to contact. Tomorrow I’ll be dropping a letter to my dealership and hopefully be able to escalate this up to the appropriate people. I bet most people stop when there’s no way to get in contact with anyone higher up.

I am not 100% sure but it looks like this is your warranty manual.

https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/conten...id-Warranty-version-2_frdwa_EN-US_12_2020.pdf

Check your paper warranty manual to see if is the same.

On page 38(as printed in the manual) it says

Your satisfaction is important to Ford Motor Company and to your dealer. If a warranty concern has not been resolved using the three-step procedure outlined on the first page of the Customer Assistance section, you may be eligible to participate in the BBB AUTO LINE program. The BBB AUTO LINE program consists of two parts — mediation and arbitration. During mediation .......

and goes on for a full page about the arbitration process.

I had to look and look for the three step process and I finally found it on the very first page and it says;

Your satisfaction is our #1 goal. If you have any questions or concerns, or are unsatisfied with the service you are receiving, follow these steps:

1. Contact your Sales Representative or Service Advisor at your selling/servicing dealership.

2. If your inquiry or concern remains unresolved, contact the Sales Manager, Service Manager or Customer Relations Manager.

3. If you require assistance or clarification on Ford Motor Company policies or procedures, please contact the Ford Customer Relationship Center.

Then it has several boxes with different contact information for different areas like the US or Canada.

I don't recall who you had talked to so far but you need to find out who the people at the dealership who have those job titles and then I would send them a certified letter. In your letter mention that you follow Ford process and this is step 1, 2, or 3 of their process. That lets them know that you have a clue about what you are doing and they can expect to have to explain their actions to the next higher level up if they don't make you happy.

Keep your letter relatively short and bullet point the important facts. Basically your truck is just out of the full warranty, the dealership is saying that it is not covered by the powertrain or hybrid warranty, and you would like it to be fixed. You can probably say that in a lot less than a page. Be sure to include your VIN on all correspondence.

As a courtesy I would add a step 2.5 and write a letter to the dealership general manager to let them know that you will be escalating this to Corporate Ford.

Send all of the letters by certified mail. This gets people attention even though an email could be used. People know that nothing good comes by certified mail and they should take it seriously.

In all your letters be polite and ask for their help in resolving the situation. It might seem obvious but also say what it would take to make you happy, for example replacing the part. All to often people will rant and rave about a problem but it is not always clear what it would take to satisfy them. It sucks to go out of your way to help someone but then have them still be upset with you and then ask for something more and complain to your manager. You just can't make some people happy so let them know that you are not one of those people and they could make you happy. Having a clear solution can also make that the easy answer for them.

Even if you now hate the Maverick and will sell it after it is fixed there is no need to go into that since there is nothing they can do which would make you happy about that.

Keep a log of all phone calls and a brief recap of what what said.

It sounds like that realistically you might not get you much help at the dealership so you could then proceed to step three and go to Ford Corporate. After you have jumped through the hoops with the dealership then corporate Ford should deal with you. If that does not work you can start the arbitration process.

Again if you get to that phase contact Ford Corporates by certified mail. Include copies of your prior correspondence with the dealership so that they know that you have jumped through the right hoops. An additional pitfall with talking to someone on the phone for your initial contact is that they may misunderstand something or not relay your information correctly.

If you don't follow Fords exact process then they know that you are just venting steam and they will not need to deal with the next level up in the process.

 

[BILLNOROVILLE]

Just my 2 cents.

I do hope that Ford Steps up for you.

I have a 2016 Prius that just passed the factory warranty. I also have a 1-year-old Maverick Hybrid that I could but won't get an extended warranty on. Both are paid for.

So now I don't have car payments but I have tires to buy, oil changes, licenses and etc not to mention unforeseen repairs. If I am lucky with the Maverick failures will happen before my 3 years is up. The Prius history of reliability is well known. I don't count car insurance or gas as a repair/replacement.

My plan is simple. Kind of like a retirement budget. Just a little each month for many years. I put away 200 a month for only car maintenance, licenses and repairs which is easy since I don't have car payments. In 3 years is it 7200.00 less any expenses mentioned. In 6 years, it's enough for a sizeable downpayment if repairs are low.

Automobile costs are forever we all know that or should know that. They cost you in depreciation, tires, repairs and maintenance. New or old cars, it does not matter.

Same could be said of your refrigerator or washing machine. They need repaired or replaced too. Best to plan ahead and remove the worry. It's not that hard and it's easier when something breaks.

 

[skyhawk]

moral of the story….buy the ecoboost!

Cracked block or cracked heat exchanger - pick your poison.

 

[surfstar]

@Greg_in_GA
Nailed it. I think it you take those steps, 90% chance it's covered.

 

[RLader]

I wouldn’t call it whiny, just beware that this is my experience as one of the higher mile mavericks at this time. I did make a separate forum post just because this one may get buried. I have been pleased with the effort from my dealer but it seems they’re having the same issues with ford as I am.

Ask to speak to Manufacturer's rep.

 

[Guv]

Jack Ass

Spoken again like a consumer with no knowledge of the facts. Hopefully Ford helps the OP out. But "hybrid coverage" does not now, and has never meant every single component in the hybrid system. This is true of Ford and every other manufacturer. The extension for hybrid components is typically aimed at higher value components.

 

[Darnon]

Specified major emission-control components are warranted for the first 8 years or 80,000 miles of vehicle use (whichever first occurs). should be coved by this ?????

An exhaust heat exchanger isn't a federally mandated emission control component so at best it might qualify as emission related which is only 2yr/24k mi.

The 2023 Warranty Guide has a somewhat more comprehensive list of items Ford considers to be covered by warranty under CARB and CARB-aligned states--which OP's Ohio isn't--for 7yr/70,000 miles as high cost repair items. There's a 'Heater water control valve assembly' that's covered on the Escape hybrids but not the Maverick, but possible that's some other component. Ford's still a bit vague about what falls under the 15yr/150k mi TZEV/PZEV/SULEV/acronym-salad warranty.

Looking to another manufacturer, GM also considers the exhaust heat exchanger to only be covered for 2yr/24k miles except under CARB where it gets the full 15yr/150k miles. GM owners also bemoan falling into the same trap that the 'hybrid warranty' isn't inclusive of all literally unique components.

 

[Freeb22]

I was able to find (through tons of research prior to preparing letters) that Toyota offers repair/replace of the heat exchanger under federal emissions warranty.

 

[Darnon]

I was able to find (through tons of research prior to preparing letters) that Toyota offers repair/replace of the heat exchanger under federal emissions warranty.

That may just be because on the Toyotas it's integrated into the same assembly as the catalytic converter.

 

[LM42]

No need for your ongoing Rudeness to other members.

That isn't being rude. When someone posts something inaccurate and based on exactly zero evidence that is not helpful for either the OP or anyone else reading that might be in a similar situation.

 

[LM42]

Jack Ass

Am I wrong? For as amazing and helpful as forums can be, they are also full of people who post nonsense like this that is not factually accurate and does nothing to help the OP or anyone else reading that might have a similar situation.

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