Maverick Warranty coverage AGONY!

[LaCarolus]

OP, I'm interested in your door problems. My driver's door has started to make a "snicking" or "snapping" sound when I open it to full extension. I visually inspected the A Pillar attachment and it's good. The noise is coming from inside the door itself. Can't see in there. I figured a loose bolt, but your weld description is a possibility too.

The original reason I noticed anything was a squeaking noise during opening and closing. It turned out that the door flexed so much at the door stop mechanism that the rubber weather stripping was rubbing the metal door body underneath causing it to squeak as the door was moved through its travel. Only my drivers door had this flex and it eventually became a clickish sound before they recently "fixed" it. If you watch the door stop mechanism while opening and closing you can see if its flexing by watching the weatherstripping in the hinge area-it should not move. I would definitely it get inspected sooner rather than later as I am told outside of warranty it costs about $3000 to repair as it involves replacing and repainting the door. Yes you read that right....its about 10% the cost of the vehicle to repair that door stop if the welds pop outside of warranty!

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[notfast]

If I drove it in tomorrow and asked to get my AC charged outside of warranty work, I could probably get it the same day. What gives?

Dealerships are franchises, just like McDonald's. They have Ford on the store, but they are independent businesses. For warranty work, dealerships have to do a diagnostic, fill out a bunch of paperwork, wait for approval from Ford corporate, do the work, then wait to get reimbursed.

With CP, the customer approves, you do the work, the customer pays and leaves, and that is that.

In case you're not aware, most techs get paid flag hours. That is, a job pays the tech a certain amount of hours, regardless of how long it actually takes to do the work. CP pays more hours for the exact same job than warranty. As such, techs dislike warranty work, and so does the dealership, which is understandable. As a former tech, it's not like the job magically gets easier or I work faster if it's warranty work. More like, if you don't find ways to shortcut the procedure, then you're going to lose money on the job.

I faced basically the exact same situation. I needed a coolant change on my F-150 (customer pay). Service advisor said they could Quick Lane it immediately. I also needed a minor transmission fluid leak looked at on the 6F35 on my Edge (powertrain warranty). Earliest appointment was 5 weeks out. The soft-close hinge on the center console was also no longer soft-closing. They apparently have one technician for interior repairs, so that appointment was 8 weeks out.

 

[L30n1d45]

imo this sounds less like a Ford issue and more like an issue of a really bad dealership

 

[LaCarolus]

Dealerships are franchises, just like McDonald's. They have Ford on the store, but they are independent businesses. For warranty work, dealerships have to do a diagnostic, fill out a bunch of paperwork, wait for approval from Ford corporate, do the work, then wait to get reimbursed.

With CP, the customer approves, you do the work, the customer pays and leaves, and that is that.

In case you're not aware, most techs get paid flag hours. That is, a job pays the tech a certain amount of hours, regardless of how long it actually takes to do the work. CP pays more hours for the exact same job than warranty. As such, techs dislike warranty work, and so does the dealership, which is understandable. As a former tech, it's not like the job magically gets easier or I work faster if it's warranty work. More like, if you don't find ways to shortcut the procedure, then you're going to lose money on the job.

I faced basically the exact same situation. I needed a coolant change on my F-150 (customer pay). Service advisor said they could Quick Lane it immediately. I also needed a minor transmission fluid leak looked at on the 6F35 on my Edge (powertrain warranty). Earliest appointment was 5 weeks out. The soft-close hinge on the center console was also no longer soft-closing. They apparently have one technician for interior repairs, so that appointment was 8 weeks out.

I am intimately familiar with flat rate and warranty rate as we use it in the marine trades as well. However as a mechanic I understand that not all my jobs are going to be "high" pay jobs. I also know that there are certainly jobs that we get paid flat rate for that we destroy the listed time by using different techniques or tools to achieve the same result. Part of buying the truck was the agreement from FORD to repair it under warranty through its dealer network (that each and every one of those dealers has a SIGNED contract with FORD that they agree to do the warranty work). If an issue isn't fixable or findable it should be escalated to a regional service rep-not sent back through the shop again and again because as you stated "Techs dislike warranty work". This whole ordeal stinks of people basically saying "not my problem" and pushing the can down the road. As a marine tech myself I couldn't imagine handing a boat back after service work with issues such as these. Take some pride in your work or move to a different business or possibly field that doesn't pay based on flat rate time. These cars/trucks are expensive and the warranty is there to protect us as consumers - normalizing/rationalizing that warranty work sucks doesn't change the fact that they agree to do it as part of being a franchised FORD dealership.

 

[notfast]

However as a mechanic I understand that not all my jobs are going to be "high" pay jobs. I also know that there are certainly jobs that we get paid flat rate for that we destroy the listed time by using different techniques or tools to achieve the same result.

Do you have to play kindly with dispatch? I disliked the politics more than anything. Dispatch likes you? CP brake jobs. Dispatch has beef with you? Airbag recalls.

This whole ordeal stinks of people basically saying "not my problem" and pushing the can down the road.

Hit the nail on the head. Water takes the path of least resistance.

Take some pride in your work or move to a different business or possibly field that doesn't pay based on flat rate time.

The good techs eventually leave for shops that pay better or just open their own. I left and, with a friend of mine, started what turned out to be one of the top-rated auto detailing businesses in my area.

 

[LaCarolus]

Do you have to play kindly with dispatch? I disliked the politics more than anything. Dispatch likes you? CP brake jobs. Dispatch has beef with you? Airbag recalls.



Hit the nail on the head. Water takes the path of least resistance.



The good techs eventually leave for shops that pay better or just open their own. I left and, with a friend of mine, started what turned out to be one of the top-rated auto detailing businesses in my area.

Yes, I have to deal with particular customers, customers that I have had to go to bat with corporate to get repaired, even customers that I personally don't like cause they are so demanding that I learned to take before and after videos of the boat and wear cotton "boots" on my feet while on board their vessels so as to not cause any issues.

My issues with this truck are not in ANY WAY my fault. Two axles-not really anything I can do to cause that, multiple instances of deep sleep that eventually morphed into no interior lights after sitting less than an hour-again not sure I can do anything to cause that, and popped door welds that mirror a current recall on another ford vehicle almost to a tee-again pretty sure these are legit issues. Yes I am pissed. Yes I expect the dealer that sold me the truck to fix these issues under warranty. I am surprised you as a tech would just be ok with it and have such a nonchalant attitude. How would you handle this situation differently?

 

[Billy2mav]

Hello Everybody,
"Longtime listener-first time caller here"

I preordered a hybrid maverick about as soon as you could from my local dealer and patiently waited the year plus it took to receive due to not wanting to give up features (the spray in bed liner/the co pilot 360).

I have had to have both front axles replaced under warranty around 25k miles, as well as having deep sleep messages looked at last winter and being told that nothing was really wrong and that the "computer updates" that were done during warranty recalls should fix that issue. Well it didn't so I just uninstalled the app from my phone and turned off what features I could from the truck and continued on the rest of the spring.

Fast forward to the summer and I started to get no interior lights in my truck after sitting for a few hours-well that's not good. As well as my touch screen radio freezing requiring a reset several times a week. During the summer my drivers door started squeaking and flexing at the door open stop mechanism. I hate taking my truck to the dealer so I just dealt with it. Well I was nearing the end of my 3 year 36,000 mile warranty and wanted these items addressed so I made an appointment. Thats where the warranty agony started.

They gave me a reminder card that had a date and time on it of a Thursday some time from the initial contact-no big deal. I show up with my vehicle and am told I am a day "early" so I produce the appointment card THEY wrote and it says Thursday....oh ok. They ask if I need a loaner and I ask how long it will take and they think not long to diagnose so I decline the loaner. I wait to hear from them...Finally the next week I stop by the dealer to find out what's going on and I am told that my door has broken welds in it, that there is no current fix for the freezing radio, and that there is a bad BCM causing the deep sleep issue. Did they fix any of it?-NO, Apparently they were having trouble identifying which BCM it was. I say that's fine lets go ahead and get me a Loaner until it can be repaired. They say they will call me with an update on loaner availability as soon as they can-which turned out to be about an hour later explaining to me that they have no current loaners available but my truck is 100% available to drive and is safe so I go pick up my truck. The service manager tells me that they have ordered the BCM and will contact me once it comes in as well as schedule the drivers door broken weld repair with the body shop.

Fast forward several weeks and I finally stop to ask what's going on only to be told that the BCM is in. Hmm why didn't you call me? Well lets schedule that. When is the appointment to repair the door? Oh we never scheduled that. WTF?! When do you expect to schedule that? In about three weeks. Ok I would like a loaner as at this point my truck is sitting at 35.5k miles and by the end of the month I would be over my warranty coverage. I am told that I will be contacted about a loaner. Literally less than 10 minutes after leaving the dealer they call to tell me sorry no loaners. I am getting a bit upset as this was purchased new at this dealership less than two years ago. I escalate to FORD customer care where I am told in the chat logs (Which I can provide to anyone interested in the novel) that once my truck hits 36k all warranty is void even on things that due to scheduling at the dealer were documented before that mileage.\

I am pretty upset at this time so I leave a very negative review for the dealership on Facebook as well as Google. Within the hour of that review going live they reach out to me that they have a brand-new explorer that I can use until my truck is repaired. I drop my truck off and exchange for the Explorer. Over that weekend FORD puts out the Deep Sleep/Battery Drain TSB so the next week I stop by and show the service manager who tells me that we ordered a BCM so its getting it whether it needs it or not! I talk to him about voltage readings (always less then 12v )that I have taken when my interior lights don't work (again I have pics/videos of me checking and load testing the battery-I am a certified Marine Mechanic so testing batts is an everyday job) and I discuss that thread after thread shows a new AGM many times fixes the issue. He says thank you and that they will call me when my truck is ready.

So for the best part of a month Ive driven a brand new Explorer. Ironically enough this week a service engine soon light has came up on it-WTF really? So Today I call to ask how they want me to proceed since the loaner now has a Check engine light. Well my truck came back from paint today. AWESOME! I ask what they did to repair the door and it turns out that they rewelded four spot welds and installed a FORD provided reinforcement kit. I cant remember seeing that "kit" mentioned by anyone on here so I am a bit skeptical. I ask about fixing the freezing screen and there evidently still isn't a fix from ford. I ask about the deep sleep/no interior light issue and am told all they did was replace the BCM and that the battery "tested good". I ask if it still has the issue if they are going to still warranty it-MAYBE. Thats the fing answer-MAYBE!?!

My brother currently works for ford in Cleveland, I have several other family members that do as well but I am pretty sure that this will be the last FORD I spend my money on and that's a shame. All vehicles can and do have issues but it seems like getting FORD to fix anything is like pulling live crocodile teeth. I guess I will just buy my own AGM battery to address the Deep Sleep issue and then start looking for a replacement truck that doesn't need a new battery almost every year, that gets an app that works all the time (as deep sleep locks you out of features-thank God I have a remote start key fob model), that the door welds don't pull apart on due to normal use, that the rear camera and touchscreen don't randomly stop working on. All in all, I am just a fed-up consumer that only wants what I paid for and FORD just doesn't care.

To many words

 

[topgun/goose]

Warranty work requires a tech certified by Ford training to do the work. With less and less people wanting to work on very complicated vehicles for peanuts those people are getting scarce. If something isn't done about the way techs are paid there may not be any of them to work on things in a few more years.... It is really a sad situation for the entire industry, not just for Ford.

 

[Scott Asheville]

The original reason I noticed anything was a squeaking noise during opening and closing. It turned out that the door flexed so much at the door stop mechanism that the rubber weather stripping was rubbing the metal door body underneath causing it to squeak as the door was moved through its travel. Only my drivers door had this flex and it eventually became a clickish sound before they recently "fixed" it. If you watch the door stop mechanism while opening and closing you can see if its flexing by watching the weatherstripping in the hinge area-it should not move. I would definitely it get inspected sooner rather than later as I am told outside of warranty it costs about $3000 to repair as it involves replacing and repainting the door. Yes you read that right....its about 10% the cost of the vehicle to repair that door stop if the welds pop outside of warranty!

Thanks for that information. Guess I'll take a closer look. And mention it to my dealership. Soon as this wicked cold snap has passed. My door only makes the noise when fully extended. My symptoms sound a lot like yours. Driver's door because that's the one that gets used constantly.

Sometimes things like this are fleet-wide, and people only start noticing them as the fleet gains mileage and years and usage (doors open and closed x number of times).

 

[Oscarcat]

Hello Everybody,
"Longtime listener-first time caller here"

I preordered a hybrid maverick about as soon as you could from my local dealer and patiently waited the year plus it took to receive due to not wanting to give up features (the spray in bed liner/the co pilot 360).

I have had to have both front axles replaced under warranty around 25k miles, as well as having deep sleep messages looked at last winter and being told that nothing was really wrong and that the "computer updates" that were done during warranty recalls should fix that issue. Well it didn't so I just uninstalled the app from my phone and turned off what features I could from the truck and continued on the rest of the spring.

Fast forward to the summer and I started to get no interior lights in my truck after sitting for a few hours-well that's not good. As well as my touch screen radio freezing requiring a reset several times a week. During the summer my drivers door started squeaking and flexing at the door open stop mechanism. I hate taking my truck to the dealer so I just dealt with it. Well I was nearing the end of my 3 year 36,000 mile warranty and wanted these items addressed so I made an appointment. Thats where the warranty agony started.

They gave me a reminder card that had a date and time on it of a Thursday some time from the initial contact-no big deal. I show up with my vehicle and am told I am a day "early" so I produce the appointment card THEY wrote and it says Thursday....oh ok. They ask if I need a loaner and I ask how long it will take and they think not long to diagnose so I decline the loaner. I wait to hear from them...Finally the next week I stop by the dealer to find out what's going on and I am told that my door has broken welds in it, that there is no current fix for the freezing radio, and that there is a bad BCM causing the deep sleep issue. Did they fix any of it?-NO, Apparently they were having trouble identifying which BCM it was. I say that's fine lets go ahead and get me a Loaner until it can be repaired. They say they will call me with an update on loaner availability as soon as they can-which turned out to be about an hour later explaining to me that they have no current loaners available but my truck is 100% available to drive and is safe so I go pick up my truck. The service manager tells me that they have ordered the BCM and will contact me once it comes in as well as schedule the drivers door broken weld repair with the body shop.

Fast forward several weeks and I finally stop to ask what's going on only to be told that the BCM is in. Hmm why didn't you call me? Well lets schedule that. When is the appointment to repair the door? Oh we never scheduled that. WTF?! When do you expect to schedule that? In about three weeks. Ok I would like a loaner as at this point my truck is sitting at 35.5k miles and by the end of the month I would be over my warranty coverage. I am told that I will be contacted about a loaner. Literally less than 10 minutes after leaving the dealer they call to tell me sorry no loaners. I am getting a bit upset as this was purchased new at this dealership less than two years ago. I escalate to FORD customer care where I am told in the chat logs (Which I can provide to anyone interested in the novel) that once my truck hits 36k all warranty is void even on things that due to scheduling at the dealer were documented before that mileage.\

I am pretty upset at this time so I leave a very negative review for the dealership on Facebook as well as Google. Within the hour of that review going live they reach out to me that they have a brand-new explorer that I can use until my truck is repaired. I drop my truck off and exchange for the Explorer. Over that weekend FORD puts out the Deep Sleep/Battery Drain TSB so the next week I stop by and show the service manager who tells me that we ordered a BCM so its getting it whether it needs it or not! I talk to him about voltage readings (always less then 12v )that I have taken when my interior lights don't work (again I have pics/videos of me checking and load testing the battery-I am a certified Marine Mechanic so testing batts is an everyday job) and I discuss that thread after thread shows a new AGM many times fixes the issue. He says thank you and that they will call me when my truck is ready.

So for the best part of a month Ive driven a brand new Explorer. Ironically enough this week a service engine soon light has came up on it-WTF really? So Today I call to ask how they want me to proceed since the loaner now has a Check engine light. Well my truck came back from paint today. AWESOME! I ask what they did to repair the door and it turns out that they rewelded four spot welds and installed a FORD provided reinforcement kit. I cant remember seeing that "kit" mentioned by anyone on here so I am a bit skeptical. I ask about fixing the freezing screen and there evidently still isn't a fix from ford. I ask about the deep sleep/no interior light issue and am told all they did was replace the BCM and that the battery "tested good". I ask if it still has the issue if they are going to still warranty it-MAYBE. Thats the fing answer-MAYBE!?!

My brother currently works for ford in Cleveland, I have several other family members that do as well but I am pretty sure that this will be the last FORD I spend my money on and that's a shame. All vehicles can and do have issues but it seems like getting FORD to fix anything is like pulling live crocodile teeth. I guess I will just buy my own AGM battery to address the Deep Sleep issue and then start looking for a replacement truck that doesn't need a new battery almost every year, that gets an app that works all the time (as deep sleep locks you out of features-thank God I have a remote start key fob model), that the door welds don't pull apart on due to normal use, that the rear camera and touchscreen don't randomly stop working on. All in all, I am just a fed-up consumer that only wants what I paid for and FORD just doesn't care.

Lemon law??? Inquire with a lawyer who specializes. Consultation should be free. Buy back option??

 

[Wiredawg]

Hello Everybody,
"Longtime listener-first time caller here"

I preordered a hybrid maverick about as soon as you could from my local dealer and patiently waited the year plus it took to receive due to not wanting to give up features (the spray in bed liner/the co pilot 360).

I have had to have both front axles replaced under warranty around 25k miles, as well as having deep sleep messages looked at last winter and being told that nothing was really wrong and that the "computer updates" that were done during warranty recalls should fix that issue. Well it didn't so I just uninstalled the app from my phone and turned off what features I could from the truck and continued on the rest of the spring.

Fast forward to the summer and I started to get no interior lights in my truck after sitting for a few hours-well that's not good. As well as my touch screen radio freezing requiring a reset several times a week. During the summer my drivers door started squeaking and flexing at the door open stop mechanism. I hate taking my truck to the dealer so I just dealt with it. Well I was nearing the end of my 3 year 36,000 mile warranty and wanted these items addressed so I made an appointment. Thats where the warranty agony started.

They gave me a reminder card that had a date and time on it of a Thursday some time from the initial contact-no big deal. I show up with my vehicle and am told I am a day "early" so I produce the appointment card THEY wrote and it says Thursday....oh ok. They ask if I need a loaner and I ask how long it will take and they think not long to diagnose so I decline the loaner. I wait to hear from them...Finally the next week I stop by the dealer to find out what's going on and I am told that my door has broken welds in it, that there is no current fix for the freezing radio, and that there is a bad BCM causing the deep sleep issue. Did they fix any of it?-NO, Apparently they were having trouble identifying which BCM it was. I say that's fine lets go ahead and get me a Loaner until it can be repaired. They say they will call me with an update on loaner availability as soon as they can-which turned out to be about an hour later explaining to me that they have no current loaners available but my truck is 100% available to drive and is safe so I go pick up my truck. The service manager tells me that they have ordered the BCM and will contact me once it comes in as well as schedule the drivers door broken weld repair with the body shop.

Fast forward several weeks and I finally stop to ask what's going on only to be told that the BCM is in. Hmm why didn't you call me? Well lets schedule that. When is the appointment to repair the door? Oh we never scheduled that. WTF?! When do you expect to schedule that? In about three weeks. Ok I would like a loaner as at this point my truck is sitting at 35.5k miles and by the end of the month I would be over my warranty coverage. I am told that I will be contacted about a loaner. Literally less than 10 minutes after leaving the dealer they call to tell me sorry no loaners. I am getting a bit upset as this was purchased new at this dealership less than two years ago. I escalate to FORD customer care where I am told in the chat logs (Which I can provide to anyone interested in the novel) that once my truck hits 36k all warranty is void even on things that due to scheduling at the dealer were documented before that mileage.\

I am pretty upset at this time so I leave a very negative review for the dealership on Facebook as well as Google. Within the hour of that review going live they reach out to me that they have a brand-new explorer that I can use until my truck is repaired. I drop my truck off and exchange for the Explorer. Over that weekend FORD puts out the Deep Sleep/Battery Drain TSB so the next week I stop by and show the service manager who tells me that we ordered a BCM so its getting it whether it needs it or not! I talk to him about voltage readings (always less then 12v )that I have taken when my interior lights don't work (again I have pics/videos of me checking and load testing the battery-I am a certified Marine Mechanic so testing batts is an everyday job) and I discuss that thread after thread shows a new AGM many times fixes the issue. He says thank you and that they will call me when my truck is ready.

So for the best part of a month Ive driven a brand new Explorer. Ironically enough this week a service engine soon light has came up on it-WTF really? So Today I call to ask how they want me to proceed since the loaner now has a Check engine light. Well my truck came back from paint today. AWESOME! I ask what they did to repair the door and it turns out that they rewelded four spot welds and installed a FORD provided reinforcement kit. I cant remember seeing that "kit" mentioned by anyone on here so I am a bit skeptical. I ask about fixing the freezing screen and there evidently still isn't a fix from ford. I ask about the deep sleep/no interior light issue and am told all they did was replace the BCM and that the battery "tested good". I ask if it still has the issue if they are going to still warranty it-MAYBE. Thats the fing answer-MAYBE!?!

My brother currently works for ford in Cleveland, I have several other family members that do as well but I am pretty sure that this will be the last FORD I spend my money on and that's a shame. All vehicles can and do have issues but it seems like getting FORD to fix anything is like pulling live crocodile teeth. I guess I will just buy my own AGM battery to address the Deep Sleep issue and then start looking for a replacement truck that doesn't need a new battery almost every year, that gets an app that works all the time (as deep sleep locks you out of features-thank God I have a remote start key fob model), that the door welds don't pull apart on due to normal use, that the rear camera and touchscreen don't randomly stop working on. All in all, I am just a fed-up consumer that only wants what I paid for and FORD just doesn't care.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is isolated to Fords/Ford dealerships. It feels like the whole industry has fallen to this type of customer/workplace service. I had a similar issue with my 2021 Hyundai. Here's the link of my plight if interested (Hopefully you get things resolved): https://www.hyundai-forums.com/thre...-p047100.713260/?post_id=6303288#post-6303288

 

[notfast]

I am surprised you as a tech would just be ok with it and have such a nonchalant attitude. How would you handle this situation differently?

I wasn't okay with it, and that's one reason why I left. I enjoyed the job and most of my fellow techs and the shop foremen were pretty cool, but the service manager, warranty manager, and GM were being penny-wise and pound-foolish. Never mind arguing with corporate; we'd have to argue with the service manager on things that were clearly wrong but just told to send it as "unable to replicate".

It gets tiring when you want to do a good, honest job but you have to fight the entire way to do it. We're trained in diagnostics and repair, not "how to convince your manager that he is an idiot." Some of the other good techs I worked with opened their own shops and took customers with them.

My first job was at a tire and lube shop. The owner was laid back, but kept on top of things and still occasionally spun wrenches when he was done desk-jockeying for the day. He encouraged me to pursue a career in automotive repair.

Great on you for sticking through this. The field definitely needs more good techs and good management to make any material changes happen.

 

[Skeeter163]

I think the Lemon Law applies.

 

[710-oil-614]

I think the Lemon Law applies.

what is “the Lemon Law”?

 

[Skeeter163]

Some states have a Lemon law that says if your truck is a piece of trash with constant troubles you can get your money back.

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