Using Michigan's Lemon Law

[1929]

Through the BBB, today Ford offered to buy-back my truck. A good sign. I had the BBB rep make a counter offer that I'd keep my truck IF they extended the 'premium' warranty out to 10 years.
Denied (same day!). I had a Kia some years ago that had a 10yr/100k powertrain, so I figured it was worth a shot.
So now I have my sales rep looking around for a comparable Maverick (sliiiim chances there) while I wait for Ford to come up with their specific #.
Haven't officially hired lawyer yet. In MI the mfr has to pay their fees, but I'm kind of enjoying advocating for myself (how does that old saw go? Someone representing themself has a fool for a client?)
With the 'premium' 5 yr warranty and a now precise diagnosis, I may end up keeping it. After dealing with 2 very crappy CSR's and developing a pretty bad attitude, I'm starting to feel like things are going to be ok.
Maybe that could go on my headstone.

Allow Ford to buyback the truck. Do not keep it.

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[robmock]

Sales rep found me a nearly equivalently equipped Maverick (only missing spray-in bedliner & window deflectors) at a dealer who was reluctant, but ultimately willing to make a trade for a "desirable vehicle" off my rep's lot. Switching from Cactus Gray to Hot Pepper Red.

The new (not horrible) problem? The buy-back isn't complete yet, so I may have 2 for a brief time. This is one of those things you can't "schedule out" beforehand.

There are chances for things to go sideways in a couple ways here. Will see what happens

 

[Redline]

Wow. What an ordeal. It would seem you are not alone when it comes to vehicle issues. Ford is pretty high on the list.

 

[robmock]

Wow. What an ordeal. It would seem you are not alone when it comes to vehicle issues. Ford is pretty high on the list.

That's an eye opener! I'm too lazy to do the surfing, but it makes me wonder about the nature of each mfr's "problems". For example, if a mfr's issues are "spread out" over the whole vehicle, that's one thing. But if a mfr becomes known for one or two issues and doesn't do anything to rectify them, that's another. Enough people love their Mavericks that I'm not giving up on Ford yet. BTW, at age 53 I've only purchased 4 new vehicles and this is/was my first Ford. Still excited about the Maverick!

 

[robmock]

Nearly done.
Ford's 'repurchase coordinator' (RC) was great. Responsive. Positive. A huge breath of fresh air after speaking with service reps whose only purpose appeared to be to try to get me to go away.
She sent me Ford's offer. Despite having read on one lemon law lawyer's site that "You should never accept their first offer", it was fair: surprisingly close to original purchase price, minus mileage according to a simple equation which is favorable to the consumer.
Then more good news. They offered me $1500 toward a new Maverick. But wait, there's more: My dealer sales rep got me a $750 returning customer incentive.
Result? I drove off lot today with new Hot Pepper Red Maverick (the red was a $500 upcharge) for well over $1000 less than I paid for the original Cactus Gray one... which I had put over 6k miles on. I have never ever sold a car and felt good about it. I always feel like I'm being disloyal. This one was no different. I feel like it's fixed, but once the ball was rolling (and the commenters on this post helped) I went with it. I love the dark orangeyness I see in this red, and most importantly, it feels like it's mine. I had lost that feeling with the Gray one.
Is the story over? Not quite. I left the gray one there and the purchase guy has to receive papers from the RC and go through a brief process. He spoke with the RC and told me that everything looks fine and he's sure it'll go smoothly. Yes, I took pictures.

 

[robmock]

Finished.
Whole process, from first upload on BBB to depositing Ford's check was 42 days.

For anyone interested, here's a list of my takeaways/opinions:

• While I did speak with someone informally at a law office, they never gave me any 'secret' info, and I never got them involved in the process. It just felt reassuring to hear someone with a legal background say "You're already off and running. See what happens. It can't hurt."
  I ended up copying a "Last Chance Letter" off some other attorney's site and changing the details to fit my situation, and it worked out for the best. Dumb luck? I'll take it.
• The purpose of the Ford csr is 100% to get you to go away. I believe they have very little ability to actually help you (but I admit I was tempted by the 5 year "premium" warranty). I got up to the 3rd "level" from the one that answered my first call. Rather than talking to the 4th level csr, I just stopped talking to them altogether after two of them either lied to me or tried to mislead me. Once arbitration gets rolling, the Ford attorney's opinion is all that matters.
• The BBB site is wonky. It'll tell you a doc was uploaded, then not show up later. If you don't have a scanner, get a free phone app that lets you take pics as pdf's to upload.
• Google Drive was super handy to organize all the pdf's. Registration, license, work orders, letters, etc. Looking at the BBB docs section in my claim right now. There are 24 files in there.
• Start & keep a spreadsheet of all your interactions with everyone from day 1. I kept notes from every call with everyone, especially the csr's.
  Michigan is a both-party state, so you can record calls if you have the other party's consent. At the start of each call, Ford informed me they were recording the call. If I were going to go through this again, I would consider doing the same.
• My BBB contact person was very hard to get on the phone. I would use her extension & leave a message and she would either take days to call me or not call back at all. I usually got in touch with her by calling the main pool #, then telling whoever answered that "I'm having a hard time getting in touch with...", then they'd go find her somehow, then my call would get transferred to her.

Things going great with the new Maverick...so far!

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