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Dear Ford Motor Company

5K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  04hdfatboy 
#1 ·
My letter to Ford

Sir/Maam

Everyday you make it harder and harder to stay loyal to your brand, and defend it. I have a 2008 Ford F250 6.4L Powerstroke that currently has 64,878 miles that has been nothing but a headache. It is not the truck necessarily that has been a headache, but your technicians, warranty program, and customer service. Please allow me to explain.

In October 2012, I returned my truck to the local Ford dealership because it was puffing white smoke, stumbling on itself, and had a bad grinding/vibration sound. The technician proceeded to replace my intercooler under warranty, and do a "99 point inspection" on my vehicle. The dealership "could not duplicate" the grinding and vibrating issue and returned my truck to me, saying nothing was wrong.

I drove the vehicle until February 2013, when the sound got worse and unbearable. Upon returning the truck to the dealership, I advised the technician and service writer, that I believed the grinding/vibration sound was related to the turbocharger, and I was told that doesn't make sense, and the truck would be looked at. A few days later, I was told to come pick it up and that the issue had been solved, and the transfer case had been replaced under warranty. However, the sound still remained.

A week later, I returned yet again to the dealership for the same issue. This go around, the truck was at the dealership for 26 days. Not only was I not afforded a loaner vehicle, but I also wasn't reimbursed for the rental vehicle I had to get. After weeks of waiting, I was advised that the transmission was the cause of the noise, and was being rebuilt. Yet again, this failed to fix the issue. Shortly after, I was told the rear differential pinion seal was the cause but wouldn't be covered under warranty, as I was past my 60,000 mile warranty. I rebuilt the rear differential...and the issue still remained.

Last month, I took a road trip in my vehicle, and the turbocharger began to have issues. Upon removing the air intake tube from the High Pressure Turbo, I found the compressor wheel to have shaft play, as well as oil in the inter cooler pipes. I made an appointment with Ford and dropped my truck off on Tuesday, June 24, 2013 at 8:00am CST. Almost a week later, I called the dealership for an update only to find that my vehicle hasn't even been looked at yet.

As a life long and LOYAL Ford supporter, it's disheartening to know that the technicians I trust my vehicle with cannot correctly diagnose an issue on my vehicle, nor can they repair it in a timely manner. I am now over $2000 out of pocket for rental cars and un-needed repairs on a 65k mile truck that is still under warranty. Almost 9 months after initially identifying an issue, my vehicle has still not been repaired. My question to you, is how much flexibility does your company expect a loyal customer to have? I've been more than patient with this whole process, and have nothing to show for it. I am seriously considering switching to a new brand, as I know the "other guys" actually repair vehicles quicker and correctly. It's sad it's had to come to this with me, as I love Ford...but there comes a time when you have to draw the line. After 9 long months, and a still broken truck, this once die hard Ford owner is reconsidering where my loyalties lie. I can only hope that issues such as these don't happen to everyone.

I look forward to your response...thank you for your time.
 
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#2 ·
I long to hear what they say, if anything....
 
#3 ·
Gotta wonder if MR.FORD was still alive how would he handle this. Keep us posted if you hear anything back. Good luck.
 
#4 ·
This is the kind of things that scare me. I've had my 08 6.4 for 9 months and 12k miles and I've already replaced my alternator, belt tensioner and egr. Unfortunately I'm so afraid that something else will go wrong I think about trading in daily. I love my truck it just scares me since I only have 63k miles on it.
 
#11 ·
I understand that concern and I am in no way trying to take away from what Ben posted above, but my Job 1 08 has 187K on it and I have replaced an alternator since 162K and no significant repair history via OASIS reports before I purchased the truck.

Having said that, these are all mechanical devices built by a combination of people and machines. Things happen, they are hit or miss. Not every truck will have the issues that Ben has had, and some trucks won;t see 20K before a major issue. Just like when I had a 6.0, I had 100K on it when I sold it, stock headbolts, tuned for over 30K and I ran the truck fairly hard at times, towing and playing. Never had a head gasket failure, I know of another truck that didn't see 35K in stock trim before a head gasket issue.

But I digress, the biggest problem Ben is having isn't the truck, it is the people he has taken the truck to for repair. Had his issue been properly diagnosed and inspected initially, he would've been on the road this whole time. As with anything, the key is proper maintenance and care (which I know Ben does) Take care of the truck and it will take care of you.
 
#9 ·
Is this all from one ford dealer? Its possible (and common) that this particular stealership doesn't have the skilled and experienced staff that another one would. For future repairs, it might be a wise investment to get a second opinion from a shop or stealership that has a positive powerstroke reputation. Unfortunately, you'll find every brand of auto manufacturers has "part swapping" technicians.

While we'd like to believe that every ford shop has highly trained and skilled techs working on your truck... a lot of them are just fresh out of college with a chip on their shoulder. I drive 35 miles to a Ford dealership in Monticello with SMART techs because the one 3 miles away from me has these stubborn-but-often-wrong techs.

Post up a response if you receive one!
 
#13 ·
That's the thing...I baby this truck for the most part...i haul with it time to time, raw dog it time to time, but never abuse it. I've got friends that have 6.0s and 6.4s that run the hell out of them and never have a problem. As far as the oasis...the only thing done to this truck before I bought it with 32k miles on it was the radiator had been replaced. Apparently the turbo has been going bad for 9 months now...its too bad Ford couldn't figure that out before now. I'll be giving the service advisor a piece of my mind first thing in the morning...because it's a joke that my truck has been just sitting at the dealership for the past week and not even being looked at
 
#15 ·
Man, this sucks. I'm grateful that my truck has not given me the problems yours has in the almost 190k miles I'm about to put into it.

I have friends that always tell me that they want a truck like mine, or a diesel in general. I'm always honest with them, and tell them that I bought the truck because my gasser wasn't up to the task anymore. But I also tell them that I would prefer a gasser and even a half ton if I didn't use my truck as much as I do and how I do. A lot of them do not realize how much a PITA it is to deal with these trucks if something ever goes wrong. I should know, our work truck 6.0s have been trouble free with minor repairs lately, and our work truck gassers are great as well. When it comes to major repairs, the gassers are less expensive and less complicated.

I hope FORD MoCo reads this or gets to them, as I am also a loyal Ford Owner. As I type this there is a 2006 expedition, 2006 6.0 F250, 2006 6.0 F350 dually, and a 2008 6.4 parked in my driveway and a whole lot more Ford trucks parked in my company's yard. I've dealt with bad dealerships, and Ford needs to put their foot down on the dealerships with bad reps.
 
#17 ·
Thought you guys would get a kick out of this! Ford called today and told me they confirmed the grinding sound is coming from the turbo and its going to be replaced. They also were supposed to replace my DPF because it's clogged and keeps melting the DPF Pressure Sensor. When I dropped the truck off, I gave the service writer the melted sensor and she kept it for the tech. Well today, Ford asked me if I knew where the DPF Pressure Sensor was located because they couldn't figure out where on the DPF it's supposed to be..lol Maybe I should just get paid for this repair since I had to diagnose it and tell them where a sensor is located LOL
 
#20 ·
Hope they fix it for you finally. I would stay on customer service though until they respond.
 
#21 ·
This is bad. I hate that you had to go through that. Finding techs that actually know what they are doing is hard..... Hope this solves it mate!!!
 
#22 ·
Well first things first I cannot speak for ford but I can tell you this. At my dealership we do things a lot different. I am the head diesel tech there and my service manager and I make sure that I myself or the other tech GO FOR A RIDE WITH YOU TO MAKE SURE WE HEAR THE SAME NOISE! All to often I hear stories like this and I get so upset. I set back and think to myself this man bought a 55 to 65k dollar truck and he or she deserves to be treated like a king. Sir im sorry you had to go through this and if you lived near me it would have been fixed the first time period!! tHIS IS WHERE YOU COULD SLAM THEM ON THERE C.S.I. score and believe me that hurts them bigtime in the wallet. I hope you get things right.
 
#23 ·
This is the response I like to see!
 
#25 ·
It was surely refreshing to see someone be honest in your position
 
#26 ·
Agreed.

I've gone to customer's homes/places of work to pick them up for my road test to verify concern if I couldn't get it to happen/heard a bunch of different stuff.

Hell, drove a customer's truck for almost an hour on my own time with the customer to verify a concern.
 
#27 ·
Same here Hillbilly Ohh and very nice to meet you sir!!
 
#28 ·
I once had to drive a customers truck 100+ miles. He said after a hundred miles the truck would die. As luck would have it my sisters car with 150 miles away with a bad clutch customer ok'd me to use his truck. Sure enough it would die after a hundred miles. End result I knew what was wrong and could verify it and I got my sisters car home. Point is as a dealer tech I spent more time diagnosing/driving customers cars to verify problems then I ever got paid for but I wanted them to be happy


Sent from AutoGuide.com App
 
#29 ·
That's the thing...the tech at the other dealership heard/felt the sound all along he just couldn't find it. I mean...this grinding/vibration is bad enough that u can feel it through the pedals, floor boards, and steering wheel. But him and his dealership kept wanting to go in the drivetrain direction instead of engine related...and completely disregarded my suggestion of maybe its turbo related.

I'm glad this new dealership seems to be listening to me and going in the direction I suggested.
 
#30 ·
I always do a little investigation before I take things in. If you absolutely know its the turbo, then show them. I mean after the first screw up by ford, I would park in the customer lot, unscrew the CAC and show them. I know this is extreme, but you're dealing with incompetent techs. Really, I wouldn't blame the techs lack of diesel knowledge on the techs themselves. It's definitely Ford's failure to train them.

I know one master tech that told me that only one dealership in all of NM is truly worthy of taking my truck in to have anything done. He doesn't even work there.

Good luck buddy. Letters work but take time. Dealerrater dot com works too.
 
#31 ·
I'm in NM. Send me a PM lol.
 
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