chuck zepfel Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 From the Huntsville AL Times: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/01/huntsville_couple_sues_ford_li.html#incart_river_news Ya gotta wonder if this is a unique situation? If I was Ford, I would have offered them a new replacement vehicle and took the old one in for review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Wouldn't this have simply fallen under Lemon Law by now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I think the problem is the dealer is claiming nothing is wrong now and they certainly aren't trying to fix it. Why haven't they simply taken it to another dealer to get it fixed properly? With so many customers to deal with it's understandable that Ford goes by what the dealer says since the dealer actually has the vehicle. If the dealer screws up it's tough for Ford to know. That's why it's important to find another dealer who will report it correctly and try to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serraph Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I think the problem is the dealer is claiming nothing is wrong now and they certainly aren't trying to fix it. Why haven't they simply taken it to another dealer to get it fixed properly?With so many customers to deal with it's understandable that Ford goes by what the dealer says since the dealer actually has the vehicle. If the dealer screws up it's tough for Ford to know. That's why it's important to find another dealer who will report it correctly and try to fix it. That's actually a good point. I didn't think of taking to another dealer if that had happened to me. Also, NickF1011, wouldn't the Lemon Law apply if it was proven and duplicated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 That's actually a good point. I didn't think of taking to another dealer if that had happened to me. Also, NickF1011, wouldn't the Lemon Law apply if it was proven and duplicated? Seems from the story that the issue was duplicated for the dealer multiple times. They wouldn't have replaced anything if they didn't think anything was wrong with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moosetang Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Alabama Lemon Law is poor. If the arbitration process begins, the consumer basically looses the ability to get the car replaced until the arbitration process finishes. As they article says, they want to sue for the runaround they've gotten but the Arbitration agreement includes a provision that they agree not to sue. So they're filing suit while leaving Arbitration in limbo, and are unable to move forward on a lemon law recourse. on the other hand The line "Dr. Owings went to the dealership a fifth time, and met with a Ford engineer who asked him to duplicate the problem by turning on the car, but the lawsuit argues, that was impossible because the buttons has been disabled." has me wondering, how could the problem persist after the wiring in the wheel was replaced but couldn't be replicated with the buttons disabled? It's not outside the realm of possibility that he really is causing the problem himself by holding the steering wheel in a way that is causing the volume to jump, I've seen people with really really strange steering wheel habits over the years. Of course, it could mean the dealer was full of it when they said they'd replaced the wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 That's actually a good point. I didn't think of taking to another dealer if that had happened to me. Also, NickF1011, wouldn't the Lemon Law apply if it was proven and duplicated? Lemon law varies by state. And it requires acknowledgement that a fix was attempted unsuccessfully. Although most lemon laws require giving the mfr/dealer one more opportunity to fix the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Seems from the story that the issue was duplicated for the dealer multiple times. They wouldn't have replaced anything if they didn't think anything was wrong with it. The part that got me was this: The car was left for seven days, before they picked it up, the suit claims, and no repair order was provided. If you keep my car for seven days, then can't show me that you even looked at it, I'm going to be justifiably pissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 (edited) Why haven't they simply taken it to another dealer to get it fixed properly? Where is the next nearest Lincoln dealership? I just did a quick Google search, and I only found one Lincoln dealership in the Huntsville area--the one mentioned in the article. If I weren't getting any satisfaction from them, I'd probably have taken it to a Ford dealership (I'm hoping there's a nearby Ford dealership that's not owned by the same dealer, but maybe not). Maybe they thought they needed to take it to the Lincoln shop to get it fixed, or to get the loaners/concierge service/etc that they're expecting from Lincoln? Edited January 25, 2013 by SoonerLS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordtech1 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 It is hard to say what happened. I would like to hear the entire story from service advisor, tech, engineer and customer. I can imagine the dealership was having difficulty duplicating it and they thought the customer was holding button while turning. Thus, disabling the buttons and see if problem persists to help rule out human error. I have had a couple vehicles that the FSE has sent to me with a "last resort" repair attempt before lemon law. One was a horn that would blow intermittently until horn burns out and the other was a water leak. Lemon law is not fun, it is at least a 6 Month process and the customer has to pay for the mileage. Best bet is to get it fixed and let them give you an ESP for the inconvience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck zepfel Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 There is a Ford dealership in Huntsville...Woody Anderson. It has about twice the service area as Pearman Lincoln does. Maybe the car owner doesn't realize that he could take it to Woody Anderson, but then again, if he started with Pearman, he may want to continue for consistency. Another thought: Huntsville has a noise ordinance against loud vehicle radios. He may have a difficult time if it starts blaring right next to a police car. He'd be better off if he carried a copy of the service work (or lack of) in his car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron W. Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Again, been out of Ford for some time but radios used to be swapped out if the concern had been verefied. A simple call to the supplier and the radio would show up the next day, prepaid freight both directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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