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Another MKZ problem


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This is the third time I have had to take the car to the shop. We have only had the car about 1 month. This time none of the switches on the roof panel work (interior lights and sun roof). This has blown some mysterious fuse that nobody carries and it has to be ordered in. They can't even try to diagnose what's wrong without this piece. I now have to take it back on another day for them to diagnose the problem. They said they have to do something with the sunroof. The sunroof works fine if you use the remote to crack it open. I also have a mysterious warning that keeps popping up. It says check adaptive lights. Of course this problem is one they can't fix because it's not happening all the time. It seems about once a week it pops up and warns us. I hope this is not a warning of what our future with the MKZ is going to be like.

Edited by lowfatdog
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After we took it in to get the roof panel fixed we noticed some damage to the roof panel (the piece with all the switches in it and also possibly the trim piece). They will replace that part. None of the interior lights work and the trunk light does not work either. It seems the alarm or horn will go off anytime it wants also. With nobody around the car it will simply start beeping. It is not a remote issue as it has happened with both key fobs in different places. No wind or any other reason for it to start going off. it also would not let her open the vehicle without using the remote control (this possibly may be in relation to the alarm going off but I don't know). The vehicle has also started shutting off the AC and it won't come back on unless you turn it back on. The vehicle also has the Recirculation function turning on and off every few seconds. You can hear it beeping part of the time as if someone is pushing the buttons. Even with the power to the Air Conditioner off it still beeps, These issues do not happen all the time. Having the vehicle only one month, I have talked to both my salesperson (he said he would call us back today but he did not) and it seems each time we call him he says he will look into it and will call back. I left a message with the general MGR stating we want another vehicle (same exact one and color) just one that is not a lemon. No phone call back from either one. I will give the MGR another day to call us back before we take a different route to open dialog. My wife is simply distraught and so upset about this vehicle and all these problems. We have owned 6 Fords. We have always tried to be faithful to Ford, She wanted a Optima this time and we talked her into the Lincoln instead. She is so mad! The funny part is the Optima is made in the USA and the Lincoln is made in Mexico. So much for a quality vehicle! Can I trust a vehicle with so many electrical problems?

Edited by lowfatdog
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  • 2 weeks later...

My MKZ "check adaptive headlight " message has appeared 2 times since April 4,2013, the day of delivery. In each occurrence, which happens right after starting the engine, I stopped the engine and restarted it again without the warning appearing. From those instances, It would seem the problem is related to the cars computer. In both instances, I believe I just touched the start button, rather than completely push it down. My experience with laptop and desktop computers reveals similar circumstances. The sound or the video may not activate, however rebooting the instrument fixes the problem. Hope this helps with your own situation. I do not have a roof panel on my car.

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This is the third time I have had to take the car to the shop. We have only had the car about 1 month. This time none of the switches on the roof panel work (interior lights and sun roof). This has blown some mysterious fuse that nobody carries and it has to be ordered in. They can't even try to diagnose what's wrong without this piece. I now have to take it back on another day for them to diagnose the problem. They said they have to do something with the sunroof. The sunroof works fine if you use the remote to crack it open. I also have a mysterious warning that keeps popping up. It says check adaptive lights. Of course this problem is one they can't fix because it's not happening all the time. It seems about once a week it pops up and warns us. I hope this is not a warning of what our future with the MKZ is going to be like.

Keep all of your service paper work. I got into a lemon law electrical issue with a SuperCrew. The dealer denied a lot in sending Ford their briefing. The Ford representative on the arbitration panel was not happy when my paperwork didn't jive with what the dealer reported. It can be very difficult to find some types of electrical issues on these new vehicles. I had a dealer problem, not a Ford problem. Ford settled and took the truck back. Thankfully, I had the documentation.

Edited by TBirdStangSkyliner
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After 18 days of being in the shop we got the vehicle back today. (34 days we have had the vehicle home in which 4 of those days it was taken to the shop to be looked at and 18 days they had it for service). I asked about the service records today. I was told the guy who worked on my car would not be back in until Monday and she would mail them to me after he completed the paperwork. I also asked for details on the other 3 times the vehicle was in the shop. She stated they have no record of the first time it came in to fix the rubber molding around the sunroof. She said the other three times were all under the same work order (something about all three times one of the issues was the adaptive headlights error). Something seems fishy about that.

 

I called to speak to Lincoln. I got a voicemail, the voicemail stated at my earliest convenience I will call you back...lol at your earliest convenience? Please don't walk away from your coffee break to speak to someone who purchased a $40,000 vehicle! I am kidding with that last remark but the voice mail probably needs changed! I left her a message stating our stance had not changed, we want another vehicle.

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I got a phone call from Lincoln on Monday about this vehicle. I could not answer the phone because I was at work. We have left messages the last two days with no response back. The alarm went off one time on Friday for no apparent reason. I had the key fob in my pocket walking down the stairs. I don't see how I would have set off the alarm but that has only happened one time since we got it back. I have now found two more issues with this vehicle. My son had turned on the rear passenger reading light (courtesy light right hand side). We went to get out an noticed it was still on. We could not get it to shut off. This was the only one on not the other side (common when you exit your vehicle). I also had the no interior lights button turned on. This will prevent the courtesy lights from coming on if you open a car door. After trying multiple times, I decided to check the other side. I could not get the left side light to turn on. After about 1 minute of trying I finally got the left hand side to come on. After a few more tries I got it to shut back off. After a few more tries I also got the right hand side to go off. We also noticed the roof panel front has a gap about 1/2 inch. This may be either because its broke or because it's not clipped into place properly. Every time we push a button it moves up and down. There is also a dirty hand print up there also (you cannot see this stuff unless you look at it from the dash side. We are going to push harder for another vehicle after these problems. This is more than frustrating!

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I called Lincoln again today. I finally got a phone call back. I was told Lincoln will not replace this vehicle. He stated "That is why we give you a limited warranty". Multiple problems within one month and this is the answer I receive? Lincoln and ford just lost a long time customer (we have bought 5 or 6 new fords) and they have probably lost another long time customer . This is a close relative and he has bought a brand new Lincoln about every two years for the past 18 years (not sure on the exact numbers however).

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Yep, your experience with customer service matches mine and you are driving a Lincoln!

 

Much like yourself, I have been a lifetime loyal customer and owned many of their vehicles over the years. I will not be giving them any further business, nor referrals that have sold them 6-10 more vehicles over the years.

 

Even if they did have desirable vehicles, if they don't practice good customer service, goodbye!

Edited by svtenthusiast
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Is it normal for a vehicle to make a loud metallic popping sound within a few minutes of shutting off? This has happened from day one with this vehicle. It could only happen once after shut off and it could happen multiple times. I assumed this would eventually stop happening, I blew this off as just the metal cooling down but come to think of it none of my other new Fords have done this. All we ever wanted was a brand new vehicle we could drive without a care in the world and what we received was nothing but headaches.

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Have you looked into lemon law? That would be the best route.

 

Don't blame Ford for an incompetent dealer. Ford has very little control over the dealers due to state franchise laws and since the dealer is the eyes and ears for Ford when determining warranty repairs and status it's very important to find a good dealer. In most of these cases a competent dealer can get the problem fixed promptly the first time and if not they'll work with Ford. Without a dealer helping it's very difficult for Ford to know exactly what's going on or worse - the dealer is lying to Ford about the problem.

 

Not saying that Ford can't do better on customer service - they can. But don't let the dealer off the hook either and don't forget that Ford has no control over the dealers.

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Is it normal for a vehicle to make a loud metallic popping sound within a few minutes of shutting off? This has happened from day one with this vehicle. It could only happen once after shut off and it could happen multiple times. I assumed this would eventually stop happening, I blew this off as just the metal cooling down but come to think of it none of my other new Fords have done this. All we ever wanted was a brand new vehicle we could drive without a care in the world and what we received was nothing but headaches.

 

That's not normal. Expansion and contraction of metal components will produce a sound, but it should not be as loud as you describe. Like your other Ford vehicles, my 2010 Fusion does not exhibit this issue.

 

EDIT: This Blue Oval Forums thread discusses what may be the same issue on 2013+ Escapes. I think it's at least worth mentioning this service bulletin to your service advisor.

 

I do wish you the best in getting these issues resolved lowfatdog.

 

Incidentally, lowfatdog's experience underscores why I do not recommend any newly designed Ford vehicles from circa MY 2011 onward to friends and family considering a new car purchase. Quality control with many such Ford products, including the new MKZ, is sadly lacking. This is corroborated by third party quality and reliability surveys.

Edited by aneekr
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I think we had a re-occurrence of an issue with the keyless entry. We walked up to the vehicle tonight and the doors would not open. I was walking up towards the car (about 50 ft behind her) and she stated it would not unlock or open (the door). I walked up and tried my door (we both had a key fob). My door would not open either. I walked around to her side and turned on my video recorder. I had her pull her key fob out of her purse to show she had the keyfob with her. The door would not open after several tries. I then touched the keypad on the door. It lit up but I did not type in the code. The door opened up when she tried it again. Weird? Anyone else experience this?

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I dropped the vehicle off today for another round of repairs. I also showed (and gave) them video of the door not allowing us to enter the vehicle . I got a copy of the service records. It was 6 pages long but only considered one case. It did not list any dates or times we were at the dealership.

 

I was a little upset about a couple items in the report. One complaint reads, Cust states that usually with the key in her purse she walks up to the door and the doors unlock. Now the doors will not unlock at times. Cause: gave customer copy of owners manual. Found doors do not unlock just by walking up to car, must touch door handle to open, copy page of owners manual and gave to customer to verify. HUH? We have used this vehicle from day one, we knew how to open the doors. We know you have to touch the door handle to get it to unlock (and open), They never gave us a copy of the pages they claimed in the report. It was never discussed and we were never told anything they did to the vehicle. They also reported the roof panel was warped and that's why it needed replaced. It needed replaced because it was broken along with the trim piece. This report was not completely accurate.

 

On a side note, We received a MKS as a rental this morning. I parked it in the garage. A couple hours later we came out and the garage was filled with a gasoline smell (very strong). I think this vehicle has a gas leak somewhere. They had a recall on some of these vehicles relating to a gas leak or smell. We took it back and got another loaner.

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After talking to Lincoln again (higher up the chain of command), I have been offered some compensation for the last two months of problems plus an extended protection plan on the vehicle that would cover most problems on the car for 6 years (of course with a deductible). Since the vehicle has a 4 year bumper to bumper, and a 6 year power train, it covers most of the other major items that could go wrong for an extra 2 years. He also stated this would not take away any of my consumer rights, this is just to ease our minds about this vehicle we purchased. We went to the dealership yesterday and they wifey was pretty upset with everything going on (as should be expected). The dealership has offered something a little different. They have offered to pay off the car and put us in another vehicle, same payments same everything. Just starting completely over. I don't know which way to go although I hate the fact of starting completely over without any compensation for all the headaches over the last two months along with the payments we have already made. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

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After talking to Lincoln again (higher up the chain of command), I have been offered some compensation for the last two months of problems plus an extended protection plan on the vehicle that would cover most problems on the car for 6 years (of course with a deductible). Since the vehicle has a 4 year bumper to bumper, and a 6 year power train, it covers most of the other major items that could go wrong for an extra 2 years. He also stated this would not take away any of my consumer rights, this is just to ease our minds about this vehicle we purchased. We went to the dealership yesterday and they wifey was pretty upset with everything going on (as should be expected). The dealership has offered something a little different. They have offered to pay off the car and put us in another vehicle, same payments same everything. Just starting completely over. I don't know which way to go although I hate the fact of starting completely over without any compensation for all the headaches over the last two months along with the payments we have already made. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

I'd definitely take the new one but, as another person has suggested, test it out first. If it tests out OK, take it.

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