nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) So I have started the lemon law process on my 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid SE Detailed information about the main issue (customer satisfaction program 13B02) can be found in the post "Headliner Nightmare" "differing rates of thermal expansion exist between the headliner substrate, glue, and other components bonded to the backside of the headliner, which can result in a wrinkle condition around the moon roof opening. accentuated by high and low ambient temperature cycles" After 3 attempts and 25 days in the shop my Headliner (which is admittedly defective) is still not fixed. Vehicle made on 10/30/12 Purchased 11/15/12 Notified in April of Headliner Recall due to defective glue Retained a lawyer on 7/30/13 Third Repair attempt made on 7/30/13(failed) Final Repair attempt letter (per Michigan law) sent to Ford on 8/5/13 Waiting on Response From Ford Current Field Service Actions Unresolved 13B02 - Headliner Wrinkles UPDATE: 9/11/13 Allowed Ford Another Repair attempt (not invoking lemon law - in good faith) and got the car back Yesterday (9/10/13). Headliner has severe crease, dealership is speechless. Lemon Law proceeding will continue. Very disappointed!!!! 31 Days in the dealership over the course of 10 months... Edited September 11, 2013 by nmadole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Seriously? A lemon law for a headliner? Wow, that's a new one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermans Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) I hope you have the success you are looking for. Now that you have retained an attorney and started legal action you should try to be accurate in all of your communications. The headliner issue is a "Customer Satisfaction Program" and not a "Recall." This may seem like a non-issue, but you want to try and be accurate. I know this has yet to escalate to a lawsuit, but I've seen suits thrown out for such minor errors. Again, i wish you well. Has your attorney told you to park the car and not drive it? Edited August 6, 2013 by hermans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 I hope you have the success you are looking for. Now that you have retained an attorney and started legal action you should try to be accurate in all of your communications. The headliner issue is a "Customer Satisfaction Program" and not a "Recall." This may seem like a non-issue, but you want to try and be accurate. I know this has yet to escalate to a lawsuit, but I've see suits thrown out for such minor errors. Again, i wish you well. Has your attorney told you to park the car and not drive it? Thanks for pointing that out, I will make the change above and in my documentation I was not advised to park my car? What is your line of reasoning? (It is not really practical for me to not have a car) Michigan Lemon law takes any use deduction from the first occurrence not the overall milage (as long as its under 25000) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 Seriously? A lemon law for a headliner? Wow, that's a new one... The headliner effects the Resale of my car and has resulted in almost a month of shop time without resolution... why does it surprise you I am pursing lemon law? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermans Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 I've just heard of attorneys advising clients to park and not drive so the car is in the same exact condition the day the action was filed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Why would you not try another dealer if the first one was unable to fix it? That's usually all it takes. That said I don't blame you if you can't get it fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timf Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Good luck with your Lemon Law claim, nmadole. I'd think the poor mileage of the car would be the bigger reason to declare it a lemon, but since Ford won't admit anything is wrong the mileage, if you can get them on the headliner all the better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 It may be extreme, but if the car was not repaired in the prescribed manner after X amount of tries...then that is what the lemon law is for. You should not have to "live with it" or other types of excuses....I would bet that a judge may direct you to another dealer for another repair attempt before forcing Ford to take the car back.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 The headliner effects the Resale of my car and has resulted in almost a month of shop time without resolution... why does it surprise you I am pursing lemon law? It's not so much that I'm surprised you are pursuing it as it is that I'm surprised the dealer can't fix it. I would have that thing at another dealer in a heart beat. 25 days in the shop is ridiculous to fix a headliner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) Why would you not try another dealer if the first one was unable to fix it? That's usually all it takes. That said I don't blame you if you can't get it fixed. Two part explanation --- First thing is I live in Northern Michigan and the next closest dealership is 30 miles from my house. The second part and biggest part is I don't think it's a dealership issue.. from what I am being told the dealership keeps receiving defective headliners... The issue from my point of view is the distributor that ford is using for their headliners. I will make note it took another forum member 6 headliners till they received a good one. Edited August 6, 2013 by nmadole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermans Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) It may be extreme, but if the car was not repaired in the prescribed manner after X amount of tries...then that is what the lemon law is for. You should not have to "live with it" or other types of excuses....I would bet that a judge may direct you to another dealer for another repair attempt before forcing Ford to take the car back.... I think Ford will send a factory rep. to examine the headliner who will then make a decision as to whether or not it can be fixed. If they make the determination it is repairable they will want the car sent to a dealer of their choice (within a reasonable distance surrounding nmadole's residence). If it is determined that the headliner can't be fixed then nmadole wins. timf - I know he's disappointed with his car's mileage, but if it isn't part of the lemon Law notice, it will not be considered. Edited August 6, 2013 by hermans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) Good luck with your Lemon Law claim, nmadole. I'd think the poor mileage of the car would be the bigger reason to declare it a lemon, but since Ford won't admit anything is wrong the mileage, if you can get them on the headliner all the better. Agreed, I am also sighting the poor MPG in the service records... As you can all see my average MPG is only 31 ... One of the other forum members had an early production car with similarly terrible MPG he traded it in for another and has seen a drastic improvement in MPG ... but this isn't claimable under the lemon law so... Edited August 6, 2013 by nmadole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) I think Ford will send a factory rep. to examine the headliner who will then make a decision as to whether or not it can be fixed. If they make the determination it is repairable they will want the car sent to a dealer of their choice (within a reasonable distance surrounding nmadole's residence). If it is determined that the headliner can't be fixed then nmadole wins. timf - I know he's disappointed with his car's mileage, but if it isn't part of the lemon Law notice, it will not be considered. At this point, Ford has 5 days to respond to the letter... at which point the have to tell me where to take my car and they have 5 days to fix all issues present. (sorry for not using the multiquote feature) Edited August 6, 2013 by nmadole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 If nothing else maybe this will force them to get a clean headliner. But at this point I'd have to wonder whether the headliners are really defective or if the dealer mechanics are screwing them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcats98 Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 If nothing else maybe this will force them to get a clean headliner. But at this point I'd have to wonder whether the headliners are really defective or if the dealer mechanics are screwing them up. This. Still, its down time and without car time but to have THAT many bad headliners and NOT inspect them prior to scheduling the car in. If the hit rate is that low, why are they not ordering more than one at a time. Bad service for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 This. Still, its down time and without car time but to have THAT many bad headliners and NOT inspect them prior to scheduling the car in. If the hit rate is that low, why are they not ordering more than one at a time. Bad service for sure. Agreed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camride Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Wow, I wish you luck as well. I almost had to lemon law my wife's 2004 Corolla because they couldn't fix a battery drain issue. Four different dealerships and almost 3 weeks in the shop before the last one finally figured out the stereo head unit was bad. I'm honestly glad you're able to find something to lemon law the car with, the mileage alone should be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboTi Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 My headliner looks slightly funky where it meets the windshield. But I don't often look that closely there. From a Mechanics standpoint, headliners are a big job to install correctly. I think a lot of the guys try to do it under book time and that's when the problems show up. If it were me, I wouldn't lemon law it, I would escalate it at the first dealer. It can be done right, it just takes time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) OP updated: 4th repair attempt completed and failed miserably... Lemon Law process is proceeding Latest attempt picture Edited September 11, 2013 by nmadole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8-X Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 WOW, that is horrible. Never knew it'd be that difficult to install/repair a headliner. Have never had a headliner issue in any of my vehicles, except a 1985 Ford Ranger, but by then it was 15years old with many summers in the Phoenix weather, and the carpeting material started to droop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 That is completely unacceptable! I worked in an upholstery shop when I was in college. 4 hours and I'd have that thing looking good as new for you. You have to take the headliner out, which includes removing trim pieces, take the cloth and foam off, then scrape all of the remaining foam off with, most-likely, a wire brush since it is so new. After that, lay a new piece of cloth/foam down, fold half of it back, spray some glue (contact cement) on the exposed half of the headliner board and back of the foam, wait until it dries slightly, then gently lay it down flat and straight. Repeat for the other side, let it dry for 30 minutes or so, and then put it back in. Voila! Lemon law avoided! I'm fairly confident you have a group of inept techs at your dealership. Either that, or the service manager isn't getting the car to the techs that know how to deal with interior problems. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I would have taken it to another dealer a long time ago, even if it was 30 miles away. I can't believe it's a defective part. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcats98 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 What is killing me is they have to petition to get parts in and covered by warranty or they (dealer) eat the cost of the headliner. If they are constantly asking for more headliners why has that not raised flags at Ford? Dealers like this can tank a brand... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8-X Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I would have taken it to another dealer a long time ago, even if it was 30 miles away. I can't believe it's a defective part. Totally understand your point, and I might have done that. But after the number of times this particular vehicle has been in for the headliner, you'd think the GM wouldn't let the vehicle out of the dealership until all was perfect with the headliner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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