My F250 - Thanks for a Piss Poor product and equally effective customer service

[KYSkipper]

December 17 2003 Purchased truck from Paul Steely Ford. The truck was originally shipped to Ramey Ford in Johnson City, Tennessee and was found on the Ford computer system’s vehicle locator. Steely’s Ford did a dealer trade to get it. I went with Paul to pick it up in Johnson City and drive it back to Williamsburg. It had something like 14 miles on it when I left Ramey’s in Johnson City. It was a new vehicle not used.

 

Chronology of Problems with truck

 

8-30-2004

 

Headed to my grandfather’s funeral in London, Kentucky on I-75. As I began to accelerate off of the Exit 25 Northbound ramp the engine began detonated twice. I considered parking it then, but I only had an hour to get to the funeral home where I’d been given paul bearer duties. The entire trip to London the truck bucked, refused to run at interstate speeds and several times the engine quit but was started back by the transmission as it rolled down the road. I took it to Paul Steely Ford that evening for repairs. They replaced the DPFE sensor and VGT Control. See RO 11248

 

I picked up truck about 10 days after that and it had a nagging lope in the engine. Running at speed it did not run smoothly. It also had an extreme loss of power compared to what it had originally. I returned the truck to Steely Ford the next week and they reflashed the computer. I do not have a ticket on this trip from the garage.

 

When I picked up truck again and the lope was less noticeable but the engine had lost power. On hills that it previously pulled in 3rd gear, I would now have to downshift to 2nd and at times 1st. I figured that I would drive the truck for a while and hope that whatever was wrong with it would go ahead and break so it would be easier to find. By December it had gotten extremely poor in it’s performance and I scheduled an appointment to have it worked on again. On Jan 18th the truck was put into the shop. Service technician test drove and observed the low power condition and the constant surging. This time the EBP and EGR valve were replaced as both were clogged with carbon. See RO 11732

 

Feb 22, 2005

 

Experienced problems with fuel filter and pump system on the bottom frame rail. Truck would not start and had to be towed to the dealership. Pump Water separator housing replaced. RO 11896

 

Picked up truck and it ran fair for a few weeks although not as good as it had prior to the initial problem then went back to the same low power condition. I continued to drive it hoping it would either straighten out or break and make the problem obvious.

 

By May, the truck had completely lost power and would hardly pull out into the road from a stop. I scheduled an appointment in June. Again the VGT solenoid was replaced. RO12380

 

The truck was not any better when I picked it up than it was when I took it in, so I took it back in July at the next scheduled appointment. Tech could not find a problem after running computer tests although the truck did have low power driveability issues. RO12503

 

8-24-2005 Back in shop again with same complaint. The technician contacted the hotline and requested an engineer inspect the truck. They did some tests on it but could not find the problem. The engineer requested I come down and show them what it was doing, so I went to drive the technician. I spooled the engine up in the parking lot and dropped the clutch. The truck barley rolled from the parking lot entrance to well past the first red light before the engine picked up power and took off. The EGR valve was replaced again.

 

3-20-2006 Returned to dealership with same low power complaint. They found a recall on the program for the computer and recalibrated the computer. This did not solve the low power issue and I finally decided that I would have to live with that. RO 13255

 

In Late May of 2006 The low power problem, In My Opinion, began to manifest itself in another way. Intermittently, the engine would be almost super powered. When that happened, it would blow the turbo boot hose off. I stopped in the dealership with the hose blown off and they put the hose back on. I made it less than 3 miles from the dealership before the boot blew off again. I called and they said that they would order a new boot. It turns out that Ford had a redesigned boot to replace the original boot complete with a new pipe. Dealer said they would call when the parts arrived as they had to be ordered. No ticket was made on this service.

 

By mid June approximately 2 weeks later, nobody had called, so I called and asked and was told they still yet did not have the boot. This seemed rather odd to me that it had took over 3 weeks for a Ford Dealer to order a rubber hose from Ford. Meanwhile I was having to drive my 1995 F250 which doesn’t have an operational air conditioner. Over that weekend, I decided I was going to put the boot back on myself or roast one in that older truck, so I re installed it and tightened the fool out of the clamps on the hose. I also tightened the other clamps on the other hoses in the same system. I found I had to retighten the hoses every 2 or 3 days or one or the other would fall off.

 

The truck seemed to run a little better for that couple of weeks, but I still wanted a new hose to give me piece of mind that my truck was dependable to be on the road in. I called the dealership again and found out that the Service Manager had left and the new guy knew nothing about my hose. He said he’d get one. I thought over a month is a bit long to wait on a hose, so I called Ford’s Customer Non-Service.

 

I finally spoke to Sherri Konicki at 1 866 631-3788 Ex 7385. She said that she would look into the problem as well as the alternating low power and over power issues and see what could be done. She said she would call me back. She called me during my lunch hour and when I returned, I returned her telephone call to get her voicemail which states, “Leave a message and I will return your phone call within 24 hours.†So I left a message.

 

2 Days later, I’d received no phone call so I called and left another message.

 

2 more days and no return call so I left another message.

 

The next week, I called daily leaving messages. At this point, My truck is still not fixed and it’s mid July driving my farm truck with no AC in it. By the weekend, I’d had no return phone calls from either Sherri or the Dealership.

 

The next Monday, I called Sherri every hour leaving a message and got no response yet.

 

Tuesday morning, I recruited some friends to help me call Sherri and leave messages for her to call me back. I believe I was told that she got 168 messages that morning to call me. Maybe that was a tad overboard, and I shouldn’t have done it, but any business person should return their phone calls. I don’t know what else would be expected other than an Irate customer who can’t get a simple phone call.

 

I believe I was patient enough trying to work with Ford over the 2 year time period and multiple visits to the dealership to fix my problem.

 

Finally David at 1 866 631 3788 Ex 7302 called me back and informed me that he was taking over for Sherri. He told me flat out off the bat to not ever call Ford again. Then he threatened to have me charged with Harassment for placing so many telephone calls to Sherri. To say the least, I was quite upset over that threat. I asked David who I should call to get service on my Ford truck, Possibly General Motors? I said it in a sarcastic way. David said, “I consider that to be a threat.†He listened to a little bit of my problem and eventually told me, “The thing for you to do might be to purchase a Chevrolet.†I replied that I might very well do that. He said that he considered that a threat and hung up on me.

 

Eventually, the dealership called and told me the boot was in to come get it.

 

I did, but when I picked up the truck, the low power condition was definitely still there. There is a traffic light at the corner of the dealership’s property and when I got to it, I was the 2nd vehicle back from the red light. When it turned green, I released the clutch and stepped on the fuel pedal. The light turned yellow before the truck managed to pick up power and roll through the light. I turned around and returned to the dealership and told them it was not fixed. I understand that a Ford engineer looked at the truck while it was in the shop this time and the EGR valve was replaced again, but I was not provided with a service order for this visit.

 

I returned to the dealership and spoke with the Owner’s Father who oversee’s the dealership. I was told that my truck was fixed, nothing was wrong with it and they had done all they were going to do for it and not to bring it back. I told him that since it was fixed and he had a new truck on his lot, that I’d like to trade for the new truck to make me a price. He said with the mechanical history on my truck, he would not be willing to trade for it at all as with it’s problems he would not be able to sell it.

 

That week I was in Richmond Kentucky inspecting property for a client and attempted to trade it at a dealership there. They ran the computer report on the truck and they too would not trade for it. At that point, I realized that I owned a truck that I could not trust to drive on trips out of town, could not sell, and would be stuck with.

 

This low power problem is getting worse and worse and it is a dangerous safety issue. In September it stalled 4 times trying to pull out of a driveway onto a side street in Corbin. I would let the clutch out and give it fuel like normal and it would just quit. I stopped by Falls Ford in Corbin since I was in Corbin at the time and asked if they would hook it to their computer and see what was wrong with it. They said that since I bought it from the dealership in Williamsburg, I should take it there and since I’d had so many problems with it they were unwilling to get involved with the truck. The truck stalled 6 to 8 times before I was able to get it out of their parking lot and onto the highway. The next day my adjuster and I went to look at a fire loss in Woodbine, KY and the truck stalled twice on the CSX railroad tracks. These are a double set of tracks coming into the largest yard between Knoxville and Cincinnati. It is a very busy set of tracks. This is a very dangerous situation and nobody at Ford or their dealerships seems to want to see to it that the truck I purchased is the one they advertised and not the ill performing clunker that I have.

 

I called Customer service again and asked to speak to a supervisor.

 

Blanche who identified herself as a supervisor called me back at approximately noon on 10-5-2006. She took information and said she would call me back

 

Blanche called back that afternoon and said that Margo will call me tomorrow and Sherri would take over Monday and call me then.

 

Lucretia Sutherlin Called a 4:58 pm on Monday said Ford would be doing nothing to fix my truck and that it was in perfect working order. This on a truck that a week prior to that was stalling out on railroad tracks.

 

Lucretia Sutherlin Called at 10:20 am and instructed me to take the truck to Paul Steeley for Service. I told her that in my conversation with Margo Austin on Friday I had given specific instructions on what sort of repair I would accept and that nothing short of that would be acceptable. Before I took this truck in, I would have to be assured that the instructions I gave would be followed to the letter. That includes Replacing the engine with a brand new, not rebuilt, not remanufactured engine. All pieces and parts would have to be new. The clutch would have to be replaced as well since the faulty engine is causing it to wear prematurely. All computers and wiring harnesses would also need to be replaced. I specifically told her that I was not interested in any repair that did not involve that list.

 

I also told her that Blanche the Supervisor had given my case to Sherri Koniki and I expected the call I was promised on Thursday.

 

Margo Austin – Customer Service Calling Tomorrow

1866 631 3788 Ex 7420

 

Called Friday discussed problems with truck. We discussed it’s problems for the better part of an hour. Margo talked as if I might be due a replacement vehicle or a buy back.

 

Sherri Konicki- Will Call Thursday October 12th 1 866 631 3788 7385

 

Sherri Called Oct 12th and said that Ford would offer me a discount on the purchase of a new truck but would not buy mine back. I don’t see the advantage of this since my truck has been refused as a trade in by 2 dealers. Sherri said Ford would not guarantee the trade in. I told Sherri to get me a price on the difference before I would even consider this offer.

 

Sherri called back Oct 17th to see if I was interested in the discount on the new vehicle. I said I still do not have enough information. I don’t know what they plan to give me for mine. She said she understood but was argumentative when I pointed out that unless Ford was guaranteeing a fair value for mine, this deal wasn’t going to fly and I am still stuck with this p.o.s. truck that nobody seems to be able to fix. I mentioned that it was currently leaking something in my driveway.

 

Nov 2nd, Stopped by Dave Damron’s to have my oil changed and check on leak. Leak appears to be antifreeze coming from rear of engine on the passenger side. It was 2 gallons low on coolant which we filled to the mark on the bottle.

 

Sunday Nov 5th, drove truck to south interchange and back. Coolant leak was audible. I could hear it dropping down. Inspected and found coolant pouring out of the bell housing area of the transmission. Starter appeared to be soaked with coolant, and it appeared to be coming from somewhere on the engine block above the starter toward the head. Too much junk in the way to see exactly where it was coming from.

 

Nov 6th, dropped truck off at Steely’s to be fixed. They said they wouldn’t touch it till Thursday.

 

Went to check on it Thursday November 9th. The current issue is a bad EGR cooler that has leaked antifreeze into various parts of the engine and onto the ground. EGR coolers tend to get damaged when the turbo is overboosting the system because it’s vanes are not correctly positioned. The technician told me he would be replacing the hose for the cooler, but would have to disassemble the engine to clean the antifreeze out of where it’s not supposed to be, put it back together and give it back to me. I expressed my opinion that so long as the root cause of things like EGR cooler hoses coming loose, turbo boot failures and the like is not addressed and repaired, those things will continue to happen. In my opinion, this and all of the other issues are being caused by the sticking turbo charger alternating between closed and wide open. When it sticks wide open, the pressure from the overboost condition causes the destruction of boots, hoses, head gaskets and other items meant to seal in the air.

 

Called Sherri Konnicki and left a message Thursday for her to call me in the morning. Her voice mail suggests that she may not be in the office.

 

I called Margo Austin hoping to get to Blanche the supervisor. Margo is out of the office until the 16th Her voice mail states for me to call Johnna Harris at extension 7430.

 

Called again and finally got someone. They said that they would have a supervisor call me in 2 days.

 

I drove to Williamsburg and spoke to Paul David Steely. I handed him a written copy of my 3 option demand and instructed him to get it to whoever at Ford that needed to have it. I also explained that Randy, the service advisor who was in charge of the shop when I had my initial problem refused to take my truck the first time I brought it in and told me to bring it back 10 days later that he was making me an appointment. The problem was, the truck was backfiring and quitting on the interstate coming to Williamsburg and I didn’t feel like the truck would make it to my house and back which I explained to him. At that point, I dropped the keys on the counter and told him I wasn’t getting back on the interstate in a truck that was quitting going down the road. If I was going to walk, it’d be in town where I could call someone for a ride. From that point on, we did not get along, and over the years, I haven’t gotten my service tickets from him. I requested that Paul David provide me copies of the tickets. He did provide most of the service tickets for me. I have the ticket on the original problem and 7 of the follow up tickets on the continuation of the problem. There is a service order in September of 2006 where a Ford Engineer looked at the vehicle, but I can’t seem to get a ticket on that one.

 

That evening I e-mailed my demands to Ford and received this reply on Monday.

 

 

Dear Lonnie,

 

Thank you for contacting the Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center regarding your 2004 Ford F-250.

 

The circumstances that you have outlined in your original e-mail have been given careful consideration. Our records indicate that on 11/10/2006 09:48:19 AM, you contacted the Ford Customer Relationship Center via phone and our Customer Service Representative advised you that you wil be contacted not later than Tuesday 11/14/06 by the end of business day. Please allow the requested time for the follow up to occur so that your issue may be properly addressed. If any new information regarding this matter should become available in the future, please let us know.

 

We consider the satisfaction of our customers one of our most important objectives. If you have any other inquiries or concerns, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to address them for you.

 

Sincerely,

John

Customer Relationship Center

Ford Motor Company

 

[THREAD ID:1-3779K1]

 

To date I have not received the telephone call.

[chkchka]

Geezus christ. I think I would have gone on a rampage by now. Have you ever checked into the lemon law? Also there is supposed to be a independent review board that goes over cases like this and awards settlements.

[EL TORO]

.................

Edited November 17, 2006 by EL TORO

[{CARD-SHARK}]

This thread should have went under the "To Ford Management" title.

 

If this were my truck. I should have just left it on the railroad tracks and let the insurance companies buy you a new one. THIS IS THE SHIT THAT FORD NEEDS TO WAKE UP TO OR THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE EVEN MORE MARKET SHARE!

 

A majority of dealers and their service departments are incompetent as hell, but then again look who's running this show at the top.

 

I wouldn't even consider a new Ford vehicle at this point. The service department technicans seem like they can't figure out a problem, the engineers can't either. WHAT'S THAT TELL YOU?

[Ktp1989]

This thread should have went under the "To Ford Management" title.

 

If this were my truck. I should have just left it on the railroad tracks and let the insurance companies buy you a new one. THIS IS THE SHIT THAT FORD NEEDS TO WAKE UP TO OR THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE EVEN MORE MARKET SHARE!

 

A majority of dealers and their service departments are incompetent as hell, but then again look who's running this show at the top.

 

I wouldn't even consider a new Ford vehicle at this point. The service department technicans seem like they can't figure out a problem, the engineers can't either. WHAT'S THAT TELL YOU?

Or drop it in a lake somewhere. By the way, you fingers gotta be killin you after that rant.

[Indy]

As a Ford employee, please accept my most sincere apologies. This is the kind of crap that is killing Ford Motor Company. I too have had some horrendous experiences with Ford dealerships (two of them to be exact). The dealerships are not part of Ford, but rather a sort of franchise run by independent owners. They should still be held accountable by Ford Motor Co., and the particular people who you have been dealing with should be publicly hanged in front of all other dealership owners/employees.

 

Has anyone checked the turbocharger itself? I don't remember seeing it in your post, but the 6.0 has a variable vane turbocharger. If the vanes are not adjusting correctly, this could cause the low power/stall issues that you describe.....

 

This may be a longshot, but do you have any international truck service centers in your area? You may try calling them since the PSD is an international engine. I don't know if they can do anything at all for you, and I have no idea how that works with Ford's warranty but it sounds like you have done everything else.

 

Or, you may very well have a lemon law case. I'm not sure how that works but I'd be finding out if I were you!

 

Good Luck.....

Edited November 17, 2006 by Indy

[hendew_15]

FRAT

 

FUCK

READING

ALL

THAT

[OLORD]

Dear Ford Customer, Ford Motor Company builds the BEST trucks in the world. Sadly mechanical/electrical components do fail even on new vehicles. Your problem appears to me to be an ongoing dealer service misdiagnoses problem. On behalf of all the hard working U.A.W. members we appologize and agree that this is unacceptable. I am requesting Brothers and Sisters employed at Kentucky truck and Louisville please reply and post the number or email of the U.A.W. Quality Liason in your plant. These people have the contacts to see your problem resolved. The U.A.W. will not let you down. You support us, let us support you! I wish I could do more but living in Minnesota limits my contacts. God Bless!

[KYSkipper]

I didn't type all of that at once. It's a log of sorts I've been keeping of these problems. I take notes down on that document each time I speak to someone.

 

I just printed out the thing, made copies of my service tickets, and wrote a separate letter. I'm sending it certified mail to Alan Mulally. The other copies I made have other destinations.

 

Skip

[Mister.Roboto]

You need to contact a lawyer about the lemon laws in your state.

 

Unfortunately your problem is with the 6.0L diesel. Anyone that wants a Ford diesel, I tell them to buy a USED 2003 and older 7.3L PowerStroke. There are just too many issues with the 6.0L to take the chance of buying one.

 

Now before I get flamed, YES there are many people that have NO problems with the 6.0L. Then there are others who simply cannot drive their trucks because of engine issues. The ones that have had no issues need to go buy a lottery ticket.

 

The 6.0L has done more to help Chrysler and GM trucks than anything those manufacturers could have done themsleves.

[Tony James]

I didn't type all of that at once. It's a log of sorts I've been keeping of these problems. I take notes down on that document each time I speak to someone.

 

I just printed out the thing, made copies of my service tickets, and wrote a separate letter. I'm sending it certified mail to Alan Mulally. The other copies I made have other destinations.

 

Skip

 

HiSkip,

I, too, am sorry for your unexceptable truck problems. I build f-150's in Norfolk, Virginia. Read the post just above your last one.

Hopefully, someone will give you the UAW local and name of the quality person where your truck was built. That could very well go a long way for you.

Keep posting here and keep us updated. Your experiences are unbelievable. If all this is indeed true you have been more than patient.

The third time that same problem happened to me I would have parked it at the dealer and sued everyone under the Lemon Law. You should if you can. Good luck.

If there is anyone from that plant please step up and look into it for this guy. That whole thing is disgusting.

[Jeff Colgrove]

A majority of dealers and their service departments are incompetent as hell, but then again look who's running this show at the top.

 

 

A statement from someone who has no clue........you built it, does that make you incompetent? We sell it, does that make us responsible to reengineer a vehicle to acceptable working level? We don't work for Ford, you do.

 

We at Dealership level were the first to get the good ol' Ford F*ckin.

 

How do you expect Dealerships to repair things Ford designed that don't work? We call the "not so Hot line", and they tell us to call them back when we figure it out.

 

We don't get paid for finding nothing, only for the repair and its typically half what it costs us to do it.

 

I also will not take on someone elses "problem"..... it is a lose your ass and $ losing proposition from the get go. Do you work for free?

 

We don't build them, we don't engineer them, and you are right, some we can't repair. BUT it's not our fault.

 

I have heard many consumers say "Im gonna call Ford", my standard answer is "you might as well get a quarter and try to call God, it will do about as much good". Im not trying to be an asshole, its the truth. They don't help us, and they don't help the consumer.

 

I feel sorry for the fella with the lemon, but I see it all the time.

 

This is why the Company is in the shape its in. Once you buy it, its your problem. What a shame.

 

Put the blame where it is due. FORD. They know they have junk, they sell it anyway, and then its your problem.....Proof in the above post.

[ilovemoney]

This thread should have went under the "To Ford Management" title.

 

If this were my truck. I should have just left it on the railroad tracks and let the insurance companies buy you a new one. THIS IS THE SHIT THAT FORD NEEDS TO WAKE UP TO OR THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE EVEN MORE MARKET SHARE!

 

A majority of dealers and their service departments are incompetent as hell, but then again look who's running this show at the top.

 

I wouldn't even consider a new Ford vehicle at this point. The service department technicans seem like they can't figure out a problem, the engineers can't either. WHAT'S THAT TELL YOU?

 

 

lets see what would happen if one of those customer service reps had a much vehicle issues as this...would it get handled?

 

If you need help call 1-800-WHAA-WHAA-WHAA! Or better yet go to www.crymeariver.com

 

why don't you call 1-800-SHUTTHEFUCKUP

[KYSkipper]

I tend to agree with Jeff.

 

Way too many things on the 6.0 Liters were not fully tested and ready to go when the engine hit the streets. Ford immediately went from having arguably the most reliable diesel in the busines to the most unreliable. Heck, even Chevrolet finally put out a diesel that was semi reliable and that is a major stretch given their history with diesels.

 

These 6.0 trucks have a ton of things on them that is frankly nothing more than piss poor engineering. Simple things like the fuel filter. Why in God's name is that under the truck, turned sideways and poised to dump a quart of fuel on whoever has to change the filter? It's an electric pump with a filter housing, it could have been located on the tailgate for all intensive purposes, yet it's under there where to screw out that filter cap take 10 minutes unless you first go to the trouble of removing the driveshaft so you can actually get a wrench on it and be able to turn the wrench more than 1/16th of a turn before flipping it over to get a different angle on the nut.

 

The EGR system and turbo were neither one ready to go in an engine for sale. They redesigned the EGR system how many times in the first 2 years? 5? 6? The 05 Turbos have increase clearances from the engine to alleviate a problem there. I wonder if they even test drove these rigs before they went on the market?

 

The 7.3 trucks are fairly easy to work on. Open the hood, you can get to most of it without a lot of aggrivation. Look at Dodge's Cummins, it's the same way. Chevy's Duramax is the same way. You can actually see down the side of the motor. This 6.0 is a whole other animal. When procedures to work on the motor require removing the cab from the frame of the truck, that's ridiculous. Someone should have thought that out some more.

 

I know they built these things with the idea of forcing customers to go to dealers for service. Problem is, when it takes 14 days in my case, to fix a truck and you have 3 or 4 others just like it in the garage with similar issues taking the same amount of time someone is going to get sore at someone.

 

I think if you are going to build something that darn complicated, you ought to have a Super Service Center somewhere like UPS does. An engine goes down in one of these trucks and it's going to take a week to fix it at best, have the local dealer remove the engine and put a loaner in the truck. Crate up the bad engine and ship it to a location that has the highest skilled mechanics and engineers available. Fix it and send it back to the dealer to put back in the truck.

 

The thing is, this is Ford's Warranty, not the dealership's warranty and Ford designed, built and marketed it.

 

Skip

[Jeff Colgrove]

Your problem appears to me to be an ongoing dealer service misdiagnoses problem.

 

 

Here we go again. These trucks have been nothing but problems at Dealer levels. I would like to see the Nationwide buyback numbers......thousands of engines replaced, and Ford cant repair them......

 

We have been replacing turbos, hoses, DPFE's, repairing wiring, EGR valves, you name in. Fords answer to everything is to reflash the PCM, any idea how many reflashes Ford has had?......They have no idea how to repair these things...

 

And its a Dealer problem?

 

Any Dealership Technician working on these has been certified by Ford to make the repairs. If a non-certed Tech works on it Ford wont pay. If you dont have a certed Tech, you cant work on it.

 

Give me a f*cking break. You guys have the wool pulled so far over your eyes you are going to start growing a coat.....This is and has been a Ford engineering problem for 4 years now....

 

Period.

[Stir the Pot !]

Burn the thing and buy Jap

[Jeff Colgrove]

And Thanks KYskipper, I am right. Been living the nightmare for 4 years now.

 

Some we can't fix, we call for Ford to send an engineer, and they can't fix them either.

 

I did not get into the assembly line problems we see (wiring harnesses pinched ect), but I really take a case of the ass when we get blamed for this piece of shit.....

 

Advice, get your original selling Dealer involved. They can initiate a buyback. Get to arbitration. Looks to me like you have the documentation to fight them. And its a damn shame you have to "fight" them.

Edited November 17, 2006 by Jeff Colgrove

[KYSkipper]

we call for Ford to send an engineer, and they can't fix them either.

 

Ford sent a little prissy engineer to look at mine about a year ago. This little guy, IMO, had never owned a pickup truck in his life. He asked me to come drive it for him and show him what it was doing.

 

I went down to the dealership and we all got in to go for a ride. My problem is and has been no power to pull out and loosing power on hills. I reved it up to about 1800 rpm's and dropped the clutch. You'd have expected it to launch itself, it didn't, it barley even with my foot on the floor rolled out of the parking lot onto the highway and took about 600 feet before it finally broke loose and took off. The engineer turned toward me and asked, "What's wrong with it?" IMO, he didn't have enough sense to figure out where to start working on it.

 

I think one of the biggest problems today is Ford thinks these computers are going to solve everything. The problem is, a vehicle is not MS Word or some other computer software, it's a mechanical device. Sure, you can monitor the dickens out of it with a computer, and it might help, but the basics of mechanics still apply. Techs are being trained by the factory to rely 100% on the computer to test and diagnose. When the computer doesn't find a problem, none must exist. Unfortunately, that's not the case most of the time. I'm not even entirely convinced my computer is working right to start with. I has been reflashed at a minimum of 15 times since I've owned it. Several times we have found it defaulting back to the failsafe program, but they even refuse to replace even the computer modules.

 

Skipper

[x2bfordwkr]

December 17 2003 Purchased truck from Paul Steely Ford. The truck was originally shipped to Ramey Ford in Johnson City, Tennessee and was found on the Ford computer system’s vehicle locator. Steely’s Ford did a dealer trade to get it. I went with Paul to pick it up in Johnson City and drive it back to Williamsburg. It had something like 14 miles on it when I left Ramey’s in Johnson City. It was a new vehicle not used.

 

Chronology of Problems with truck

 

8-30-2004

 

Headed to my grandfather’s funeral in London, Kentucky on I-75. As I began to accelerate off of the Exit 25 Northbound ramp the engine began detonated twice. I considered parking it then, but I only had an hour to get to the funeral home where I’d been given paul bearer duties. The entire trip to London the truck bucked, refused to run at interstate speeds and several times the engine quit but was started back by the transmission as it rolled down the road. I took it to Paul Steely Ford that evening for repairs. They replaced the DPFE sensor and VGT Control. See RO 11248

 

I picked up truck about 10 days after that and it had a nagging lope in the engine. Running at speed it did not run smoothly. It also had an extreme loss of power compared to what it had originally. I returned the truck to Steely Ford the next week and they reflashed the computer. I do not have a ticket on this trip from the garage.

 

When I picked up truck again and the lope was less noticeable but the engine had lost power. On hills that it previously pulled in 3rd gear, I would now have to downshift to 2nd and at times 1st. I figured that I would drive the truck for a while and hope that whatever was wrong with it would go ahead and break so it would be easier to find. By December it had gotten extremely poor in it’s performance and I scheduled an appointment to have it worked on again. On Jan 18th the truck was put into the shop. Service technician test drove and observed the low power condition and the constant surging. This time the EBP and EGR valve were replaced as both were clogged with carbon. See RO 11732

 

Feb 22, 2005

 

Experienced problems with fuel filter and pump system on the bottom frame rail. Truck would not start and had to be towed to the dealership. Pump Water separator housing replaced. RO 11896

 

Picked up truck and it ran fair for a few weeks although not as good as it had prior to the initial problem then went back to the same low power condition. I continued to drive it hoping it would either straighten out or break and make the problem obvious.

 

By May, the truck had completely lost power and would hardly pull out into the road from a stop. I scheduled an appointment in June. Again the VGT solenoid was replaced. RO12380

 

The truck was not any better when I picked it up than it was when I took it in, so I took it back in July at the next scheduled appointment. Tech could not find a problem after running computer tests although the truck did have low power driveability issues. RO12503

 

8-24-2005 Back in shop again with same complaint. The technician contacted the hotline and requested an engineer inspect the truck. They did some tests on it but could not find the problem. The engineer requested I come down and show them what it was doing, so I went to drive the technician. I spooled the engine up in the parking lot and dropped the clutch. The truck barley rolled from the parking lot entrance to well past the first red light before the engine picked up power and took off. The EGR valve was replaced again.

 

3-20-2006 Returned to dealership with same low power complaint. They found a recall on the program for the computer and recalibrated the computer. This did not solve the low power issue and I finally decided that I would have to live with that. RO 13255

 

In Late May of 2006 The low power problem, In My Opinion, began to manifest itself in another way. Intermittently, the engine would be almost super powered. When that happened, it would blow the turbo boot hose off. I stopped in the dealership with the hose blown off and they put the hose back on. I made it less than 3 miles from the dealership before the boot blew off again. I called and they said that they would order a new boot. It turns out that Ford had a redesigned boot to replace the original boot complete with a new pipe. Dealer said they would call when the parts arrived as they had to be ordered. No ticket was made on this service.

 

By mid June approximately 2 weeks later, nobody had called, so I called and asked and was told they still yet did not have the boot. This seemed rather odd to me that it had took over 3 weeks for a Ford Dealer to order a rubber hose from Ford. Meanwhile I was having to drive my 1995 F250 which doesn’t have an operational air conditioner. Over that weekend, I decided I was going to put the boot back on myself or roast one in that older truck, so I re installed it and tightened the fool out of the clamps on the hose. I also tightened the other clamps on the other hoses in the same system. I found I had to retighten the hoses every 2 or 3 days or one or the other would fall off.

 

The truck seemed to run a little better for that couple of weeks, but I still wanted a new hose to give me piece of mind that my truck was dependable to be on the road in. I called the dealership again and found out that the Service Manager had left and the new guy knew nothing about my hose. He said he’d get one. I thought over a month is a bit long to wait on a hose, so I called Ford’s Customer Non-Service.

 

I finally spoke to Sherri Konicki at 1 866 631-3788 Ex 7385. She said that she would look into the problem as well as the alternating low power and over power issues and see what could be done. She said she would call me back. She called me during my lunch hour and when I returned, I returned her telephone call to get her voicemail which states, “Leave a message and I will return your phone call within 24 hours.†So I left a message.

 

2 Days later, I’d received no phone call so I called and left another message.

 

2 more days and no return call so I left another message.

 

The next week, I called daily leaving messages. At this point, My truck is still not fixed and it’s mid July driving my farm truck with no AC in it. By the weekend, I’d had no return phone calls from either Sherri or the Dealership.

 

The next Monday, I called Sherri every hour leaving a message and got no response yet.

 

Tuesday morning, I recruited some friends to help me call Sherri and leave messages for her to call me back. I believe I was told that she got 168 messages that morning to call me. Maybe that was a tad overboard, and I shouldn’t have done it, but any business person should return their phone calls. I don’t know what else would be expected other than an Irate customer who can’t get a simple phone call.

 

I believe I was patient enough trying to work with Ford over the 2 year time period and multiple visits to the dealership to fix my problem.

 

Finally David at 1 866 631 3788 Ex 7302 called me back and informed me that he was taking over for Sherri. He told me flat out off the bat to not ever call Ford again. Then he threatened to have me charged with Harassment for placing so many telephone calls to Sherri. To say the least, I was quite upset over that threat. I asked David who I should call to get service on my Ford truck, Possibly General Motors? I said it in a sarcastic way. David said, “I consider that to be a threat.†He listened to a little bit of my problem and eventually told me, “The thing for you to do might be to purchase a Chevrolet.†I replied that I might very well do that. He said that he considered that a threat and hung up on me.

 

Eventually, the dealership called and told me the boot was in to come get it.

 

I did, but when I picked up the truck, the low power condition was definitely still there. There is a traffic light at the corner of the dealership’s property and when I got to it, I was the 2nd vehicle back from the red light. When it turned green, I released the clutch and stepped on the fuel pedal. The light turned yellow before the truck managed to pick up power and roll through the light. I turned around and returned to the dealership and told them it was not fixed. I understand that a Ford engineer looked at the truck while it was in the shop this time and the EGR valve was replaced again, but I was not provided with a service order for this visit.

 

I returned to the dealership and spoke with the Owner’s Father who oversee’s the dealership. I was told that my truck was fixed, nothing was wrong with it and they had done all they were going to do for it and not to bring it back. I told him that since it was fixed and he had a new truck on his lot, that I’d like to trade for the new truck to make me a price. He said with the mechanical history on my truck, he would not be willing to trade for it at all as with it’s problems he would not be able to sell it.

 

That week I was in Richmond Kentucky inspecting property for a client and attempted to trade it at a dealership there. They ran the computer report on the truck and they too would not trade for it. At that point, I realized that I owned a truck that I could not trust to drive on trips out of town, could not sell, and would be stuck with.

 

This low power problem is getting worse and worse and it is a dangerous safety issue. In September it stalled 4 times trying to pull out of a driveway onto a side street in Corbin. I would let the clutch out and give it fuel like normal and it would just quit. I stopped by Falls Ford in Corbin since I was in Corbin at the time and asked if they would hook it to their computer and see what was wrong with it. They said that since I bought it from the dealership in Williamsburg, I should take it there and since I’d had so many problems with it they were unwilling to get involved with the truck. The truck stalled 6 to 8 times before I was able to get it out of their parking lot and onto the highway. The next day my adjuster and I went to look at a fire loss in Woodbine, KY and the truck stalled twice on the CSX railroad tracks. These are a double set of tracks coming into the largest yard between Knoxville and Cincinnati. It is a very busy set of tracks. This is a very dangerous situation and nobody at Ford or their dealerships seems to want to see to it that the truck I purchased is the one they advertised and not the ill performing clunker that I have.

 

I called Customer service again and asked to speak to a supervisor.

 

Blanche who identified herself as a supervisor called me back at approximately noon on 10-5-2006. She took information and said she would call me back

 

Blanche called back that afternoon and said that Margo will call me tomorrow and Sherri would take over Monday and call me then.

 

Lucretia Sutherlin Called a 4:58 pm on Monday said Ford would be doing nothing to fix my truck and that it was in perfect working order. This on a truck that a week prior to that was stalling out on railroad tracks.

 

Lucretia Sutherlin Called at 10:20 am and instructed me to take the truck to Paul Steeley for Service. I told her that in my conversation with Margo Austin on Friday I had given specific instructions on what sort of repair I would accept and that nothing short of that would be acceptable. Before I took this truck in, I would have to be assured that the instructions I gave would be followed to the letter. That includes Replacing the engine with a brand new, not rebuilt, not remanufactured engine. All pieces and parts would have to be new. The clutch would have to be replaced as well since the faulty engine is causing it to wear prematurely. All computers and wiring harnesses would also need to be replaced. I specifically told her that I was not interested in any repair that did not involve that list.

 

I also told her that Blanche the Supervisor had given my case to Sherri Koniki and I expected the call I was promised on Thursday.

 

Margo Austin – Customer Service Calling Tomorrow

1866 631 3788 Ex 7420

 

Called Friday discussed problems with truck. We discussed it’s problems for the better part of an hour. Margo talked as if I might be due a replacement vehicle or a buy back.

 

Sherri Konicki- Will Call Thursday October 12th 1 866 631 3788 7385

 

Sherri Called Oct 12th and said that Ford would offer me a discount on the purchase of a new truck but would not buy mine back. I don’t see the advantage of this since my truck has been refused as a trade in by 2 dealers. Sherri said Ford would not guarantee the trade in. I told Sherri to get me a price on the difference before I would even consider this offer.

 

Sherri called back Oct 17th to see if I was interested in the discount on the new vehicle. I said I still do not have enough information. I don’t know what they plan to give me for mine. She said she understood but was argumentative when I pointed out that unless Ford was guaranteeing a fair value for mine, this deal wasn’t going to fly and I am still stuck with this p.o.s. truck that nobody seems to be able to fix. I mentioned that it was currently leaking something in my driveway.

 

Nov 2nd, Stopped by Dave Damron’s to have my oil changed and check on leak. Leak appears to be antifreeze coming from rear of engine on the passenger side. It was 2 gallons low on coolant which we filled to the mark on the bottle.

 

Sunday Nov 5th, drove truck to south interchange and back. Coolant leak was audible. I could hear it dropping down. Inspected and found coolant pouring out of the bell housing area of the transmission. Starter appeared to be soaked with coolant, and it appeared to be coming from somewhere on the engine block above the starter toward the head. Too much junk in the way to see exactly where it was coming from.

 

Nov 6th, dropped truck off at Steely’s to be fixed. They said they wouldn’t touch it till Thursday.

 

Went to check on it Thursday November 9th. The current issue is a bad EGR cooler that has leaked antifreeze into various parts of the engine and onto the ground. EGR coolers tend to get damaged when the turbo is overboosting the system because it’s vanes are not correctly positioned. The technician told me he would be replacing the hose for the cooler, but would have to disassemble the engine to clean the antifreeze out of where it’s not supposed to be, put it back together and give it back to me. I expressed my opinion that so long as the root cause of things like EGR cooler hoses coming loose, turbo boot failures and the like is not addressed and repaired, those things will continue to happen. In my opinion, this and all of the other issues are being caused by the sticking turbo charger alternating between closed and wide open. When it sticks wide open, the pressure from the overboost condition causes the destruction of boots, hoses, head gaskets and other items meant to seal in the air.

 

Called Sherri Konnicki and left a message Thursday for her to call me in the morning. Her voice mail suggests that she may not be in the office.

 

I called Margo Austin hoping to get to Blanche the supervisor. Margo is out of the office until the 16th Her voice mail states for me to call Johnna Harris at extension 7430.

 

Called again and finally got someone. They said that they would have a supervisor call me in 2 days.

 

I drove to Williamsburg and spoke to Paul David Steely. I handed him a written copy of my 3 option demand and instructed him to get it to whoever at Ford that needed to have it. I also explained that Randy, the service advisor who was in charge of the shop when I had my initial problem refused to take my truck the first time I brought it in and told me to bring it back 10 days later that he was making me an appointment. The problem was, the truck was backfiring and quitting on the interstate coming to Williamsburg and I didn’t feel like the truck would make it to my house and back which I explained to him. At that point, I dropped the keys on the counter and told him I wasn’t getting back on the interstate in a truck that was quitting going down the road. If I was going to walk, it’d be in town where I could call someone for a ride. From that point on, we did not get along, and over the years, I haven’t gotten my service tickets from him. I requested that Paul David provide me copies of the tickets. He did provide most of the service tickets for me. I have the ticket on the original problem and 7 of the follow up tickets on the continuation of the problem. There is a service order in September of 2006 where a Ford Engineer looked at the vehicle, but I can’t seem to get a ticket on that one.

 

That evening I e-mailed my demands to Ford and received this reply on Monday.

Dear Lonnie,

 

Thank you for contacting the Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center regarding your 2004 Ford F-250.

 

The circumstances that you have outlined in your original e-mail have been given careful consideration. Our records indicate that on 11/10/2006 09:48:19 AM, you contacted the Ford Customer Relationship Center via phone and our Customer Service Representative advised you that you wil be contacted not later than Tuesday 11/14/06 by the end of business day. Please allow the requested time for the follow up to occur so that your issue may be properly addressed. If any new information regarding this matter should become available in the future, please let us know.

 

We consider the satisfaction of our customers one of our most important objectives. If you have any other inquiries or concerns, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to address them for you.

 

Sincerely,

John

Customer Relationship Center

Ford Motor Company

 

[THREAD ID:1-3779K1]

 

To date I have not received the telephone call.

u sould have bought a toyota or dodge sorry about your luck

[inspect96]

Skip, sorry for your problems!! I work at KTP and we made your junk. Here are some numbers that may help. someone wrote that the UAW will help you, I dont know if they will but here goes

 

UAW local 862 502-241-9491 Rocky Cominito president

the plant number is 502-429-2688 Mike Abel is the chairman and Livie Eldridge is the quality rep

fax 502-241-9365

 

Todd Bryant is the Ford Plant Manager of KTP 502-429-2000

 

Hope this helps!!

[end of time]

A statement from someone who has no clue........you built it, does that make you incompetent? We sell it, does that make us responsible to reengineer a vehicle to acceptable working level? We don't work for Ford, you do.

 

We at Dealership level were the first to get the good ol' Ford F*ckin.

 

How do you expect Dealerships to repair things Ford designed that don't work? We call the "not so Hot line", and they tell us to call them back when we figure it out.

 

We don't get paid for finding nothing, only for the repair and its typically half what it costs us to do it.

 

I also will not take on someone elses "problem"..... it is a lose your ass and $ losing proposition from the get go. Do you work for free?

 

We don't build them, we don't engineer them, and you are right, some we can't repair. BUT it's not our fault.

 

I have heard many consumers say "Im gonna call Ford", my standard answer is "you might as well get a quarter and try to call God, it will do about as much good". Im not trying to be an asshole, its the truth. They don't help us, and they don't help the consumer.

 

I feel sorry for the fella with the lemon, but I see it all the time.

 

This is why the Company is in the shape its in. Once you buy it, its your problem. What a shame.

 

Put the blame where it is due. FORD. They know they have junk, they sell it anyway, and then its your problem.....Proof in the above post.

Dealers need to get a clue. I work with a bunch of good ol boys who can fix anything. I mean anything. Dealers just don't get it. Having never worked at one I do not know what their issues are. But I believe Ford would be better off getting rid of their dealers and selling and fixing the cars and trucks theirselves. I once took a car back for warranty work and I knew the service mgr. Man they did a great job. He got fed up and went to toyota dealership, it wasn't ford it was the dealership owner. So if a dealership cant handle it ford should take away their business.PERIOD.

[Tony James]

Skip, sorry for your problems!! I work at KTP and we made your junk. Here are some numbers that may help. someone wrote that the UAW will help you, I dont know if they will but here goes

 

UAW local 862 502-241-9491 Rocky Cominito president

the plant number is 502-429-2688 Mike Abel is the chairman and Livie Eldridge is the quality rep

fax 502-241-9365

 

Todd Bryant is the Ford Plant Manager of KTP 502-429-2000

 

Hope this helps!!

 

Thanks inspect96 I was hoping sonmeone from your plant would come here to help

[inspect96]

I just work on the line bud so I dont travel to fix trucks. We also have a Navistar Rep in the plant that works on the engines if the repairman cant fix a issue. The union may put you in touch with one of them.

[Jeff Colgrove]

P.S. If your "good ol boys" can fix these 6.0`s, you better offer them up to Ford engineering, not the Dealers....... :slap:

Why does it become the Dealers responsibility to re engineer an obvious Ford F up?. These things were grenading right off the carriers.......and WE are responsible? Right.

 

But I believe Ford would be better off getting rid of their dealers and selling and fixing the cars and trucks theirselves.

 

 

Their goes your mouth instead of your brain again. You have no clue.

 

Ford made an attempt about 4 years ago to buy stores and start Ford owned and operated Auto Malls, and they started repair facilities in Texas called Joe Autos, also Ford run and managed. They ALL went tits up within a year.

 

Ford proved they could not run stores or repair facilities.

 

Do some research before you run on at the mouth about something you know nothing about.

 

:slap:

Edited November 18, 2006 by Jeff Colgrove

[JW]

I'm with Jeff on this one. If the manufacturer can't even fix it, what are the techs supposed to do? The dealer problem isn't necessarily with the mechanics as much as it is with the management that blows off the customer repeatedly.