Muskoka

I know this isn't a Ford forum, but decided it might be interesting for some of you anyways.

Dealerships. I hate dealerships. In my opinion, they pretend to try to help, but really try to suck as much money out of you as possible. Whether this is providing more "service" than agreed upon, or trying to weasel out of warranty claims. Regardless of the brand, they all seem to do the same thing.

A few months ago, I bought a used Ford Fiesta ST as a winter/commuter car. It's been pretty fun so far. It has warranty, and even if it didn't, Fords are pretty cheap to repair.

Yesterday, I accelerate from a stop, merging onto a main street. It was in the morning, and it was very wet out. There was no wheel hop. I let out the clutch, and BANG. The car goes nowhere. It won't move in any gear. Can easily go into any gear, but sounds like sand paper and marbles getting shaken around when I let the clutch out. Original thoughts are it's either:
1) axles/driveshaft
2) grenade clutch
3) transmission blew.
Anyways, it gets towed to the dealer, and the tow truck driver said it wasn't axles. "Clutch grenading so it can't grab at all" scenario seemed unlikely, so I thought it was the transmission.

This is the first time I'm going into the Dealer, so I'm a little worried. They have no background on me, or the car, and they are just seeing dollars go out the window for a warranty claim. So I know they don't want to warranty it. Firstly, they tell me it's the clutch, and as a wear item, I will likely be responsible (if it was the clutch, how would it not grab at all? didn't make sense). Then they look a little deeper and the clutch is fine. Now, they tell me it's the "Axle Bearing". My first thought is, "well, that's not a wear item, so at least it will be under warranty.

Wrong. They are saying that they've never seen an axle break in this place, and thus, it must be because it was damaged in extreme use (hit a curb at 80km/h, or doing burnouts - neither of these make any sense for a number of reasons). Therefore, no warranty.

So, I'm battling with these guys still, but it looks like I'm going to be out of pocket for an obviously faulty part. Ugh.

Another brand. Another dealership experience. Another stealership. The world keeps turning.

Imo000

Contact Ford Canada get them into the loop. The dealer supposed to contact them anyways unless they just don't want to do the work. They are obligated to do warranty work regardless if they like it or now. They get reimbursed by Ford Canada but the rates are fixed so the profit is a lot less than other normal repairs so many don't like doing warranty work. Since the car is an ST model, they are supposed to be built for heavier use than the normal ones.

Muskoka

Excellent point. I've sent a message to Ford Canada detailing my issue.

It just doesn't make any sense to me that they can deny a warranty claim because they haven't seen one break like this before, therefore, it must be something I did. Such a sketchy reason.

CamsPorsche

I second contacting Ford Canada. We had issues like this on our last Explorer and it was promptly taken care of by Ford Canada.

Gregster

First rule, never listen to tow truck drivers.

second speak with the service manager asking then to pull the data logs from the ECU proving their "extreme use" theory. Ford will ask for these once they get involved, the dealership needs to provide actual proof. Dealerships always make it sound as if they are doing you a favor for honoring the warranty... I'd tell them that if the car hit a curb at 80kph there would be MUCH more damage than just and axle shaft hanger.. Burnouts? Easy to see from tire wear. Remember this, the car is marketed and sold as "performance" based if the car is on stock power levels then components should hold up.

docdrs

Chris R.

As a former car dealership owner and operator, you should know that we GET PAID for warranty. If we can pass it on warranty, we will for sure. That charge (labour and parts) gets refunded by the manufacturer. That said, the only times I have seen (or broken myself) broken axles is driver error or a copious amount of extra power (we broke axles on our race civic that had 370whp).
Also, a new axles is about $80 plus an hour to install....not exactly a big deal, as you stated in your original post.

Good luck.

Maitre_Absolut

I guess the car wasn't lady driven as advertised....

BIG smoke

Muskoka - I too have been burned by dealers. My X5 was making catastrophic noises after an oil change and oil cooler repair. 200 kms after repair, oil starvation and threw the bearings off of cylinder #1 and #2 rods.
I contacted BMW corporate 15 minutes after the news. I was told it was a dealership issue. So, they washed their hand of me.
Dealership then asked me to "authorize diagnoses". What does authorize entail? 20 hours for engine removal. or $4k into a billion pieces. I was accused of "being negligent on my servicing?". Car still has warranty, and every service was done on time and at your dealership?

What I would recommend is face to face negotiations, full written summaries of any conversations and email back up of any work recommended. I'm sure they "want" to help, As Chris o/o, above suggested. But really? Any problem is downloaded to the customer.
Guilty, until proven innocent.

petee1997

This seems strange. How many kms and how old is the vehicle? If what you say is correct, it's time to lawyer up.

Imo000

So what happened at the end? Did you get BMW Canada involved AGAIN?

BIG smoke

Not trying to derail Muskoka's tread. Just trying to share my experience.

Petee - to answer your question, five years old with extended warranty, 96,000kms at the time. They put in a new engine in the end, but after I proved my innocents. To add insult to injury. Upon picking up my car. I commented that my vehicle was rinsed and not clean. And when I say clean, the night before I dropped it off, I cleaned and shampooed the whole car, including the engine, wash and Armour all'ed all the mats. When I, (politely ) suggested to the service manager that it should have been returned, after 58 days, cleaned and detailed. His wording will forever be burned in my memory... "right now, I just want to punch you in the face".
I have told that story to the dealership O/O, BMW canada, BMWUSA, customer relation & services USA and Canada. No one cares.
I'm not an irate person, I don't want anything. And really, I don't know if there is anything to fix?

O/P - keep calm, do your research, get the facts, and get it all in writing. Someone leave you a voicemail? Keep it on file.
Once you have settled on a plan, go in and see the failure. Especially if you are paying. If you are paying, they are your parts, keep them until the bitterness fades. If you are doing this work at the dealership, and there is a later found issue with this vehicle, you maybe able to claim this expense back against ford. If you have an indy do the work? You will have difficulty getting your money back?
As above? $8o drive shaft, pay and ague later. Grenaded tranny, clutch and bell housing? Call in the big guns.

AWDGuy

"you get 1 swing. Then I get to defend myself"

petee1997

After your experience, I would never deal with that dealership again and most probably never buy another BMW. As a matter of fact, your story is enough to keep me away from Bimmers in the future.

theiceman

Im thinking dealership had to eat that engine and it hit service managers pocket book