I have a 2 year old Company Mondeo Ghia X TDCi which has suffered a multitude of problems from new.Last month the rear brakes caught fire whilst my wife was driving my two boys to a party.The problem was sliders/caliper related and repaired under warranty.I wrote to Ford pointing out that for a car costing circa £21k the build quality was poor.Ford responded by offering to pay for the next service as a good will gesture.As a Company owned vehicle I get no benefit from this so I asked Ford if I could transfer the free service to my wife's Focus. Ford agreed (over the phone) and asked I should arrange with the main dealer.The Focus was duly serviced yesterday and Ford then refused to pay, saying they have no record of the agreement to swop the service and it is not Company policy to do so.They have refused to change their mind today and the main agent who is wholly on my side has got nowhere with Ford.I am now a VERY annoyed customer.Do any of you wise people have any suggestions as to how I should proceed as I am not letting go of this issue.
Mutley
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Hi
Did you keep a record of your conversations over the phone to Ford? It's frustatingly hard to prove anything that was agreed over the phone. The best thing you can do is keep a record of all the calls and demand anything you agree in writing.
The problem with hese call-centres is that the person on the other end is so busy they forget to take your request through, or just tell you things to keep you happy and off the line!
Having had no experience of Ford I don't really know what you can do next, I'm sure someone will be along soon!
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Thanks for the note.Regrettably the "swop" is the only part of the sorry tale that is not in writing but given that Ford are committed in writing to providing a free service and the agent never queried it, I had no cause to question the phone information, especially given the history of problems.I thought very mistakenly that Ford Customer Care was designed to keep customers happy not aggravate them. We live and learn.
Mutley
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Can't the dealer fiddle the paperwork?
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Mutley,
Why did the brakes catch fire? How? What other problems have you encountered?
Same for a TDDi ?
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The list is quite extensive and is as follows;
Water leak in the boot due to a faulty seam in the roof.
Defective proportional valve in the braking system(only found during an emergency stop on the M6)
Defective rear caliper which appears to have caused the rear brakes to catch fire.
Defective headlamp levelling on o/s.
Constant and very audible rattle in n/s C pillar.
Rattle in dash.
Windows rattle when open.
Crank shaft pulley replaced twice due to defective compensator.
Engine management system failed.
Won't start from time to time, as already mentioned.
Rear view mirror rattles and now wedged in place with card.
Rear o/s door lock failed to open from inside the car.
Glove box lock broke.
Stainless steel wheel nut covers dropped off.
Apart from that it's near perfect apart from the paint that has worn off the interior door pull handles and the wind noise around the B pillars which I am told can be put right at £150 per door seal.
The car has now done 63k miles but on the plus side is a joy to drive is very practical for family use and has returned an average of 57 MPG since new.This is not a car that has been driven hard as the fuel comsumption demonstrates and spends much of its time on motorways.
However most of the faults I suggest are not down to bad luck but poor build.
Mutley
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As far as most companies and businesses go:
If you dont have it in writing, it never happened and was never offered.
If you dont have a persons full name they never spoke to you.
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With reference to Fords offer to you. They won?t do this.
You are not the owner of the car, your firm or leasing company is. Any recompense should be directed at the owner of the car, not you. Further, Ford will be in trouble with the owner of the car for offering YOU inducements, and YOU will be in trouble with the tax man for receiving them. (as you suffered no financial loss, a free service on your wife?s car is therefore another ?benefit?)
This is not for you to sort out, this is for the owner of the car to pursue and for them to ensure you are not inconvenienced and have the transport you require or pay (through tax or private usage charges) for.
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Totally agree with RF.
Mutley has no business demanding free services from Ford. Its not his car.
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Dealt with Ford customer services on two occasions for two different cars.
Takes a bit of time & persistence, but eventually they come up with a good solution.
Because of the backup from Ford, I have absolutely no quarms about buying another Ford, despite the dealers being unhelpful till Ford themselves get involved with probs.
My 1999 Mondeo, although I've had a couple of problems has been a very satisfying car to own.
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The issue is that Ford offered the free service out of the blue as compense for the hassle.I did not ask for it and they agreed to transfer the benefit.
Only when the bill was submitted did they refuse to pay.
However following a fax to the MD's personal fax number the matter has magically been sorted.
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I have a 2 year old Ghia X TDCi and have also had a problem with the rear brakes binding caused by the handbake actuation lever return springs (on the back of the caliper) not quite returing the lever to the fully off position thus allowing the brake to bind. I noticed a squealing well before fire ensued though heat had been generated to the exetent that the wheel was hot to the touch. After this had occured on the n/s/r wheel three times in a year the caliper was replaced under warranty, subsequently I have experinced the same problem once more on both rear wheels. I have(carefully) applied some WD40 to the actuation lever pivot points plus ensured that the springs are corretly positioned. Seems like a pair of slightly shorter and perhaps stronger springs are the answer.
Although I have had one or two problems with this car I have been happy witn Ford's support, the Customer Services dept Based in Glasgow are most helpful.
My car is my own not a company car however I have sympathy with the view that the driver of a company car should be the recpient of compensation as opposed to the owner. 1/ It is the driver that has been inconvienienced. 2/ The car is part of his remuneration and on the basis of paying benefit in kind tax he can expect for it to be avaialible to him 24/365. 3/ The dealer / manufacturer would not have benefited from the sale of the car had the driver not specified the particular car in question.
Regards.
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I had exactly the same symptoms with squeeking brakes.This was identified by the agent as a faulty proportional valve but the brakes then caught fire.The main agent concluded the sliders were faulty and replaced these along with the damaged pads disks etc but not ther Caliper.Having had my wife and two sons nearly cooked I was then on high alert and noticed again that the o/s hub got hooter than the n/s.
The main agent was not too concerned but having " gone mad" in the showroom they doid agree to put the car on the hoist there and then.
It was then whooly apparent that the n/s wheel span freely but the o/s did not and it was agreed the caliper could only be at fault .This has been replaced and the problem is cured......except that I now appear to have a faulty wheel bearing and its going in again next week.
Apart from the problems I have no faith now in the agent as only by going mad with them did I eventually solve the problem.
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