Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge

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Fri 22 Sep 2017 19:29
Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge - rwilson
Hi all,

After some advice please. Apart from appalling customer service I have an issue with charges ford are trying to apply. In Feb this year I purchased an automatic 3yr old kuga with FSH and 17,500 miles on clock. Also purchased 3yr extended warranty. Six weeks ago whilst driving there was a huge bang under the car followed by rattling noise. Garage have said bolt has become loose which has caused irreparable damage to gearbox and gearbox casing. Underwriters will not pay out on warranty as they have said cause is not mechanical failure. Ford manufactuer have offered to contribe £708 to cost of repair which is £5000 plus. Car now has 23,500 miles on clock. I think this is outrageous and haven't got that kind of money spare. Where do I stand legally? Is car not fit for purpose? Any help really appreciate

Tia

Rachel
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Sat 23 Sep 2017 00:15
Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge - RobJP
Hi all, After some advice please. Apart from appalling customer service I have an issue with charges ford are trying to apply. In Feb this year I purchased an automatic 3yr old kuga with FSH and 17,500 miles on clock. Also purchased 3yr extended warranty. Six weeks ago whilst driving there was a huge bang under the car followed by rattling noise. Garage have said bolt has become loose which has caused irreparable damage to gearbox and gearbox casing. Underwriters will not pay out on warranty as they have said cause is not mechanical failure. Ford manufactuer have offered to contribe £708 to cost of repair which is £5000 plus. Car now has 23,500 miles on clock. I think this is outrageous and haven't got that kind of money spare. Where do I stand legally? Is car not fit for purpose? Any help really appreciate Tia Rachel

The warranty company will have an appeals process, go through that. If it is still rejected, then they will have an Ombudsman process. Go through that.

The car is outside the original Ford warranty, so you've got no real grounds to claim off them as not fit for purpose. Technically, you might be able to go down the route of goods not lasting a 'reasonable time', but you'd probably have a court battle on your hands, which could cost thousands more with no guarantee of winning.

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Wed 27 Sep 2017 10:36
Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge - rwilson
Many thanks for advice. Car is now been repaired foc by ford. I believe they are going to,argue case with warranty company
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Sat 23 Sep 2017 15:59
Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge - SLO76
I believe Ford extended the warranty on the Powershift gearbox to 5yrs because it has such a reputation for problems. Assuming your car has a full Ford main dealer service history I'd speak directly to Ford customer services. If it has been correctly maintained it sounds like they've made an error in rejecting your claim. If it has a non-franchise service record then you're probably stuffed but I'd still try contacting Ford customer services anyway to see where you go.

If past experience regarding major failures on Ford 1.6 TDCI/1.0 Ecoboost/Powershift models goes then they tend to try fobbing you off initially but will come good if it looks like you'll fight them so stick to your guns and begin with sending a polite but firm email to Ford UK.
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Wed 27 Sep 2017 10:33
Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge - rwilson
Thank you for advice. Emailed ford uk, gm iof dealership where purchased and service manager, cost is now been fully picked up by ford. Report has shown two bolts had actually become loose with damage to both gearbox and power shift
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Wed 27 Sep 2017 11:30
Ford ku - Gearbox replacement charge - SLO76
That's excellent news. It's often a good idea to bypass garages who are under pressure to reject warranty claims and go direct to the manufacturers customer services team. The firm I worked for received refunds from the warranty firm if their "burn rate" (claims) were under a certain level so the incentive was there to reject legitimate claims. If a customer accepted it then so be it but if they fought then they'd rethink.

This wasn't the case with Mitsubishi warranty claims which were very liberal in their outlook. Not that we encounterd many issues with them especially back in their 90's hay days but general used stock was a different matter.
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