Ford Warranty and Dealerships

[KetMalice]

So, I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone. I have a 22 Timberline and it’s had a ton of issues and it’s been an absolute fight with dealerships and Ford to get anything done. I’ve finally come to the root of the problem (as I see it).

Around 2019-2020 Ford revamped the way dealerships handle warranty work. It gave the dealerships a little more leeway in doing warranty work without “approval”, but it also gave Ford the ability to do a chargeback to the dealership if they deem what they did unnecessary. So basically there’s an auditor looking at everything they do and nit picking things and then charging the dealership. If you have any issue that’s not clear as day dealerships are basically just not dealing with it because they are afraid of getting a chargeback. So in my case, dealerships won’t even submit to warranty issues that don’t throw a code or they can’t replicate on command.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

So, I just wanted to give a heads up to everyone. I have a 22 Timberline and it’s had a ton of issues and it’s been an absolute fight with dealerships and Ford to get anything done. I’ve finally come to the root of the problem (as I see it).

Around 2019-2020 Ford revamped the way dealerships handle warranty work. It gave the dealerships a little more leeway in doing warranty work without “approval”, but it also gave Ford the ability to do a chargeback to the dealership if they deem what they did unnecessary. So basically there’s an auditor looking at everything they do and nit picking things and then charging the dealership. If you have any issue that’s not clear as day dealerships are basically just not dealing with it because they are afraid of getting a chargeback. So in my case, dealerships won’t even submit to warranty issues that don’t throw a code or they can’t replicate on command.

I’ve had similar issues (not a Timberline though).

I’ve had the Ford dealer tell me they have to get approval to repair an obvious problem or issue under the new-car warranty, and later under the Ford Premium Care service plan.

Last year I had transmission issues and it took 8 days for an appointment. The transmission was acting up when I took it for the appointment and the service writer said the technician would test-drive the vehicle.

The transmission failed and went into limp-mode while the technician was driving the vehicle.

Despite the failure, I had to wait for Ford to approve the repair (and then authorize a rental vehicle included under my Ford service plan).

I’m convinced Ford is playing games with their customers and trying to delay and put-off as many repairs as possible.

It will backfire on them in the long-run.