Your fault Ford warranty coverage?

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esmoglo

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The details:

We purchased our 2011 Ford Expedition EL 02/05/2012 with 21045 on the odometer.

Vehicle brought to the dealer on July 10, 2012 with 27339 on the odometer
We have owned the vehicle for just over five months and put 6294 miles since the purchase date. T

The vehicle was purchased as a Ford CPO vehicle (at a Ford Dealership) that qualified for new financing and received a thorough inspection in order to qualify for the CPO program that is offered/backed thru Ford.

Now that you have the details here are the facts. In June we noticed both rear passengers side windows where developing deep scratches to the exterior surfaces. Both windows are exhibiting the same kind of damage in the same exact locations. While operating both windows there is no noise, or notable signs and or indications of contact with any foreign objects that would indicate damage is occurring. The upper part of both windows that do not go into the door all the way (due to the safety feature) 4-6" inches of the upper glass are not at all scratched.

We took the vehicle into Sawgrass Ford in Sunrise Florida on June 10th, 2012 for a few warranty issues, the glass being one of the main issues. The dealer fixed all the problems and said they contact Ford reference the windows and I was able to pick up the vehicle until they heard back from Ford.

A week went by and no call back from the dealer so I called and spoke with my service adviser. The adviser told me to bring the vehicle back for photographs so photos could be submitted to Ford for review and I did bring vehicle back a second time for photographs.

Well you guessed it another week went by with no phone call from the service adviser however I did get a copy of my finalized paperwork in the mail (never got the paperwork when I picked up the vehicle from the first visit since the invoice was still in opened status).

Confused by the paperwork I called my service adviser and left two messages with no call back. At this point I was darn pissed off so I called and asked to speak with the service manager, I got his voice mail and I left a message. No more than 20 minutes passed and I got a call from my service adviser stating his boss (the service manger) told him to call me. Guess the service manager is too busy to deal with customers.

During the phone call my service adviser he stated Ford had denied the warranty claim stating "it's the customers fault due to debris entering into the door belt moldings". Really my fault for just putting down the windows in five months of use?

So I decided to call the Ford Customer Care center opened a case waited six days and was told by the care representative the damage is due to debris from the door belt moldings and Ford will not cover it under warranty.

**Keep in mind the door belt moldings where never inspected to reach this determination this is all just based on photographs**

At this point in time I am quite furious over the entire matter to be honest. We live in South Florida the vehicle is not used in any environment that would have caused this type of damage. Our two other cars one a Ford and one GM, and past vehicles never had this problem in fact I have never even seen it to be honest.

Seems I am getting the runaround from Ford and the dealer now the next step is? Any helpful suggestions on how I should handle the matter?


See photo of the glass

IMG_8181.jpg
 

Thermo

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Esmoglo, being mechanically inclined on my end, what I would end up doing is pulling the belt moulding off (they should be friction clipped to the bottom of the windows) and then roll the window down part way. Then using a flashlight, see if you can spot anything that would be scratching the window. Also take a look at the pieces you removed and see if there is anything there that would be hard enough to scratch the glass. I bet you will find that the problem will be fairly obvious. From there, if it is something internal to the door, then you have a much better leg to stand on when it comes to fighting the problem with Ford.

While I do not advocate this tactic, sometimes it does work. Look up in the phone book a lawyers name. Memorize their name and address. Take the truck back to Ford, let them give you the run around again then simply state, "I guess I am going to have to call my lawyer, Mr. XXXXXX, and we will see what happens then". If they start quizzing you, be able to spout the name of the office and the phone number. You may find that they will be a bit more willing to help you out. But, hopefully you don't have to go that far.
 
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esmoglo

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I guess my point is I have only had the truck for five months and all we did is put the windows down no more and no less. No damage was observed when we purchased the vehicle but we did nothing to cause the damage other than simply use the windows. Guess the previous owner never put the windows down?

In reference to inspection of the belt moldings I have no idea what they are. Again I have owned many Fords and other brands I have never seen this problem. The vehicle is just over a year old since purchased in June 2011 by the previous owner (per the CarFax).

I guess I will file a case with the BBB (stage 1) Then send certified mail to Ford headquarters (stage 2) and if all else fails I will explore my legal options because I will not allow this stand I did nothing wrong other than use the windows.
 
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robbieg

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BBB will be a waste of time unfortinently. The belt molding is the seal thats against the glass on the bottom outside edge. It looks like a squeegee and it runs the length of the window to help keep water/debris out. Inspect that molding were the scratch is and as thermo said with that pulled off you will be able to see down into the door with a flashlight, or you could even pull the door panel off and get a good view but before any of that look at the molding, I bet its on that and not in the door. One easy way to tell if its in the door or on the belt molding is to look at the scratch and see it the scratch goes all the way to the very top of the glass portion thats down. If its to the very top it has to be the belt, if its only partial way its probably internal.
 

GAINMOB

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im starting to see something similar...on mine but i've had it for 8yrs...i figured dirty windows inside...plan on cleaning them out soon
 

splintrcel

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Neither our 2001 or 2009 have developed this issue. It must be some foreign debris that got in there. But from what you say if it happens so the scratches occur on the same location of both doors it would def lead me to believe there is an issue in the door you are not responsible for and as bad as the whole lawyer threatening thing goes, no matter who you are arguing with, no one wants to mess with a lawyer.
 

rex450se

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I hate to sound like an a$$hole here but why would you continue to use the window after the first sign of a scratch. As soon as I saw something I would remove the moldings or inner door panel and see inside there to see if there is anything that could be causing it. I would have to agree with the dealer here. There has to be some responsibility on the car owner. If it wasn't there when you purchased the car what makes you think a warranty would cover it. With almost 30K on it who who knows what is causing it. A stick could have gotten down inside the door, or someone could have slide something down there. Without taking the door apart, who knows. But without knowing exactly what is causing it I don't think you should be able to make a claim. Now if you open the door up and notice that a rod has come loose and was scratching the window as it went up and down, then maybe. But what if you find a metal shaving caught in the rubber molding, or a piece of metel inside the door that ws not from manufacturing. If it didn't cause problems in the first 20K, I would assume it got there during my ownership and wouldn't be covered. There's no way to know that someone in a parking lot wasn't pissed at your horrendous parking job and shoved a piece of metal down the door. ( I am not saying you park bad) You have no idea what is going on in there and I just don't think you should expect your warranty to cover it without knowing what is causing it. At this point I would side with the dealership, and I hate dealerships.

Victor
 
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esmoglo

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I hate to sound like an a$$hole here but why would you continue to use the window after the first sign of a scratch. As soon as I saw something I would remove the moldings or inner door panel and see inside there to see if there is anything that could be causing it. I would have to agree with the dealer here. There has to be some responsibility on the car owner. If it wasn't there when you purchased the car what makes you think a warranty would cover it. With almost 30K on it who who knows what is causing it. A stick could have gotten down inside the door, or someone could have slide something down there. Without taking the door apart, who knows. But without knowing exactly what is causing it I don't think you should be able to make a claim. Now if you open the door up and notice that a rod has come loose and was scratching the window as it went up and down, then maybe. But what if you find a metal shaving caught in the rubber molding, or a piece of metel inside the door that ws not from manufacturing. If it didn't cause problems in the first 20K, I would assume it got there during my ownership and wouldn't be covered. There's no way to know that someone in a parking lot wasn't pissed at your horrendous parking job and shoved a piece of metal down the door. ( I am not saying you park bad) You have no idea what is going on in there and I just don't think you should expect your warranty to cover it without knowing what is causing it. At this point I would side with the dealership, and I hate dealerships.

Victor

Victor, I appreciate and value your input.

Let me clear things up a bit. The truck sat on the drive way more or less the first few months of ownership. It was used a handful of times for short trips during the week if that. The tuck is parked in the same location as my other cars (on the drive way) so I did not use the rear windows.

Then in June we took a family trip just under a month long. It was near the end of the trip that I noticed something was wrong with the two back windows and thought that’s strange perhaps it will wipe off. Once I got back and got a chance to wash and look the vehicle over. This is when I noticed how deep the grooves actually were scratches on the left side are quite a bit deeper then the right side. I then made an appointment toward the beginning of July (keeping in mind that the dealer ship was closed on July 4th) and stopped using the windows.

It is latterly impossible for both windows to exhibit the same kind of damage in under five months of ownership. It cannot be considered normal by any standards. I did notice as I inspected the truck today that the rear moldings that press up against the glass are quite hard unlike the front two windows were the rubber is softer. I have operated the front windows especially the driver’s side a more than I can remember and both front driver & front passenger side are scratch free.

My guess is the former owner operated the vehicle in a dusty or debris filled environment and since door belt moldings are not part of the CPO inspection process I am now left to deal with this issue.

I have owned more cars than I can remember and for a one year old car this is not normal. My 1996 Ford Bronco did not have any scratches or damage and I operate the Expedition EL in the same environment (Florida). If the doors allow this much debris to pass into the moldings something is not right.
 
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Maverick1701

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when I bought my 06 F250 I drove it off the lot (used @ 35K) the first time I rolled down the windows (to get gas a few blocks away before heading home) and got the same scratches. Ford wouldn't cover it either. I just decided to grin and bear it.
 
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esmoglo

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when I bought my 06 F250 I drove it off the lot (used @ 35K) the first time I rolled down the windows (to get gas a few blocks away before heading home) and got the same scratches. Ford wouldn't cover it either. I just decided to grin and bear it.

If it was just one window I would be on the same page but both are exhibiting the same kind of scratching. I just don’t feel this is normal not to mention the expense it’s over 2K to fix it & I will not stand for it. I would rather pay an attorney 2K to represent me in this matter that’s how strongly I feel about it.

I remember the day I drove my 1995 Mustang GT off the lot and took a left turn and heard a loud BANG the window fell inside the door frame and shattered. I tuned the car around and went to the service side of the dealer to drop the car off and was told I needed an appointment. I got so pissed off I parked the car under overhang by financing (they had a covered area so you can see the car as you are signing for loan) and told them to tear up the paperwork, let’s just say the car got fix the same with no appointments needed and I got a loner Mustang GT while I waited.

The part that I don’t get, based on only photographs they denied warranty service without looking inside the doors for any other possible problems. I also have noting in writing from Ford or the Dealer saying they are not covering the damages. All I have gotten thus far is a verbal denial and I want a paper trail. I will keep you all posted as this all unfolds.
 

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