I second the suggestion of a lawyer versed in your local lemon laws. And get Ford corporate involved. I’ve been through a lemon ordeal with Ford and their corporate people want customers to be happy and will override a dealership’s “authority” in the matter. When push comes to shove, they don’t want a lemon law claim. And usually a reasonable demand of “you get one more chance to fix it 100% or you give me a new vehicle” is all it takes when directed to the right people, as long as all the other requirements for a lemon law claim are met.
I find it’s also exceptionally helpful in situations like this to have a sit down with a service manager and hopefully a service technician as well and let them explain, in detail, what all the issues are with the vehicle and how they are going to fix them. All too often these are not really serious issues, but overloaded service departments don’t take the time to properly diagnose and repair as they should. They do a quick patch-job of a fix to address the first symptom they see without actually determining the cause and proper solution. And this is also how minor issues can turn into major problems if not properly addressed.
It’s also ridiculous they won’t give you a loaner for something that keeps going back to the shop. In fact, they are setting themselves up for a lemon law claim by not providing that loaner. I can’t say about SC for certain, but of the states I am familiar with, once a vehicle is out of commission (or in the shop for repair) for 30 days or more and no reasonable substitute is provided, it’s automatically a lemon.
