Water in the reflector assembly - not covered by warranty???

[kep5niner]

Three days after running my 2019 Navigator through the car wash, water remained inside the reflector assembly on the rear hatch. See pics. The dealership told me it’s not covered under my Lincoln Premium Care extended warranty (with lighting option) and quoted over $4k to fix it. After talking to the dealership, I contacted Premium Care, and they provided the same answer, stating moisture was specifically not covered. Needless to say, that’s not the answer I expected. Do I have any recourse?

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Three days after running my 2019 Navigator through the car wash, water remained inside the reflector assembly on the rear hatch. See pics. The dealership told me it’s not covered under my Lincoln Premium Care extended warranty (with lighting option) and quoted over $4k to fix it. After talking to the dealership, I contacted Premium Care, and they provided the same answer, stating moisture was specifically not covered. Needless to say, that’s not the answer I expected. Do I have any recourse?

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Your Ford Premium care coverage is not a warranty - it is a service plan.

Read your Premium Care documents to determine your coverage.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Well, several years ago, I had this happen to a headlight on another vehicle that I bought with an extended warranty (well before the advent of the $4K light fixtures) and the dealer replaced the entire assembly, no questions, no charge, no problems thereafter...but unfortunately, in most cases, those days are long gone...

Your Ford Premium care coverage is not a warranty - it is a service plan.

Read your Premium Care documents to determine your coverage.

IF the above is true, then the latter should apply

 

[bb37]

Dodge Durango all over again. Dodge is very proud of the "race track" lamp on the rear of Durangos. But, it's well known in the Durango community that the lamp assembly leaks. And, when waters gets in, eventually a segment of the lamp fails. There's even a thread in one of the Durango forums where people post photos of Durangos they've seen in the wild with failed lamp segments.

Dodge has been very reluctant to replace the lamp assembly when it fails due to water ingress. It's over $1000 just for the part, so Dodge's attitude doesn't sit well with owners.

The general consensus in the Durango community is that you need to remove the lamp assembly. Then drill small holes in the bottom of the housing to make sure that moisture can drip out of the housing. And, then, you carefully seal the top of the housing where the inner and outer shells meet to keep water from getting in.

Yes, it sucks. You pay a lot of money for a nice vehicle with a cool styling feature only for it to take on water and fail. I have no idea if the Durango fix would work on a Navigator. Unfortunately, you live in typically humid part of the world, so it could be winter before the moisture disappears from your lamp assembly. Watch yours to see if any of the lamps fail. Maybe then the dealer/Lincoln/warranty provider will do something about it. Good luck!

 

[BSarchet]

This isn’t on the topic of warranty coverage (which I agree stinks) but on the topic for a fix. My 2015 Taurus had this issue of water getting in the taillight. I did exactly what was suggested in that I took it out and drilled a little hole in the bottom to drain it. I had that car for four years after that with no water retention issues and the taillight worked fine.

It would be painful to do that on my ‘22 Expedition though I’ll be honest.

 

[Dice Roll]

These guys beat me to it, I’d look at drilling some drains in there to get by. I’d also look into an FTC complaint. People like to throw their hands up, but I’ve had success many times in all sorts of arenas by placing a government complaint. If not ftc, keep searching for a state or federal agency that takes such. A lawsuit obviously won’t be worth it and I find many people and businesses work off the principle that you will give up because of that.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Just a side note though....

On the occasions where I've felt compelled to file a complaint with any government agency in an attempt to get some mfgr's or company's cooperation with a fix for something, I usually go into full ass-whoopin mode & include the FTC, BBB, CFPB, State AG, Dept of Consumer Affairs and any other similar agencies to my campaign, and when appropriate, also using various tactics to invoke any "Lemon Law" protections offered in my state ....
So as Bruce Banner liked to say: "Please don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry"

 

[spo0587]

I just drilled a hole on my F150 taillight. It's worked really well; however , you have a navigator and I wouldn't want to do that to my Navigator if I had one.

 

[DieselMonk]

Funny. In my whole driving career I never had a leaking tail light, ever. For me it is always the fog lights, doesn’t matter much the car brand. Must be the Canadian fresh air. Lol

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Must be the Canadian fresh air. Lol

So, as they say down yonder: "Them air up in thar, it be different than ours, don't know how, but it just is"

 

[JKH13]

Three days after running my 2019 Navigator through the car wash, water remained inside the reflector assembly on the rear hatch. See pics. The dealership told me it’s not covered under my Lincoln Premium Care extended warranty (with lighting option) and quoted over $4k to fix it. After talking to the dealership, I contacted Premium Care, and they provided the same answer, stating moisture was specifically not covered. Needless to say, that’s not the answer I expected. Do I have any recourse?

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What a rip-0ff

 

[SyndicateZ]

My high mount 3rd brake light had water in it causing most of the LEDs to not work, no obvious cracks or holes and my Ford premium Care with Lighting/LED options also declined it. The dealer quoted $600 to replace it. I ended up replacing it myself.

Ford makes sure to exclude in service plans "water/moisture" in housing as that is the #1 cause for leds/lights failing.