650 Miles and a cracked Torque Converter

[Mjvthomas]

Update: Ford called regarding my claim. I explained the issues I've been having with the truck and explained I would like a buyback and another Raptor. They told me the dealer is doing an inspection and they will update me Friday and give me a decision on the buyback by next Wednesday.

 

[MJslasherADMIN]

Update: Ford called regarding my claim. I explained the issues I've been having with the truck and explained I would like a buyback and another Raptor. They told me the dealer is doing an inspection and they will update me Friday and give me a decision on the buyback by next Wednesday.

Good deal. Keep working it this way. Do you have a regional manager assigned (they will likely be in Detroit and not actually regional). Speak with them or their back up going forward. When you asked the Ford call Center agent or regional manager for a buyback they have to send it to the RAV team (reacquired vehicle team). It takes a few days. They will likely deny it but its the first major step.
Then it will all depend on what the dealer finds, and what the Ford hotline tells the dealer to do. Make sure they dont work on your truck until you know the plan. Tell the dealer to clear all work with you first, demand it. If the plan is crazy or hurts the value of the truck, call Ford and ask for a buyback a 2nd time.

Lucky for you the truck went to the dealer the first time at 900 miles. I waited until 7500 miles and that really hurt me financially. If Ford buys it back there is a mileage penalty. Ford charges you 1 percent of the purchase price per 1000 miles driven up to the first time you took it in for service. So in my case it was over $4000 I lost. In your case it will be $900 for mileage penalty if your buyback/swap gets approved.

If buyback is approved Ford will give you two options. Refund or replacement. In my case refund was best. But I had them do both work sheets. PM me your email address and I will send you my worksheets so that you can see everything. The worksheets will fill in many of the learning curve gaps for you.


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[Mjvthomas]

Good deal. Keep working it this way. Do you have a regional manager assigned (they will likely be in Detroit and not actually regional). Speak with them or their back up going forward. When you asked the Ford call Center agent or regional manager for a buyback they have to send it to the RAV team (reacquired vehicle team). It takes a few days. They will likely deny it but its the first major step.
Then it will all depend on what the dealer finds, and what the Ford hotline tells the dealer to do. Make sure they dont work on your truck until you know the plan. Tell the dealer to clear all work with you first, demand it. If the plan is crazy or hurts the value of the truck, call Ford and ask for a buyback a 2nd time.

Lucky for you the truck went to the dealer the first time at 900 miles. I waited until 7500 miles and that really hurt me financially. If Ford buys it back there is a mileage penalty. Ford charges you 1 percent of the purchase price per 1000 miles driven up to the first time you took it in for service. So in my case it was over $4000 I lost. In your case it will be $900 for mileage penalty if your buyback/swap gets approved.

If buyback is approved Ford will give you two options. Refund or replacement. In my case refund was best. But I had them do both work sheets. PM me your email address and I will send you my worksheets so that you can see everything. The worksheets will fill in many of the learning curve gaps for you.


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I spoke with the call center yesterday, today I spoke with a regional rep out of Orlando, is there someone else that will contact me? I’m calling my service advisor next to let them know I want to clear any repairs to the vehicle prior to them working on it.

My guess is they will offer to replace the transmission, what do you think that would do to value?

Thank you for all your help !

---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 PM ----------

I text my service advisor, this was her response:

Me: Can you Please send me the planned repairs so I can review and approve prior to beginning work on the truck?

Service Advisor: Not sure what is going on. Tech want to replace the whole transmission. We are waiting to hear what ford says

Me: Ok can you just not actually start any repairs until I review what the planned repairs are?

 

[MJslasherADMIN]

I spoke with the call center yesterday, today I spoke with a regional rep out of Orlando, is there someone else that will contact me? I’m calling my service advisor next to let them know I want to clear any repairs to the vehicle prior to them working on it.



My guess is they will offer to replace the transmission, what do you think that would do to value?



Thank you for all your help !

The only person that will proactively contact you at this stage is the regional rep. They usually only call every 3 days best case. Generally its a full week. I did not get good communication daily until I was at the end of my ordeal.

Based on what you have said they will likely replace the transmission. How it impacts the value depends on car fax really. If the car fax shows a replaced transmission it will lose some resell appeal and value. Hard to put a number on it.

The transmission is the 2nd biggest thing that can fail and needs replaced on a car. Engine is 1, Tranny is 2.


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[Mjvthomas]

Not sure if you saw what I added to my post. My service advisor text me back and said the tech is requesting to replace the transmission but they are waiting on ford.

 

[MJslasherADMIN]

Not sure if you saw what I added to my post. My service advisor text me back and said the tech is requesting to replace the transmission but they are waiting on ford.

I didnt see that. Thanks for the update.
Now the big question is ETA. It might be 5 business days. Might be 25 business days.

If you feel the pristine $70k truck you bought has lost value, appeal and dependability then stick to your guns on buyback. No matter what. Be on the lookout for he said she said excuses.
The dealer blames Ford. Ford blames the dealer. Its the worst part.

- I am still dealing with residual buyback issues. Yesterday I got a call from Enterprise. They said the dealership has not paid the balance of my 71 rental. Its $2400. Enterprise said they were going to charge my card the $2400 if the dealer didnt pay soon. I called the dealership to alert them. Dealership called me back and said its been fixed. I think I will have a new credit card issued before I get charged by mistake. In the buyback process the customer gets caught in the middle of lots of he said she said.

- Today Ford RAV called me. Saying the dealership has not sent them the correct buyback docs I signed. I have already had to return to the dealer once to sign more papers. Ford says the dealership sent FoMoCo copies and not originals. And failed to notarize. FoMoCo said the dealer gave me the originals by mistake. Now I have to find those originals, get them notarized myself and Fed Ex them to FoMoCo. All by tomorrow.

The RAV process is long and arduous.


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[jaz13]

I spoke with the call center yesterday, today I spoke with a regional rep out of Orlando, is there someone else that will contact me? I’m calling my service advisor next to let them know I want to clear any repairs to the vehicle prior to them working on it.

My guess is they will offer to replace the transmission, what do you think that would do to value?

Thank you for all your help !

---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 PM ----------

I text my service advisor, this was her response:

Me: Can you Please send me the planned repairs so I can review and approve prior to beginning work on the truck?

Service Advisor: Not sure what is going on. Tech want to replace the whole transmission. We are waiting to hear what ford says

Me: Ok can you just not actually start any repairs until I review what the planned repairs are?

Personally I wouldn't be afraid of a vehicle that had a major component replaced because it is all new. It certainly isn't on the level of accident damage repairs. And on an older vehicle I would actually value it higher if it had a new transmission. And that is only if you sell it private party. If you plan on trading it with a dealer, they won't care and it won't affect your value.

The bigger issue for resale is if this is a fleet wide problem and the Raptor develops a reputation for transmission failures. That would affect the value of all Raptors, but at the moment, it seems like your problems are an unfortunate fluke and not something experienced by other owners.

 

[smurfslayer]

@Mjvthomas,

This sounds very much like a botched transmission repair, leading to a trans replacement. This happened to me, and earned the manufacturer a lemon law suit. I eventually prevailed, but it was more than a year from filing to resolution.

You’re right to not yet get all legal on them, but I would suggest talking to a lawyer or two, shop around and see what it’s going to cost you up front. There is no harm in getting the conversation started.

My suggestions:
make no more talk of lawsuits. Once Ford is served, your VIN is flagged, and every dealer you go to for any kind of warranty work will involve a regional rep, not to ensure you are getting good service, but to look for any excuse to void your warranty.

Remember the epic line from the Godfather; ‘keep your friends close. keep your enemies closer’. This is an adversarial business engagement. The dealer / manufacturer has something you want; parts and labor to repair your truck to full working order.

keep detailed records of every communication you have with any Ford representative.

Keep detailed records of every expense you incur as a result of being out of your truck.

IF you are willing to accept a repair by way of transmission replacement, you should negotiate a depreciated value condition with the dealer / Ford. A replaced transmission will show up on a vehicle history report and, let’s face it, used car buyers don’t want someone else’s trouble. You could try for a guaranteed trade as a fall back to your buy back request.

You’ve gotten minimal usage out of the vehicle and if they’re so confident the repair fixes the issue, the 3 parties here should be willing to negotiate a trade if not a replacement . worst case, you’re out mileage on the truck, some extra fees which the dealer should be happy to cover.

Ford will only do you 1, and only 1 “favor”; that is, by law, they are only obligated to repair the vehicle, replacing any defective parts. if you get a loaner, that’s your “favor”. if you get payments made, that’s all you get so decide what you want most as the outcome of this engagement with Ford.

good luck!

 

[Mjvthomas]

@smurfslayer can you explain what a guaranteed trade is?

As an update the service advisor confirmed that Ford is recommending a new transmission. I asked what the ETA would be and she replied that it’s on backorder with no ETA. I left a message for the ford rep. @MJslasherADMIN recommended that I request them to pull a tranny from the 18 line in Dearborn.

Regarding the depreciated value, how would I value/ calculate that so that I can give them a number?

 

[SilverBolt]

@smurfslayer can you explain what a guaranteed trade is?

As an update the service advisor confirmed that Ford is recommending a new transmission. I asked what the ETA would be and she replied that it’s on backorder with no ETA. I left a message for the ford rep. @MJslasherADMIN recommended that I request them to pull a tranny from the 18 line in Dearborn.

Regarding the depreciated value, how would I value/ calculate that so that I can give them a number?

You can't calculate depreciated value on something you haven't sold. What you can do is figure out what it is worth to you to keep the truck. Extended warranty, dealer perks, etc.