Hi all, I'll try and make this brief but it's not a simple situation (I guess).
I have a 2018 SCREW 802A. I'm in California. I waited six months for my order from Laurel Ford in Montana last year. I love it. I was driving to work last Tuesday and got rear-ended in a multi-car accident on the freeway. Huge bummer. Traffic had come to a stop in a normally free flowing area and some person or persons (didn't see it) didn't see or wasn't paying attention and ran into the back of a bunch of stopped cars at highway speed.
The most important thing is that everyone is okay, even the woman who was in the Civic that took the brunt of it and her vehicle was about 50% it's original size.
The bad news is that my Raptor, while it was the least affected of the 5 vehicles, got hit pretty hard. It's drivable (because it took the hit crazy well, all things considered), but it needs an entire new bed assembly (bed also made contact with the cab and there is some frame bending behind the rear axle.
My body shop is really good, highly recommended and reputable. I took it in the day after the accident. He tried to order parts, including a bed assembly, but apparently when he put my VIN number in the parts system, Ford isn't selling full bed assemblies for my VIN number. When he started calling his contact for Ford Parts, apparently he was told that my truck falls in a group of VINs called "Phantom Raptors" that are a unique set of parts that don't fit with all of the other parts for other Raptors. I have no idea how true or legit this is, but this is what the body shop was told and he relayed to me. He then looked for used parts and couldn't find any. He also asked via a Ford Dealer for any special request availability and was told there isn't any.
Anyways, that means the only choice for a repair would be for a body shop to assemble a full bed from panel parts. Because this is the new aluminum style bed, it would have to be glued and pop riveted (the OEM way to assemble if it's not factory welded), so my bed would have pop rivets all around the bottom, inside the wheel wells, etc. Moreover, it likely wouldn't have the factory fit and finish of an 11 month old truck. Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I'm really disappointed about this potential "solution"; the truck isn't even a year off the line and the accident wasn't my fault, it seems there should be a factory bed assembly out there for me.
My body shop also didn't buy the Ford pop rivet gun, so he's not even going to be able to do the repair if there isn't an actual bed assembly. He's still chasing down every info lead he can for me, which is awesome.
I started asking some of my mechanic friends what to do and they all recommended I reach out to Ford Performance, so I did.
Here's what I've already done:
Ford Performance on Facebook pointed me to Ford Service. I called the general Ford number and tried to get redirected to Service. That was a waste of time, but it supposedly got escalated to a regional Service Manager. Waiting to hear back on that.
Body shop guy also called the inspector for my insurance company who is going to reach out to any contacts she has to try and find a bed assembly and/or another good, reputable shop with the Ford pop rivet gun.
My local dealership that did the courtesy delivery doesn't have a body shop, so they're not involved. The order dealership is a few states away, so I haven't looped them in.
It's been almost a week and I have no idea when/how my Raptor is getting repaired. Also it's bumming me out driving it around, not to mention I'm slightly concerned that I shouldn't be driving it long term with the frame even minorly bent, though the body shop guy says it's fine.
So... any advice? Does this story make sense? Does any of it sound like I'm getting bad info? Any help or contacts to chase down would be appreciated.
I have a 2018 SCREW 802A. I'm in California. I waited six months for my order from Laurel Ford in Montana last year. I love it. I was driving to work last Tuesday and got rear-ended in a multi-car accident on the freeway. Huge bummer. Traffic had come to a stop in a normally free flowing area and some person or persons (didn't see it) didn't see or wasn't paying attention and ran into the back of a bunch of stopped cars at highway speed.
The most important thing is that everyone is okay, even the woman who was in the Civic that took the brunt of it and her vehicle was about 50% it's original size.
The bad news is that my Raptor, while it was the least affected of the 5 vehicles, got hit pretty hard. It's drivable (because it took the hit crazy well, all things considered), but it needs an entire new bed assembly (bed also made contact with the cab and there is some frame bending behind the rear axle.
My body shop is really good, highly recommended and reputable. I took it in the day after the accident. He tried to order parts, including a bed assembly, but apparently when he put my VIN number in the parts system, Ford isn't selling full bed assemblies for my VIN number. When he started calling his contact for Ford Parts, apparently he was told that my truck falls in a group of VINs called "Phantom Raptors" that are a unique set of parts that don't fit with all of the other parts for other Raptors. I have no idea how true or legit this is, but this is what the body shop was told and he relayed to me. He then looked for used parts and couldn't find any. He also asked via a Ford Dealer for any special request availability and was told there isn't any.
Anyways, that means the only choice for a repair would be for a body shop to assemble a full bed from panel parts. Because this is the new aluminum style bed, it would have to be glued and pop riveted (the OEM way to assemble if it's not factory welded), so my bed would have pop rivets all around the bottom, inside the wheel wells, etc. Moreover, it likely wouldn't have the factory fit and finish of an 11 month old truck. Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I'm really disappointed about this potential "solution"; the truck isn't even a year off the line and the accident wasn't my fault, it seems there should be a factory bed assembly out there for me.
My body shop also didn't buy the Ford pop rivet gun, so he's not even going to be able to do the repair if there isn't an actual bed assembly. He's still chasing down every info lead he can for me, which is awesome.
I started asking some of my mechanic friends what to do and they all recommended I reach out to Ford Performance, so I did.
Here's what I've already done:
Ford Performance on Facebook pointed me to Ford Service. I called the general Ford number and tried to get redirected to Service. That was a waste of time, but it supposedly got escalated to a regional Service Manager. Waiting to hear back on that.
Body shop guy also called the inspector for my insurance company who is going to reach out to any contacts she has to try and find a bed assembly and/or another good, reputable shop with the Ford pop rivet gun.
My local dealership that did the courtesy delivery doesn't have a body shop, so they're not involved. The order dealership is a few states away, so I haven't looped them in.
It's been almost a week and I have no idea when/how my Raptor is getting repaired. Also it's bumming me out driving it around, not to mention I'm slightly concerned that I shouldn't be driving it long term with the frame even minorly bent, though the body shop guy says it's fine.
So... any advice? Does this story make sense? Does any of it sound like I'm getting bad info? Any help or contacts to chase down would be appreciated.