Ford garage claimed car not covered by warranty so they could charge privately!

Palerider

Registered User
Messages
1,500
How much of this is going on..?

A Ford car under warranty, low mileage, full service history etc, engine light on, took it to a Ford Dealer who said before any warranty claim the head had to be removed to investigate at a cost to me of €600+ to investigate, Ford would not cover this, I was locked in, go ahead says I but can you get a camera down there before you spend my money removing the head ? ( which you can ), I was told we're not going that way.

Days later I was told there was no chance of warranty as ' a foreign object in the engine took a chunk off a valve ', Bill to me to fix now €1450+.

I called in the next morning armed with research, I was shown the car and spoken to like I was an idiot, that stopped when I started taking pictures of the damaged valve. The rest of the engine was perfect, I took more pictures of the engine and Pistons, I then said there would be an engineer calling to verify their diagnosis as to me this was a burnt valve and nothing to do with the driver, I told them not to touch the car or move any parts as I had pictures taken and everything should be in the same position when we returned. I told them the firm were charging me €500 plus vat for the report which they would have to pay if there were issues following the independent inspection.

3 hours passed, they phoned me and said Ford had refused the warranty claim that morning but they got a goodwill payment to cover the job in full, happy days ...except I'm not clueless.

I got the car back a week later and then complained direct to Ford who confirmed in writing the day they got the call, this was the day I was in for my own inspection and that it was a warranty claim NOT goodwill as I was told.

The garage should have called Ford a full five days earlier when the engine was stripped.

In my view this was an attempt at deception, I understand this is a criminal offence with up to 5 years jail if convicted, they tried to get me to pay €1500 for a repair that was in fact fully covered under warranty. They did so without going to Ford with the true assessment of the damage, when they had no choice and went to Ford with the true cause of the damage it was honoured immediately by Ford warranty.

There are more fibs but this is the core whopper.

What can I do as I expect this Ford garage and the two individuals I interacted with are taking advantage of people whenever possible.

I have gone to Ford and they are saying its between me and the garage, I invited the dealer principal to call me, that was a week ago, no call received, this appears systemic in this main dealer, it is a top down issue.

I will be bringing it to one of the consumer champions who appears on tv and print and would encourage everyone in a similar situation to get expert advice, school yourself and get an engineer to confirm what you are being told if you think it is a warranty claim, believe nobody.

I may speak formally with the Guards, the attempt at deception is an offence, it does not have to be successful, I'm not sure where that will end up as the garage guys may simply say it never happened but good to get it on the record as they also service the Garda vehicles.

I'm determined to get the truth laid bare and would be interested in any constructive feedback, similar experiences or suggestions for next steps, Ford themselves are washing their hands of it at this point.
 
Last edited:
I've nothing useful to say except I hope you take them to the cleaners. I've a healthy dislike for dealer service shops based on experience.
 
Perhaps a Data Protection request to both the dealer and Ford Ireland would give you some useful evidence? This does sound like one for the Gardai if you can give them some solid data to work from.
 
Palerider - regarding next steps / suggestions, I don't have any :(. Just wanted to say best of luck with everything, and if you can, please keep us updated on how things go for you.
 
Well done for standing your ground. I'd be inclined to follow up with Citizens' Advice as a first port of call maybe. Serious issue, sounds like it needs follow up. I'd be dis-inclined to go the data protection route and perhaps fore-warn the parties concerned. I'd hold off from the Guards just yet. Input from our 'legal eagles' here would be very useful. I wouldn't let it lie, much too serious IMO.
 
just for my understanding is the allegation here that they are charging for warranty work and also claiming from ford?
 
Hi Rider

I presume you don't have recorded phone calls or written estimates?

They will probably deny everything.

So where would that leave you?

As Blackrock asked,how would they profit from it??

1) That they wanted to charge you for an inspection which was not necessary?
2) That they were going to charge both you and Ford for the repair?
3) Or that they were going to charge you instead of Ford because they could charge you anything?

How did you pick that particular dealer? Was it where you bought the car?

You can also make a complaint to the SIMI assuming that they are a member.

Brendan
 
The allegation is that they knew what the fault was. A burnt valve is easy to recognise, Google some pics yourselves, they knew that would be covered under manufacturer warranty and concocted a daft cause for the fault.

That means owner pays instead of being honest, diagnosing correctly, go to Ford and let Ford honour the warranty which they did 5 days after I was asked to pay up ( but on the same day the dealer called Ford for the first time, the day I went out to inspect myself ) At that point I was on the cusp of hiring a firm of engineers to do a report for me, I had decided it would be a small claims Court trip if I had ended up paying for the repair.

So, how would they profit from this....?

Owner pays = charge out full workshop labour costs, full parts costs at full retail rates, immediate payment.

Ford pays = manufacturer supplies parts to Dealer free of charge, labour charged out to Ford by Dealer at nominal rates. Manufacturer warranty work does not pay anywhere near as well as private work to a main dealer.

Owner pays means immediate revenue for Dealer including juicy margins , manufacturer pays means deferred payment which as I understand it covers labour costs at trade price, a significant difference.

I had thought they were trying to have Ford pay for the repair and Bill me as well. I don't think so now but cannot be sure given that 5 day delay from when they asked me to pay until they went to Ford.

They could still have gone to Ford, had Ford cover full costs and also had me pay up, I told Ford that was one of my concerns.

There is no disputing the dates, Ford confirmed that in an email.

Brendan's queries now...

No recordings, no written estimate, denial expected as their only defence.

They profit greatly from this Practice as outlined above, multiply that across all warranty claims, Ford now have a 7 year warranty, a cash cow awaits unscrupulous dealer.

Point 3 is the answer, pick a number and the owner will pay up, sure the engine head is off at that point, the car cannot go anywhere else.

Almost a perfect disception except in this case when their complacency let them down, This appeared practiced, I encourage all car owners in a similar situation with manufacturer warranty available to assume nothing and have an engineer on speed dial.

The dealer is local to me, the car was bought privately but that has no relevance to any car manufacturer warranty, a service history was maintained...critical.

The SIMI complaint would only apply if the dealer sold the car.

All thoughts welcome, my next steps are as yet unclear.

I await a reply from Ford to an email I sent last Friday outlining the timelines.

I'm of the view innocent consumers need to have a heightened awareness around this issue and a healthy mistrust, I am not motivated by anything other than pulling the curtains back and exposing the unscupulous in the mainly trusted main dealer networks.
 
Last edited:
The best guy for this would be Conor Pope in the Irish Times or one of the motoring journalists maybe?

Brendan
 
An update, no contact from the Dealership, readers may recall I provided my number to Ford Ireland who confirmed they passed it on, unlikely to be contact at this late stage, they cannot call me as they will be unable to provide a believable explanation.

Issue closed with Ford Ireland, nothing to see here.

I have now raised this issue with a prominent consumer journalist.

I will be leaving a google review in due course, another dealer recommended this to me, he says people reference Google reviews when they visit his garage, your identity is revealed, so what, I will be keeping it brief and factual and it will be public.

Have considered visiting a Solicitor to send a letter however I think it will serve no purpose.

Disappointing that their attempts at deception ( alleged of course ) can seemingly go without reprimand or sanction allowing the practice to continue, a nice earner if you can get it and can live with yourself.
 
You can also make a complaint to the SIMI assuming that they are a member.
Akin to telling Leo, Simon or Simon you have a complaint to make about Leo, Simon or Simon. A trade organisation dedicated to protecting their members' interests, to the detriment of consumers'. The basis for the cartel prosecuted for price-fixing a few years ago.
 
Back
Top