If you can dig up an email or phone number for The Office of the President of Ford, that would be your best bet. That gets attention faster than anything dealing with these large companies. They have a team of people that do nothing but handle these types of emails or phone calls. They will for sure look into it and most likely respond quickly.

First thing there is a person from Ford that is a intermediary, a go between the dealer and the company, may be one for both service and parts, maybe two. A visit to the dealership service manager and the general manager of the dealership might also get some action.

Auto dealerships usually have some leeway in the ability to authorize out of warranty repairs unless their warranty expense is very high, this varies from dealer to dealer. Still the dealer's factory rep can authorize a out of warranty repair also above what the dealer may or may not authorize.

Service writers usually are paid commission, if they are getting paid on warranty I will bet that it is lower than the rate paid for customer pay if any pay on warranty at all. He sees it as putting a hand in his pocket if it is changed to warranty. Hence, to his benefit if it stays c.p. The dealership may be restricted due to high warranty expense for doing anything out of warranty for a customer. The area rep may have been restricted to what he can authorize due to excessive warranty claims in his area. The call center, they are reading from scripts, they are trained to go by the script and not think on their own. GM post bankruptcy had us in dealerships deal with a overseas call center until the corporation got enough complaints, they were about useless, I can just imagine what the car customers had to go through.

I'd start with the dealership service manager and ask him what day the factory rep will be in, that alone might get some action from him, the mere stating that you are going to go over his head and to the manufacturer.

Your car breaks down after it is out of warranty and you want someone to fix it for free. Why not just ask the members of this forum to pay your bill for you? The warranty is expired, you knew the terms of the warranty, you knew you would be responsible for any repairs after it expired, I bet you where even offered an extended warranty that you had to sign signifying that you did not want it. Machines break, repairs are a cost of operation for the just like fuel and other consumables. It’s not like it was the day after the warranty expired, it was over 14,000 past 36,000 mile warranty period (that’s 38% over).

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
Your car breaks down after it is out of warranty and you want someone to fix it for free. Why not just ask the members of this forum to pay your bill for you? The warranty is expired, you knew the terms of the warranty, you knew you would be responsible for any repairs after it expired, I bet you where even offered an extended warranty that you had to sign signifying that you did not want it. Machines break, repairs are a cost of operation for the just like fuel and other consumables. It’s not like it was the day after the warranty expired, it was over 14,000 past 36,000 mile warranty period (that’s 38% over).

That is not warranted or helpful in this or any case, please dont be a jackass to other members who are asking for help, you might need some one day.

As for contacting Ford....

1) Try the GM or owner fo the dealership as a first line especially seeing as the service deep agreed that this should not have happened.

2) If you, your family or friends are social media savvy try posting on twitter. IY would be amazed at how quick they want to quiet that down.

I can tell you, although not with Ford, I had a premature brake issue on a car well after warranty and as soon as I got through the the proper party (I used option 2) they were very good about helping me and making it right

Good luck and glad you are OK

I hope you have better luck than my Hyundai saga.

Posting a scathing summary of events on the dealership's website was the only thing that got any meaningful response for us.

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
Your car breaks down after it is out of warranty and you want someone to fix it for free. Why not just ask the members of this forum to pay your bill for you? The warranty is expired, you knew the terms of the warranty, you knew you would be responsible for any repairs after it expired, I bet you where even offered an extended warranty that you had to sign signifying that you did not want it. Machines break, repairs are a cost of operation for the just like fuel and other consumables. It’s not like it was the day after the warranty expired, it was over 14,000 past 36,000 mile warranty period (that’s 38% over).

This has to be one of the most inconsiderate remarks I have read on this forum in a long time. The man is an established member here, having trouble, he's asking for help, and you reply this.

Give the guy a break. He's trying to see if he can get some help.

As for Ford Regional service reps, the only one I dealt with was in the early 2000's. I had the misfortune of knowing him personally and working with him in a volunteer capacity.

I hope you find someone better.

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:

I believe you may have mispelled your alias.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:

I believe you may have mispelled your alias.

Beat me to it.

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
Your car breaks down after it is out of warranty and you want someone to fix it for free. Why not just ask the members of this forum to pay your bill for you? The warranty is expired, you knew the terms of the warranty, you knew you would be responsible for any repairs after it expired, I bet you where even offered an extended warranty that you had to sign signifying that you did not want it. Machines break, repairs are a cost of operation for the just like fuel and other consumables. It’s not like it was the day after the warranty expired, it was over 14,000 past 36,000 mile warranty period (that’s 38% over).

Did you miss school the day that they taught Diplomacy 101?

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
Your car breaks down after it is out of warranty and you want someone to fix it for free. Why not just ask the members of this forum to pay your bill for you? The warranty is expired, you knew the terms of the warranty, you knew you would be responsible for any repairs after it expired, I bet you where even offered an extended warranty that you had to sign signifying that you did not want it. Machines break, repairs are a cost of operation for the just like fuel and other consumables. It’s not like it was the day after the warranty expired, it was over 14,000 past 36,000 mile warranty period (that’s 38% over).

You are missing the point here my friend.
We are discussing a catastrophic SAFETY FAILURE on a 2 year old truck. A big difference between that a something just breaking or wearing out.

I would damn sure contact the NHTSA and file a report. There may be other people who have had similar problems with their Expeditions. If that's the case, Ford probably needs to recall them like they did the F-150s, brfore somebody gets killed.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Find out who the general counsel is. Write her, the President, the CEO, and whoever else seems likely. They have people who may route the letter to the right people.

This is a good route to take. I did this with Home Depot and the response was almost immediate.

Stlhead,

My advice to Black92LX comes as a result of being employed 47 years in Fixed Operations of GM dealerships. Fixed Operations is considered parts, service and body shop departments. Everything from parts counter through parts management and for several years concurrently service manager. Believe me, I've seen many "Customer Enthusiasm" claims (GM's official term) for out of warranty repairs especially in higher level vehicles such as Buick and Cadillac over the years.

That brake failure is beyond "normal wear and tear" as usually described in warranty official wording, not like a seat trim wearing through or a small oil leak, this is a major safety issue.

Those call centers that are so popular today are overseas manned and reading from a script using canned responses. General Motors post bankruptcy outsourced our dealer exclusive call center to the Philippines as a cost cutting. They were less helpful to us in dealerships as they were supposed to be the first step in resolving issues in parts procurement.

We soon learned in dealerships to request a supervisor because if it came to anything more than starting a SPAC case they were totally useless. SPAC cases were for assistance in getting parts not available for various reasons, an important step in backorders.

I had a car down for a seat belt for a month and a half, our "in house" rep was involved. The seat belt was finally shipped, sourced in Mexico, and stuck at FedEx in Brownsville due to documentation issues with the Haz-Mat declaration.

FedEx had been trying to get it corrected, nobody at the plant would answer the phone number they had on file. GM's call center rep to my inquiry said "No problem, I will order another one".....I then requested a supervisor and was told "I can handle this". That's what you think pal.

After ten minutes of me arguing with the cs person I finally got through to a stateside supervisor. Issue was corrected in five minutes. Seat belt was sitting on my desk the next morning.

Finally GM under pressure from their internal departments together with complaints from the dealer chain brought the call center back to the U.S.

Black92LX, I have one "ace in the hole" to speak if you are unsuccessful in reaching someone in Ford besides the customer call center. I have a friend who is a parts manager that MIGHT be able to get a contact number. He is in the Michigan market though so I don't know how much help it could be.

Message me through FB or email me, you have both yet,right?

With the amount of disdain SF has for Facebook, going onto Ford’s FB page and posting might help, too.

When our 2010 Honda Pilot had the front suspension bushings go out and the dealership was going to charge us a healthy amount, I started my research. Come to find out, that was a recall issue in 2011 and our vehicle still had an open recall per the VIN. As this was a CPO vehicle, I questioned the dealership who they could certify a vehicle that had an open recall. They still refused.

I found Honda’s FB page and, politely, posted my story, questions and concerns. A Honda FB person responded, was concerned, thanked me for my purchase... blah, blah, blah. Still, our Pilot needed the repair and Honda did nothing.

I replied that the dealership failed in selling a safe vehicle, one that was “certified,” and both the dealership AND Honda corporate are refusing to adhere to NHTSA recall mandate as the recall wasn’t a “maybe fix,” but a required fix. When the legal ramifications came up, things finally changed. The next day I had a call from both Honda and the dealership that the vehicle would be repaired per the recall...and both were very sorry for a communication mistake and misunderstanding. Right...

So, maybe try social media, too, and explain it politely as you’ve done here...never know what might happen...and maybe you find out you’re not the only one this has happened to.

Bets of luck to you!

What happened with the brakes? Did they completely stop working and you crashed into something? What made the failure rise to the "catastrophic" level?

What is the estimate for just fixing the brakes and moving on?

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
What happened with the brakes? Did they completely stop working and you crashed into something? What made the failure rise to the "catastrophic" level?

What is the estimate for just fixing the brakes and moving on?

Thankfully no collision as I was in a neighborhood going slow and able to mitigate the stops. Had I been in a collision I certainly would have already been speaking with someone directly.
Complete loss of system pressure Pedal to the floor was able to stop from low speed thankfully.

Had I been doing anything over 35mph no way I could have stopped.
Had one been on the highway and needed to stop or slow the outcome would have not been good.
If my wife were driving not so sure she would have been able to mitigate the stop even in the neighborhood.

I limped it to Wal-Mart and added 30 oz of fluid limped it home less than 2 miles under 25 mph and the fluid was completely gone when I arrived home.

I paid $766 for the repairs. Not a huge deal but we’re talking a full brake failure that should not happen.
What is to say it won’t happen again with these parts?
Hence the reason I am wanting to actually speak with someone at Ford that is knowledgeable of the issue and hopefully figure out if we’re looking at a fluke or a larger issue like the F150s.

My plan is/was to have this truck for 10+ years. That confidence is in question at the moment.
My wife wanted to replace her Highlander with an Expedition. That too is now in question.

Gotcha. Thankfully no one was hurt. Seems to me you are on the right course of action.

Your description above sounds exactly like the issue for the recall on 2013-2014 F150s.

If you have social media just tweet about and make sure to at mention them and someone will contact you. Social media is how you get people to respond these days.