Hey all, first time poster from Qld, Australia
Just looking to see if I am dead in the water, or if I have a leg to stand on in relation to my current issue. Apologies for the long winded post, but there are multiple moving parts to this, making it filthy
Background story
Monday 12th September I was cruising along at 80kph when all of a sudden my rear view mirror caught my attention. Mass amounts of smoke ploughing from the back of the car. Was a nice day so I had the windows down, and immediately noticed a ticking noise from the engine. Stuck it in neutral, coasted to the side of the road, turned if off and that was that up until this point.
No warning lights on the dash, coolant temp & levels fine, boost pressure fine, oil temp, pressure & levels all fine. No rough idle, no vibrations, nothing. RACQ plugged in their computer, no errors reported from the car
Then it started to get really darn nasty and upsetting
Firstly, Ford Australia towed it to a dealer even though I told them my warranty was with a different dealer (who was closer to my house). They told me that's fine, warranty will cover it anyway. Since then, I found out from my dealer it should have been towed to them for warranty (duh). Called Ford Australia, ended up speaking to the "Customer Experience Lead" for the country, who basically told me go away, and that I have to pay to tow the car to the right place. Even though Ford Australia, against my advice, towed it to the wrong place. So I have to pay to fix Ford's mistake. That's the first issue
Second. It has been 3.5 weeks and I only just found out that the engine is cooked. Just for reference also, their Ford computers also report no errors with the car. So the car thinks it is fine.... They haven't torn it down because that will incur costs, but the dealer it is with (not my warranty dealer) has recommended a new engine and new turbo for a total of $21.5k...
This is where it gets super dirty. It's a 2016, so it only came with the 3 year/100k Ford warranty. It is 6.5 years old, less than 89,000km on it, so still a baby. Meticulously maintained, all by the Ford dealer I bought it from. I bought it 2 years 10 months ago with a 3 year "platinum mechanical" warranty that cost me $1k. They told me at the time, everything under the sun is covered (warranty book basically confirms this) and regardless of cost, the car is covered because they serviced it an it is solid
When the car broke, I started looking at my warranty booklet, and it keeps referencing an "application page". Now I have a copy of every document they gave me during the sale, even documents from financiers I never ended up using, I'm pretty anal that way. So I called them asking what this "application page" is. All of a sudden I receive a page via email that includes a bunch of stipulations that I was never told about; e.g. set price servicing at $295 (I've been paying $400+ for scheduled servicing), max claim of $1k per claim, $3k over the course of the warranty (which seems absurd, paying $1k for that. Had I been told that, I never would have got the warranty as it is basically trash), and also a requirement to service it every 6 months or 10,000km to keep warranty intact (I have serviced it annually or 15,000km, as per the service manual and also as per the servicing department (the place that sold me the warranty)). This page also included the mandatory text that warranties need to include, outlined by the ACCC.
I saw this page in my email and immediately knew I had never laid eyes on it before, because it outlined stipulations that I had been told contrary, like claim limits etc. Then I noticed that the signature section of the page was empty. I never signed it, because I was never presented with it. But I have the receipt for the warranty and the warranty booklet that outlines what is covered (essentially everything)
So my questions are:
1) I believe the dealer should cover the entire cost of the repairs, because of the misinformation provided about the warranty (ie telling me what I wanted to hear to sell it, and not providing me with all the info), never mind me paying for it, but never signing the page that I was not presented with. Add to that the fact we are 24 days post-breakdown and they basically just fob me off. I think I've had 3 interactions with them after trying to get in contact basically every day
2) the car has never been thrashed, has been meticulously serviced, and only has 88,900km on it. It is my daily driver and the economy I have gotten over the ownership matches Ford's claimed urban economy, again proving I don't drive it like a lunatic. So regardless of warranty, with it being a likely manufacturing defect (the dealer who has it told me it's impossible I would have created the issue, it was likely a ticking time bomb), the dealer, or even Ford Australia, should cover repairs of it. I know it's 3.5 years outside warranty, but it is still below the 100,000km in that warranty, and going by consumer laws, I would assume everyone here would expect any kind of car (especially well maintained cars) to last more than 89,000km
If the dealer refuses to cover it, would I have a leg to stand on if I go through Fair Trade Qld/Consumer Law, or am I being biased toward myself with blind hope?
Oh, it also had it's head gasket replaced by my dealer, well prior to my purchase in 2019, as part of the Ford recall for the Focus RS. Wondering if this repair might have contributed to it in the long run
Again, apologies for the long first post, but if anyone has experience with similar issues or consumer law here, or even just opinions, they are all welcome
Thanks
Just looking to see if I am dead in the water, or if I have a leg to stand on in relation to my current issue. Apologies for the long winded post, but there are multiple moving parts to this, making it filthy
Background story
Monday 12th September I was cruising along at 80kph when all of a sudden my rear view mirror caught my attention. Mass amounts of smoke ploughing from the back of the car. Was a nice day so I had the windows down, and immediately noticed a ticking noise from the engine. Stuck it in neutral, coasted to the side of the road, turned if off and that was that up until this point.
No warning lights on the dash, coolant temp & levels fine, boost pressure fine, oil temp, pressure & levels all fine. No rough idle, no vibrations, nothing. RACQ plugged in their computer, no errors reported from the car
Then it started to get really darn nasty and upsetting
Firstly, Ford Australia towed it to a dealer even though I told them my warranty was with a different dealer (who was closer to my house). They told me that's fine, warranty will cover it anyway. Since then, I found out from my dealer it should have been towed to them for warranty (duh). Called Ford Australia, ended up speaking to the "Customer Experience Lead" for the country, who basically told me go away, and that I have to pay to tow the car to the right place. Even though Ford Australia, against my advice, towed it to the wrong place. So I have to pay to fix Ford's mistake. That's the first issue
Second. It has been 3.5 weeks and I only just found out that the engine is cooked. Just for reference also, their Ford computers also report no errors with the car. So the car thinks it is fine.... They haven't torn it down because that will incur costs, but the dealer it is with (not my warranty dealer) has recommended a new engine and new turbo for a total of $21.5k...
This is where it gets super dirty. It's a 2016, so it only came with the 3 year/100k Ford warranty. It is 6.5 years old, less than 89,000km on it, so still a baby. Meticulously maintained, all by the Ford dealer I bought it from. I bought it 2 years 10 months ago with a 3 year "platinum mechanical" warranty that cost me $1k. They told me at the time, everything under the sun is covered (warranty book basically confirms this) and regardless of cost, the car is covered because they serviced it an it is solid
When the car broke, I started looking at my warranty booklet, and it keeps referencing an "application page". Now I have a copy of every document they gave me during the sale, even documents from financiers I never ended up using, I'm pretty anal that way. So I called them asking what this "application page" is. All of a sudden I receive a page via email that includes a bunch of stipulations that I was never told about; e.g. set price servicing at $295 (I've been paying $400+ for scheduled servicing), max claim of $1k per claim, $3k over the course of the warranty (which seems absurd, paying $1k for that. Had I been told that, I never would have got the warranty as it is basically trash), and also a requirement to service it every 6 months or 10,000km to keep warranty intact (I have serviced it annually or 15,000km, as per the service manual and also as per the servicing department (the place that sold me the warranty)). This page also included the mandatory text that warranties need to include, outlined by the ACCC.
I saw this page in my email and immediately knew I had never laid eyes on it before, because it outlined stipulations that I had been told contrary, like claim limits etc. Then I noticed that the signature section of the page was empty. I never signed it, because I was never presented with it. But I have the receipt for the warranty and the warranty booklet that outlines what is covered (essentially everything)
So my questions are:
1) I believe the dealer should cover the entire cost of the repairs, because of the misinformation provided about the warranty (ie telling me what I wanted to hear to sell it, and not providing me with all the info), never mind me paying for it, but never signing the page that I was not presented with. Add to that the fact we are 24 days post-breakdown and they basically just fob me off. I think I've had 3 interactions with them after trying to get in contact basically every day
2) the car has never been thrashed, has been meticulously serviced, and only has 88,900km on it. It is my daily driver and the economy I have gotten over the ownership matches Ford's claimed urban economy, again proving I don't drive it like a lunatic. So regardless of warranty, with it being a likely manufacturing defect (the dealer who has it told me it's impossible I would have created the issue, it was likely a ticking time bomb), the dealer, or even Ford Australia, should cover repairs of it. I know it's 3.5 years outside warranty, but it is still below the 100,000km in that warranty, and going by consumer laws, I would assume everyone here would expect any kind of car (especially well maintained cars) to last more than 89,000km
If the dealer refuses to cover it, would I have a leg to stand on if I go through Fair Trade Qld/Consumer Law, or am I being biased toward myself with blind hope?
Oh, it also had it's head gasket replaced by my dealer, well prior to my purchase in 2019, as part of the Ford recall for the Focus RS. Wondering if this repair might have contributed to it in the long run
Again, apologies for the long first post, but if anyone has experience with similar issues or consumer law here, or even just opinions, they are all welcome
Thanks
