BA XR6 - Advice Needed - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Timmeh · 04-23-2004, 20:12

I won't go on with a big whinging story, I am sure half of you have heard it before, but it's crunch time. I need advice on what action to take now, as it is at the stage where we are going to sell the car and looking at taking Ford to court.

Here is a brief run down of the situation:

Its an 11 week old BA XR6 N/A

It had a vibration at 100-120kmh and its a highway car so its right where you sit, its so loud its like being in an airliner. It gives you a headache after half an hour of driving.

Of the 11 weeks we have been paying for it, it has spent 9 weeks at Ford Dealerships.

2 seperate weeks before they told us they didnt think anything was wrong, each time we took someone for a drive soon after, one mechanic said "I don't know how you can stand it".

We took the car up to my local dealership (I live in a different city to my parents) where the car had a tail shaft balanced, which took a week to order in (the balancer), after which the car's engine let go (7,000kms old), resulting in another week replacing the gaskets. However, being unable to test the car after being balanced, the balancer was required elsewhere and the problem was not fixed.

The car was required back at my parents place for a trip to Melbourne that the car did not end up completing, so it went back to the dealership it was purchased at, where this time the guys seem interested in fixing it. They found the diff to be out of tolerance so that is being ordered, but we have been told there is a 2 to 3 week wait on that.

The whole time, both Ford Customer Care and all dealerships have told us we are not entitled to a loan car, or even hire car vouchers.

And that's the brief story.

So here's what I need help on:

If the diff does not fix the vibration, we are almost definitely going to sell the car. Needless to say, it will not be another Ford replacing it.

Are we entitled to another car while Ford have been fixing this?
Are we entitled to any compensation at all, as we are thinking of taking Ford to Consumer Affairs?

To us, it's incredible to spend over 40 grand on a new car and only have it two weeks out of three months.

It doesn't seem to matter who we speak to, whether in civil fashion or start expressing our frustration, Ford refuse to help, and we have another friend with the exact same issue which his BA with the same results.

Any advice would be much appreciated, the next course of action should the diff not fix it is to go down to Honda/Mazda/Toyota and buy a real car.

Frustrated customer of Ford who has been loyal for years and given up, Tim

HSV · 04-23-2004, 20:24

You must be a very patient bloke, Ford should supply a "courtesy car" surely??? I reckon you've got a lemon...get rid of it. As long as everything is documented, you, IMO would have a very strong case (no lawyer).

In short......get rid of it...... sue their asses......and buy a......ummm..... different model car.

EBXR · 04-23-2004, 20:46

Might be worth while chatting to your state govt's version of consumer affairs. They will point you in the right direction on how to deal with the dealership.

Out of interest, have you taken it to a driveline (diff/gearbox) specialist for their opinion? IMHO, they would be better in identifying a problem over a workshop that is set up to be a jack of all trades... and master of none.

baxr6na · 04-24-2004, 00:35

Good luck is all i can say, you'll get about $30 grand trade in for it aswell!

If Ford had not tried to fix the car then you could have had a go at them, but since they have been trying their best theres not much anyone can do for you. They are pretty much free of any liability as long as they are trying to find a fix, if they told you to piss off then thats another story.

Good luck with it!

ORSMXR · 04-24-2004, 00:59

i have had enough as well but we wont go into that
i would be asking for a brand new car as this one is not satisfactory
especially with all the probs with the car and how old is the car
did this have the noise from day on if so so much for their pre delivery guys at fords and the dealership

baxr6na · 04-24-2004, 03:47

Good Question - all Ford cars should be tested at highway speeds in pre-delievery. I see it happen everday, new car is sold, predelievery worker goes and picks it up from the holding yard, dealer plates put on it, and it goes for a little run up the freeway and back, where it has to be tested for things like wheel alignment, any rattles or any other associated defects.

Not all dealers could facilitate this however as you need a 100 km rated highway nearby (cant take these cars for long trips due to the delievery km status). The unfortunate part about it is tho, if Ford are working on a fix they won't give you a new car, and they will soo close you down in any legal case - they have the boys in the pinstripe suits that will either send you broke in legal proceedings or just piss you off so much that you give up neways. And for any consumer organisation to become involved, youd have to be kidding, they hate taking on giant companies - they usually get burnt to.

Timmeh · 04-25-2004, 20:26

Well, I have bought/organised about 10 new Fords for myself, family, and friends. I have always owned them, was a life long loyal supporter but time has run out.

Pretty much from here, we'll see what the diff does towards solving the cars vibration problem. If it doesn't, the car shall be sold, and I'll phase out my Fords as they come time to be updated.

I question why I am loyal to a company that has really done nothing for me in particular, except inconvenience us terribly with this car. I had never really thought about it much before.

Well, I hope to enjoy the cars I have left, and still hope to buy an XA-XB Falcon at some stage (where dealing with Ford is not required). I do like Fords still and will support them in racing, no fear of me heading to Holden. Ford have lost another 30 years of me buying cars in repeat business.

Such is life, every now and then it's time to move on.

I don't really know what else to add. Thanks for reading. Tim

Noboss · 04-26-2004, 01:16

My god were talking ford here! once there got your money thay wipe like a snotty nose. Get legel advice and sue the ass of them..........

NOBOUNDARIES · 04-26-2004, 01:45

Sorry to hear about the problems, no doubt you have been patient, but I would go one step further and get into to ford customer service, or all else fails, media before litigation, its costly, and takes time, solicitors win on this tact.

One foul swoop. If you have all the service records, dates, fax it to Ford and tell them they have 48 hours to fix or get a ford rep to you.

TPA, trade practices act is a mine field, but at elast you can have them ( ford) over a barrell in the mean time.

Good luck

Timmeh · 04-26-2004, 01:53

Well, we have dealt with Ford Customer Service a number of times, but because the dealership is fixing the car (one problem at a time, 3 weeks for every new part we need), we have been told that we are not entitled to anything. Not even a car to use while our BA is off the road.

That's our main problem. The other problem is everytime the car gets something changed, soemthing else breaks or fails, so then they have to wait another 3 weeks to fix that as well, and still no closer to solving the original problem.

So unless Ford can give us another car to use in the meantime, we're not sure what else they can do. Even though we feel they should be doing exactly that! How are we to drive to work to pay off the car we can not use?

Oh well. Cheers for the luck

Tim!