Screwed by Ford????

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Carlos Reyes

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Apr 8, 2005
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Location
Ft.Lewis, WA
I purchased a used Explorer Sport Trac from a dealership here in Arizona, now at the time there were ver very small marks in the clear coat. Well finally these small 'chiken scratches' have spread over the entire truck. The clear coating has cracked. When I took it to a shop they said it would cost a little more than $2500 dollars to undo the damage. But the man suggested I take it to Ford due to the extent of the cracking that no paintjob should do that.

Well I made an appointment and went down to the dealership I purchased it at. The Customer Service Rep was saying that Ford would not be liable since the truck has 71,000 miles on it. But the mechanic and Shop Foreman told me, that this Sport Trac has been repainted, and that that paintjob was NOT a Ford paintjob. They said -LOL- 'Whoever you bought this from did a crappy job repainting it, and whatever they used as a catalyst to harden the clear coating has made it crack'. When I told them I purchased it from their shop, Lawley Ford, they got quiet about the situation. They would not assist with this matter other than saying that the Arizona Ford Rep would have to look at the vehicle because the Ford dealership I bought the truck ago just a year ago who OBVIOUSLY repainted it for some unknown reason will not pay for their shitty mistake.

:angry:

Die Lawley Die

-LOL-

Advice, Comments?
 
Well, There have been issues with the earlier St's having pealing or cracking paint...

Do a car fax on the truck, See if any accident was reported, and get them on that if they did not tell you.....

IF the whole truck is cracking, Then I would say it was NOT repainted and has the bad paint from the factory.. IF it was just a fender or the hood I would agree...

Todd Z
 
http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/msgboard9e.asp?BOARDNAME=MSG&VIEW=200750&archive=1&sitename=mysporttrac
 
Ford isn't necessarily responsible to some degree. If the trac was repainted then those that did the job are who you have to take it up with. Ford does not control the dealers or the service depts. for the most part. I would suggest calling for customer care or service or whatever and begin filing a complaint or at least attempt to. Since it was a used vehicle you may be in rough shape getting them to stand behind it. Have the ford rep look at it, and maybe take it up with your local BBB as well. This is all based on it actually being the dealers fault and not an aftermarket shop.
 
Im sorry to hear about your situation but you bought a used vehicle, Isnt there is sticker on the window that said no warranty ? How should any dealer be responsible for a used vehicle ? The person who owned the vehicle before you could have never washed it or used harsh chemicals to even wash it. In my personal opinion, Ford nor the dealer have done you wrong, you bought a used vehicle. No warranty expressed or implied
 
This won't cure your problem, but a good buffing job (with 2000 grit sandpaper, then finishing material) every couple of months would do a great job of hiding the scratches. I have taken cars with primer ONLY on them and made them look like a brand new car with sandpaper, high speed grinder/polisher, automotive finishing material and then wax. If you don't want to pay for a new paint job (and you can't get the dealership to do it), that's always an alternative. It won't work forever, but it should get you through 6-8 months, by which time you could have saved up enough $$ to get a paint job.

Sorry to hear about your problem, that really bites. Good luck with the resolution.
 
Ohh I have a warrenty, I purchased an extended warrenty when I first got it from them.

Just alot of stuff I am pretty sure is not covered by warrenty issues....Like paintjobs
 
You stated that you seen the small cracks when you bought the vehicle. If you did not like them or suspected a problem you should have brought it up and had the dealer provide you with a warranty on the paint or don't buy it.



You have no proof that the Ford dealership where you bought the vehicle repainted it prior to the sale. It may have been the previous owner who had it painted by a dealer or by someone else so they could get a higher trade-in value or selling price.



It is very rare for a dealer to have a used vehicle painted before selling it. It's usually not cost effective for them to do that. It's much easier for them to just pay less for the vehicle and wholesale the vehicle to used-car dealers who are a little further down the food chain.



New Car dealerships will usually only keep the cream of the crop of their trade-in's. Most will be less than 3-4 years old and have less than 50K-60K miles. Vehicles with damaged body panels, bad paint, beat up interiors and major mechanical problems are wholesaled to the used-car dealers.



...Rich
 
I've been having the same problem with my 2002 Sport Trac. I bought it used from a Honda dealer last August, and around December of last year, I noticed the paint really starting to crack and check. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they repainted the front fenders, hood, and roof, all of which was under warranty. However, not the roof paint is no wrinkling up, and I still have checking on the rest of the truck. I am out of warranty, but I am debating whether or not to take it back to the dealer and making them fix it. As it was, I had to take the truck back a week after it was painted the first time because when they sandblasted my hood, the didnt clean it well and ended up painting over grains of sand. Any suggestions??
 
Actually, not only do they not get it painted, they bring in someone like me to completely cover up all imperfections. I worked for a dealership (which shall remain nameless) here in Missouri. They would call me whenever they had a car that had lots of surface scratches or other imperfections in the paint and I would completely sand the car down with 2000 grit sandpaper, then spend most of the day buffing it and removing every little imperfection in the paint. I must admit, they almost always looked like brand new...for about 2 months. Then they went back to their usual scratched/scuffed appearance (not because of the sandpaper, but because of the problems before I sanded it). We had one car that looked like someone had rubbed steel wool all over the entire car, the thing looked HORRIBLE. 12 hours later I had it looking brand new, there would have been NO way to tell that there was ever a problem until the wax and finishing material that I used finally wore off, then the paint would be just as bad as it was before. This is pretty common, when I was doing that work, I usually had more dealerships calling me than I could keep up with. Word kinda spread about what I could do. Needless to say, quite a few people got screwed over just like you did. I feel bad about it now, but at the time I was just making money to support myself. I don't do that anymore, except in special cases, such as yours. I do it for people who want a decent-looking car but cannot afford a new paint job right away. My buff job allows them a bit of extra time to get the $$ saved up. If another dealer asked me to do that, there's no way in hell I would do it though. The money was great, not only for ME, but for the car dealerships as well. Once buffed/polished, they would jack up the price of the car significantly because they could get more money for it. 2 months later, the buyers usually came back and threw a fit. Didn't you ever wonder why used car dealerships want you to get your picture taken in front of your car before you take delivery??? That's just another method of insurance to prove that they sold you a car with a flawless paint job and that you were extremely happy with it when you bought it... :eek:
 
My uncle had a similar problem with a GMC pickup about 5 years ago and GM paid for most of it because it was bad paint. This was a early 90's pickup too. It would never hurt to try and get ford to pay for it. The least they can tell you is no.
 
If the used vehicle was repainted, Ford has no obligation to apply any TSB's or New vehicle warranties on a used vehicle that was sold "As is".



...Rich
 

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