The main point of my rant is that I have(past tense) been a loyal Ford customer. In the last 30 years 90 % of the vehicles I owned were Ford. All companies have problems, the better companies do a better job of handling customer issues.

I bought this car in Oct 2004, it was the first hybrid escape in this area for sale. I had hoped that being one of the first to buy a 2005 Hybrid Escape would have counted for something, I was wrong.

Actually the main point of my ranting is to cost Ford sales. I have already talked my son-in-law out of buying a Ford and I fully expect to talk other people out of buying a Ford. Costing them sales is my payback for screwing a loyal customer.

 

I must have missed it...but how did Ford "screw" you, did they not fix something under warranty? This sounds like it was out of warranty and your beef should be with the local dealership anyway...hard to believe your the car collector you claim to be and haven't figured out when something is a dealership issue and when the manu should get involved. If you wanted coverage after 36K why didn't you buy and extended warranty? Sounds to me like your mad they didn't give you a handout...they have to make a warranty end sometime..if they stretch yours 1K...why shouldn't the next guy get 2K...or 5K...oh heck you've bought some cars from then, free repairs for life...
Besides when does a wheel bearing suddenly go bad....something tells me it was making noises while it was still under warranty, maybe you should have taken it back then. Then you say you got an estimate to fix it for 170...so your on a campaign against Ford for a $170 fix on a 3 year old car.....good luck with that, I'll look for the riots and marches in your support on CNN

 

Looks like you actually didn't negotiate well on the trade-in value. Kelly Blue Book has the average trade-in value about $4,000 higher than that, which should have been easy to get these days on a hybrid. Actually, I just looked up a non-hybrid trade-in on KBB and it's at about $13k - it appears the dealer didn't take into account that it's a hybrid in giving you a trade-in number (or chose to ignore that fact on purpose).

Kinda looks like you got screwed by the Chevy dealer too - but for $4,000 in that case, not the $1,000 the Ford dealer would have.

 

Yea, I also sympathize with the OP about having trouble with only 37,000 miles.

However, the warranty is for only 36,000. Ford is pretty upfront on that hard limit. I mean, it isn't like it is hidden in some obscure fine print somewhere.

I am sure there are lots of legal reasons why Ford must stick fast with that limit. If they started to cover vehicles at 37,000 miles, they are basically setting a president for everyone.

After saying all that, I wonder if the OP had a little one-on-one talk with the factory rep, if something could be done. I have heard of some factory rep's willing to go 50-50, just as good will.

 

I hope you were honest with your son-in-law, and made sure he realised that all manufacturers do this too. There is no warranty coverage after the warranty expires might be the better lesson to teach.

Or are you simply playing your son-in-law as a fool/pawn, in your zeal to get back at Ford?

 

Walt, I've had a rear A/C actuator valve go bad 3 times under the 3/36 warranty in my '02 Explorer. It has gone bad a total of 6 times at 78,000 miles, and the 5th one I split the cost with Ford. Turns out it just went bad again last month for the 6th time. It went bad with less than 12 months and 12,000 miles, so Ford replaced it for free this time.

I've had warranty issues before with Ford and I expect I'll have them in the future. I've own close, if not more than 20 new Ford cars and trucks in the past, and most of the time I've been treated fairly because I know how the system works between the Dealership and Ford.

When your out of warranty, you must consider the reason you bought and the terms and conditions. I could sell or trade my '02 Explorer knowing the rear A/C actuator valve will most likely go bad again. That is a choice I must be responsible for. I also know my electronics coolant pump will most likely go bad on my FEH in about 7,000 miles (50,000 miles total), so I have another decision to make being out of warranty.

GaryG

 

I will say this.

Toyota and Honda will cover items that they know are issues after the warranty expires. Maybe they can do this because their costs run less than the Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler.

If you read the Toyota and Honda forum, you will see lots of problems there. But most of the time, they will cover items past warranty.

It would be a good gesture on the part of Ford to replace your bearing, but technically it is out of warranty.

I did buy an extended warranty for every car that I have owned.

My Civic Hybrid's transmission went out at about 38 or 40 thousand miles. It would have cost $4600 to replace it. It didn't cost me anything because of the extended warranty.

I would call the district manager or their boss to see what Ford can do for you. It's worth a shot.

 

SOMETIMES- not all the time. I have heard from several Honda owners that have had transmission problems and the owners had to pay out of their pockets.

 

most car manu. are not going to fix anything for free after warrenty. dodge is the same also, had a cam break 200 miles after warranty, also had a second place check it and found it had been cracked for a while before it broke, but they still refused, cost lots to fix, and got rid of it after that. but its not just ford. I also think it depends on the dealership too.

 

Back in the early '90s I had a Volvo I had bought with my GF. A new turbo 740. Volvo had never before tried to make a "luxury" car but she wanted something safe.

I never seen a car have so many things break on it. In warranty, out of warranty -- you could count on something it needed every two months. The AC. The power antenna, the door handle fell off. The AC again. The sun roof jammed. Then one of the windows. There was never a month after the first six months of its life it wasn't leaking fluid somewhere. It went on like that.

Eventually the dealership started fixing things for free even though it was about 2 years after warranty. I think even their head bean counter could see how ridiculous this was. Finally we traded it in at that dealer (they gave us above average value) for an 850, which was fine. So I guess dealers do count.