[ponyup04]

Just got the results from dealership. The reason why my 2004 GT was lunging was because the torque converter broke. There was so much damage inside that Ford decided to replace the transmission at MY cost since the car was towed to the dealership on the last day of warranty and they logged it in for the next day, which would be one day after the warranty. I'm the classic little old lady with low milage that doesn't drive much and I don't know how this happened to my car with only 29,000 miles. Anyone care to address this situation, it will be appreciated. Also, what gives about the warranty? Does it go by the hours of operation of the service department, or 3 years til the end of the day?

[rj8806]

I would be raising hell with them and showing them the towing bill. It should have a date stamp and time stamp showing that it was delivered the day before the warranty expired.


Richard

[blueoval]

Did they fix the transmission then give you a bill and tell you your warranty was out. Or have they just told you about it and haven't yet done anything. I would definitely argue with them and make sure their where a lot of costumers around when I did.

[reivaxtorres]

wow, that dealership sucks. one time our warranty was over on our van, and the rear panel "magically broke" (stupid brother kicked it or something) and we took it in to the dealership, talked to the service manager (who somewhat knew us and liked dealing with my family) and he managed to get it covered under warranty.

same with our truck, our service advisor told us that since it was just a few days past the warranty period, they could have gotten it covered under the warranty but since they found nothing wrong, it all worked out.

i would go in there and ask to speak to the service manager and explain the situation to him, speaking firmly yet civilized. me might be able to pull some strings and get it covered under warranty, especially since it was only a day past the warranty end date.


as for the warranty, it covers the car for 36 months (3 years) from the date of purchase or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.

[blueoval]

The warranty is only as good as the dealership you buy from.

[dapack69]

Once you talk to the service manager and can't get anything done, talk to the field rep for your area, he'll normally be able to fix it your you.

[ponyup04]

Thanks everyone,you give me the courage to fight this one. UPDATE:Ford Motor Co. says the 3 yr. guarantee starts from the day of service at the Dealership, not when the car is sold. How many of you understood that angle. I'd still like to know why the torque converter would break so soon?

[reivaxtorres]

really? with us it didnt start until jan 12, 1998 (when we bought our van, which we sadly sold before the warranty expired) and sept 29, 2001 (when we bought our truck) and the dealership honored the warranty until sept. 29, 2006 (we got the extended warranty to cover it for a total of 5 yrs). where did you get the info that it starts on the day its serviced by the dealer?

and as for why the torque converter failed, it could be a number of things, my guess would be an internal defect

[jjandascog]

Thanks everyone,you give me the courage to fight this one. UPDATE:Ford Motor Co. says the 3 yr. guarantee starts from the day of service at the Dealership, not when the car is sold. How many of you understood that angle. I'd still like to know why the torque converter would break so soon?

That is a load of C$%p, the warrenty starts when the vehicle is sold (actually when the paper work is finished) that is federal law. If the dealership is still giving you trouble start calling Ford. My Stepdad worked for Ford (he was the guy you would call if you were not staisified with the dealership work) for 30 yrs on the service side and he would have authorized warrenty work on your vehicle (as long as there is not evidence of abuse).
Get in contact with you local Ford rep and tell him the problem

[ponyup04]

Thanks again for all the info. Joanne from Ford Motor is the one that said the warranty starts from when the dealership receives the car. That sounds wrong to me, but what's does seem to matter is the dealership said the warranty actually expired 11:59 on the 13th. I bought the car on a sunday, the 15th of 2004. I think I'm getting the run around, the devils in the details. They are offering me a new transmission for $356.57 plus tax with a 3 year warranty again. It could be done in two days. I'm thinking of going for it. I hate begging for rides to work, lunch, shopping etc. Should I be sour on Ford mustangs or did I just get an odd problem. I really love driving around Tampa in my beautiful blue convertible. I'd hate to give it up, so would my dog.

[dawrr]

Go back to that dealership with a Zippo. Randomly flick it on and off as you negotiate, but don't pay too much attention to the fact you're holding it.

I'm being serious here; not the funny pyro stuff. When I was at a dealership looking at Mustangs back in April, a guy went in the office and did that. He was a big, intimidating guy too. He walked out happy as a clam because he got an extended warranty for no extra charge.

Something about flicking a Zippo is intimidating. Hmmm...

But really, that's a load of monkey crap. IF you flip out long enough, you'll get the tranny done. If they downright refuse on such a stupid premise, then raise Hell. Call local TV news stations, papers, etc. Go back and ask again with a reporter behind you, but make sure to summarize the preceding events. If all of this really did happen on the last day of the warranty, the tranny is as good as free.

Otherwise, you'll have less of a chance. Dell pulled the same crap on me, but I was 15 and very naive at the time. I don't put up with that crap anymore. I bought a laptop and got a 1 year warranty on it. The HD and RAM died on the 363rd day and I called them on the 364th. "Allo? Yays. Nowah. Me sowway, yoo have to boy ah new hard darive and rammmmmmmm. Warranty expiyah. Wood you like place ordah?"

Bastards. Having worked in retail, I can safely say that the louder you are and more aggressive, the more you can squeeze out. I know that's a bad moral to play with, so ONLY use it when you KNOW you're right or being downright screwed. I mean, people used to buy brand new construction equipment, use it, bring it back the next day and want a refund because it was "defective." PHhht. I'd plug it in and it would work fine and they'd be dumbfounded. I said, "Oh, the defect must be that your work was done and you unplugged it, am I right?" Still, company policy was "100% satisfaction."

So, use that to your advantage. Being diplomatic can only go so far; it works when you're dealing with equally diplomatic people. When ignorance is abound, you have to fight fire with slightly-hotter-burning-fire. They're stupid; you're prepared.

I think the news reporters would be a good tactic. The dealerships don't want the bad publicity, so they're likely to compromise.

Wow, all this caffeine made me write a freakin' report. Enjoy.

[EagleAutosports]

The pyro speaks...
But I think maybe MAYBE it might have to do with your gender. They're probably thinking you don't know anything about cars and they can snowball you and you won't know any different.
And you probably just had a bad converter. Like X said, an internal defect. I haven't heard of a converter breaking at any other time that abuse wasn't involved like a 2200 mile cross country trip (happened to me) or constant launching at a drag strip. If you took care of it like you claim, then it was probably a bad converter.

[dawrr]

Originally Posted by EagleAutosports

The pyro speaks...

Goin' in the sig

[EagleAutosports]

Oh man...

[lxarlo]

Originally Posted by ponyup04

Thanks again for all the info. Joanne from Ford Motor is the one that said the warranty starts from when the dealership receives the car. That sounds wrong to me, but what's does seem to matter is the dealership said the warranty actually expired 11:59 on the 13th. I bought the car on a sunday, the 15th of 2004. I think I'm getting the run around, the devils in the details. They are offering me a new transmission for $356.57 plus tax with a 3 year warranty again.

The warranty starts from the date of purchase. If its a time thing, yea you will have to talk to the manager or field rep. if it were mileage, then if you do regular service at that dealer, they would have messed up the mileage for you. $356.57 for a transmission!!!!!!! thats a steal!!!! are you sure you werent missing another digit before the decimal point?

mustangs are good cars. dont sour on them. plus this new transmission will have a warranty for 3 years and 75k miles. get out there and enjoy that flordia sun!!