Well that's it.... We've had it with Ford and this Bronco Sport

[Mark S.]

I'm often surprised by number of persons who find offense in the proper usage of the English language.

I find proper English to be much more effective when used tactfully. My personal policy is to avoid comments about people in discussions on forums like this. Getting personal is the fastest way to derail a discussion that might be otherwise helpful for everyone.

For the record, I understand the process of troubleshooting. My comment was meant to highlight the absurdity of keeping a customer's vehicle for FIVE EFFING DAYS solely for the purpose of troubleshooting what appears to be a fairly simple problem. Would it take more than an hour to find what specifically is wrong with OP's SYNC screen? Maybe. But I'm pretty sure if I had access to all the troubleshooting tools available in a Ford service center I could get very close to understanding how to fix the problem in not much more than an hour.

Then again, I may be overestimating my skills. It wouldn't be the first time!

Sponsored

 

[gatornek]

extreme ignorance

Yep. It is extreme ignorance to try and rationalize five days to read a code and have a clue. ?

Try a bit more tact next time.

 

[MJbronco]

Can we also all acknowledge that the Ford Motor Company account on here always responds to threads of customers having issues but NEVER RESPONDS!

 

[TNFurb]

By this comment, I can only assume you feel my statement was somehow meant to be derogatory. I'm often surprised by number of persons who find offense in the proper usage of the English language. There was no malice in my statement.

It’s hard to misinterpret calling someone extremely ignorant.

 

[gatornek]

Can we also all acknowledge that the Ford Motor Company account on here always responds to threads of customers having issues but NEVER RESPONDS!

I can. I've been here for a little over a year. I've seen that account QUICKLY respond on threads when an owner reports some sort of warranty related issue. But then a little later, you always hear the OP come back and say that the account ghosted them when they tried to follow up.

 

[davidg4781]

I can. I've been here for a little over a year. I've seen that account QUICKLY respond on threads when an owner reports some sort of warranty related issue. But then a little later, you always hear the OP come back and say that the account ghosted them when they tried to follow up.

I'll try contacting them soon. I think they replied to my post about losing coolant. I took it to the local Ford dealership that had not heard about the water pump issues. And they didn't find any leaks. I already bought one gallon of coolant and don't want to keep buying more.

 

[Sojourner]

It has been a hard thing for me to not get "Red 10" angry that cars - due to the total involvement of computers and software installed in them - are forever in Beta.

Remember the good ole days when cars just did car things...? No getting around the fact that cars are orders of magnitude better than just 20 years ago, but there's no getting around the fact that they are rolling software bugs.

 

[Hot pepper red]

I can empathize with your issues with Ford because of my own issues I am currently having with them regarding the paint wearing and worn through on my vehicle from opening and closing the doors on my badlands. I read Ford's warranty coverage and found a section that states that there is an arbitration process that you can go through with them. If you are interested, it is called the "BBB Auto Line". There is no cost to consumers and Ford agrees to the resolution that is decided by the arbitrator. You can find all of the details at bbbprograms.org

 

[kapk22]

It’s hard to misinterpret calling someone extremely ignorant.

This

 

[Dude]

… I read Ford's warranty coverage and found a section that states that there is an arbitration process that you can go through with them. If you are interested, it is called the "BBB Auto Line". There is no cost to consumers and Ford agrees to the resolution that is decided by the arbitrator. You can find all of the details at bbbprograms.org

For those with access to the online Owners Manual that supports searches, you can type “BBB” into the search bar. In the US, for me the search results look like the attached pic. It’s good info for everyone to read through these sections so that you know the steps to take after trying to resolve issues after repairs are performed. In other countries the warranty and next steps info will be specific to your country.

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/vdirsnet/OwnerManual/Home/Index?Variantid=8547&languageCode=EN&countryCode=USA&VIN=&userMarket=usa&div=f&buildtype=web

 

[Blooey]

And the dealerships also have to stop with the "did you buy the car here" nonsense when it comes to warranty claims.

 

[rltotten]

Within the first month of owning the 2021 Bronco Sport Big Bend the transmission failed. We were forced to take it to the dealership in Medford Oregon two times, and finally they replaced the transmission. After getting Ford involved, the stealership finally agreed to provide a rental car. If I remember correctly, the BS was in the shop for over a month.

Fast forward to about a month ago and we ended up getting the blank screen issue on the radio. After trying everything mentioned on here, the screen was still not fixed. Ford ironically had just reached out to us (prior to the screen issue) and scheduled a home visit to fix an unrelated recall. My wife contacted the local stealership several days prior to the appointment and was told the tech would check the screen issue. I also spoke with Ford on this forum and they said I could follow up with them after the appointment regarding the screen issue.

The tech showed up on the 20th and had no idea about the screen problem. They told us we would need to bring the vehicle in to have it "diagnosed". We contacted the stealership again and they told us they had informed their tech about the screen issue and did not know why he did not know about it. They told us the vehicle would need to be brought to the stealership and it would take five days for them to "diagnose" the issue. We asked if they would provide a rental vehicle and they said they would not because we didn't have the "extended warranty". I reached out to Ford on here again (twice) and they are not replying to my messages.

My wife is a home health Nurse and needs her vehicle to do her job. We contacted Ford again and they said we needed to take it to a Ford Lincoln dealer for the screen and the rental would be covered. We dropped the vehicle off this morning at the local Lincoln dealership and they told us it should be done by next Friday. When asked about the rental, the service advisor told us Ford would not reimburse us because they were a Lincoln dealership. They did however tell us they could fix the problem under warranty. Lincoln was the only place we could get the vehicle fixed in time before the mileage exceeded the warranty. Other local Ford dealers were a week or two out.

We ended up getting rental for my wife to use until the BS is fixed. It sounds like we will not be reimbursed for this now.

On a side note, I have grown up being a Ford enthusiast. My Father sold Ford vehicles for over twenty years and I have had several trucks myself. My wife has had two Explorers an Edge and now this BS. I was excited when we decided to purchase the Bronco and looked forward to having another Ford vehicle. After this experience, I am sorry to say Ford has completely dropped the ball. The lack of reasonable customer service and reliability issue with this vehicle has changed my opinion of Ford. My wife wants to sell the BS in the next six months or so and says she will never own another Ford vehicle.

I sincerely hope others don't experience what we have with their BS. I really appreciate everyone on this forum that have given input and advice over the years.

If anyone has any ideas/recommendation on a similar size SUV that is reliable and manufactured by someone other than Ford, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Wow, sorry you are getting the run around from the dealer/service department. My dealer/service department has been very understanding with my 2 loss of power issues ... the 2nd fix action is holding up so far and of course I hope it's permanently fixed.

My wife has a 2018 Toyota Highlander that she absolutely loves ... The only issue was an oil leak at 25K miles ... under warranty and was promptly fixed. She now has 128K miles on it ... oil changes and tires at the right intervals. I'd recommend Toyota or Subaru for replacement as they usually get great Consumer Reports ratings for reliability.

 

[Dude]

And the dealerships also have to stop with the "did you buy the car here" nonsense when it comes to warranty claims.

That would be great if they would stop that nonsense.

The owners manual “tossed a bone” to those dealerships that don’t like doing warranty repairs for a vehicle not purchased there. The sentence with Ford’s recommendation to return to your selling dealer isn’t needed and the paragraph could be written as:

Warranty repairs to your vehicle must be performed by an authorized dealer, which includes your selling authorized dealer or any authorized dealer.

Note in the 2nd paragraph below that the vehicle owner would need to go to a dealership that has special training and equipment if that is needed for the warranty work.

Owner’s Manual states:
“Warranty repairs to your vehicle must be performed by an authorized dealer. While any authorized dealer handling your vehicle line will provide warranty service, we recommend you return to your selling authorized dealer who wants to ensure your continued satisfaction.

Please note that certain warranty repairs require special training and equipment, so not all authorized dealers are authorized to perform all warranty repairs. This means that, depending on the warranty repair needed, you may have to take your vehicle to another authorized dealer.

A reasonable time must be allowed to perform a repair after taking your vehicle to the authorized dealer.”

 

[Bronco Blue]

The estimated time is usually due to workload ahead your concern, not the time required to actually diagnose your concern. Ford has tried, numerous times, to gain more control over its dealer network. The dealer groups summarily sue Ford to inhibit any additional control over their independent operation, resulting in rogue dealers that operate as they see fit.


With this statement, you are showing your extreme ignorance of what is required to properly diagnose any concern with a vehicle. "Plugging in your computer" and getting a diagnosis is a common misconception. A diagnostic tool simply provides additional data, such as diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), to aid in the diagnostic. It is the technician's training and skill in using that data and information to follow prescribed tests to discern the cause of the concern. This takes time. Some diags are quick, others can require hours of investigation, but NOT necessarily physical disassembly. Much of modern diagnostics is data collection and interpretation. While DTCs can aid and quicken diagnostics, the complexity of modern vehicles can inhibit speed.

Still shouldn’t take 5 freaking days to diagnose something. The dealership I use has me in and out the same day. The only time they need to keep it longer is when they’re fixing something complex, so they give me a loaner, no questions asked and that’s rare. No way it should take more than a couple of hours to diagnose an issue.

 

[sajohnson]

And the dealerships also have to stop with the "did you buy the car here" nonsense when it comes to warranty claims.

Absolutely right!

All auto mfrs all claim that owners can take their vehicle to any authorized dealer, but there are countless stories of owners being refused warranty service (or it being made very difficult) by a dealer that did not sell the vehicle. I have personally experienced this with several different mfrs -- GM (Pontiac -- 2 dealers); Subaru; Toyota; and Nissan.

The current situation meets the definition of fraud. The FTC definitely needs to get involved.

Either a) ALL dealerships should willingly perform warranty (and customer paid) work on a first-come, first-served basis, or b) the mfrs should be honest and up-front with customers and tell them they're essentially on their own. That dealers are free to tell vehicle owners to pound sand, for any reason, including their favorite, "You didn't buy your car here."

At least we'd know what to expect.

FWIW, most RV dealers have been operating like this for years. Like car/truck dealers, they do not like warranty work because it pays less (both parts and labor) so they flat-out refuse to work on any RV they did not sell. Even those they did sell are given lowest priority (for warranty work). That's why the common advice is to buy a used RV -- because they all have some problems (some have dozens) and a used one has already taken the 'off the lot' depreciation hit, and the 1st owner has usually had the problems corrected.

Sponsored