Brand new 09 Mustang smoking

browning_1 said:

thats messed up i just bought a 09 gt about 2 weeks ago and havent had any problems, just didnt take it above 3000 rpm for 800 miles or so, but no problems smoking or burning oil so far "knock on wood"

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People I know that I have talked about this with, all ask the same questions, "Did you get on it." I just laugh...I guess if 50 mph or 2000 rpm is "getting on it" then the answer is yes. But seriously, we've not even come close to "testing" the new GT and never intend to.

sycd said:

In some states it might even be illegal to have a car that makes smoke like this. You car may not even pass emission as it is depending on where you live.

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Great thought! I might have to move to CA for a short time, LOL, as Missouri has no emission tests.

Marc S said:

Ford says that 1 guart per 900 miles is acceptable and this is in print. Your consumption of 1 quart per 1600 miles could be a difficult situation for you.

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Marc, did you mean 9000 miles?

I'm back from the dealership and while I did record the conversation, it's probably easiest to give you a breakdown, starting with the printout they gave me.

This might not mean anything to you guys, but I'll type it out anyway.

2009 Mustang 2 dr coupe GT. Engine 4.6L 3V SOHC. Transmission 3650 5 speed manual. Axle code CG. Engine calibration 9ZF2G80A

Symptom Code Information
401000 - Engine oil system concerns

Special service messages - 20704 (that is the code the computer pulls up when they hooked my car up to it)

2005 - 2010 Mustang 4.6 3V - Blue smoke on cold start. Some 2005-2010 Mustang GT's equipped with 4.6 3V engines may exhibit a puff of blue smoke on startup without associated oil consumption complaint. This may be due to customer drive pattern. Quick shutoff after start followed by a soak period, is a major contributor. Customers should be advised to allow the vehicle to fully warm up prior to turning the key off to eliminate/reduce the condern, and that no repair is necessary. Effective date: 3/10/2009.

My rebuttal, which I brought up at the dealership.

First, I would not call it a "puff" of blue smoke. That video link that is posted is exactly how it looks when it starts. If it is smoking when I'm driving, I don't know, since I can't see the tailpipes. It is not billowing smoke, but I don't know if it is smoking on shifts or at stop signs/lights.

Second, now that I have a better idea of what they are calling my "driving pattern," I can say that I NEVER have driven in this manner. There is no place that I can drive that would not allow the vehicle to fully warm up. The only exception might be if I had some running to do in town and stopped at a few different stores, but the engine would have been fully warmed up before I got to those destinations, and would not have time to cool down between stops.

Third, I told them that my car does have "associated oil consumption" as it is 1/2 a quart low. She said that it is not low, and that it is in the safe zone and that they don't always fill the oil at the factory.

So, she advised me to bring it in at 3000 miles for an oil change and they will check how much oil it has used. She also told me that I could bring it in at any time to document the oil levels. I told her that I didn't just spend $32,000 to spend all my time at the service department.

Now that I have the car back and all my paperwork from the glovebox, I can look into my options a little more. I did not even ask to speak to the service manager today...that's a long story, but the short of it is that my granddaughter was with me this morning and I didn't think I could maintain my "cool" if I had to speak to him. I just recorded the conversation with the "advisor" and decided to get home and discuss things with my husband to see what the next step might be.

One other thing that I want to bring up. We actually started eyeing this car back in Nov. of last year. My husband wanted it then, but winter was coming and I did not want to give up the F-150 4X4 at that time...I told him if he still wanted the GT in the spring, then we would talk about it. We eyed this car for months, but it was ALWAYS parked in a gravel lot towards the back of the dealership. It was never up front with the new cars, and never with the other new Mustangs. I actually asked about it, and was told they didn't have room to park all the cars up front and they just rotate them. But never did I see any other GTs in that gravel lot, and never did I see the one we bought parked up front.

Hindsight -- 20/20???

Does anyone know what the protocol would be if a dealership gets a new car from the factory and it is smoking? Or what if the car came in as a trade from a different lot? If the dealer is aware of a problem, can they just send it back to the factory, or are they stuck with it? Is the best they can hope for is for some other lot wants to trade and they are finally able to wash their hands of it?

I know that a dealer wouldn't want to sell the car locally and upset one of their customers, and that's what is making me think that they were aware of it. I specifically asked them if they still had the white GT, and at first I was told 'no.' I asked "are you sure, it's always parked on the back lot." He said "let me check" and came back and said they still had it. Also, the salesman was brand new...only been there a few days. So he probably wouldn't have even known if they did know the car had problems.

I also want to make a correction about the purchase date. We bought the car on 3/16, not the 3/23 -- as I said, all the paperwork was in the car, and the 23rd stood out in my mind because that is when we did all the licensing and stuff. So we have had it for almost 3 weeks, not 2 weeks. Not that it makes a difference...just wanted to correct that earlier error I made.

Easley said:

People like that are what guns are made for!!!! he's BS'ng you big time!

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Easley, are you referring to the part I typed in red? That is supposed to be directly from Ford Tech Service. In fact, I have a print out of it and the URL at the bottom is http://www.vrep.fordtechservice.dealerconnection.com/vdirs/oasis/oareq.asp

It won't come up for me, of course, because I don't have the proper permissions, but the point I'm trying to make is that the dealer/service dept. didn't just pull this out of their butts -- it is Ford Tech Service that is saying it is normal and not a repair issue. Supposedly this "warning" was just issued the week before we bought our car, but if it is all 2005-2020 GTs with 4.6 3V engines, then why was this not released until March 10th, 2009?

I just read through my contract, and we agreed to arbitration. I feel strongly that an arbitrator would side with us, however we relinquish all rights to any future lawsuit, class action suit, right to appeal, and most importantly, right to a "discovery phase" which would give me information about how prolific this problem is. My other option is the lemon law, which as I have mentioned, doesn't do me any good at this point because I have to allow them 4 attempts to fix the problem, and they are not even attempting to fix the problem and are saying it is perfectly normal.

Update

I called Ford Customer Service hotline. I must say. . . they suck! I told the story, and was asked "...just what is it you would like us to do? How can we resolve this matter?" After several attempts at telling her that I wanted to know my next step - that I was not happy with the dealer's explanation of the smoke, and several more times of her asking me how they could resolve the issue to my satisfaction, I finally said, "I want my new car not to smoke!"

So . . . her solution was to tell me that she is not a qualified service technician and that she couldn't help me. I asked her who could help me, and she said the service dept. where I bought my car. I told her that was the classic case of the run-around -- dealer tells me to call them, they tell me to call the dealer.

So, I ended up calling another dealer about 25 miles from me (we have bought several new trucks through them) and talked to service there. They want me to bring it in on Wednesday and they'll look at it. I expressed my concerns over not having a replacement car and he said that they would take a quick look on Wed. and then talk to the manager about getting a loaner car when I drop it off for service.

He said that it is not normal for it to do what I described, and also said the excuse they gave me about it not necessarily being 1/2 quart of oil low because sometimes the factory doesn't fill it, is total BS. He said that before a customer is handed the keys to a new car, it goes through the service department and all fluid levels are checked, tire pressure, car wash, etc. He said they, and no other ford dealer, should send out a car that is not full on oil.

I'll keep you posted. Still trying to get a video. Our kitchen is being remodeled and everything is a mess -- just need to find the junk I need to convert and upload the video to the web.