Kind of a long story, but basically my original 99 Cobra motor crapped out on me about 1.5 years ago. So I decided to bite the bullet and pay Ford the premium ($6,700) to have a true Cobra motor installed with 36 month/36,000 mile 100% parts and labor warranty. Now, we both know I could have had a crate motor installed for much less and it would probably be running great right now, but I opted to stick with the original motor platform in an effort to keep it a SVT.
Upon getting the car back, it smoked on start up on occassion and burned too much oil for just having the remanufactured motor installed. So I took it back to Ford and asked them to diagnos the problem. Instead they charged me $50 for an oil consumption test, which was basically me paying for an oil change and for them to then "monitor" my oil useage. However, the car ended up burning about a quart every 1,000 miles and that was just not acceptable to me but they told me that was normal and that I would have to drive it. I took it back with the same complaint about 5 months later and ended up getting the same outcome, even after trying the warranty hotline and calling Ford direct. I talked till I was blue in the face, yet I couldn't even get them to run a compression test.
So last Saturday the car apparently threw a connecting rod and cracked the block. Oil and coolant went everywhere and smoked up something fierce. I am sure everyone thinks that I was red-lining it but that was not the case. I was at about 4 grand in second, so it was under some pressure but meant to handle much more. So what gives?
I had it towed to Ford and tried to file a warranty claim, stating that I had tried to come in before and take care of the problem when it wasn't a blown motor and the oil was burning. I was refused any kind of help and now here we sit with a completely faulty motor.
They diganosed the car and denied the claim stating that I had modified the motor. They claim some of my bolt-ons like a cold air intake and computer chip void the warranty. Which would be correct but like I told them all of the remnants they are seeing is from the original motor. I removed everything when the original motor blew and hadn't replaced them specifically waiting for the warranty to run out, then worry about sticking my bolt-ons back on.
So needless to say, I am not too excited about paying almost $7 grand for a faulty remanufactured motor and then being repeately denied warranty help. The warranty wasn't cheap either and apparently was a sales gimmick because Ford hasn't stood behind it yet. I have been a loyal Ford customer and was ready to purchase one of the new GT's...but seriously doubt I will after dealing with this mess.
Does anyone have any good advice on how to solve this problem other then the typical "call Ford everyday and complain" strategy? I am actually in the process of looking for an automotive lawyer to have a conseltation to see if I have a case or not. Know a lawyer I should contact?
Thanks for any help.
Travis
Upon getting the car back, it smoked on start up on occassion and burned too much oil for just having the remanufactured motor installed. So I took it back to Ford and asked them to diagnos the problem. Instead they charged me $50 for an oil consumption test, which was basically me paying for an oil change and for them to then "monitor" my oil useage. However, the car ended up burning about a quart every 1,000 miles and that was just not acceptable to me but they told me that was normal and that I would have to drive it. I took it back with the same complaint about 5 months later and ended up getting the same outcome, even after trying the warranty hotline and calling Ford direct. I talked till I was blue in the face, yet I couldn't even get them to run a compression test.
So last Saturday the car apparently threw a connecting rod and cracked the block. Oil and coolant went everywhere and smoked up something fierce. I am sure everyone thinks that I was red-lining it but that was not the case. I was at about 4 grand in second, so it was under some pressure but meant to handle much more. So what gives?
I had it towed to Ford and tried to file a warranty claim, stating that I had tried to come in before and take care of the problem when it wasn't a blown motor and the oil was burning. I was refused any kind of help and now here we sit with a completely faulty motor.
They diganosed the car and denied the claim stating that I had modified the motor. They claim some of my bolt-ons like a cold air intake and computer chip void the warranty. Which would be correct but like I told them all of the remnants they are seeing is from the original motor. I removed everything when the original motor blew and hadn't replaced them specifically waiting for the warranty to run out, then worry about sticking my bolt-ons back on.
So needless to say, I am not too excited about paying almost $7 grand for a faulty remanufactured motor and then being repeately denied warranty help. The warranty wasn't cheap either and apparently was a sales gimmick because Ford hasn't stood behind it yet. I have been a loyal Ford customer and was ready to purchase one of the new GT's...but seriously doubt I will after dealing with this mess.
Does anyone have any good advice on how to solve this problem other then the typical "call Ford everyday and complain" strategy? I am actually in the process of looking for an automotive lawyer to have a conseltation to see if I have a case or not. Know a lawyer I should contact?
Thanks for any help.
Travis