My 2021 Ranger with 1620 miles sits on side of road waiting for tow truck!

[paval3]

you can also make a claim yourself to Ford Roadside assistance.
google them and you'll find the forms to fill out

i myself have never had an issue with roadside assistance.
I call, they call a tow truck...it shows up in an acceptable time frame.

I wouldnt lay the blame all on Ford at this point, there's no way of knowing if the tow companies are on the up and up and are claiming correctly to begin with. they could be the cause of their own delay in payment.

A lady from Ford Assistance called a few minutes ago to follow up and apologize for what transpired today. She gave me a number to fax documents to try and get reimbursed for the towing.

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[paval3]

That's terrible and hope you get your truck back , I know most women react to getting stranded differently than most men, when my wife was stranded for hours driving my old 1991 Taurus SHO she refused to drive the car again, so it was up to me to endure being stranded in that car and it did happen more than once.

I'm glad I was so close to home and not out on I-80 (we live between 2 exits of I-80, so a lot of the times I jump on it to get from one close by town to the other). LOL I probably react more calmly and sensibly than my husband! I even know how to jump start a vehicle.. may be not much more, but that I know!

 

[AzScorpion]

So here is my experience from today with Ford Road Side Assistance. This all started around 11 a.m. or so. First tow Assistance lined up didn't show up, they declined doing the tow... second one was lined up, no show after an hour, then text from Assistance saying it was declined.... third one lined up by Assistance, no show, got a text they declined and they would try another one. So I called the one that was the third one that was supposed to come out and asked what happened... they told me a lot of towing companies won't deal with Ford Assistance because of how they pay, slow whacky way of doing things (his words). This third guy was real nice though and told me he just saw a local tow truck sitting at the firehall and to quick give a call, maybe they are free now. So it happened to be it was the first tow company Ford Assistance tried to line up! I called, explained what was going on, they too told me they had declined because they won't deal with Ford Assistance because of how they pay. So they did agreed to come right out if I paid and were there within 10 minutes. So 4 hours later my Ranger was on the way to the Ford dealership.

I do have road side assistance on my vehicle's insurance... don't know how much they will cover, but I'll call tomorrow and find out.

Wow this is terrible! Looks like we can all assume that FRSA is useless and not to count on them if stranded. Hopefully they'll pick up the bill on this without any run a round. Hopefully it's an easy fix and they can get it back to you soon.

I've been very disappointed in what I've been reading lately here and on the B6G forum in respect to Ford and their customer service not to mention the problems that are arising. I'm seriously second guessing the Bronco now and am going to watch the rollout and feedback with the Maverick and the Lightning along with the Bronco hard top mess. If there are a lot of problems there too (CS & reliability) I may just cancel and move on to something else.

 

[paval3]

Hmm, that really sucks!
Are you sure that puddle is water and not coolant from your heater core? Soak it up with a tissue - if it’s clear and has no odour, it’s likely water. If it’s green or orange and smells kinda sweet, it’s likely coolant.

I wish I had. Didn't get to read the responses here until I got home and vehicle was finally towed and on the way to service. The puddle wasn't directly under the dash.

 

[103]

OP--I'm glad it got towed and is getting handled. When mine died, I was near Clarksville, Arkansas, and I live in Florida. Ford had zero alternators available at the time. So I had to get a ride to KC, fly home, procure a new alternator (first one I found seized--second had a broken connector but the dealership in Clarksville was willing to swap for the seized alternator's connector). Then I flew back to KC, drove down to Clarksville with a friend, and drove the Ranger home. Most expensive alternator swap ever. (I was outside of warranty.)

 

[RecoilOperated]

OP--I'm glad it got towed and is getting handled. When mine died, I was near Clarksville, Arkansas, and I live in Florida. Ford had zero alternators available at the time. So I had to get a ride to KC, fly home, procure a new alternator (first one I found seized--second had a broken connector but the dealership in Clarksville was willing to swap for the seized alternator's connector). Then I flew back to KC, drove down to Clarksville with a friend, and drove the Ranger home. Most expensive alternator swap ever. (I was outside of warranty.)

I genuinely appreciate that despite that experience your profile photo is your truck making a water crossing.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Man, Waiting for my 2021 to be built. Seeing all the issues lately, Im a little worried.

Don't get discouraged. What you need to keep in mind that this forum section, just like on any other car forum is a very small sample of the total number of vehicles manufactured. So it may appear that there are a lot of problems but in reality it's nothing to really be overly concerned about. Ford sold over 80K in 2019 and 100K in 2020 in the US alone and the total number issue threads on here only around 1K threads in the issues section so far and that includes duplicate threads and such.

 

[Chris M]

That actually makes ME feel better about my little issues.
Not a LOT better, but some better.

 

[103]

I genuinely appreciate that despite that experience your profile photo is your truck making a water crossing.

Haha, yes. In fact, I should be working on an airbox to work with my snorkel in the next couple weeks. And I just ordered a spare alternator for a trip back to the trail that killed my alternator the first time!

 

[Tim H.]

Started up fine in the driveway. Got about 3 miles down the valley and a warning came up, something to the effect Check Battery Charging System. About 30 seconds later, another warning... something about Coolant Above Temperature. Then I started losing power. I pulled off side of road, called dealership. I was told to call Roadside Assistance. I thought, well I'm only a couple miles from home, let me see if I can drive it home. I got about 3/4 of a mile, and the same sequence of events happened. So it sits in the berm of a well traveled road. I got through to Road Assistance and the first tow was supposed to be there in an hour. After an hour, I got a text that the "provider" cancelled.... so I call Roadside Assistance again. They line another one up. I sit another 45 minutes and get a text from them that the "provider" cancelled! By this time, I need to pee badly! So I called my husband to come get me with his Sierra before I have to deal with this any further. After taking the needed break at the house (we're in the middle of Ida aftermath with torrential rains her in central PA), I jump in the ole 18 year old Mountaineer (so glad I kept it) and drive back to where my Ranger sits. On the phone with Roadside Assistance again, they said they'll try to line now a 3rd truck up but that some are refusing calls in this weather! I finally get a call back that someone will be here in an hour. I told the guy I'm 3 miles from home, I'm going to drive my old vehicle home and to tell the tow driver to call me when he's 15 minutes from where my Ranger sits. So it's going on an hour and I'm still waiting for the call.

Oh and while sitting in the cab of my Ranger, I notice the roof must have a leak on the passenger side front as there is a small puddle of water in the foot well near the door side! I had not had the passenger side door open all day, I checked the window to make sure it was all the way up.. has to be dripping down from somewhere.

Also during all the hours I was sitting waiting, I got the owner's manual out.... I forgot to mention a little yellow icon lit up after the truck shut down, and according to the manual, means engine oveheated and the automatic shut down was to prevent engine damage.

I'm so disgusted. First words out of my mouth were, my 2003 Mountaineer never let me sit on the side of the road in 18 years

Next time tell Roadside assistance you’re stuck in traffic with nothing but a bikini on and you’ll have a dozen tow trucks there in 5 minutes!

 

[D Fresh]

Because I wanted to see what it would do and if I could make it 2 or 3 miles home but warning messages came on back on rather quickly. So yea, I let it sit there... I did know that much... 4 hours before I could get it towed (never trying to use Ford Road Side assistance again after today's experience)... in a torrential down pour. Not a fun day.

BTW when I called Ford dealership garage the first time and told them what it did, told them I was pulled off the road with vehicle turned off... even they asked if I tried it again. At that point no, but after I hung up I thought I'd try it. Unfortunately same warnings came on as I said pretty quickly.

Just because some nitwit CSR tells you to do something, that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

[Zaph]

I called, explained what was going on, they too told me they had declined because they won't deal with Ford Assistance because of how they pay. So they did agreed to come right out if I paid and were there within 10 minutes

Wow that's real telling about Ford Roadside assistance. I had no idea they were that useless.

 

[Rp930]

Not that different than most manufacturers. It’s a contract deal. For most it’s terrible. Especially in bad conditions when they are out making a quick buck.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

So here is my experience from today with Ford Road Side Assistance. This all started around 11 a.m. or so. First tow Assistance lined up didn't show up, they declined doing the tow... second one was lined up, no show after an hour, then text from Assistance saying it was declined.... third one lined up by Assistance, no show, got a text they declined and they would try another one. So I called the one that was the third one that was supposed to come out and asked what happened... they told me a lot of towing companies won't deal with Ford Assistance because of how they pay, slow whacky way of doing things (his words). This third guy was real nice though and told me he just saw a local tow truck sitting at the firehall and to quick give a call, maybe they are free now. So it happened to be it was the first tow company Ford Assistance tried to line up! I called, explained what was going on, they too told me they had declined because they won't deal with Ford Assistance because of how they pay. So they did agreed to come right out if I paid and were there within 10 minutes. So 4 hours later my Ranger was on the way to the Ford dealership.

I do have road side assistance on my vehicle's insurance... don't know how much they will cover, but I'll call tomorrow and find out.

Ford has a deal with these companies. If they don't want to do business, they should cancel the deal. That's a crap excuse. You're nicer than I was, I'd tell them to shove that tow truck up their behinds. Ford would not have called that tow company if there wasn't an existing deal in place. I would send the bill to Ford Assistance and see if they will reimburse you since they were unable to provide the service.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Next time tell Roadside assistance you’re stuck in traffic with nothing but a bikini on and you’ll have a dozen tow trucks there in 5 minutes!

If I tried that, I bet the police would show up first... And then I couldn't be near a school.

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