Anyone swapped out front belts?

[fjwlobo]

Soooooo, you just have to pay the deductible (if you have one) and they take their head out of their Auto Stop Start to see the .

It's obvious that it should never have had to get to this point, as the part is listed on your ESP. Trying to get them to correct their computer system is the problem.

It's like any time you put a claim in for something and they deny it. The dealerships favorite canned line is, "We couldn't replicate the problem" ? ? They think if you don't keep coming back to try to get it repaired, then they won and won't have to pay for it.

Just gotta love the incompetence and/or people that don't want to think or do for themselves and need to be told how. ?

Thankfully, not everyone is like that and you may have found a work around to get it repaired.?

Good luck.

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[pboggini]

Soooooo, you just have to pay the deductible (if you have one) and they take their head out of their Auto Stop Start to see the .

It's obvious that it should never have had to get to this point, as the part is listed on your ESP. Trying to get them to correct their computer system is the problem.

It's like any time you put a claim in for something and they deny it. The dealerships favorite canned line is, "We couldn't replicate the problem" ? ? They think if you don't keep coming back to try to get it repaired, then they won and won't have to pay for it.

Just gotta love the incompetence and/or people that don't want to think or do for themselves and need to be told how. ?

Thankfully, not everyone is like that and you may have found a work around to get it repaired.?

Good luck.

No deductible on the 5 year 60K one nor on my extended warranty so I updated the Customer Care case and told them explicitly that I cannot accept them only covering 40% of the cost and will only accept it being 100% covered.

Yea, I think for me it's how often folks just shrug their shoulders and give up and say they can't do anything. Nevermind this is obviously something that's wrong. Back when I sold parts for a living I used to give a crap about my customers and if I felt they were getting screwed I'd fight for them. It just seems like a rare trait any more.

 

[pboggini]

Update. I've called Customer Care a number of times, they escalate and all throw up their hands and say "we can't do anything the claim is denied". I posted to Instagram and sent @Ford on Instagram a message which I got a reply to. After some back and forth they say "your best best is to contact Customer Care". Sigh. I posted to Reddit and some helpful Ford tech took my VIN and confirmed that the system does not cover it. But, this tech, unlike all the rest, went a little further and said he discovered that this particular seat belt buckled is categorized as a "trim part" and so that's why the system says it's not covered. He said he tried a part from a Mustang with my VIN and it said it was covered. When I got this I thought "great, now Ford will listen." Nope, they keep saying it can't be covered.

No one at Ford seems concerned that the warranty docs all say that a "Seat Belt Buckle" is covered under both the Safety 5 year 60K and the extended Premium Care warranties.

I also tried Premium Care, all Ford numbers I call all can seem to see my cases and I end up hitting the same brick wall.

At least I have a friend who works up on Folsom and who happens to be coming down on Saturday so I bought the buckled and seat bolts thru him and will likely be changing it out myself. But, it's still frustrating (probably by design) that no one at Ford seems to care that their warranties say one thing and their system says another. Seems like at least deception in advertising if not worse but then I'm not a lawyer.

Anyone else have any good ideas? I talked to the Internet/Fleet sales guy at Sunnyvale Ford who seemed somewhat concerned and said "I'll send an email" and took my info. Still nothing.

 

[kendive]

First I’ve heard of this issue. If it was my truck, it would most likely be a blockage caused by a McDonalds French Fry. ?

Good one. My carry weapon always gets in the way of getting the belt clicked and locked..

Might just be a spring in the buckle. I would take it apart and check it out...

 

[pboggini]

The helpful Reddit ford tech said the seat bolts are "one time use" and recommended I swap those out too. The tech at Frontier showed me that the system recommended them but didn't tell me the reason. At that rate, I'll pay the $70 or so to swap out the buckle if I'm taking it off. I'll pull the old one apart to see if I can figure out what's wrong with it too.

 

[got3fords]

I'd also be worried it won't come out when you need it most, like when you drive into a river.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Good one. My carry weapon always gets in the way of getting the belt clicked and locked..

Might just be a spring in the buckle. I would take it apart and check it out...

My carry weapon gets in the way too but I only use it when I’m in the U.S.

At the first sign of trouble, I just open it and sart eating. If anyone is still hanging around, I offer them some. That usually does the trick.

 

[KJRR]

My carry weapon gets in the way too but I only use it when I’m in the U.S.

At the first sign of trouble, I just open it and sart eating. If anyone is still hanging around, I offer them some. That usually does the trick.

Drop some of those in the seat belt and it will really gum up the inner workings. Or cause it to go right through like they do when you eat them.?

 

[airline tech]

Any business that sells a product has someone mostly Management has some kind of authority to OVERRIDE the computer system.
I am frustrated that nobody can clearly see the error and offer to fix the issue.

This thread and situation is missing one thing , and that is a bunch of these.

 

[pboggini]

Any business that sells a product has someone mostly Management has some kind of authority to OVERRIDE the computer system.
I am frustrated that nobody can clearly see the error and offer to fix the issue.

This thread and situation is missing one thing , and that is a bunch of these.

Indeed. My biggest frustration here is that it seems Ford has done its best to install a blockade in front of anyone who might be able to override this problem. I did find it somewhat ironic that when I told one of the Customer Care folks that the ford tech from Reddit saw that a certain Mustang belt part number would work said "we can't do that it would be warranty fraud." That was in a voice mail. I want to tell that person that as far as I know an extended warranty (at least) is a contract of sorts so doesn't that mean Ford is in breach of contract now that I've paid for something that clearly states a part is covered and they are now telling me it's not? I'm not a lawyer so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[fjwlobo]

Make a complaint with NHTSA. At this point it can't hurt.

We can only hope that they could get enough complaints against manufacturers showing a pattern of deception and they get a massive fine.

This more than likely will never happen as the manufacturers have more people and lawyers in their back pockets to keep this problem from ever getting to that point and corrected.

????

I wonder how many parts have been intentionally incorrectly labeled and/or numbered so they don't have to pay for the parts and repairs. Its amazing how many different parts are identical on different vehicles, but they use different part numbers.

No wonder how anyone can get anything repaired under warranty. Especially when they give you the standard line when you take it in.

"Sorry, we couldn't replicate the problem you're bringing your truck in for."

It all comes down to the all mighty ? ?

IMO

Manufacturers know before a vehicle is ever mass produced what the failure rate of a part could possibly be. They put the vehicle in production with those parts and roll the dice to see if it goes bad before the warranty expires and they have to pay for the parts and repair.

Issues like this just puts a burr in my pants! ?

Sorry about the rant.

 

[pboggini]

Make a complaint with NHTSA. At this point it can't hurt.

We can only hope that they could get enough complaints against manufacturers showing a pattern of deception and they get a massive fine.

This more than likely will never happen as the manufacturers have more people and lawyers in their back pockets to keep this problem from ever getting to that point and corrected.

????

I wonder how many parts have been intentionally incorrectly labeled and/or numbered so they don't have to pay for the parts and repairs. Its amazing how many different parts are identical on different vehicles, but they use different part numbers.

No wonder how anyone can get anything repaired under warranty. Especially when they give you the standard line when you take it in.

"Sorry, we couldn't replicate the problem you're bringing your truck in for."

It all comes down to the all mighty ? ?

IMO

Manufacturers know before a vehicle is ever mass produced what the failure rate of a part could possibly be. They put the vehicle in production with those parts and roll the dice to see if it goes bad before the warranty expires and they have to pay for the parts and repair.

Issues like this just puts a burr in my pants! ?

Sorry about the rant.

Great idea, complaint filed. Will update here if it goes anywhere.

thanks peterb

 

[pboggini]

My friend who works up in Folsom in parts talked to his manager about this who said "that doesn't wound right, give me that VIN and I'll look into it." He said that he thinks the problem with the base part number 2161203 is that the first two digits "21" are supposed to be for the body type. He said that "21" is not a Ranger body type but "25" is. So, base part number 2561203 seems to show as covered in the tool. I went by Frontier Ford and got a different tech (other one wasn't there) who seemed even less caring continually saying "I can only do what the machine says I can do, I only get paid $7/hour". He confirmed that 2561203 shows covered but he claims that doesn't help as the other part number is the one he has to put on the claim.

If I get time, I'll also try Capitol maybe tomorrow to see.

 

[pboggini]

Tried Capitol Ford yesterday afternoon and when I told the techs I figured out a way to get this to work they were not at all interested. They too seemed to be stuck in the "I have to use the part number my parts person gives me". When I try to get them to figure out how to escalate, they all just continue to shrug and say "we don't have anyone to escalate to." Trying the manager of Capitol Ford, they too shrug. I told him about my friend at Folsom Lake Ford who says their service techs and warranty manager say they've seen stuff like this before and when it happens they change the body code (21 to 25 in this case), open the RO (Repair Order) as a warranty claim, it get's approved in the system then they put the actual part numbers in for the job. The manager said "why don't you take it there?" (note, that's 150 miles away). My response was "careful, the same could be said the next time I'm in the market for a new car."

I'm going to try Sunnyvale again this afternoon. For some reason the dealer I bought the car from seems to be more important to these sorts of things?

TL;DR, as time goes on, I'm reasonably sure that at this point when my friend and his family come down from Folsom tomorrow, with the buckle and the bolts that I will be swapping this part out myself on Sunday.

 

[pboggini]

Latest update. Called my friend in Folsom, asked him for the specific steps they took so that I could better explain it to the service techs. Then, called Sunnyvale Ford (since for some reason the dealer you bought the car from is somehow special according to just about everyone I spoke to, odd) and talked to a guy, explained the process and asked him if he thought he could do that if I came down. he said he did. Got there, he was at lunch, just my luck. Talked to another guy, explained the situation, he started pushing back a bit but I kept giving him more and more info. After a bit, I seemed to pique his curiosity. He tried a few thing, left for a long time, came back, tried a few other things. I asked him to try just typing in 2561203 for the part number instead of 2161203 as the part number to see what happened. It came up, said "Seat Belt Buckle" and that it was covered. This really seemed to get him interested so he left again, for even longer. Finally came back and said "I have the number we need to use.' Curious, I asked and he said 2161202. I texted that to my friend and he said "that's the passenger side". So I brought that up. He made a couple of odd comments one "well I guess they care about the passenger more than the driver" and "that other part is just the trim part." I brought up a picture of that 2161203 and showed him that it's in fact not a trim part but the actual part.

At some point he was able to get the system to accept it. I think he used 2161202 to get into the Repair Order and then, I hope, he put the right numbers in. I did ask him three things, 1) "You are ordering the drivers side right?" He said "yes". 2) "When will it be here?" He said "Monday". 3) "Even though it says $265 on this work order, you aren't charging me right?" He said "I'm not charging you. I have to put in the inspection and. I can't put in a zero amount."

So, Monday, we will see. I will have the part from my friend who is bringing it down tomorrow so at some point on Monday, I should have the part replaced. If things work out, it will be free and then I'll just have to figure out how to get the other one back to my friend for a refund.

This is exhausting.

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