Last month the battery in The Old Lady's car died and I wrote a blog post about it. When we checked on what was covered by warranties, including the extended warranty, the battery wasn't covered except under the original 3 year/ 36,000 mile warranty for the car.
A couple weeks later I was perusing the owner's manual to see when I needed to change the sparkplugs. It had over 50k, so I figured if it had standard plugs they were past due to be changed. That's when I saw something that got my hopes up.
This is a scan of a page from the owner's manual scheduled maintenance. It hypes how good their Motocraft batteries are and what great warranty they have. BULLSHIT!! When I saw that I called the local Ford dealer, in fact I called two of them when the first one wouldn't honor the warranty as stated in the owner's manual. Both dealers parts persons gave the same story. The battery is only covered for 3 years/ 36,000 miles when you buy the car. They did say the replacement battery was warranted as stated above. All that happened was they managed to piss me off by not honoring the same warranty on the original battery as they would on the replacement battery.
Then The Old Lady called the 800 number for Ford in the owner's manual. After talking to someone there and explaining what was in the owner's manual, that person checked and came back and said it should apply and that the dealer would get back to us in 4 business days. After a week, The Old Lady called again and got told the same thing. Then we kinda forgot about it and two weeks went by and The Old Lady called again and this time she got the same story I got when I first called the dealer. When asked what was the difference between the original battery and the replacement, the reply was they are the same. Couldn't get an answer why there would be a different warranty on the original battery if it was the same as the replacement.
The Old Lady wished her "Happy Holidays" and said she looked forward to buying a Toyota!!
I'm a retired Ford mechanic but that doesn't make me an expert on today's Motorcraft batteries.
ReplyDeleteI don't know who makes Walmart batteries but I've had good luck with a few of them. Most of my current batteries are from Auto Zone, Johnson Controls make their batteries so they should hold up pretty well.
What about a Sears Diehard? I don't know how good they are these days, don't follow that stuff so much anymore.
Some batteries last a long time and others don't. My experience with Wally-World Neverstart batteries is that they last a couple months longer than the warranty. I've had Sears Diehard and had good luck with them.
ReplyDeleteThe point here is the inconsistentsy of Ford's warranty. Only 3 years/ 36,000 miles on the original battery, but 3 years free replacement and 100 months pro-rated replacement with unlimited mileage on a replacement battery. If there's no difference in batteries, why the fuck is there a difference in warranties?????
No point in getting worked up about it, they can set any policy they like and once any battery gets past a few years old the battery warranty is pro rated and often not worth bothering with, unless you insist on another piece of shit battery.
ReplyDeleteBest battery I ever had was a Delco, it really took a beating for about eight years.
Lot's of products we buy are designed with a certain life span in mind, an expensive drill is designed to drill more holes than a cheap one.
ReplyDeleteAs for batteries, I pay the extra bucks for the longer warranty ones. The one I have in the truck is an RV battery, they do not have as long of a warranty but they are built differently and in daily use last for years.
Kulk, I think you've got a legitimate gripe here. They ought to bite the bullet and honor the warranty, and if they had any PR sense they'd sweeten the deal because you've been given the bum's rush up 'til now.
ReplyDeleteI'd stay on their ass, write a letter with the details of your complaint, and mention that you intend to embarrass them at every opportunity if they don't come through.
What's a fucking battery to Ford MOtor Company? I mean, really, why not replace your battery and gain a happy customer instead of pissing you off AND everyone who knows you??? It's bidness, pay the man for his battery!
Jeez... I don't see why some companies are so tone deaf to bad word of mouth potential.
When it comes to warranties GM is worse than Ford. But if you want to pursue it go to the service manager at your local dealership and tell him/her that you would like to have a Ford rep make the call. A Ford rep visits every dealership once a month.
ReplyDeleteAnd a Ford rep will always favor the customer when they can.
ReplyDeleteSquatlo has the right idea. Tell them all your blog readers will repost this on their blogs and ask their readers to repost on their and so on down the line.
ReplyDelete