iamzatch

TL;DR: Ford Motor Company has voided the warranty on my MT82 transmission with 14k miles because they deemed it to be "abused and brought to the track every weekend." In reality, the car has never been tracked, never been abused in any manor, and I am in an extremely ****ty position right now. If you have the time please read, I need suggestions on what to do and where to go.
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Hello all! I posted about the issues I was having with my transmission in this thread, https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...ear-grind.html. In order to get more exposure and help from the Mustang Forums community I am making a new thread to document my issues.

On 11/17 after recommendations from Deysha and others here at the forum I brought my car to a Ford dealer local to me, reproduced the issue with the shop foreman in the car, left the keys and went on with other stuff I needed to do that day. The problem I was experiencing was when the clutch is completely disengaged (pedal to the floor), I could feel the gears moving and grinding when I moved the shifter in and out of 2nd gear. Later in the afternoon they let me know they found metal in the transmission fluid and were going to begin the process to tear down the transmission as soon as the transmission guy was free (there was one car with transmission work to be done in front of mine.)

On 11/20, after not hearing from anyone, I called back and asked my service advisor what was up. He said it was a bad second gear synchro (a problem reported widely on this forum and others with this MT82, and what I initially thought was the issue). He said they ordered the part and expected it to be there tomorrow (two Fridays ago), or sometime during the thanksgiving week. I said okay and thanks and moved on.

On 11/25 after not hearing from anyone again, I called back and this is where the tables were turned. On Friday of the previous week (11/21) an FSE that was at the dealership for a different issue looked at my car for 15 seconds (service managers own words) and determined it was from abuse. The second gear had come apart inside the transmission and wreaked havoc on some of the other components. However the 2nd gear synchro was apparently fine (contradictory to what I was told Thursday?). After basically crying and having an anxiety attack on the phone the service manager presented me with a quote to replace the entire transmission, clutch, some driveshaft bolts (wow ~$108?) and a few other small parts for about $6,100. He also informed me the warranty was voided on the transmission.

I asked him if he can put everything back together the way I brought it in because it worked alright when I physically drove it to the dealership and dropped it off. He told me the vehicle was "dangerous to operate in this manor", and if I wanted it put back together, which he said may not even be possible in the first place, I would need to pay the labor charges associated with that. Additionally, I am unable to get the car back from the dealer now because they want labor charges to the tune of almost $2,000 to take it now, sans working transmission, all pulled apart and un-driveable. My car right now is sitting at the dealer in pieces, because I don't have $2,000 to drop right now.

Deysha referred me to a Customer Care Regional Manager who, although helpful, was unable to help me. I asked to escalate to a Supervisor, who, although also was helpful, said that he cannot dispute anything and cannot do absolutely anything because the FSE made the determination.

I have one option at my disposal, the BBB Auto Line, a 3rd party arbitration service between me and Ford Motor Company. However I am not optimistic right now.



Ford Motor Company advertises these cars pulling to the red line, doing burnouts, racing at the drag strip, and doing donuts. If you've ever seen a commercial for a Mustang you know it looks something like this quick example I pulled from YouTube:
Given that my car has NEVER been subject to any of the circumstances above, I am appalled that Ford Motor Company cannot stand behind their warranty for this transmission. There are hundreds of threads across all the Mustang enthusiast sites that this Chinese made MT82 is poorly designed and has flaws. In fact there are threads that have people blatantly admitting they have tracked the car and yet are still getting their transmissions replaced by other dealers across the country so WHY is my case any different? The NHTSA even launched an investigation into this MT82 after receiving so many complaints.

Furthermore I am absolutely flabbergasted that this dealership I am working with tore apart my car and now will not let me have my property back because of this whole situation. I do not have $2,000 to drop right now, I saved for 2-3 years working a dead end restaurant management job so I could put down 50% on my dream car since I was 9 years old. I am in college, and work a different less stressful job now, I absolutely do not have that kind of money right now to get my car out of "dealer jail".

Overall I feel like I am being profiled (20 and male, with a brand new Mustang), but what person my age who works as hard as I have to obtain my dream would ruin it by going to the track?! Not me! I posted in this forum a few months before getting my car about being concerned of PARKING such a "big car": https://mustangforums.com/forum/2005...ng-s-size.html. I don't have the ***** to go to the damn racetrack!

In the effort of being transparent, I absolutely have brought the car to ~6,000 rpms driving on a highway on-ramp a few times, and I absolutely have driven the car spirited a few times. Isn't that the point of these vehicles, isn't that what they are supposed to do?!

Mustang Forums, I appreciate your advice on this situation on what I can do further from here. Has anyone else been in a situation like this?

Ford Motor Company, if you are reading this, I want my property back from the dealership. I don't have the money to pay for what I deemed to be a warrantable issue right now. Once I get the car back its just going to be parked in a garage because I literally can not afford to fix it right now. You can at least make this situation 20% right. If you desire to royally screw over your customers, at least give me my car back.

Monday will be two weeks without my car, I'm almost running out of strength to deal with this issue. It is heartbreaking to work so hard for something, to finally obtain your dream, to impress the entire sales team of a dealership with your preparedness and professionality when initially purchasing the car... all to have it crashing down in front of you because the system is taking you for a ride.

outceltj

Did you get anything on paper when the guy stated it was a bad 2nd gear syncro?? Probably not im guessing. You could consult a lawyer but without any documentation of what was said about 2nd gear you could be screwed. I really have no idea how u could move forward. You could go in and be very direct in what you were first told by the guy that said you had bad 2nd gear syncro. Get him and the guy that looked at for 15 seconds and start hashing away. You could call the owner of the dealership as well.

iamzatch

Unfortunately, I don't have anything on paper with that. I am actually scared to go in there at this point, people haven't exactly been very nice to me on the phone, demanding money and such.

outceltj

your gonna have to go in there and basically be a *****. Ask why one guy said this and that guy says that. if you let them run you over they will gladly do it. im not saying go in there and totally be an ******* but be firm with what the guy said first

2000AZ5.0GT

Well First off, NHTSA got a total of 32 complains, not hundreds, none of which pertain to the circumstances your posting about. They got complains about difficult shifting in cold weather, and the clutch stayout condition above 4,000 RPM. Both of which resulted in TSBs being issued.

Secondly, to have a transmission chew up a synchro within 14,000 miles, there absolutely had to be some sort of abuse. Whether that was you, or someone who test drove the car before you bought it, no one can know.

Thirdly, if you plan on accusing someone of something, you had better be prepared to prove it, because if the statement is provable, and public, but there is no evidence to support it, you can and will be sued for libel/defamation.

Fourthly, why would you take your car in for repairs without having some money saved up for such a situation? I wouldn't even think of taking my car in without at least 3k set aside just in case something were to happen, but hey, that's just me.

For future reference, when you take your car anywhere, you need a written estimate that clearly describes every action the dealership is authorized to take on your behalf, with the associated cost. When they call you with news, you need to document everything they said, and take the persons name, with time and date. If you can, record the call, for exactly this type of situation.

If you had a recording of everything you say the foreman said, a written initial estimate, and documentation of everything, it would take a single call to FoMoCo or the State Attorney General to have their position reversed.

As you sit now, there's really not much you can do outside of saving up the 2k, or more reasonably the 6100, and paying for the new transmission.

Private companies are not required to prove anything regarding abuse, you are not innocent until proven guilty, in their eyes, except regarding statutes such as the one regarding modifications.

Here's a quote from Edmunds to illustrate my point

berzerk_1980

Also check your original work order. Does it have any language addressing diagnostic fees and such?

It seems to me that the dealer is responsible for securing that the work would be paid for, either by you or by Ford, before incurring chargeable labor. If they didn't do this, it sounds like their responsibility to put things back the way they were before they made this mistake.

Art161

While a real long shot, you could call the police and accuse the dealership of unlawful conversion of your property.

If you have a local TV station that has a consumer hotline, you could try that.

berzerk_1980

Help us neophytes out... how do you abuse a transmission such that you wreck the synchros so quickly?
While I never considered having cash ready on a warranty claim, I will from now on. Everything else +1.

2000AZ5.0GT

Power/Speed Shifting, Clutchless Shifting (matching rev's and not touching the clutch), Grinding Gears (like someone who doesn't know how to drive stick).

Like I said, maybe while the car was at the dealer, someone who didn't know how to drive stick test-drove the car and screwed something up that took a while to degrade enough to be noticeable by the OP.

I just do it as a precaution, because of exactly this type of situation, because even if he had the evidence, I personally would still pay the 2k to get the car towed back to my residence, and probably go to a different dealer.

2000AZ5.0GT

Also, don't forget that in 2011 they re-introduced the Event Data Recorder, which records

I'm not trying to be a d*ck, but if the FSE says it's been abused, he probably has a preponderance of evidence to say that.