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convertible owners beware

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Old Jul 5, 2007 | 05:35 PM
  #1  
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wepinsf
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Default convertible owners beware

about three months ago the convertible top assembly on my 05 V6 "broke". i'm still not sure what happened but believe it was the frame and know that several serious pieces of steel were bent. the dealership hasn't been forthcoming on what went wrong but supposedly there's a tsb out on the problem. the dealership told me they cut ties with the vendor that made the assembly and to date haven't been able to find a replacement top. the last one they found didn't fit. anyone else out there experiencing the same problem? major issue and likely thousands to fix if not covered by warrenty. one garage i took it to said they would basically have to disassemble the car to repair the problem.
Old Jul 9, 2007 | 05:10 PM
  #2  
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Abom
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From: Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada
Default RE: convertible owners beware

Ummm, is this not covered by factory warranty ? Very simple, bring it to a Ford dealer and say "fix it", end of story. They will replace the top at no charge(assuming it's a warranty claim and you didn't stand on it or something), and that's that. I have the same model as you, '05 V6 convert, and I have not had any issues with it. Again, take it to a different dealer and get them to fix it. Sounds like your dealer is full of BS.
Old Jul 9, 2007 | 05:30 PM
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

you are right that it should be simple since it's covered by the warrenty and you're probably right that my particular dealership is full of bs.

the real issue tho is that three months later my car is still sitting at the dealership because ford can't find a replacement as they no longer have a contract with anyone to make the top. the latest is that they may have located one in phoenix. we'll see but the last one they found didn't fit.

i'd hate to think what would happen if the warrenty had expired and this happened especially given that this is a design problem with a tsb out on it.

certainly appreciate the feedback.
Old Jul 9, 2007 | 10:15 PM
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

I hope you have a loaner. If it's been that long I would be jumping someone about fixing it or getting me a different car. I had my F-150 in the shop a long time ago getting a new rear-end in it. After two days of not having a truck I was in there bitching. I left the lot with a year newer pickup. Which then they had my truck fixed with a new rear-end within three more days.
Dealerships, could give a **** less about warrenty work. If two guys came in with the same car same problem but one was paying to have his fixed his would get done first. Sorry to rant my cousin works at a dealeship and also I've had work done there and mine was always last getting fixed before paying customers.
Old Jul 9, 2007 | 10:15 PM
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

Sorry it posted twice
Old Jul 10, 2007 | 12:09 PM
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

Same problem here. The dealer said one piece broke which in turn caused others to bend and break. I luckily was able to manually raise the top and get it locked. They said they had seen it happen before on a couple of 2005's and would cover it completely under warranty. That was three days ago, still waiting for a call when the parts come in to fix it. I'll keep you posted.
Old Jul 11, 2007 | 05:03 PM
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Default RE: convertible owners beware


sorry to hear this happened to you. would appreciate hearing how the search for parts goes for you. after ten weeks i'm still waiting and i'm not that happy about putting the same assembly as the one that broke back in.
Old Jul 12, 2007 | 02:21 PM
  #8  
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

Well, the nightmare continues. The dealership claimed two weeks ago to have located two assemblies. Turns out both of them are USED assemblies. So we are back to where we were ten weeks ago. There's now talk from the dealership about a August release date for a back order. First time I have heard that one and heightens the feeling that I've been getting the run around this whole time.
Old Jul 12, 2007 | 03:00 PM
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

I imagine I have the same problem. I went to go put the top up, and it just went straight up in the air!

Luckily I got it down and locked.

I took it to the Ford dealer (still under warranty) and they told me that it wasn't going to be covered! It was going to cost over $2,000 in parts alone! They said it was because "obviously" it was opened while moving, when 1. That's not the case 2. It's not posible to open it above 3 mph or whatever's in the manual.

Took it to another dealer about an hour away, and it's now covered under the warranty, but we're waiting on the part. I guess it's something with the side-arms (same things, one broke which caused the other to break). And yes, there's a TSB out, and Ford is re-engineering the part, which is why it's on back-order. At least this is what I'm told. So, I'm driving my car around still at least, just waiting for the part [:@] Kinda sucks it's summer and I can't have my top down though.
Old Jul 13, 2007 | 10:47 AM
  #10  
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Default RE: convertible owners beware

That's exactly what happened to me. It's now been 1 week and I've heard nothing back about the parts from the dealer.They told me a week to 10 days so I'm going to give them until the middle of next week and then begin my assault. Ifany knows where I can find that TSB on the top please forward the info.Thanks.



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