paulbuck

My 2010 FFH broke the cooling fan for the HVB last year, it just disintegrated. It was at the dealership for almost 3 weeks waiting for a new fan. I had to contact Ford Customer Service to complain to get any action. I had a loaner, but had to change my vacation plans, I didn't want to drive a loner car on vacation. Very disappointed in Ford after this episode, probably won't buy another one.

Well, I'm certainly going to be holding on the my FFH, since it's only 2 1/2 years old; don't get me wrong, I love the car, love the way it looks (although the new Accord is certainly an improvement from last year's model), the comfort, the fuel economy. This episode just got me soured a bit. When the time comes, I'll most definitely be checking out other cars, not just Ford, but that's a few years down the road. If I ever hear from Ford customer service regarding my letter I'll post it here.

You're right, I am a data point of one. I made that point to Ford in my letter, like I'm only one customer, so they probably don't care about me or my concerns. And it's obvious that they don't really care. I did get a loaner from the dealership, but I was without my car for 3 weeks; to me that's an unacceptable amount of time, even if I do have a loaner to drive. The dealer did not, in my opinion, push Ford hard enough. When I called Ford customer service and got things rolling, the dealer service guy said, 'I should have had u call Ford earlier'. That's not my job, its his job to satisfy the customer. I just didn't feel that the dealership was in my corner enough. Never heard from the service manager at all. The Ford customer service rep, in his conversations with me said, ' We'll do something for you', implying, I don't know, some free oil changes or something? I didn't expect a new car or anything, but a free oil change would have been a nice gesture on Ford's part, at little cost to them. And, as I said in my letter to Ford, I never had to wait 3 weeks for a part from Honda or Toyota.

Nope, Ford did nada. Not even a reply to my letter, never mind 'doing something for me'. I'm done with Ford, going back to Honda and Toyota when the time comes. Crappy customer service. And the dealership had the nerve to send me an online survey to tell them how I liked their service!

Got my FFH back today. The Ford Area Rep called this morning and said the dealer had received the fan and was working on putting it in. He is supposed to call me back in a few days to see if I'm happy with everything. Sent a letter to Ford, with cc's to my dealer's president and service manager, saying how unhappy I was with this whole incident We'll see if Ford will 'do anything' for me when the Ford rep calls. Fan is plastic by the way.

Surprise! Seems like the dealer was full of it. No fan. Ford Customer service rep called me Tuesday (11th), said the order for the fan would be 'expedicted' and arrive before the end of the week. As of today (Friday 14th), no fan. Dealer called this morning, said fan had not arrived, didn't know when. Expressed my discontent with dealership, Ford in general. Ford Customer service rep called this afternoon, apologized, said the fan was 'in transit' and be at dealer early next week. He would be in contact with dealer to be sure they receive it and install it. I expressed my dissatisfaction. He said he would 'do something for me' after this was all over. I said short of giving me a new car I didnt' think he could do anything. I informed him I would be writing to Ford, with copies of my letter to dealership owner and service manager (who hasn't bothered to call in all this). I am disgusted with Ford, it never took 3 weeks to get a part for my Hondas or Toyotas. I've already decided to ditch my FFH next spring and get something else. Gas mileage does me no good if I don't have the damn car in my garage! I also am telling anyone I know not to buy Ford.

I jumped the gun yesterday and called Ford Customer service first; they took the info and said it would be looked into and someone there would be back to me by the end of the day today (Tuesday). I just called the dealer this morning to talk to the service manager and was told that they've been notified that the blower fan has been shipped and should arrive in a day or two. Guess ya gotta go to the top; I just wish I'd done it a week ago.

Thanks for the advice....I can't really blame the dealership, if they can't get the part, they can't get it. I will call them tomorrow (2 weeks they've had the car) and talk to the Service Manager. I think i'll also call Ford to see if they can shed any light on why it takes so long to get a part that should be available on the assembly line of Fusion Hybrids. I thought of suggesting to the dealer that they take the fan out of a hybrid from the lot, but I doubt they'd go along with that. This has to be resolved in another week, as I am going on vacation and had planned on driving the hybrid.

It's been over a week, still no sign of the replacement fan. Traded my Hundy Santa Fe suv loaner for a Mercury Milan loaner. Dealer has no clue as to when replacement fan will be in.

I'm not sure what the fan is made of, probably plastic.......

Dealer has discovered that the 'squirrelcage' fan used to cool the HVB is in the process of disintegrating: pieces of it were inside the fan enclosure. I have to say I was impressed by the attention given; the hybrid-trained tech talked to me when I brought the car in, asking about the symptoms, I showed him where the buzzing noise was coming from. He did say he never ran across something like that. The replacement fan is on backorder, I have a loaner to use since the hybrid cannot be driven without the fan installed.

I had my first HVB reconditioning a couple of days ago,with just over 20k miles. Was as described above, however was accompanied by a loud 'buzzing' sound emanating from the rear passenger seat deck (below the rear window). Sounded like an angry wasp was in there. Didn't think that was normal, dealer has the car today. I talked with the hybrid-trained tech that was going to work on it; he had never heard of anything like it before. But then again, he could'nt describe exactly what the HVB reconditioning did either, like lolder did above, so I'm not optimistic about anything getting accomplished. Will post if/what they find when I get it back.

Was that the Yamaha they advertised as 'Twin Jet 100'? I was in high school at the time, and I lusted for one of those. Wound up getting a Honda CB160 on the advice of my older brother. Now ride an '03 Yamaha FZ1, best bike I've ever owned. Have also been to The Dragon on rides with my buddies, quite a place!

WOW, you certainly do know your way around cars! Great deal and good luck with the salvaged FFH. What kind of bikes do you like?

Thanks for the info...I haven't had snows for a long, long time, but after last winter when we got socked in I may be investing in snows. Another question, do most of you invest in another set of wheels for the snows so you can change them yourself, or just buy the tires and have the tire store do the switch. I appreciate the advice and am grateful to the forum for everything I've learned here!

This is a dumb question, but do you just put snows on the front or on all four wheels?

Wouldn't this be a nice FFH? Or regular Fusion, for that matter... http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1108_ford_evos_concept_first_look/photo_01.html#photo

I also have the dark green FFH and I love the color! When it's cloudy out it looks black, when the sun shines you can see the metallic sprinkles in the paint and the green shows thru. Most people who've seen it thinks it black.

Should be interesting times with Toyota's new Camry Hybrid coming out, sounds like it's been improved over the previous Hybrid version......(still love my FFH!)

Same thing happens to me, occasionally...not often enough to be a bother, but will probably have it looked at my next service.

As an update, my 'red eye' has since turned to 'green eye', just before bringing in for semi-annual service. Dealer did a 12 v battery check as part of the service, recorded '390 cold cranking amps', totally OK, according to them.

Just an update, took my FFH to the dealer this week for service, mentioned the oddity I was experiencing; they had never heard of it, had no idea, said they would check, found nothing obviously, as you have to drive it for 20 - 30 minutes for it to happen. Must be a quirky thing about my particular car!

To each his own, I guess, but I for one love to advertise that I am driving a Hybrid!!!!

If the dealership does not make it right, I suggest you print their name and address here so any other Virginia members can be aware of the dealership's practices. These days, the dealers should be bending over backwards to keep you as a customer, there is just too much competition out there not to do so. I had the same type of experience years ago with a Toyota dealership; they did not make it right to my satisfaction. I never bought another car from them, took my car to a different dealer for service. They went out of business a few years later *S*.....

Interesting thought! Could explain it............