I purchased a 2006 Ford F-150 Lariat in June from Bill Smith Ford in Southern Pines, NC. Two weeks later, I returned the vehicle to Bill Smith Ford to have the transmission checked.
I returned to Iraq and left the vehicle with Bill Smith from July through Sep 2006. I communicated with the salesman Eric Bates several times via email concerning the transmission problems (slipping, delayed engagement).
Upon returning, Mr. Bates informed me that the service department could not find anything wrong. Meanwhile, we moved to Florida and over the next two years we continued to have intermittent transmission slippage problems. We had the vehicle serviced at Veterans Ford in Tampa, FL and Countryside Ford in Clearwater, FL.
The transmission continued to slip and we addressed with the local service departments. Each time we received the same answer; they could not find anything wrong.
The vehicle was service on 4 Nov 08 at 35,235 miles. Countryside Ford Service Department's solution was to change the transmission filter & fluid. On 14 Jun 09 at 44,205 miles (out of warranty) we lost the transmission completely. The cost to the consumer...$3365.14.
We addressed our case with Ford Customer Relations Center on 17 June (44,205 miles), 36 months from when we purchased the vehicle. Maria with Ford CRC stated Ford would not resolve our dispute because the repair was an "OUT OF WARRENTY" repair. Ford completely disregarded every attempt we made to have the transmission repaired beginning two weeks after purchase in July.
Ford and its dealerships displayed complete and utter incompetence in this case. We attempted to have this issue resolved numerous times under warranty with no resolution. Now that the transmission failed at 44,205 miles, out of warranty, Ford CRC's only response is this is not a Ford problem... The responsibility falls on the consumer! Unacceptable!
We wonder why the US automobile industry is an absolute failure. They are unable to stand behind their products and service (or lack thereof).
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