My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Colorado.
I purchased a new 2013 Ford Escape in July 2013 with 12 miles on it in the state of Minnesota. Since then, I have relocated to Colorado for work. The vehicle has always worked great, no major issues ever - oil changes done exactly on time by a Ford dealer in MN. Currently the vehicle has 46,xxx miles.
I got my oil changed at a Ford dealership in CO on 9/9/2015. On 10/21, the vehicle started acting unusual - engine was running harder than normal, started sounding "gritty" when it was started that day for work - but otherwise ran "fine", wasn't of much worry. The morning of 10/22 when the vehicle was started, it was extremely loud and "chuggy" as I drove to work, and the oil light came on, quickly followed by the engine light. I took it right to the dealership over my lunch break that very day and on the way there, the vehicle started chugging and acceleration was in and out. I barely made it to the dealership where I pulled up to the service doors, put the car in park and the vehicle "revved" up, made a bit of a grinding noise noise and then shut off and would not even turn over. A service guy came out, noticed a burning smell immediately and said something to the effect of "that is definitely not a good smell - at first brush, I'd say your engine is kaput, but we will diagnose it and let you know". I was set up in a rental car and sent on my way, where for the next 11 days I was displaced from my vehicle. In a non-comparable rental car to boot (I have an SUV for a reason, a small 4 door sedan is already very inconvenient - but I guess a car is a car).
Turns out, the oil filter in my vehicle was not replaced properly by this very same dealership (as told to me by the service representative) when it was serviced 9/9/2015, which caused the oil to leak out and the engine to eventually seize. Ford put a new engine in my vehicle at no cost to me because 1. the issue was allegedly caused by their technicians improperly installing the oil filter and 2. the vehicle is still covered under the 100k mile powertrain warranty.
One week later (11/7), I am driving up into the mountains and the engine light comes blinking on and the vehicle begins slowing down and I am forced to pull over 3 separate times on the way to the mountains to allow my vehicle to cool before continuing to drive. A 45 minute drive turns into a 2 hour commute (33 miles). I call Ford on the side of the road and they tell me to bring it in Monday (it is Saturday when this happens) and that there is nothing they can do until then. Their diagnosis is that when they dropped the new engine in, the battery was pulled out for an extended amount of time and the systems were not "re-synced" and that caused the engine light to erroneously come on - they said nothing else was wrong with it.
Two weeks later (11/28), I am driving up into the mountains again and the vehicle very suddenly rockets in temperature (within half a mile, the temp gauge went from normal to off the charts red) and immediately begins to power down and chug. I take the nearest exit and pull into a restaurant parking lot where the vehicle again is dinging and blinking warning lights at me about overheating and smoke is (almost comically) coming out from under the hood. Ford Roadside Assistance schedules a tow truck to haul my car 42 miles back down the mountain (7 miles outside of the Ford allotted tow mileage, which I have to pay out of pocket). I have yet to hear from Ford this morning regarding issue/diagnosis on 11/30.
I currently live in Denver but commute up to the mountains 2-4x a week, so not knowing how to properly drive through grade/altitude changes is not the issue. I moved to Denver in July and have been driving to the mountain that often since I moved here.
My question is: with the way these issues are happening and the severity of them and with the fair assumption that they were caused by improper work by Ford technicians, is it unreasonable that I request that ford replace my vehicle entirely with the same model, or help in placing me in a new vehicle? What are the dealers obligations to me as a consumer with damaged goods caused by their malpractice?
I purchased a new 2013 Ford Escape in July 2013 with 12 miles on it in the state of Minnesota. Since then, I have relocated to Colorado for work. The vehicle has always worked great, no major issues ever - oil changes done exactly on time by a Ford dealer in MN. Currently the vehicle has 46,xxx miles.
I got my oil changed at a Ford dealership in CO on 9/9/2015. On 10/21, the vehicle started acting unusual - engine was running harder than normal, started sounding "gritty" when it was started that day for work - but otherwise ran "fine", wasn't of much worry. The morning of 10/22 when the vehicle was started, it was extremely loud and "chuggy" as I drove to work, and the oil light came on, quickly followed by the engine light. I took it right to the dealership over my lunch break that very day and on the way there, the vehicle started chugging and acceleration was in and out. I barely made it to the dealership where I pulled up to the service doors, put the car in park and the vehicle "revved" up, made a bit of a grinding noise noise and then shut off and would not even turn over. A service guy came out, noticed a burning smell immediately and said something to the effect of "that is definitely not a good smell - at first brush, I'd say your engine is kaput, but we will diagnose it and let you know". I was set up in a rental car and sent on my way, where for the next 11 days I was displaced from my vehicle. In a non-comparable rental car to boot (I have an SUV for a reason, a small 4 door sedan is already very inconvenient - but I guess a car is a car).
Turns out, the oil filter in my vehicle was not replaced properly by this very same dealership (as told to me by the service representative) when it was serviced 9/9/2015, which caused the oil to leak out and the engine to eventually seize. Ford put a new engine in my vehicle at no cost to me because 1. the issue was allegedly caused by their technicians improperly installing the oil filter and 2. the vehicle is still covered under the 100k mile powertrain warranty.
One week later (11/7), I am driving up into the mountains and the engine light comes blinking on and the vehicle begins slowing down and I am forced to pull over 3 separate times on the way to the mountains to allow my vehicle to cool before continuing to drive. A 45 minute drive turns into a 2 hour commute (33 miles). I call Ford on the side of the road and they tell me to bring it in Monday (it is Saturday when this happens) and that there is nothing they can do until then. Their diagnosis is that when they dropped the new engine in, the battery was pulled out for an extended amount of time and the systems were not "re-synced" and that caused the engine light to erroneously come on - they said nothing else was wrong with it.
Two weeks later (11/28), I am driving up into the mountains again and the vehicle very suddenly rockets in temperature (within half a mile, the temp gauge went from normal to off the charts red) and immediately begins to power down and chug. I take the nearest exit and pull into a restaurant parking lot where the vehicle again is dinging and blinking warning lights at me about overheating and smoke is (almost comically) coming out from under the hood. Ford Roadside Assistance schedules a tow truck to haul my car 42 miles back down the mountain (7 miles outside of the Ford allotted tow mileage, which I have to pay out of pocket). I have yet to hear from Ford this morning regarding issue/diagnosis on 11/30.
I currently live in Denver but commute up to the mountains 2-4x a week, so not knowing how to properly drive through grade/altitude changes is not the issue. I moved to Denver in July and have been driving to the mountain that often since I moved here.
My question is: with the way these issues are happening and the severity of them and with the fair assumption that they were caused by improper work by Ford technicians, is it unreasonable that I request that ford replace my vehicle entirely with the same model, or help in placing me in a new vehicle? What are the dealers obligations to me as a consumer with damaged goods caused by their malpractice?
Service and Repair: Engine Failure Caused by Dealership - Mult. Issues, Should They Replace Vehicle
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