In April of 2010, I wrote a post entitled Attack of the Cubicle Zombies from Ford over on another blog, which you can read here. In short, I and many other Ford owners, are stuck with bad paint jobs, which Ford has refused, and continues to refuse, to remedy.
To pick up where I left off, as we all know, Ford is a Big Dog Corporation. In recent months, they have been taking their bows for posting record sales and profits, something they attribute to Ford's excellent customer service and quality vehicles. In addition, most Americans believe that Ford is the Real Deal - a real flag-waving American institution that stood on its own two feet and didn't take a bailout. For that reason alone, people are apparently snapping Fords up left and right. But don't you wonder exactly how Ford managed to pull a profit rabbit out of their hat when almost every other automobile manufacturer is circling the drain?
You may be asking yourself, "Why should I care how they did it?" Because, my friends, it appears some of those profits are likely due to Ford's refusal to address serious problems with the paint jobs on hundreds of thousands of their cars.
Bubbling and peeling paint on Ford vehicles is nothing new, but it wasn't something I was aware of when I bought my Mustang. I didn't find out until it happened to my car and I was given the brush-off by a local Ford dealer and Ford Customer Service.
It didn't take much research to see this is a problem they have been aware of for many years. In fact, one article I found states that, in 1992, the Federal Trade Commission and every state attorney general got involved in forcing Ford to remedy paint-peeling problems on 1985-1992 F-150 trucks. But, since 1994, Ford seems to have taken a "grease the wheel that squeaks the loudest" approach, and the powers-that-be are letting them get away with it. Some owners who complain to Ford will get paid off, but most will be ignored and shooed away with the "it's out of warranty" excuse, which is indicative of Ford's increasingly callous disregard for their customers.
When I took my car to a local Ford dealership to be inspected, as instructed by Ford Customer Service, the "inspector" looked at it, shrugged his shoulders, and said 1) it's out of warranty and 2) it's UV damage.
Just to give you an idea of the extent of the problem, here are some pictures.
This was taken in February, 2010.
These were taken in February, 2011.
Am I disgruntled? Of course I am. But I am not alone in my disgruntlement with Ford. Here are some stories and forums I found online.
Ford Fighting Peeling Paint Verdict (and spares no expense)
This is an excellent overview of car paint problems. (It's not just Ford, by the way.)
Peeling Paint No Warranty - Ford Motor Complaints
Ford/Mercury Peeling Paint Complaints on Facebook. Great information and advice about how to fight Ford, plus you can connect with other Ford owners who are dealing with this problem. Although, given the fact that Ford has suffered a few losses in Small Claims Courts, they have apparently decided it's time to bring out their Big Gun Attorneys.
Also, just after I published my first blog post about this last year and started posting it on Twitter, the Ford social media guy tweeted this one day. Venting Online, Consumers Can Find Themselves in Court
Today I was on Twitter and starting seeing tweets coming from a Ford Pep Rally called #FordTrends. The cheerleaders tweeting for #FordTrends were just blown away by what they were seeing - everything from the eco-inspired lunch to how a SYNC user found a song in 4.9 seconds to the yummy new names of their paint colors to how Ford is/will be? using soy-based foam in car seats. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on "green" at this rah-rah session, which leads me to wonder how all that paint which is chipping, peeling and falling off their cars is affecting the environment. That's a legitimate question, isn't it?
As for me, I wish Ford would back-burner all the bells and whistles for 15 minutes and get back to basics. Like how to paint a car. And how to treat customers. You would think after 108 years, they would at least be able to do those things right.
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