Ford holding my vehicle due to BCM recall (25V546) for 2+ weeks even though they already have a fix?

[Billycar11]

OP - you are officially the first person I've personally heard of with water damage. Sorry to hear about this.

In looking at you pictures, I didn't see anything jumping out at me that was the water damage in question. The second picture is also blury. Can you point to what I'm missing?

the greenish tinge on the pins and connectors its just starting but that's the tell tale sign of water and electricity causing corrosion
its early and savable for now with some contact cleaner but they are likely doing all new to be sure

i would be more worried about the harshness than the bcm pins in this case but of course the harness is harder to replace

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[AZ_Ryan]

the greenish tinge on the pins and connectors its just starting but that's the tell tale sign of water and electricity causing corrosion
its early and savable for now with some contact cleaner but they are likely doing all new to be sure

i would be more worried about the harshness than the bcm pins in this case but of course the harness is harder to replace

I see it now. Thanks.

 

[ReflectiveTape]

OP - you are officially the first person I've personally heard of with water damage. Sorry to hear about this.

In looking at you pictures, I didn't see anything jumping out at me that was the water damage in question. The second picture is also blury. Can you point to what I'm missing?

@Starship Enterprise is absolutely correct. That recall was in effect when you bought it. The dealer should NOT have sold you the car. They are 100% on the hook for this. Was it a Ford dealer? If they won't buy back the car, you have a huge legal case in your pocket.

Unfortunately this makes up my mind that I won't be taking my car in for this recall service until i know they have replacement parts available. If there is even a small chance they keep your car after finding damage, it's simply not worth it. Ford needs to get their shit together. What an absolute cluster f**k.

Yeah, apologies for the blurry photos, my service rep should not be hired for weddings. The pictures with the connection points themselves (the white parts) are signs of corrosion and are present on both female and male connectors. That dusty looking area is where the water was leaking and of course went straight into the BCM and who knows what else at this point.

I'm going back in tomorrow to try to get a better look for myself and look into more options with the dealer. (The dealer where its at now is different from the one I bought it from) I also had multiple "spirited" conversations with Ford and they aren't budging on this. Hopefully they let me do a buy back at the very least very soon. I have filed a NHTSA complaint (#11698017) and may have to take more elevated measures if I can't get some sort of relief from Ford/dealer.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any legal recourse for the Ford dealer selling me the vehicle as I knew about the recall beforehand and there's no way to prove the damage was there already unless it was noted in the Gold Certified inspection (it wasn't) or there was pictures beforehand. There's also no Federal/State used vehicle Lemon Law for Florida. (If I'm wrong please let me know). I do find it odd that this leak didn't even come up in the inspection report because I would have to imagine after 13k miles something like this would cause issues. I never got a letter for the recall and the full scope of the "remedy" but I was aware of the recall and the dealer told me there was a fix for it already. The worst part is that if I didn't do due diligence and take it in when I did I could have easily had lost all my lights on the road. This fact is honestly the worst part about this whole thing besides getting my Mustang taken away because of Ford's Negligence.

I would say anyone taking in their car at this point is *potentially* taking a 1/1050 chance gamble it has water damage and you will have a nice Ford Escape excursion for at least a couple of months like me. That being said, its still much better to be safe than sorry. This is easily the messiest recall and customer experience I have ever had with any automaker and I'm very disappointed with Ford because the car itself was so good and had no other issues besides this.

 

[SSuperDave]

In Texas (can't speak to other states) recalls are not required by law to be done on used vehicles prior to sale. IMHO, it is good practice to do so, at the Lexus dealer where I worked we did them, but we do not at my current Ford dealer. I have been told that it affects preowned turnaround time, which is a critical metric at our dealership. I don't like it, but I have no input.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

Yeah, apologies for the blurry photos, my service rep should not be hired for weddings. The pictures with the connection points themselves (the white parts) are signs of corrosion and are present on both female and male connectors. That dusty looking area is where the water was leaking and of course went straight into the BCM and who knows what else at this point.

I'm going back in tomorrow to try to get a better look for myself and look into more options with the dealer. (The dealer where its at now is different from the one I bought it from) I also had multiple "spirited" conversations with Ford and they aren't budging on this. Hopefully they let me do a buy back at the very least very soon. I have filed a NHTSA complaint (#11698017) and may have to take more elevated measures if I can't get some sort of relief from Ford/dealer.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is any legal recourse for the Ford dealer selling me the vehicle as I knew about the recall beforehand and there's no way to prove the damage was there already unless it was noted in the Gold Certified inspection (it wasn't) or there was pictures beforehand. There's also no Federal/State used vehicle Lemon Law for Florida. (If I'm wrong please let me know). I do find it odd that this leak didn't even come up in the inspection report because I would have to imagine after 13k miles something like this would cause issues. I never got a letter for the recall and the full scope of the "remedy" but I was aware of the recall and the dealer told me there was a fix for it already. The worst part is that if I didn't do due diligence and take it in when I did I could have easily had lost all my lights on the road. This fact is honestly the worst part about this whole thing besides getting my Mustang taken away because of Ford's Negligence.

I would say anyone taking in their car at this point is *potentially* taking a 1/1050 chance gamble it has water damage and you will have a nice Ford Escape excursion for at least a couple of months like me. That being said, its still much better to be safe than sorry. This is easily the messiest recall and customer experience I have ever had with any automaker and I'm very disappointed with Ford because the car itself was so good and had no other issues besides this.

It doesnt matter if you knew about it. Ford issued a stop sale because of the recall. They weren't supposed to sell any cars until the recall fix was done. Now I'm not sure how that applies to used cars. But at the very least, your damage was missed on the inspection. And im assuming you didnt sign a waiver regarding buying the car with an open recall. This is a major f**k up by the dealer that sold you the vehicle. Can I ask why you didn't take it to the original dealer? Because they should have taken the car back immediately.

 

[ReflectiveTape]

Unfortunately, I didn't get around to moving forward with the recall until the 20th of October, I only had the car since the 1st. Its also true that I acknowledged the open recall, but I didn't do or sign anything to waive my rights to do anything about it. What would the best way to demand the selling dealership to take back my vehicle? Is it too late? Did I majorly mess up somewhere?

 

[AZ_Ryan]

Unfortunately, I didn't get around to moving forward with the recall until the 20th of October, I only had the car since the 1st. Its also true that I acknowledged the open recall, but I didn't do or sign anything to waive my rights to do anything about it. What would the best way to demand the selling dealership to take back my vehicle? Is it too late? Did I majorly mess up somewhere?

You didn't mess up. This is just bad luck. But, that dealer sold you a mustang with an open recall that was certified. And during a stop sale no less. When you had the recall done, damage was discovered. They can't blame you for that. They sold you a certified defective car. They should have held onto the car until the recall was completed. Probably too late now, but I would have been on the phone with them first thing.

 

[ReflectiveTape]

You didn't mess up. This is just bad luck. But, that dealer sold you a mustang with an open recall that was certified. And during a stop sale no less. When you had the recall done, damage was discovered. They can't blame you for that. They sold you a certified defective car. They should have held onto the car until the recall was completed. Probably too late now, but I would have been on the phone with them first thing.

Ah okay, is it still worth a try? Once again, its hard to prove actual anything beyond negligence, but I should at least try to go down every avenue I can right?

 

[ReflectiveTape]

I was able to get some information regarding my inspection. According to the inspection, this states the recalls were fixed prior to the sale correct? Or does nothing change here?

 

[AZ_Ryan]

I was able to get some information regarding my inspection. According to the inspection, this states the recalls were fixed prior to the sale correct? Or does nothing change here?

Correct. They said no recalls when one was still open. Now you have a defective car. That dealer totally messed up. I'd call them tomorrow and ask for the store manager. Let us know!

 

[Starship Enterprise]

Ok they said they performed the recall. The recall includes removing the BCM and inspecting it. They should have found the corrosion then, so either they are lying or did the inspection with their eyes closed.

if they truly performed the recall as claimed in that sheet, you would see black sealant gooped all over the cowl seams when you remove the window cowl cover.

I am confused though. They claimed to perform the recall and inspect the BCM, so why was the recall still open for your car?

You have firm ground to stand on because they either sold you a car with an open recall still outstanding or lied about doing the recall.

 

[DT-GT]

Looks like the Appendix indicates that the BCM recall was not done.

 

[Starship Enterprise]

Looks like the Appendix indicates that the BCM recall was not done.

Looking it back over, you are correct, but the initial wording on the checklist is so ambiguous it makes my head hurt. They check the box marked "passed". Passed what?!?!

 

[ReflectiveTape]

So, once again this just seems like one gigantic mess to me. Is there any action that can be done with the original dealer or am I at the mercy of Ford at this point?

 

[ReflectiveTape]

I also want to thank you all for your input! I have only owned my Mustang for a month but I'm glad that the community is amazing and very welcoming! Hoping to rejoin the road with y'all soon!

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