My car might soon be legally a lemon, anyone know what happens if I modified the car?

[FishPerson]

Hi
From what I see from FL lemon law if ford takes my car for being in service over 30 days, then 10 more add'l after notifying ford, , they dont have to pay me for the $7000 or so I put into it: Audtio upgrade, alarm, fog lights, ambient lighting. I'm hoping my car is not determined legally a lemon or they repair it, or compensate me some other way if either of the other things don't happen.

I'm nervous I'll hit that 30 day, as it's been over 3 weeks already, and the service dept (my contact there who is great) is very stressed and doesn't know the fix after three weeks. I dont know if service knows the cause. They said they are brining in an (or a few) engineers to work on it. It has to do with the audio, the connection of the different music options (xm, radio, Car Play). It has the issue everyone else gets on occasion at least of car play not connecting, but there's more to it than that on my car. It will sometimes play both XM and CarPlay at same time for instance. Apparently ford found more than that electronically or more (?). I dont know if there are other problems with the car they see that I don't know about, but Ford does.

Anyhow has anyone had their modified mustang/ or ford 'taken' back b/c of lemon law? I'd really lose out on this unless paid back what I put into it.

THanks!

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[Starship Enterprise]

IMO…A minor audio issue might not be worth using the lemon law and losing $7 worth of mods. I don’t see leaving it in service for 3 weeks for that, either. Drive the car and just take it back in when they have specialized people in to look at it.

It’s stuff like that that usually ends up getting fixed with a software update. In the meantime, disable Carplay if you are able to and try to simplify your stereo source options.

Yes it sucks not having everything work perfectly on a new car, but my wife paid more than that on her new Lincoln, and had issues, but over the next few months software updates fixed it all.

In your case, maybe wait it out and come up with workarounds? I don’t think Ford can take back the car without your permission unless it’s a serious safety issue that can’t be fixed….but I’m just geussing.

Good luck!

 

[FishPerson]

IMO…A minor audio issue might not be worth using the lemon law and losing $7 worth of mods. I don’t see leaving it in service for 3 weeks for that, either. Drive the car and just take it back in when they have specialized people in to look at it.

It’s stuff like that that usually ends up getting fixed with a software update. In the meantime, disable Carplay if you are able to and try to simplify your stereo source options.

Yes it sucks not having everything work perfectly on a new car, but my wife paid more than that on her new Lincoln, and had issues, but over the next few months software updates fixed it all.

In your case, maybe wait it out and come up with workarounds? I don’t think Ford can take back the car without your permission unless it’s a serious safety issue that can’t be fixed….but I’m just geussing.

Good luck!

That definitely makes sense, and I was thinking similar. But I was thinking (and I'll ask the service guy) if it is just the CarPlay connection issue (which I know all CarPlay cars have, includ my past accrua, and the current explorer I got as a loaner). ? I told them about the known CarPlay connection issue (as if he didnt already know , how can the sec dept not?) , but they didnt go anywhere with that. So it might be a greater problem. I did bring it in for other things not seemingly related to the CarPlay, but possibly they are . Such as the seats no longer cooling, and the tire pressure going down to 26 soon after inflating (but not going below that) in 3/4 tires. And the cross talk of the different audios. I dont know until I ask!. which I will this week.
But yes, if it's just the car play issue or something a bit more yes I can live with that. Esp since all other cars have it. It's just odd to me if that's all it is bc ford didnt just give it back and say sorry , it is what it is.

 

[Starship Enterprise]

That’s an odd group of problems. If it was me, I’d just disable Carplay and have them focus on the tire issue. Seat cooling could be a bad fuse.

I think overall, Ford wants to make things right on a new car, and I wouldn’t read any more into it.

 

[FishPerson]

That’s an odd group of problems. If it was me, I’d just disable Carplay and have them focus on the tire issue. Seat cooling could be a bad fuse.

I think overall, Ford wants to make things right on a new car, and I wouldn’t read any more into it.

Good idea
Ill ask him if thisbis all a car play issue or what. Rather than guessing this and that. And ask mkre from there if i need. Sode note. They been really great with me getting me an explorer rental. When i har my acura they never did anything for me. Eso not a loaner when they had that car

 

[Pmamba]

You modified the stereo system and added things to the electrical system and are having audio and electrical issues …. Just curious, would Ford even consider this a lemon?

 

[gtstang462002]

Lemon laws are there for the protection of the consumer. It is the consumers option to persue the buyback. The buyback is what will declare the car a lemon. If you do not persue it, it will not be a lemon.

 

[Q6543]

What are the actual issues? Because this reads crazy to me.

 

[JimC]

If you are asking if Ford is going to compensate your somehow for modifications to your car if it is taken on "lemon law", short answer: NO.

Ford has nothing to do with your modifications and is only responsible for the car that Ford built.

 

[Rocket Man]

sounds like the mods might be related to the problems. surprised they are not denying warranty.

 

[Neggytive]

If I were Ford, I would find a way to prove that your adding or modifying the audio system or any other part of the car is causing the issue and it is not a Ford manufacturing defect.

If they prove it is your tinkering with the car that caused it, you are going to be on the hook to the dealer for every minute they have spent working on the car.

If they deny warranty coverage, which has to be done in writing, then you are going to be paying for experts and arbitrators and lawyers out of pocket to fight them.

I had a kids Audi in the shop for its yearly state inspection.
The Inspection computer which reads the vehicle SN and OBD2 status among other things would not communicate with the car.

After doing some digging, we found the aftermarket radio was the culprit. Once we disconnected it from the cars wiring harness we got communication back to whatever pin was being disrupted

Needless to say my diagnostic time and the time to pull the radio out of the dash was billed at shop rate.

Did any of your issues happen BEFORE you went playing with the wiring?

 

[WhooptieDo]

As someone who is in the middle of a buyback on our Aviator, I can give you a little bit of input on how the process works.


Basically, my wifes Aviator had been in the shop enough to meet the requirements. This car is a POS, lemme tell you. All things happened in the first month, Sync 3 issues, screens never shutting off. Water straight pissing into the car from the roof (drains of course were clogged right off the bat) and the absolute icing on the cake, the niece rolled the passengers rear window down one evening and it straight shattered inside the door. On top of that, it started raining about 30 minutes later. Driving home in the rain, wife was beyond distraught, and it was embarassing to have to drive an 80k SUV with the window taped over back to the dealership.

Anyways, the options provided by Lincoln, which I would assume should be the same as ford:

1. Buy back the car for the payment price minus fees.

2. Keep the car and get a cash rebate. Title stays clean. (the more you negotiate, the more this amount can be. It's not a set price)

3. Do a collateral transfer of any other ford vehicle of the exact same value.


Given that it's a fairly new car, my wife was upside down, so full buyback wasn't really an option. She does have zero percent financing though, so the collateral transfer just made too much sense. As of right now we have a brand new Expedition on order with hope of having it in the next month (assuming the factory doesn't shut down). In the meanwhile they cut her a check which she'd been holding onto. The miles continue to go up on her Aviator, but they assured us that doesn't matter. The collateral swap will happen once the new car is delivered. Maybe because it's Lincoln, they're bending over backwards for her, but it's been a rather pleasant process given the circumstances.


Again, you can keep the car, and the title will NOT be branded a lemon. Ford doesn't like that.

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