[Utkarsh1907]

Huge issue with Ford Ecosport Titanium + AT Model.

The car had been running smoothly for the last five years with my dad driving it mostly in the city of Ranchi, when all of a sudden while driving on a pretty smooth road, the transmission made a horrible sound and then the vehicle stopped running altogether. The car has been serviced at Diara ford Ranchi workshop only. We had purchased extended warranty, so any mechanical breakdown has to be covered under the extended warranty.



On 8th November at 10: 45 PM, while driving on a pretty smooth road at 30-40 kmph, the car suddenly made a loud metallic sound accompanied with heavy jerks from the underside of the car and completely stopped with a Red service sign. It got stuck in the middle of the road and did not even shift to neutral. It shifted to neutral after a few minutes and then with the help of some good samaritans the car could be pushed to the side of the road for parking. My dad immediately contacted the Road side assistance for towing it to Diara Ford workshop. It seemed as if the automatic transmission had failed.



The damaged car was then transported safely through a tow in truck sent by HDFC Ergo RSA team to the workshop. Next afternoon, my dad went to Diara Ford Ranchi. We were pretty sure that the damage would be covered under the extended warranty that we had purchased earlier. However, we were told that the breakdown is not due to any mechanical failure and the repair cost has to be covered through insurance treating it as an accident. My dad explained everything to the SA as there was no mark on the external car surface to warrant an insurance claim. But the SA was in no mood to listen to any logic. He tried to show some old minor scratches on the front bumper to justify his hypothesis. My dad asked him to get in touch with the Ford Chennai technical team and involve him in the discussion as he is a practising Mechanical Engineer.

[ATTACH=WhatsApp Image 2023-11-14 at 17.02.43.pdf]2559391[/ATTACH]

On 14th November 23, we got a message from Diara Ford that the estimated delivery for the car is 17 Nov 23 and the estimated cost is Rs 590. On receipt of this message, we thought that maybe after discussion with the Chennai technical team, Ford has agreed to honour its warranty, but alas, we were told that the Chennai team is not agreeing to consider it as mechanical damage. My dad just wanted to have a discussion with the technical team and they have not honored it till date.

Many times Diara Ford called to agree for the damage claim against insurance and not through extended warranty, which my dad refused, because he feels that it is a trap by Diara Ford to make us file a fraudulent insurance claim and in the process bear all the expenses of the repair on our own. The insurance will be flatly rejected, as there is no external damage mark on the vehicle to justify such a huge mechanical failure. Whatever damage is there is only in the underbelly of the car. Diara Ford / Ford India's contention of accidental damage can only be possible if the car was physically lifted by a crane and then it was dropped on some object causing a serious impact only on the underbelly of the car without any external damage. It's really absurd. Attaching the PDF which Diara Ford had sent.

Now, after months of following up with Ford India, we are still nowhere and don't know what to do next. We are planning to file a complaint in the consumer court against Ford, but I think it might take very long.

Extended Warranty details.

[Utkarsh1907]

After almost a month of incessant follow ups, Ford India is still saying that it happened due to an external impact, while the dealer’s body shop has agreed that there is no case of accidental impact, and it is purely a technical issue. They’ve given us a quote of the parts to be replaced.

It has been a harrowing experience for us, and I simply don’t understand how Ford is planning to come back to India if they are doing these kind of fraudulent activities. How’s anyone ever supposed to trust them again. They kept on pestering us to take the extended warranty, and are simply refusing to honour it now.

[abaliga]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh1907

After almost a month of incessant follow ups, Ford India is still saying that it happened due to an external impact, while the dealer’s body shop has agreed that there is no case of accidental impact, and it is purely a technical issue. They’ve given us a quote of the parts to be replaced.

Ford is generally very generous with warranty replacements, I had paint peeling off on our 2019 Ecosport alloy wheels and 4 of them were replaced without any questions asked, this was done after Ford quit India somewhere in the beginning of 2022, not sure why they are so stubborn in your case, could be that their general warranty budgets have come down and there is tightening of purses by the management. Extended warranty claims are a pain with almost all manufacturers except may be Maruti, most dealers dont even try to raise a claim and reject it with a lame excuse, I guess the paper work required to claim a warranty is troublesome too.

Your case seems very valid and I dont see any reason to deny a claim, if you have the patience, do take up the legal route, I do not understand the persistence of external damage unless they have proof of the part that was damaged, arent gearboxes sealed? Was there a rupture of the gearbox enclosure/casing? If not, please ask them to share their basis of conclusion on external damage, make sure you take some pictures of the gearbox assembly and have it documented as part of legal proceedings, there is no way they can get away with it if you go the legal route, only issue would be that you will have to bear the legal costs and go through the hassle of coordinating with the lawyer and being present for hearings. Good luck!

[shancz]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh1907

- After almost a month of incessant follow ups, Ford India is still saying that it happened due to an external impact, while the dealer’s body shop has agreed that there is no case of accidental impact, and it is purely a technical issue.
- They kept on pestering us to take the extended warranty, and are simply refusing to honour it now.

- That's quite sad and the I assume that Ford would've an unstated rule to pressurize the customer to go for insurance so that they don't bear the cost and more importantly get a clean chit from a mechanical failure which keeps them safe from any future repairs/failures that this work could cause.
That's infuriating and one of those things where everyone involved knows what is happening and why but are just waiting for the customer to give in eventually. Seems like that's how Ford has decided to work.
I can't even suggest to visit another dealer to rule out any dealer-company related issue which could be impacting your case as there aren't many and the car isn't driveable.
How about trying your luck with a dealer in another city by showing him the pics and see what they have to say ?

- From my experience, the sales and service are two different worlds in any dealership with completely different objectives. Ideally they should be in sync in the name of customer service but needless to say that's a rarity these days. The only option we as customers have is to try out a different workshop for a better chance of redressal.

Ford coming back is a rumour and with what they've already done I don't even bother with them.
I am sorry that I can't be of much help. Hope you get a resolution soon.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh1907

After almost a month of incessant follow ups, Ford India is still saying that it happened due to an external impact, while the dealer’s body shop has agreed that there is no case of accidental impact, and it is purely a technical issue. They’ve given us a quote of the parts to be replaced.
It has been a harrowing experience for us, and I simply don’t understand how Ford is planning to come back to India if they are doing these kind of fraudulent activities. How’s anyone ever supposed to trust them again. They kept on pestering us to take the extended warranty, and are simply refusing to honour it now.

Hi Utkarsh, I can understand your ordeal. We can connect with a few folks in Bangalore and Chennai and try sorting it out. Usually Ford honors warranty and I think there has been a communication gap be the dealer and warranty team at FIPL. We can discuss more over PM and I can help you out.

Originally Posted by heinrici

Hi Bhpians
The HU of my 2018 Ford ecosport T+ AT petrol has gone bust. The screen is probably fine, the chipset is likely gone. This has happened once before at year 4 and I had gotten it replaced free under warranty. Looking for guidance on should I approach Ford for OEM chipset or go for aftermarket units. If anybody has experience installing aftermarket HU for ecosport in Pune area please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Hey Henrici, if you have warranty, it can be replaced FOC if you have warranty. Else we can source it separately. But please do not part with sync 3 as it is a very capable OEM system. There are thousands of folks who desperately want to get sync 3 on their EcoSports

[RMN]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh1907

[h3].
Now, after months of following up with Ford India, we are still nowhere and don't know what to do next. We are planning to file a complaint in the consumer court against Ford, but I think it might take very long.
Extended Warranty details.

This is surprising and at the same time confusing. How can a manufacturer simply claim this to be due to an accident? Ask them to show proof that it is, ask them what's the exact damage. I can't belive that Ford or any manufacturer would do this. This has to be happening because of the dealer who are providing ford a incorrect info.

Please do go the legal route and also take enough photos and videos of your vehicle both of the exterior and underbody. I won't be surprised if these folks do some intentional damages.

[Voodooblaster]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh1907

However, we were told that the breakdown is not due to any mechanical failure and the repair cost has to be covered through insurance treating it as an accident

Was there any underbody hit that might have resulted damage to Transmission case ?

Or did the underbody hit result in leakage of engine / transmission oil

[Aditya]

Ford EcoSport's AT gearbox fails after 5 years; Ford refuses warranty claims - Posts moved to a new thread.

[Utkarsh1907]

Originally Posted by Voodooblaster

Was there any underbody hit that might have resulted damage to Transmission case ?

Or did the underbody hit result in leakage of engine / transmission oil

No, there was no underbody damage, the car was driving at a speed of 30-40 kmph. The road also is devoid of potholes and has bumps of 40-50 mm height, while the ground clearance of Ecosport is 200mm.

[Utkarsh1907]

Originally Posted by jithin23

We can discuss more over PM and I can help you out.

Hi, I sincerely apologise, I am fairly new to team bhp, posting wise, and I am not able to PM you. Could someone help please?

[aviator1101]

Originally Posted by Utkarsh1907

No, there was no underbody damage, the car was driving at a speed of 30-40 kmph. The road also is devoid of potholes and has bumps of 40-50 mm height, while the ground clearance of Ecosport is 200mm.

That's quite unusual.

Can you share some photographs of the underbody? I am also an Ecosport owner and have dealt on a few occasions with Ford Service. Fortunately never came across such absurdity.

If it's a damage to underbody, understandably warranty doesn't apply. In which case, insurance claim would cover the expenses. But in case of no underbody damage, they are duty bound to honour warranty.

I don't know too many people anywhere, but as a common man and a owner of the same vehicle, it's important to know what kind of damages or no damages voids a warranty claim.

Do please share the underbody pics including front axle Sir. Would wait eagerly.

Thanks and regards

[ashenoy]

This is quite surprising to hear. My Figo 1.5 DCT had a problem with the gearbox and was replaced by Ford at under warranty at year 4 of the cars ownership with 39000 kms on the odometer. No questions asked once I could demonstrate that the DCT was exhibiting juddering.

[supermax]

The attached picture here is incomplete; it starts off with a sentence that ends with 'crack and leakage', indicating that they are talking about damage to the undercarriage, or an explosive failure of the transmission, resulting in the crack and leakage. Leaving out that problem description page, even if by accident makes it seem as if you are withholding information. If the gearbox exploded from the inside, there would not be scraping or damage from the outside. You'll need the opinion of a professional mechanic with the unedited photographs, if you wish to contest their opinion that the damage is externally caused.

[touring_spirit]

Quite a surprising ordeal. We own two fords in our family. I had got my temperature sensor replaced under extended warranty no questions asked in bangalore.

My in-laws were wrongfully charged for a steering rack replacement(they hadn't made anh complaint). On question the dealer in Kolkata,they said the part is not covered under extended warranty and like in your case wanted to make us do a bogus insurance claim. On escalation via the email and the 1800 customer care number, the dealer had to refund us the steering rack amount. Fords customer care was helpful all along the way.

Please reach out to Ford directly via email or phone. I am sure ford has all your service records so they won't be able to claim non service as a criteria. Do take one pictures of the car and send it in the email.

[Highway_Nation]

I drive the Ecosport 6-speed automatic myself and was quite confident in the reliability of this gearbox. However, it's now raising concerns in my mind about the car's long-term reliability.