That if an eco boost on a Ford can ruin an engine, they would at least give you a warning that it is about to fail.
Mine failed and took out the catalytic converter first. One week and about $3800+ later, the car was supposedly fixed. Only, it wasn’t. Smoke still billowed out the tailpipes. So back to the shop it went.
Two and a half months later, the engine has arrived and I should get the car back this week. But this bill is $8,000 to get it out of the shop.
It is no one’s fault that it failed and took out the catalytic converter and the engine. It is no one’s fault those failures are so hard to troubleshoot. But I have to pay almost $14k to fix it. So ■■■■■■■
In early 90s, I encountered a similar situation w/ Firestone tires on ford explorer. “we will replace the tires, but you need to replace w/ identical tires”. never bought a Ford or Firestone since. Sold explorer w/in 2-years after this experience.
USA Owner responsibility appears to be lacking these days.
From Ford’s perspective, they do not know how you drive your vehicle or engine. However, they have all the sensors, software, and diagnostic tools to know what occurred.
When you’re in the market to replace that one, consider the strategy I use:
I buy oldies for 10k-15k.
But! I select from high-end vehicles with a good reputation, to optimize my chances of getting a “wednesday” car. Frankly, I buy only Acura, not Honda, and I would consider Infiniti but they are too small (and I’m tall). I keep it well, but when it needs to be fed an expensive part, I have to prepared to say goodbye.
If it lasts for 3 years, your cost of ownership is 5 thousand dollars per year.
If it lasts for 13 years, and you keep up oil changes etc., your COO is less than 3k / year.
I can claim to have achieved the 3k / year COO for many years (though it ended last year when my 15 year-old car blew out its transmission - at 405,000 km (300k miles). I drive a lot. I can’t afford to drive pricey new cars that will wear out at 180k miles. This summer, I bought another Acura for about 10kUSD to replace the old one. Already well on my way to a low COO again.
Whatever strategy of auto ownership you choose (buy/lease, new/used) work out your annual COO.
Do you keep your receipts from the shop you take it to? Do you track how much you spend on your vehicle(s) every year?
I’m of the mind of @Latexman ,trying to wrap my head around what you’re even describing. How can they claim no one is at fault if one of their parts caused the failure of another so rapidly and without warning. I don’t know what Eco Boost actually does, I guess I just always assumed it altered the spark timing to account for the ethanol content or something along those lines. I’m guessing it was ethanol in the exhaust stream that destroyed the cat?
I am tending to agree that domestically made vehicles are overly complicated, and thus less reliable. I noted that my 86 truck (very small) would only use 3.5 quarts of oil, but needs to be changed every 3ooo miles, where my newer vehicle uses 6 quarts of oil but needs to be changed about every 6000 miles. I don’t actually thing I am saving anything here, because they just over sized the oil pan.
Ugh, that sucks Lacajun. I’ve been disappointed by domestics as well, and all of our cars today are Japanese brands, 3 of them are made in Japan, one is assembled down in Ohio. My old 2003 Corolla is now almost old enough to buy its own drinks, still banging along just fine, with its manual everything (transmission, door locks, windows…). Replaced the starter motor recently, but only because replacing the solenoid is cheaper (and simpler) that way.
The Eco-Boost turbos on my Lincoln MKT also blew out. I heard a jet engine whining sound while driving the NJ Turnpike. The next day - a giant cloud of white smoke. Lucky for me, I had an extended warranty which saved me over $4,000. I bought an Explorer without Eco-Boost.
The story just keeps getting better. I am almost speechless today.
They put the engine in and I picked it up yesterday around 11:30. I had to get them to jump start it to drive it off the lot. The tech was off so they couldn’t ask him, if he had checked the engine prior to giving his “OK.”
It wouldn’t hold a charge and had been in the car for 3.5 years. But no one checked it, after it sat there for 2+ months. I can’t imagine it cranked for the tech or whoever moved it around to the pickup area.
Long story short. I bought a battery at Costco and put it in this afternoon. Along the way, a friend looked it over yesterday and noticed some stuff that wasn’t done completely. Changing the battery led to more discoveries of incomplete work. These were things like screws not being put back in, clips missing, screws not being screwed in completely, etc. The cover wasn’t on the engine area and they claimed it may not even have a cover. I wanted to scream at that point. But I didn’t. I let them know I had just written a check for $8k and wasn’t leaving without the engine cover. I left without the engine cover.
Worst of all…it’s leaking oil on my garage floor. There are several large puddles. It’s much worse than you think because there is a piece of cowling under the engine to prevent leaks from dripping onto garage floors. I’m sure there are other reasons, too. But it must be really abundant on that piece of cowling.
And they wonder why I have an attitude about Interstate Ford and Ford. And, yes, I heard again last week that it isn’t their fault that the problem was so hard to diagnose. Really? Why are they in business then?
In some ways I can agree it is not completely there fault. Vehicles of the same weight, get about the same gas millage as the ones when I was younger. But the complexity is also much greater. The reason is the mandated improvements for the environment. Each of those improvements, adds cost, and complexity, and because Ford has to sell the vehicles, they try to not make them bigger, which would also decrease other factors.
But the design was Fords, so it was there fault. They made it and sold it.
boring108, if you do research at NHTSA, you’ll find lots of complaints about tranmissions and engine failures on this model of Ford. It’s a known problem and Ford hasn’t fixed it. I don’t drive like a maniac. This is all on Ford.
I am also very surprised that it is so difficult to determine an engine failure. Seems like it would be an easy thing to determine. I gave them enough information to understand the problem, after doing some reading. The dealer had to replace the catalytic converter because it was fouled with oil. Yet I had to pay a total of $14k because…“it’s not our fault it’s so hard to troubleshoot these things.” Blaming an eco boost that has been on the market for decades, as creating difficulties in troubleshooting root causes, is hardly acceptable. They’ve had enough time, I think, to figure it out.
I’m sure you know a lot, but my point is the complexity was mandated. I am not happy with either GM or Ford recently, and the mandates just keep coming.
I am thinking that at some point there will be a larger number of people rebuilding older cars, and trucks, because they are tired of the complexity issue, and we can’t work on the cars ourselves.
Oil on the floor under a new engine?
I agree with btrueblood.
Talk to a lawyer, or to Ford Corporate. (Or, if this is a Ford authorized dealer, have the lawyer talk to Ford Corporate)
Ford corporate hasn’t responded to any of my communication.
There is a consumer protection attorney nearby, who I have been thinking of contacting. An attorney friend knows him and said he’s good and has been practicing longer than he’s been practicing law and I have been practicing engineering.
NHTSA posted my complaint but they get so many I doubt they’ll reach out to anyone directly.
I will probably lodge a complaint with the CO AG. I doubt they will respond because they’ve never responded about other things related to engineering.
I fail to understand why we have laws on the books, if state governments aren’t going to enforce them. The CO AG said they have bigger fish to fry. The CO Secretary of State said it’s not their job to go after businesses breaking CO business requirements. Really? Interesting because a manufacturer was/had been doing business in CO and doing engineering work sans PEs to do the work. No one cared but me. So I don’t care if I or others get run over anymore. Who cares? What does it matter that people get hurt? Little people? And I am a little person.
You are out $14k. About what % is that of the vehicle blue book?
In cases like this, it might have been worth it to heavily finance the vehicle through Ford. Then, you could stop payments, and tell them to come get it. “Stick it to the man!” But, this is an outlier. While it may be somewhat satisfying, it’s probably not optimum for the customer.
No turbos are not mandated, but CAFE standards, and a turbo is a way to get more power out of a smaller engine. Smaller engine means lighter weight, which translates to better mileage. It is the EPA and CAFE standards that push car makers into unusual and complex schemes to meet them.
As they say we get the government we deserve.
KBB value is ~ $7k. If I had a crystal ball, I would have sold the car last Summer.
Interstate Ford has it again. The head gasket had to be replaced due to an oil leak. I pointed out all of the other things that needed to be corrected and they had to order some parts such as the engine cover. They said I’ll get it back Tuesday.
The Edge loaner they gave me has a pressure gauge on, wait for it…
The Eco Boost! Bwaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha!
I suspect I’ll have to charge the battery, after this cold snap.