Pre Certified Vehicle with a hood issue

M

MARIAV75

New Member
Jurisdiction
New Jersey
Hello, I purchased a certified, pre-owned vehicle approximately a month ago. A few days after purchasing the car, I noticed the hood would "lift" as if wind is running under the hood. In addition, when I go over bumps, the hood completely lifts and shakes. It is very unnerving and scary when I am on the highway going 65MPH, especially with my children in the car.

I brought the car back twice and was provided a loaner car when the dealership took the car back to look at the issue. Prior to leaving the car the second time (after I had it back once and they said it was fixed) I asked for an engineer to take a drive with me to witness exactly what I was seeing, It looks like the car hood is coming off on the highway, and he agreed it was not normal. The issue was still not fixed, and the engineer agreed I should not take the car back and they KEPT the car another week. I count this as the third attempt to correct this issue.

A week later, the dealership told me a Ford engineer drove the car and said it was a "natural" characteristic of the car and there is nothing more that can be done. So, in all, the hood is supposed to shake. I asked for this in writing.

A side note- the dealership stated this was NOT correct and the other 2015 vehicle hoods did NOT shake.

I contacted Ford and they are telling me since an engineer drove it I am stuck with the car.

I am physically sick from this and I'm very nervous about driving this car.

What are my options at this point?

Thanks
 
txls said:
See if the dealership will trade you out of it.
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The dealership said there is nothing more they can do at this point. I am now in discussion with Ford customer service, and escalated up to a supervisor (regional manager was of no help.) I've had it to an independent body shop and they acknowledged the shaking and said I will most likely need a new hood.

Do I provide this in writing to Ford? I have no idea what the best route would be. Small claims court?
 
MARIAV75 said:
I've had it to an independent body shop and they acknowledged the shaking and said I will most likely need a new hood.
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You'll need that in writing from the body shop and you'll need the tech's agreement to testify in court if necessary.

Warning to others: "Dealer certification" is just one more car dealer scam. Don't believe it for a minute.
 
adjusterjack said:
You'll need that in writing from the body shop and you'll need the tech's agreement to testify in court if necessary.

Warning to others: "Dealer certification" is just one more car dealer scam. Don't believe it for a minute.
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Thanks for the feedback. You are absolutely correct about dealer certification. Do you know what the dealership said when I mentioned the car is pre-certified?.... "Well, we don't check for hood shakes"... No... say it ain't so! Unreal.

I have an appt. with another bodyshop tomorrow who apparently has a lot of experience and he said he is more than happy to look at the hood for me.

If not fixed and dealership not willing to absorb cost of fix- this will end up in court.
 
MARIAV75 said:
The dealership said there is nothing more they can do at this point. I am now in discussion with Ford customer service, and escalated up to a supervisor (regional manager was of no help.) I've had it to an independent body shop and they acknowledged the shaking and said I will most likely need a new hood.

Do I provide this in writing to Ford? I have no idea what the best route would be. Small claims court?
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For a few dollars, well spent, run a CarFax check on the car.

I'll bet the car was involved in a severe head on collision, or rear ended something.

CARFAX™ - Vehicle History Reports and Used Car Listings

Once you've run the CarFax, you'll know better what the angle is, or if there is an angle.
 
MARIAV75 said:
Thanks, ran the carfax, came back clean. I cant wait to see what the auto body shop says, too!
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Interesting.
CarFax has one major flaw.
If a car was damaged and the owner, or responsible party, paid for repairs in cash without using insurance, PLUS the incident was never reported to the police.

In some cases, the car owner has a buddy in the auto body repair business. Again, no record.

Please let us know what the body shop has to say.
Heck, I'd have two body shops inspect the car, as well as another Ford dealer.

Don't tell them WHY you want the hood inspected, except to say you're concerned for your safety.
 
MARIAV75 said:
Thanks, ran the carfax, came back clean. I cant wait to see what the auto body shop says, too!
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It has occurred to me to ask:

Just how much of a test drive did you give this vehicle before handing over your money?

If you had driven it on roads and highways for about a half hour you would have been aware of the hood problem.
 
Has the latch mechanism been replaced?

Have they inspected to make sure the hood bump stops are installed and if so are they installed correctly? If they are missing or too low the hood will flop around quite a bit.
 
adjusterjack said:
It has occurred to me to ask:

Just how much of a test drive did you give this vehicle before handing over your money?

If you had driven it on roads and highways for about a half hour you would have been aware of the hood problem.
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I drove it around local roads & did not test drive it on the highway. I first noticed it when I was accelerating onto the highway. Furthermore, when I was test driving the car I was not focused on the hood. If I was, trust me, I would not have bought the car. I cannot begin to tell you how many cars I test drove, and liked. This wouldn't have been the choice if I saw it happening.
 
adjusterjack said:
There you have it. Many of a car's issues don't manifest themselves at low speeds in a short road test.
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Wow, you truly are a lawyer, or a judge, or very well versed in cars for that matter! Great response and very accurate. Well, I have the answers I need. Rec'd an estimate from a competitors dealerships body shop & they saw the issue right away. What a JOKE. Needless to say, I am having the work done by them and pursuing this further. I will keep everyone updated.
 
d1amund said:
Has the latch mechanism been replaced?

Have they inspected to make sure the hood bump stops are installed and if so are they installed correctly? If they are missing or too low the hood will flop around quite a bit.
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MARIAV75 said:
Wow, you truly are a lawyer, or a judge, or very well versed in cars for that matter! Great response and very accurate. Well, I have the answers I need. Rec'd an estimate from a competitors dealerships body shop & they saw the issue right away. What a JOKE. Needless to say, I am having the work done by them and pursuing this further. I will keep everyone updated.
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So, what was the problem that was easy to detect by the competing repair shop?
 
adjusterjack said:
Thank you for the accolade, though I am not a lawyer or a judge but do have significant automotive knowledge.
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And I do... not...... :) this whole situation has really made me quite upset. I am worried to bring my kids in the car with me. They believe the hood was damaged, they can see evidence of it. they said it happens often when the cars are in transit. That's fine, I just don't like the lying and the whole "nothing is wrong" card. Very annoying. thanks for your advice.
 
Well, after a competitors body shop admitted to seeing the issue and giving me an estimate, I asked them to do the work. I think it took them aback because I originally told them I was going to the original place I bought my car. The next day I get an email from the manager of the competitors body shop saying they drove another car, same year same model and it was doing the same thing- NOT the same story they told me!! This is infuriating, I am guessing they don't want to do the work bc they are another Ford Dealership. Talk about a runaround. I cant tell you how many hours this took already. On to the next. Any other advice?
 
adjusterjack said:
What's the year, make, and model of your vehicle?
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It's a 2015 Ford Edge. It is certified pre-owned and purchased it with around 16K miles. Thanks. And I lied, he (body shop manager) told me he test drove a 2015, he actually test drove a 2016- and this is the last sentence from his email he sent me:

"The front of the hood has adequate tension when latched so I don't see a safety concern at the present time. It is my belief this is a result of Ford's newer design perhaps needing thicker hinges or the hood panel design itself may just be too light. This may be addressed in time if enough owners come forward with a similar complaint, but right now I just don't see it happening as the movement doesn't appear to be more than a few millimeters on either vehicle I observed."

...................... its definitely more than a few millimeters, by the way.... passengers in my car notice it..........especially on the highway.
 

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