William Lovett points to the unattached rear defogger tab on his Ford Mustang. (William Lovett)
Customers don’t come more loyal than William Lovett.
Lovett has purchased six Ford vehicles since 1984: a Contour, a Bronco II, two Explorers, an Edge, and finally, a Mustang convertible.
He bought the car new in 2012 from one dealership, but he regularly has it serviced at Salerno Duane Ford in Summit.
Let’s make it perfectly clear: Lovett doesn’t have a single complaint about the dealership.
This is all about Ford Motor Company, the parent company.
With the Mustang, Lovett bought an extended warranty. For $1,915.30, it was good for seven years or 100,000 miles, expiring on April 18, 2019, and he’d have a $100 deductible for repairs.
He was happy with the car, but in May 2016 he noticed the rear defogger tab had come off the back window of the convertible top.
He took the car to the dealer for repair, and it was covered under the extended warranty. Lovett wasn’t even asked to pay the $100 deductible.
In September, it became disconnected again. He returned to the dealer.
“The lead mechanic said that it could not be repaired and the entire convertible top had to be replaced since it was all one unit,” Lovett said.
On his behalf, the dealer contacted Ford, but Ford said the entire top was not covered by the warranty.
Not wanting to pay for a whole new convertible top, he asked the dealer to try to repair the tab by soldering it again.
A close-up of the dislodged rear defogger tab on William Lovett’s Ford Mustang. (William Lovett)
“They did so on September 26,” Lovett said. “I picked the car up and noticed when I got home it was off again. I took it back to Salerno Duane immediately and they tried again the next day, which again was unsuccessful.”
Lovett said both he and the dealer contacted Ford corporate again.
“Ford came back and offered a ‘cost sharing’ solution in which my share of the replacement of the convertible top would be approximately $1,600,” Lovett said. “Salerno Duane and I both contacted Ford Corporate again and indicated our displeasure with this.”
Several days later, Lovett said, Ford Corporate contacted the dealer and revised its “cost sharing” solution. Now Lovett would have to pay $800.
But that was still far more than the $100 deductible the warranty indicated he would pay on any repair.
“Ford does not dispute that the rear window defogger is a covered item in the extended warranty,” he said. “My convertible top is in great shape, so I would be happy if it could be repaired. But if the only option to fulfill the coverage of the extended warranty is to replace the entire convertible top, then that is Ford’s problem, and not mine.”
We reviewed Lovett’s paperwork for all his visits for the repairs, and we also reviewed the warranty, which clearly covers the rear defroster.
If the only way to get this fixed is to replace the whole convertible top, that’s not Lovett’s fault. He would be happy with a repair, if only that would work.
We reached out to Ford to see if it would reconsider.
A closeup of some of the items covered by the extended warranty. The defogger is circled in red. (William Lovett)
The next day, Lovett said he got a call.
“We went back and forth on this,” Lovett said. “She asked me if I would accept paying something above the deductible. I said no. I would only pay the deductible of $100.”
The rep said she would contact the dealership to discuss the issue, and “maybe something could be worked out.”
A week passed and there was no more word, so we contacted Ford again.
“I know our team has connected with Mr. Lovett and is in the process of working through a solution with the service manager at the dealership,” Ford said.
The next day, Ford said the dealership has ordered the necessary parts for the repair.
That sounded promising.
We asked how much the customer would be expected to pay.
That hasn’t been determined yet, Ford said.
Okay. We figured we could wait a little longer, but this certainly had to be established before any work would be done on the car.
Lovett hadn’t heard anything more either.
“My wife and I feel very strongly that we should pay the deductible and that is it,” he said.
And in the end, Lovett got what he wanted, confirmed in a phone call by Ford’s corporate office.
“Ford will pay for the full cost of the convertible top replacement less the $100 deductible and authorized the dealer to place the order.” Lovett said.
That was good news, indeed. Thanks to Ford for making it right.
Before you buy an extended warranty, you should do as much research as you do before buying a car.
Of course, for a car, you’ll probably be offered the warranty after hours of driving, negotiating and going over paperwork with the dealer’s finance person.
Ask for a copy of the warranty before you agree to a deal, and then you can do some online research to see what other customers say about the warranty, and you can take a closer look at what the warranty covers.
Some are worth it, and some are a rip-off, so we’re sorry to say there is no one right answer here.
It all depends on the fine print. Read it because you sign.
