Rear View Mirror Fell Off.

[Ciulster]

As someone who has worked in the parts and sales industry (not for Ford though) I can say with confidence that it is pretty standard practice to send pictures for pre-authorization for a warranty claim. I can also say that a lot of whether or not said claim gets approved or denied has to do with how the monkey processing the claim behind the counter worded it.

If Ford really is worth their salt a warranty claim worded as "Customer states was adjusting mirror with regular amount of force when it fell off in hands. Inside layer of glass from laminated windshield still attached to mirror glue. Obvious defect with windshield lamination process as no other signs of excessive force present" should have passed with flying colours.

But if said Dealership cronie was having a bad day or getting paid minimum wage he may have just said screw it and worded it "Customer ripped mirror off windshield, mirror no longer attached" and sent it.

I second the advice of find a different dealer that actually understands how windshields work, and speak with their warranty processing manager. The inside layer of glass should not peel away from the inside layer of plastic inside the windshield that easy, you should be able to HANG off that mirror and the first thing to give should be the glue between the mirror and the glass itself, not the glue between the glass and the middle plastic layer of windshield.

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[roadpilot]

"Obvious defect"? LOL. Service techs are now engineers?

 

[Wiley Marmot]

SHAME on you Ford! SHAME!

 

[steveo1960]

So Ford via the representative on the board also turned down my warranty request. I've just received the actual repair order sheet over the weekend and I now know why Ford is denying warranty coverage.... The service advisor wrote the following:

' AR VIEW MIRROR FELL OFF , CHECK OVER AND ADVISE VERIFIED COMPLAINT, MIRROR RIPPED OFF OF WINDSHIELD. WHEN MIRROR TAKEN OFF GLASS WAS TAKEN OFF WINDSHIELD. WINDSHIELD NEEDS TO BE REPLACED, WILL SUBMIT PICTURES TO FORD FORD DENIED COVERAGE, ADVISED CUSTOMER JOB# 1 TOTALS------------------------------------------------------------ '

Mirror RIPPED off?
Really?
Idiots.

So since it's in the Ford database at this point I just reached out to my insurance company and it's fully covered.
Once repairs are complete I will address the idiot service advisor at the dealership.
Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Aramis76]

So since it's in the Ford database at this point I just reached out to my insurance company and it's fully covered.
Once repairs are complete I will address the idiot service advisor at the dealership.
Thanks for all the advice!

Maybe, and just maybe, whoever does end up doing the replacement can write up a report about how this is not normal and potentially had a defective glass. (autoglass place?)
This report could be used to sue Ford for the repair cost?

I don't live in the US so i'm not sure this would fly, but it's worth considering.

 

[roadpilot]

Maybe, and just maybe, whoever does end up doing the replacement can write up a report about how this is not normal and potentially had a defective glass. (autoglass place?)
This report could be used to sue Ford for the repair cost?

I don't live in the US so i'm not sure this would fly, but it's worth considering.

Would cost far more to sue Ford that to pay for a windshield out of pocket.

 

[steveo1960]

Would cost far more to sue Ford that to pay for a windshield out of pocket.

Yep.
You are so right. I think it comes down to the service writer using a poor choice of words. I'll get it repaired, paid for and bring it to the dealer's attention and see if they suggest a good will offering. Time to put this 'Jack' back in the box and continue to enjoy a fantastic car.

 

[steveo1960]

So I found out the dealers farm out the glass work to other shops even if they have an on premises body shop.. I called a couple of dealers and they all recommend a place, family owned for 40 years and they dealt with insurance company and all is well. Asked for VIN and ordered glass. They were familiar with Ford Sound Screen Glass and I'm getting an OEM replacement part they also were quite familiar with the calibration stuff. As soon as part comes in I will have it replaced and all systems calibrated. Stay tuned !

 

[roadpilot]

So I found out the dealers farm out the glass work to other shops even if they have an on premises body shop.. I called a couple of dealers and they all recommend a place, family owned for 40 years and they dealt with insurance company and all is well. Asked for VIN and ordered glass. They were familiar with Ford Sound Screen Glass and I'm getting an OEM replacement part they also were quite familiar with the calibration stuff. As soon as part comes in I will have it replaced and all systems calibrated. Stay tuned !

We've been using a locally owned glass place for 22+ years. They've probably replaced a dozen or more windshields over the year. They are great to work with and know what they are doing, including all the calibration and such for the cameras, sensors, etc., even for my F150 with BlueCruise.

 

[RJV15]

Coworker just had the same happen, got it replaced no problem.

Seems like that tech didn't want to do the work and wrote the report in a way that insinuated that you caused the damage.

There should really be a checks and balance on how these warranty claims play out. The dealer that is going to work on the car should not be able to influence whether the work falls under warranty.

That is how all the "tough job, low pay" work that techs complain about get denied. Its all over social media, dealer techs created their own little ecochamber where they complain about warranty work and how little hours the book says they'll get paid when it can easily be twice that amount.

 

[SSuperDave]

We sublet all glass work as well, no one at the dealership would have to do anyting except write it up and issue a PO to the glass guy. Even when we had a bodyshop, that's what they did. I'll take warranty work all day long, and rarely do the techs complaint about it either.

 

[steveo1960]

So just to close this one out, I had the glass replaced today by a family owned shop which several of the dealers around here use. They have been in business for over 15 years. The cost was $600 for Ford OEM glass including tax and camera calibration. Just as a side note, the new glass comes with the circuit board above the mirror already mounted and also the mirror mount already mounted. The camera and the rain sensor get transferred from the original glass. I'm glad to put this one to rest ! Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[Allanrock59]

So Ford via the representative on the board also turned down my warranty request. I've just received the actual repair order sheet over the weekend and I now know why Ford is denying warranty coverage.... The service advisor wrote the following:

' AR VIEW MIRROR FELL OFF , CHECK OVER AND ADVISE VERIFIED COMPLAINT, MIRROR RIPPED OFF OF WINDSHIELD. WHEN MIRROR TAKEN OFF GLASS WAS TAKEN OFF WINDSHIELD. WINDSHIELD NEEDS TO BE REPLACED, WILL SUBMIT PICTURES TO FORD FORD DENIED COVERAGE, ADVISED CUSTOMER JOB# 1 TOTALS------------------------------------------------------------ '

Mirror RIPPED off?
Really?
Idiots.

So since it's in the Ford database at this point I just reached out to my insurance company and it's fully covered.
Once repairs are complete I will address the idiot service advisor at the dealership.
Thanks for all the advice!

WOW Man I don't want to shake your hands. ;)

 

[steveo1960]

WOW Man I don't want to shake your hands. ;)

Actually I have small hands.
But I do have big feet

 

[dollybud]

So I stopped by the dealer this morning to have them take a look. Apparently Skye was correct in that the glass itself is damaged hence the wavy feeling clear epoxy or whatever it is. So the dealer took pictures to send to Ford to see if they will cover it.
Huh?
A $50k car and Ford won't cover an obvious glass manufacturing defect? There is no damage on the outside of the glass so I asked the service manager exactly how else this could have happened other than a defect? He had no answer but said if Ford refuses to cover it, your insurance will.
Nope. I'm not going to my insurance company for a defect in manufacturing.

I'll update when the dealer gets back to me.
I'm not getting a warm fuzzy with this one.

I noticed this was dated July. Did I miss the out come, would really like to know.

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