Did Ford Break My Aircon When Servicing My Car

[minius]

please see attached file

DID FORD BREAK MY AIRCON WHEN INSTALLING A DAB UPGRADE.pdf

[davetech]

Hi Minius.

My air-con story is one of poor franchise customer service followed by excellent solution instigated directly from Ford head office.

Having owned quite a few Galaxys previously, when I purchased my Mk3 2.2 in 2008, was expecting great things since it had the extra aircon unit at the back.

When the aircon did not perform anywhere near as well as my previous Galaxys (without the extra unit), I took it to a Ford dealer.

I was told there were no leaks and it just needed re-gassing.

When I said my other cars (over 10 years old) never needed re-gassing, I was told the usual stories of some cars do and some cars don't. I was also told it definitely was not leaking.

The aircon worked for a short time, but then winter was upon us.

I took it in another twice and each time they tested for leaks and said there was none and re-gassed it (2 different dealers so far).

After the warranty had run out, I took it for a service and when they asked if anything else was wrong, I told them the aircon was still rubbish.

This time (out of warranty), they said there was a leak in the rear unit (approx £600 to repair).

When I asked if this could have been there since the car was manufactured, they said it could have been.

Time to escalate.

First letter to Ford head office, they did not even read; as soon as they looked at the reg number, it will have told them the car was over 3 years old, so they just responded with "It's out of warranty".

A very irate letter followed which got me an apology and I should take it to my local Ford dealer to see what they say.

My local Ford dealer immediately said they would change the rear unit free of charge, which they did (I am convinced under instruction from Ford).

It was worth the persistance. Now I have a 7 year old Galaxy (with 35K on the clock), with ice-cold air-con; it will need it this summer.

Don't give up and do write to Ford head office... more than once.

[minius]

Thanks for that encouragement - mine too has the rear aircon unit; I still can't figure out why the drivers side is blowing hot while the passenger side is fine and suddenly malfunctioning after the visit to the garage for service,  The dealer has now afreed to take the DAB system off and refunding the cost which is a good start.  At the same time I have asked them to pay particular attention to the sensor and aircon control unit wiring/grounding.  We'll see.

[minius]

UPDATE!  After much hand-wringing I told ford I was rejecting the DAB radio "upgrade" as it was no at all user-friendly nor "fully integrated" as it had described.  I also spoke to an AA technician chum who suggested the cabling for the dab could have jammed the heat/cool selector baffle and thus jamming it and not that the climate control unit was faulty.  Well, what do you know - after some assertive comments about the DAB (not being as described-(hence rejecting it) and also postulating the aircon problem may be related the DAB cabling snagging on it, he they agreed to remove the dab upgrade free of charge and surprise, the aircon sorted itself out. 

 

So the answer was ... YES - Ford DID break/incapacitate my air-con when they fitted the DAB

 

...but because of this forum and a chat with some folks who know what they are talking about, not only was the fault remedied for free, the dealer also refunded the DAB parts and labour cost and apologised.  I'm left wondering now whether this whole saga started by accident of design? In the meantime I opened the bonnet they day after it was returned to find the engine cover missing - after a brief call to the dealer they promised to give me a new one and fit it gratis.  I do wonder....

[gregers]

back street MAIN dealer eh.

 

glad its sorted.