Lemon Law

[Black03Mach]

I recently bought a brand new 2003 mach 1, and i love it but honestly does ford not really care about the customers?
out of the factory mine has
Ticking heads
rubbing passenger seat
rattling shaker
transmission clunk
lower control arm noise
and the a/c noise

I mean come on my 95 didnt have any of those problems the day i got rid of her?

i know the shaker rattle and the passenger seat arent anything too big, but what about the transmission and the ticking heads and the suspension?
Dont get me wrong but i feel like i really got a shitty mach1, and it upsets the hell out of me!

sorry for the rant. I just expected more out of a $26k car

[Steelhorse]

I know how you feel, my 02 GT that i traded in on the Mach was poor quality also. We have a 2000 f-150 4x4 and a 02 explorer 2 dr sport 4x4 and haven't had a dimes worth of trouble with either one. For what these cars are supposed to represent ford's quality control should have been better. My father-in law retired from ford and two of my brother-in-laws still work at the hazelwood mo plant and when i hear some of the things that go on i feel glad that the da** thing even runs.

[Schaner78]

There are TSB's for those problems, which is at this thread:
http://www.mach1registry.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8375

[Baker2g]

Black03Mach you described all the exact problems I have with my car and many others on this site. Only difference is I paid MSRP for 30K a little less then a year ago
:(

All of these issues you discussed are well known and are in the Tech section in this site. Good luck and Happy Maching

[Five Oh B]

Sorry to hear that some of you are having troubles. My Mach 1 has been absolutely wonderful! It's the 4th new Mustang that I've purchased and all 4 have been very trouble free.

The passenger seat rub is the only issue I've had with the Mach 1 and it was fixed very easily on the first shot at the dealership.

According to JD Power, the average new car (any brand) has 1-2 defects from the factory. Even the best in the business (i.e. Lexus, Toyota, etc.) have about 80 problems per 100 cars.

Black03Mach, you threw in the term "lemon law" at the start of your thread. Don't be so quick to use that term as it really does not apply here. A car is not typically considered a lemon until it remains unrepaired after 3 attempts to fix the same problem (a major problem, at that!), or if a repair takes longer than 30 days to complete.

[bryano]

That you're having troubles with you car.

My Mach is my fourth new Mustang and I've also had five new Ford Trucks. None of them ever had to go back to the dealer for anything (I remember a small recall on the 95 Ranger).

I know all new cars can have trouble. I just wanted you to know it's not ALL new cars - or all Machs.

[03mach1]

Lemon Law? have you even had your car in for service of any of these? I would assume it is under warranty and ALL of those problems should be covered.....

Also, don't get the fuel injector ticking confusing with the actual lifter noise/ticking...they ALL tick a little because of the fuel injectors turning on/off when running....

The Lemon law in only if the Dealer and/or manufacturer refuses to fix the vehicle or cannot fix the same problem in 3 three attempts within a certian period of time or something like that...

More info...
http://www.nationallemonlawcenter.com/

[Black03Mach]

Originally posted by 03mach1
Lemon Law? have you even had your car in for service of any of these? I would assume it is under warranty and ALL of those problems should be covered.....

Also, don't get the fuel injector ticking confusing with the actual lifter noise/ticking...they ALL tick a little because of the fuel injectors turning on/off when running....

The Lemon law in only if the Dealer and/or manufacturer refuses to fix the vehicle or cannot fix the same problem in 3 three attempts within a certian period of time or something like that...

More info...
http://www.nationallemonlawcenter.com/

sorry i guess the lemon law title was too much, after doing some research...(thanks for the links) I am going to take it in to the dealership and with a VERY WATCHFUL eye make sure they fix the car they it should be.

[MACH1 04]

hmmm the lemon law

if you bring in you car four times for the same thing than they have to replace your vehicle with a brand new one, sounds like a sweet deal to me:COOL:

[Five Oh B]

Originally posted by MACH1 04
hmmm the lemon law

if you bring in you car four times for the same thing than they have to replace your vehicle with a brand new one, sounds like a sweet deal to me:COOL:

It's not a sweet deal and nobody really wins except the dealership (they get to sell a 2nd car to the same customer). If your car is truly unrepairable then you do win by getting it replaced, but you will not get all of your money credited toward the new car as all manufacturers pro-rate for the miles you've already driven the car to be "lemoned," so expect to pay a little out of pocket should you ever have a car bought back.

Also, it's not just any unrepairable problem that qualifies the car for a buy back - it must be a significant problem with the car.

[mach1dsg]

we are not the only ones with problems. and we paid $30000 less
is not mach related but interesting to read

check this out
http://216.118.86.224/m3forum/showthread.php?threadid=7300

and this are the services bulletins
http://216.118.86.224/m3forum/showthread.php?threadid=15679

[DSG2003Mach1]

actually the severity of the problem has nothing to do with it. In Florida anyhow (lemon law is not a national law and varies state to state Im pretty sure). Here, if they fail to correct a problem in 3 tries, you have to send a certified letter to Ford, and they must respond within 7 working days I believe it is with a certified letter, call or fax. They then get ONE additional attempt to fix the problem, if they cannot, they must purchase the vehicle back, prorated for mileage. It also takes into account being out of service for more than X number of days in a row, or X numbers of days in service over a certain period of time.

I nearly lemon lawed my explorer over the rear windshield wiper, they were able to fix it the 3rd time though.

[RogueGT]

I Lemon Lawed my 2000 Focus (16,500miles) for the fuel system. Had it towed 7 times in 40 days for different fuel system probs, Ford had no idea. They replaced everything from the fuse box, wiring, relay, pump and sender...still no efect. I suggested it was the cars computer. After the buy-back Ford had the car shipped back to the factory so the engineers could take a stab at the problem. I got a 2002 Focus out of the deal, the 2000 Focus had some equity in it so the price of the 2002 was less... but that got traded for the Mach.

[Five Oh B]

Originally posted by Magicfan25
actually the severity of the problem has nothing to do with it. In Florida anyhow (lemon law is not a national law and varies state to state Im pretty sure).

Exactly - it's different from state to state. Here in Washington it does have to be a significant problem, though, unlike Florida.

I sold new Ford's for two years (sold about 300) and only had one go lemon. It was a 2001 Escape that kept shutting off for no reason. Got her a new one that has been perfect. We did have a 2001 Cobra lemoned that pinged really bad no matter what our techs (and another dealer's techs) tried to solve it. It went back to SVT for them to tear down.

FYI, national average for Lemon Law is that 99.6% of new cars aren't, with just 0.4% of new cars going lemon.