The parts shortage bit me

One thing I did want to mention, and I don't know if you'd consider this an "un-related" event as it did occur months prior, and the condition did appear to be fixed.

The truck did not go into the Dealer in November for my complaint of Trailer Lighting Module fault, that only happened after the vehicle was in for other services and the programming to correct the heated steering wheel timeout. I'm sure vehicle programming has the potential to cause idiosyncrasies with any module in the truck.

Full disclosure -- I am not a member of the 'ever since' club with maintenance or services I pay to have performed. But I see how easily someone can say those words when situations like this occur. Ever since my truck was here for the steering wheel TSB the trailer lighting module faults.
 
Ever since my truck was here for the steering wheel TSB the trailer lighting module faults.

Did you mention that to them? I'm not part of the 'ever since' club either but correlation could be causation and could help in troubleshooting.
 
Did you mention that to them? I'm not part of the 'ever since' club either but correlation could be causation and could help in troubleshooting.
I did not, truly because I didn't want to come across as an a-hole. And since they have come to the conclusion that its the module, I don't know if any other troubleshooting would do much or warrant anything at this point.

But my hot take is -- you guys broke it, Lol!
 
I did not, truly because I didn't want to come across as an a-hole. And since they have come to the conclusion that its the module, I don't know if any other troubleshooting would do much or warrant anything at this point.

But my hot take is -- you guys broke it, Lol!
They haven't been right with any of there other conclusions, so not sure they are right now. They might be at a loss and shot gunning the part. I agree that vehicles are getting too compilated and expensive.
 
Yes, absolutely. It is a huge let down when you get a new vehicle and its concern after concern after concern.
...but most importantly it's a letdown when the "factory trained" techs can't fix it! I don't expect all vehicles to always come off the line perfect in every way but I DO expect the dealership/manufacturer to be able to fix any and all problems - no matter what it is - even if the fix to replace half the components on a new vehicle or an entirely new vehicle altogether.
 
There are OEM or "factory" schools that technicians get sent to.
But people throw that term around like it means these "factory trained" techs are the cream of the crop. I'm sure some are great but the entire dealership system allows bad techs to thrive in a way an indy shop couldn't. How? I have no relationship with any techs at any dealerships. I know some people do but I think that's rare. I know Bob at my indy shop and if Bob tried to fix something 6x and kept trying to send me home I'd be like *** Bob? Then go tell everyone in town how Bob can't fix **** and then probably tell Bob when I see him in public how much he sucks. I'm just kidding about the last part but my point is reputation means less to a tech working at the dealership than one who owns his own business and I think it shows many times.
 
But people throw that term around like it means these "factory trained" techs are the cream of the crop. I'm sure some are great but the entire dealership system allows bad techs to thrive in away an indy shop couldn't.
I'll give an example of this... while it isn't hard to learn, I figured out GM's TechLine Connect software, Tech2Win, GDS2 and SPS/SPS2 (service programming). Maybe I am dealer tech now? Lol. Just kidding.
This is what I concluded. The OP needs to find better mechanics (meaning try yet still another dealer, or something).
Yes, I can't say I'll go back here again. Plus you know what's weird. They know, and I know I didn't buy the truck from them. But I always get this... almost like... "we're doing you a favor by looking at this truck you didn't buy from us" vibe when I go in. What is someone supposed to do, like I thought it was universal Ford is Ford for warranty. Ugh.

...but most importantly it's a letdown when the "factory trained" techs can't fix it! I don't expect all vehicles to always come off the line perfect in every way but I DO expect the dealership/manufacturer to be able to fix any and all problems - no matter what it is - even if the fix to replace half the components on a new vehicle or an entirely new vehicle altogether.
Agreed. I tried to be very understanding, cause I don't want to come off brash, but man paying $60-70k for a truck and then deal with this, messed up.


Is purchasing a vehicle these days, are you just buying a greater probability of a chance at driving a vehicle?
 
Yes, I can't say I'll go back here again. Plus you know what's weird. They know, and I know I didn't buy the truck from them. But I always get this... almost like... "we're doing you a favor by looking at this truck you didn't buy from us" vibe when I go in. What is someone supposed to do, like I thought it was universal Ford is Ford for warranty. Ugh.
Yeah...because people never move or are unhappy with another dealership. I too have come across this and this is usually when I become a real **** - ****, do your job and fix the vehicle, collect your money, and if you're not a total a-hole I may even buy a vehicle from here some day.
 
I reached out to the Ford Twitter to maybe help me with some sort of expediting or Maybe another channel for assistance. They could look up my case but they can’t provide me any info. I am just trying to get my case handlers info so I can send her an email. I can never understand her on the phone, and my dealership only replies to me every few times. Hilarity ensues.
 

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Parts shortages are killing every brand. Especially for new stuff usually parts aren’t released for them for a couple years sometimes a couple months but usually a couple years. I kept mentioning a parts shortage a few months ago and before and not a lot of people believed me but now they do I’m sure as they are seeing it now too. We can’t get a lot of things at work which is why most of the vehicles here to be worked on are outside covered in snow because we don’t have parts for them. Electrical parts are one of the biggest shortages. At my dealership if we don’t have part we usually pull it off a used car or sometimes even a new car if necessary. I hate it and hope it will get better. We have tons of upset customers because of it and I hate that because I want the customer to be happy and come back for service. We are one of the largest dealers on the east coast and have many techs from each brand we sell. I feel everything is in shortage as far as cars go. We can’t hardly get tires, brake parts, spark plugs anything like that and the only two brands of cars we can keep fully stocked is Subaru and Mitsubishi no other brands. I hope the issues for your truck are fixed and properly addressed by Ford soon.
 
Parts shortages are killing every brand. Especially for new stuff usually parts aren’t released for them for a couple years sometimes a couple months but usually a couple years. I kept mentioning a parts shortage a few months ago and before and not a lot of people believed me but now they do I’m sure as they are seeing it now too. We can’t get a lot of things at work which is why most of the vehicles here to be worked on are outside covered in snow because we don’t have parts for them. Electrical parts are one of the biggest shortages. At my dealership if we don’t have part we usually pull it off a used car or sometimes even a new car if necessary. I hate it and hope it will get better. We have tons of upset customers because of it and I hate that because I want the customer to be happy and come back for service. We are one of the largest dealers on the east coast and have many techs from each brand we sell. I feel everything is in shortage as far as cars go. We can’t hardly get tires, brake parts, spark plugs anything like that and the only two brands of cars we can keep fully stocked is Subaru and Mitsubishi no other brands. I hope the issues for your truck are fixed and properly addressed by Ford soon.
Thank you. I do as well. My friend who is a mechanic has been having to use some alternative supply chains for parts, but generally has been OK with being able to get service parts for the vehicles that come into his shop.
 
If it’s problematic maybe CarMax will buy it ?

I do agree you should get better service from dealership.
 
No excuses for any of that. This kind of reminds me of your Accord that you couldn't get sorted because of a driveline vibration if I remember correctly. Even after replacing just about everything in the front end. Car looked great even the undercarriage with no rust.
 
I bet most last model vehicles on the road are one component failure away from sitting in a repair shop waiting on a specific part.

Strange times.

I heard of one guy with a new Ram truck who has been waiting months on some sensor and he tried to dump it for a new one - but he can’t even trade it in for a new one because Ram doesn’t have any new ones to sell him.

Junk yards may be the best option to strip parts. Find a big yard and look for wrecked trucks matching yours. Junk yards have saved my butt many times, not just for hard to find parts but super expensive ones from a dealer.

First or second year truck with a strange problem? Likelihood of the tech properly diagnosing it is lower than that 4th production year model that the techs have seen tons of. Oh, this weird issue is happening - saw that same issue six months ago on another truck. Or there is a TSB out on that issue. Avoid new model year vehicles like the plague. After year 2 or 3 they’ve largely seen it all.
 
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Speaking of OEM tech schools, my son went to a GM technical training school right out of high school in Pittsburgh. Right away it was obvious it was designed to teach people who had no mechanical skills going in. They had no provision to determine skill level and bump students ahead. He lasted one semester, bored to death. One Friday he called and said you'll never believe this but we just spent the whole week learning how to remove and replace an oil filter. Another time they were going to learn how to use the latest tire changing machine, trouble was none of the instructors knew how to operate it. Son had worked at the Chevy garage through high school and used this machine so he showed the instructors how to run it. It wasn't run by GM but when the students graduated they were certified GM, Ford, or Chrysler techs. He bailed and enlisted in the Air Force.
 
Speaking of OEM tech schools, my son went to a GM technical training school right out of high school in Pittsburgh. Right away it was obvious it was designed to teach people who had no mechanical skills going in. They had no provision to determine skill level and bump students ahead. He lasted one semester, bored to death. One Friday he called and said you'll never believe this but we just spent the whole week learning how to remove and replace an oil filter. Another time they were going to learn how to use the latest tire changing machine, trouble was none of the instructors knew how to operate it. Son had worked at the Chevy garage through high school and used this machine so he showed the instructors how to run it. It wasn't run by GM but when the students graduated they were certified GM, Ford, or Chrysler techs. He bailed and enlisted in the Air Force.
Wyotech was an example of such. Too bad many who graduated from there are stuck in debt and don’t work at a dealership as promised. I knew of a stoner in high school who went through Wyotech, probably works at Firestone or Big O for all I know.

Some who did well at Wyotech ended up getting a job for a public transit agency as a mechanic or starting their own mobile repair hustle.
 
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