[DarrenB]

Hi,
Am sorry for this post and it a bit of a rant but thought people shouldknow my experience of Kuga ownership up until now.



Picked up my Kuga on Saturday. Loved the car until with 85 miles on the clock it showed a "Steering Malfunction" error and a red warning light on the dash. Tried to start it and it failed so Ford assist recovered me to the nearest dealer.



Nearest dealer now tell me they can not look at it for 5-7 days atthe least due to their current workload.



So I am without a Kuga for up to a week excluding repair time.



Ford Customer service were shocking - saying Dealer should deal withit- they can give me a courtesy car for 2 days but require me to take time off work to go and collect it - plus I need to put down £500 as a deposit and they have helped me in getting my car to a dealer in the first place.



Spoke to the dealer I purchased it from and he is in similar position and cant get it looked at for similar time period but would try to get the Kuga to him for him to repair. He was good enough to offer me his company car until it was fixed but again - I needed to travel to him to collect it.



As for getting the Kuga to him - Ford Assist refused to move the car any further so it is stuck at the dealer and it is at the mercy of them, if and when it gets fixed.



So basically I am left with no Kuga for at least 7 days, A dealer who says they cant do anything, another dealerwho offers no customer service and says I have to wait the 5-7 days and Ford Customer Services saying all they can do is offer me a car for 2 days and apologise.



Do you think I am being over the top in expecting my brand new car with 85 miles on the clock be seen sooner than 7 days excluding repair time?



Anybody got any ideas on how I can escalate this and get it sorted - does anybody have some senior contacts within Ford Customer Services?



Rant over.



Thanks



Darren

 

[don clarke]

I tend to agree with you, repairs on a new car should get priority.


when I was in buisiness paid customers always had same or next day service acording to time of day the call came in.

 

[gareth turbo]

so much for the pre pick up checks.

can you go any higher ? - no wonder you are peed off

regards mark

 

[kuga user]

hi there darren.....i understand exactly what you are going through... i came away from audi to give ford another try as i always used to have fords.....but guess what if you everget a problem there is no customer service....audi would always give you a car at no cost for the full thre yeras of the warranty ford tries to charge for everything.....try telling them that after such a short time on the road the car is not fit for purpose...if not try the the society of motor manufacturers and traders...this is a governing body for all manufacturers...this is the number...08707518270 e-mail address [email protected] or you could also inform www.which.co.uk and follow links to contact them....any bad publicity for any manufacturer at this time should shock them into some sort of response

 

[rich_y2]

In the defence of Ford, you are paying a lot less for the Kuga than the entry level suv they sell so you have to expect less back up etc from the dealer network, they don't have the margins and funding to work with... that said there is no excuse for shoddy customer service where people commit to responding and don't. But things like free courtesy cars are a thing of the past for low margin high volume sellers, but you can fund a lot of hire cars for the thousands of £ difference to a more premium brand.


Hope you get it sorted though, I picked mine up on Monday and so far so good. But it's the dealer you have to work with if you want a new car, they sold you this one not Ford.

 

[Raymondo111]

DarrenB,


Sorry to hear about your bad experience, if I was in the same position as you heads would roll....



To escalate the problem you need to try and get hold of Andy Barratt who I believe is the Customer Service Director based in Warley, Brentwood, if I was in work I would get you his number and email address but I have just read this post.



Raymondo111

 

[BigG]

Oh Darren


Sorry too hear about the car troubles,after 85 miles on the clock to have something go wrong like that is just terrible and it is worrying me slightly as i am picking mine up on 3rd April and have to drive it back to my home which is around 80 miles so i am hoping i don't conk out on the motorway.



I hope they sort it soon for you. I think this is a subject i'm going to raise on the phone to the dealership before i go to collect it.



Fingers crossed all round



Graham

 

[mouse1277]

In the defence of Ford, you are paying a lot less for the Kuga than the entry level suv they sell so you have to expect less back up etc from the dealer network, they don't have the margins and funding to work with

Bullsh*t!

Sorry for my language but there aren't any excuses for behaviour like this. I would be pissed up too. @rich_y2: nothing personal, it just slipped out

.

 

[nightflame]

I had a test drive booked in a Kuga today. Dealer just rang me to tell me that he has to cancel because the demo car has broken down. Engine Management light has come on and the car will not start.

With the 4% price rise next week it puts at the same price as the VW Tiguan. I might have a look at that instead. But I do prefer the looks of the Kuga.

 

[Raptor]

Hi, to put things into perspective I have had my Kuga since June, bought as seen in the dealers showroomand have done over 15k miles and even tow a Caraven with her.


Yes I had to wait to take delivery due to the DPF retrofit (Ford Customer Services were very helpful, kept me up to date with the progress and even prioritised me getting the retrofit with the dealer because I had been polite to them.



Next issue was needing the Roof Rails but due to it just being launched there were none in the country. Again Customer Services (same supervisor) kept me up to date with the progress and prioritised me again.



Since then, the only issue I have had is the fact that I am unhappy with the carpet issues (wearing under the clutch and pulling out from the side plastic bit at the passenger door).



Reliability wise I have had no issues at all the the 15k miles.



Compared to a colleague who got is Audi A3 company car at the same time as me, he has had his car back to the dealers every other week with engine management problems. It was last in for two weeks where they changed almost everything and he got it back yesterday.



It is just the luck of the draw (other colleagues with Merc's have had no end of trouble, especially with turbo's and brakes).

 

[quatroxquatro]

I'm with Raptor here. I took delivery in July. 16K km and not a single mechanical issue.


Hope you get yours sorted soon.

 

[mouse1277]

[/KNOCK ON WOOD MODE ON]
Done 8k km now in 2 months and not a single technical issue!
[/KNOCK ON WOOD MODE OUT]

 

[kuga user]

as i stated before.....its not the kuga at fault, but when you do have just a slight problem or unusual question the customer service is not there.....and then to say that the margins are not there to fund warranty cars is crazy....as i know exactly what the margins the dealers were making on everying thing that i had i my kuga, which i took delivery of in june last year......and there make alot of money.....but it is up to every individual to make up there own minds and i certainly wont be buying another ford anytime soon....sorry about the rant again...haha

 

[BigG]

It doesn't matter if you spend £200 or £20,000, Ford are selling a product and customer service should be paramount if something goes wrong. It's obvious from reading other members stories over several topics that it really is down to the person that you deal with and luck certainly plays a part. We must never give up fighting for what is right......


Graham

 

[DarrenB]

Update:


Nearly a week now and no new car back nor working.



Car is still atdealership. They havent a clue what is wrong with it. All they know is that is wont start and it has a steering wheel fault on the instrumentpanel.They have tested all the simple stuff (live feeds etc) but it nothing obvious and to be honest they haven't a clue what is wrong with it. They are now putting it on for a full upgraded diagnostic test (again) to see what comes from that.



Dealership have been good- they paid for it to be transported to them from the dealership it was recovered to (Ford Assist washed their hands of this). They have also offered me a Kuga as a short term replacement but now the car has been "passed" to the service department and the sales department seem to be washing their hands of it now too! And the service department have placed me a queue and I have to wait!



I am now escalating this to the highest level I can find. Thanks for all the messages with contact details on, I will be using them today.



I will give it another couple of days and see what I get back from contacting some senior people at Ford, but at this rate I will reject the car as not fit for purpose and move on to something else. It will be a shame as I love the Kuga but think after this episode I just dont want to have anything to do with Ford.



I dont think I am being unreasonable (correct me if I am wrong!) in thinking that is unbelievable for a new car!



For all of you enjoying your Kuga - I am extremely jealous.

 

[BigG]

Anymore news yet Darren? Surely they must have sorted it by now!!

 

[DarrenB]

I receiveda call earlier today andthey have sorted the car but are keeping it till Saturday to perform further tests to make sure that this was the problem. The problem was with the sensor that detects the key (it is in the boot apparantly)and the immobiliser. Because of the key sensor, the immobiliser wasthinking there was a problem - the car thought it was being stolen so shut down and the "steering wheel malfunction" indicated on the dash was because the electronic steering lock had failed shut due to the immobiliser.
The dealer was unable to identifyandcorrect the fault so I had to wait for Ford Technical to come out to the car. They have sorted the problem I hope and it should all be sorted.



Ford Customer Services finally got back to me and the sales manager at the dealerhas also complained to Ford - it seems as a point of goodwill I will recieve a "gesture" from Ford for the delay in fixing my Kuga.



Hopefully this is now all sorted and I can finally enjoy the car.

 

[championkuga]

Fingers crossed for you Darren. It is such a shame that your first experiences of your Kuga have been tarnished. It is really great car and you should be enjoying it, not seething. Hopefully this won't but you off it long term.

 

[gareth turbo]

keep us posted good luck

regards mark