Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  02/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  So I went and bought a 2016 **** focus RS from frontier Ford ********* ********** they gave me $20,967 for a trade-in thats what I owed for my original car when I went in the **** focus RS was $30,000. They charged me an additional $$7744 on top of the 30 that it was advertised for. I called and asked why today when I realized after nine months when I try to refinance they said because I had negative equity and I said but you gave me what my car was worth $20,967 is what I owe on it and they said yeah but to offset it we increased the price of the vehicle well I was never told or discussed about this. I thought I was paying $30,000 for this vehicle and instead I was paying $37,744 for this vehicle. If I wouldve known I wouldve told them never mind because $7744 is a big difference. They told me afterwards that is not their problem. I signed documentation and I can just f*** off. Im very upset about it. I contacted **** corporate directly already. And theyre looking into it its not a good way to do business and I know Im not the first person whos had issues with them when I first bought the car. It had a blown motor in it and they knew about it because the sales guy owe they didnt fix it before you picked it up, so I spent four months without a car. It was covered by warranty, but still overall experience is horrible and the ripping people off.

  Business response

  03/06/2024

  ************ traded a 2015 Focus that had a payoff of over $20,000 and knew it was not worth anywhere near that. He also was presented the true value of $10,000 after he drove the vehicle. He agreed to all of the pricing and we did show him full payoff for his trade. The real reason he is having a hard time refinancing his vehicle is because he rolled negative equity over and the only had $800 down. Several documents are signed with the pricing and figures that was agreed on. As for the phone call that was made to Frontier Ford, ************ was extremely rude on the phone demanding that we fix his problem and was never told to F- off. My sales manager did tell him exactly what happened in all honesty and he continued to swear and make demands. If ************ would like to speak with me directly I can be reached at ************

• Initial Complaint

  02/20/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Frontier Ford installed a rebuilt transmission in my truck that included a 3year unlimited mileage warranty good at ******** dealer. Well within the warranty period the transmission failed while I was out of state. A visit to a different **** dealer diagnosed the problem but refused to complete the repair due to genuine **** parts being on back order, despite parts being readily available on line and at a local autoparts store. Then they charged me $221.00 for the diagnostic fee despite the transmission failing while under warranty at ******** dealer. Upon returning to Frontier Ford I was told the same thing, we can't help you, there's nothing we can do due to the part being unavailable directly from ****. I was forced to turn to an independent repair shop, who had the part in stock, and was able to repair the transmission in a couple hours, and which cost me $1030.00 out of pocket. In addition, I was told several times by both dealers that they couldn't refer me to an independent repair shop, it was against **** policy, yet the shop I had do the repair told me they have in the past done warranty work for ****. RCW 19.118.010 states that "...must maintain sufficient repair facilities...to carry out terms of the warranties... or designate an independent service or repair facility to carry out the terms of the warranties" which **** repeatedly refused to do. To date, the warranty is still in effect and I'm out of pocket $1300.00.

  Business response

  03/06/2024

  ************ had called into Frontier Ford expressing his concern he had while traveling in ******.
  ************ had scheduled a appointment with a **** Store in ****** to have his transmission looked at for a concern he was having and the transmission was still covered under his SPW (service part warranty) through ****. The dealership in ****** had found the cause on the customers concern to be the molded lead frame which is part of the transmission. The Dealership in ****** also informed Mr. **** that that part is no longer made by **** and that they could not process his claim and charged him for the diagnostics at that time.
  ************ had then reached out to Frontier Ford by phone from his location in ****** to check availability of part needed and confirmed that the part needed is in fact obsolete from ****. ************ was then informed by the Service Manager at Frontier Ford that we can escalate to the next available part under warranty that would contain the part needed to repair his vehicle which in this case would be the entire transmission. **** Motor Company currently has the transmission on a back order with no eta per Frontier Ford Parts Manager and customer was on a time constraint to go in his next trip. ************ was advised to reach out to **** Motor Company directly by their 800 number to help with an immediate resolution and he claimed he had several times and they will no longer communicate with him via phone and hang-up on him.

  At this time we are working with **** to get him a him a reimbursement. We are delicately working with him on this matter.

  Customer response

  03/06/2024

   
  Complaint: 21320101
  
  I am rejecting this response because:   I have not received any reimbursement nor any indication that I will. All I can do at this point is continue to wait and hope despite the fact that this repair clearly should have been done under warranty at no cost to me.  That warranty is still in effect today and yet I had to pay cash out of my pocket to have the transmission repaired. Whats the point of having a warranty? 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business response

  03/13/2024

  At this time we have already offered all the solutions that Frontier Ford is willing to do at this point. **** corporate will ********** from here. The appropriate steps have been taking by Frontier Ford. We did nothing wrong and Mr. has been in contact with our service team and with ****. If he would like anymore help he should reach out to them directly. It is not a Frontier Ford issues we don't pay any warranty claims and we  have been trying to help now for several weeks. This a matter between **** warranty and ************** and not Frontier Ford.

  Customer response

  03/13/2024

   
  Complaint: 21320101
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Frontier Ford took my money and installed a transmission with a three year warranty. When it failed, they refused to honor the warranty and refused to install the required part despite it being readily available in numerous places. They also refused to refer me to an independent repair facility despite **************** law RCW 19.118.010 stating, must maintain sufficient repair facilities or designate an independent service or repair facility to carry out the terms of the warranty. Frontier Ford told me that they would not do that, which then required me to have the repair made at an independent repair facility and requiring me to pay out of pocket. By refusing to refer me to an independent repair facility as required by law and under the terms of the still active warranty, I would not have had to pay for the repair out of my pocket. Frontier Ford, not **** corporate, violated the law and refused to provide any assistance. This is unfair and illegal.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business response

  03/25/2024

  ****************** complaint should ****************** and not Frontier Ford. ****************** is responsible for the warranty claim. After **** told him no we decided to step in and try to get him reimbursed. 

  Customer response

  04/09/2024

  This case has not been resolved. Frontier Fords refusal to refer me to an independent transmission shop as required by Washington state consumer protection statute RCW 19.118.010 required me to pay out of pocket to repair the transmission despite the warranty still being in effect. Their refusal to provide me with the referral prior to the repair has caused ****************** to reject my claim for reimbursement. Had they complied with the law, I would not have had to pay for a repair that should have been covered under the warranty.  I feel its Frontier Ford that now owes me reimbursement, but they refuse to do so. They clearly violated the law.  

  Customer response

  06/12/2024

  The complaint has been resolved  

• Initial Complaint

  11/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On April 23, 2022, I traded in my 2018 ************************* Hybrid at Frontier Ford in *********, ** for a 2020 ************************ AWD. I have loved it so far with no issues. I was told the factory warranty is active, and it was made in ****** from a CarFax at the date of purchase.******* offers BlueLink for their vehicles which allows control via an app on a phone. I tried this but was unable because my ******* is ********. I took my vehicle to get serviced at a ****************** dealership. They told me that ******* ****** and ******* *** are separate entities, and they could not help. They also mentioned it made sense my vehicle was ******** because they were unable to locate my vehicle by VIN in their system. I was advised to contact ******* of ******. The problems are no BlueLink, getting recall notices/repairs in *******, and all fixes under the factory warranty can only be done in ****** (no extended warranty was purchased in April. The vehicle was advertised to have the 5 year/60,000 mile factory warranty and could be fixed in *******).After contacting a ******* dealership in ******, a staff member confirmed all recall fixes, mechanical work that falls under the factory warranty, and most software updates would have to be completed in ******. This was also confirmed by the ******* dealership in Burlington (this was 11/10/2022).When I notified ***** their response was that I signed a CarFax stating the vehicle came from ******. It was not disclosed to me all maintenance for factory warranty, recall, and software updates would have to be done in ******, or the factory warranty was ********. The General Manager of **** did state that he and the sales staff were unaware of this information.Frontier Ford's best offer was only trading in the vehicle for one on the lot with $10,000 in equity ($20,000 was put to the Palisade in April) going towards the new vehicle and not willing to buy the vehicle back for what was paid back in April.

  Business response

  12/05/2022

  Dear Better Business Bureau
  
  December 5, 2022
  
  My name is ************************* I am the General Manager of Frontier Ford in *********, **.
  I am writing you in response to file#: ******** *********************. I did read the complaint that was made against Frontier ford and do understand her frustration. I have spent several hours on multiple days trying to resolve this situation personally. After speaking with ******, we did find out that the warranty was only good in ****** which is only 40 miles from our location.  The day of purchase ************* did in fact sign a buyers guide that states it comes with a 3-month 3,000-mile warranty and whatever factory warranty is remaining if any. Every used vehicle sold at frontier ford also has copy of the Carfax showing the entire history of the vehicle which is signed and kept in the deal jacket. ************ states that we advertised the Palisade having a 5/60,000-mile warranty. After looking at the advertisement I do not see anywhere it was listed having been said. We have over 200 preowned vehicles at we purposely do not advertise being under factory warranty since each warranty is different for each manufacture. Frontier Ford has no reason to deceive any customer into purchasing a vehicle that we know has no warranty or cannot be worked on in *****************. After speaking with several ******* dealers (general managers, service managers, and owners)not one person even knew that it was not transferable in ***************** from ******. The Palisade can be worked on here in ***************** as this has been verify by multiple ******* dealers across *****************.
  On Saturday November 19, 2022, I spend approximately 5 hours with the Saias trying to resolve the issue and I offered to trade the vehicle in on anything we have her on the lot. Second option I will find a palisade for them that was built in the us. Third option was I would split the cost of an extended warranty with them. We are here to help with all of there needs and are willing to offer them the same first two options or we will give them an extended service agreement that can be used anywhere in *****************

  
  ************* also mentioned recalls on the vehicle being performed. If there is an active recall on the vehicle that is recognized in the Unites States it can be performed at a local ******* dealer. If it is a ******** recall, it has be done in ******. As of today,the vehicle we are speaking of has no open and active recalls is what I have been told from *******.
  To address the purchase,trade in and interest rates from when the purchase was made versus today. We all know that the interest rates have went up quite a bit since then and the value of vehicles was much higher back then versus now. The numbers would have still worked out the same way except for the interest rate that we have no control over.I was willing to pay way more money than the vehicle is worth today then any other dealer would. If we purchased the same vehicle today that we sold in April in would be a few bucks less and the trade would also have had less equity.
  
  
  Thank you,
  *************************
  General manager
  Frontier ford

  Customer response

  12/09/2022

  Case number ******** has been resolved. Thank you for your time. 
  
  Sincerely,
  *********************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩