When you buy a new car, you expect it to be reliable, not in the repair shop every month.
But that is just what is happening to one Calgary car owner.
Mike Fancy has driven his 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid for a year-and-a-half, and says it’s nothing but trouble.
The car keeps dying, and has gone back to the dealer nine times to repair power and electronic problems.
The battery alone has been replaced four times.
“This car is 17 months old, it just turned 19,000 kilometres,” said Fancy.
“It’s been in the shop 117 days.”
According to Fancy, something is draining the power, but two different dealers cannot find the problem.
He said Ford will not issue a recall or take the car back.
”If I had known this when I bought it, I wouldn’t have bought it,” said Fancy.
Similar complaints pop up when you search Google.
It is well-documented by internal Ford bulletins, according to Lemon-Aid Car Guide Phil Edmonston.
“He definitely has a solid case. The problem is, if Ford admits that their engineers are investigating, and they don’t have an answer to his problem yet.”
Edmonston recommended taking Ford to small claims court to force a settlement, but not everyone has the time or patience.
Another option is the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan.
It’s a free program to resolve disputes between car owners and manufacturers, and the decisions are binding.
“If they’ve given the dealer, they’ve given the manufacturer an opportunity to resolve the issues and simply they haven’t been able to do it, then that vehicle is most likely involved for CAMVAP,” said Stephen Moody with the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan (CAMVAP).
In 2013, there were 46 cases in Alberta.
Car makers were ordered to buy back 17 vehicles, pay for repairs or expenses on 19, and in 10 cases the manufacturer had no liability.
Fancy says he needs someone to fight for him and he has already filled out his CAMVAP application.
Ford Canada has not responded to our repeated requests for comment.
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