The Ford F-150 pickup truck is one of the hottest-selling vehicles in Canada.
But Jessica Maguire Pearson of Kitchener, Ont., can’t drive her late-model F-150 because she needs a replacement rear axle.
In fact, she hasn’t been able to drive the truck for about three months because parts aren’t available.
“We are without a car. We have a busy family, we’re making payments on a car we can’t drive and we still have to wait,” said Maguire Pearson.
The F-150 she owns with her husband was originally damaged in a motor vehicle accident. After the repair, the F-150 could no longer be driven because the rear axle needed replacement.
This was no big deal, it seemed at the time. Maguire Pearson expected parts for the 2016 truck should have been readily available.
Instead, months later, Maguire Pearson still can’t drive the truck because she hasn’t been able to locate replacement parts since last year.
Since then, she says, her family has been “taking cabs” and using other less reliable forms of transportation.
WATCH: Ford recall: 221,000 F-150 pickup trucks being recalled in Canada
Ford, through a local dealership and Ford of Canada, has told her that the parts are not available, Maguire Pearson said. Representatives have told her that other Ford owners are also waiting for the same part ahead of her, she said.
However, her payments on the pickup truck are still expected by the finance company, even though she can’t use her vehicle.
“I think Ford should be doing something like providing a replacement vehicle for the time being or paying for a rental vehicle. This is not the consumer’s fault in this situation,” said Marvin Ryder, a professor of marketing at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
When contacted by Global News for comment, Ford of Canada did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails.
Last year, a fire at a parts plant that manufactures components for the F-150 disrupted production of the truck.
In December, Ford issued a recall covering 800,000 vehicles because of concerns about fire.
But while there are sufficient parts to produce new Ford trucks, Maguire Pearson is wondering why she isn’t able to access parts to get her own vehicle working again.
Ryder told Global News that Ford’s reputation depends on how it handles situations like this one.
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