A B.C. woman who owns a Ford vehicle says she’s relieved she can put her car issues behind her, after the dealership and Ford Canada agreed to replace her SUV.
“I actually almost cried with relief, I have to be honest. It’s been a weight off my shoulders,” said Sarah Timmins.
In 2018, the Trail, B.C. resident bought a new 2018 Ford Escape Titanium SUV.
A year later on Sept. 24, 2019, however, the vehicle, with only 14,000 kilometers on the odometer, broke down and ended up in the repair shop at the Ford dealership where Timmins had purchased it.
The SUV has been under repair for 17 weeks.
The dealership gave Timmins a loaner vehicle and eventually a rental, but Timmins says she had little cooperation from the dealership and Ford Canada.
She was also making payments towards a vehicle she hadn’t driven in months.
“I just wasn’t hearing from anybody and then nobody would talk to me.”
Timmins reached out to Consumer Matters for help.
After Global BC shared her story, Timmins says she got a phone call from Ford Canada the next day, telling her the automaker would replace her vehicle with a new one — the same year and model, and worth slightly more.
Her financing would stay the same.
Ford is also compensating her for two payments moving forward.
“If it wasn’t for you and Global News I would still be fighting,” said Timmins.
“This is why we need a ‘lemon law.’”
A.M. Ford in Trail, who sold Timmins her original vehicle, says that while the dealership still doesn’t know what’s wrong with Timmins’ SUV, her case is rare.
The dealership also says it’s been in contact with Ford Canada about Timmins’ vehicle ever since it landed in the repair shop four months ago.
“Ourselves and Ford Motor Company still don’t know. They are sending out a specialist. We sold a thousand Escapes and nothing like this has ever happened before,” said Dan Ashman, owner of A.M. Ford Sales.
“All of these vehicles have anywhere from 45 to 55 processors and usually it’s a processor issue, that maybe they are not talking to each other and it just takes additional diagnostic time to get to the bottom of it.”
When asked by Consumer Matters why A.M. Ford didn’t replace Timmins’ vehicle sooner, considering the replacement vehicle was already sitting in the car lot, Ashman says it wasn’t his call.
“We sell and repair them. Ford Motor Company has to authorize us to do it,” said Ashman.
Ashman says a Ford specialist is expected to arrive at the Trail dealership in the next week, but could not give an exact date.
As for Sarah Timmins, she’s named her new vehicle ‘Hope’.
“Really, what it means is I hope that she works,” said Timmins. “I hope it runs.”
Consumer Matters did reach out to Ford Canada for comment, but did not receive a response.