I visited Bell Ford to purchase a used 2017 Expedition that was advertised for sale at their dealership. The vehicle had high milage (148000 miles) but looked almost brand-new despite being dirty. With that many miles on the vehicle I requested that it be put on a lift so I could inspect the under carriage for apparent leaking seals. The expedition is equipped with a front skid plate that protects the oil pan and front-end components. I used a flash light and peered into the access hole in the skid plate. I discovered what looked like an excessive amount of some kind of fluid within the confines of the skid plate and was told by the mechanic that it was most likely "seepage". Even though it was not dripping any fluids on to the ground I told my sale advisor that I wasn't comfortable with the milage and the fact that I saw what I thought could be a leak, I walked away.The next day the sales advisor called and offer to lower the price of the vehicle and pointed out that I could purchase an extended warranty that would cover any leaks at a reasonable price.Considering that it wasn't leaking any fluid onto the ground and the price was lowered I decided to purchase the vehicle and extended warranty. I was told by the Finance person that the warranty would cover everything that could cause a leak if I opted to buy the additional seal warranty. A couple of weeks later I received the booklet for the warranty contract in the mail. Concerned that the seals were not covered I called the dealership and talked to the Manager who researched it and reassured me that the seal coverage was in place. He also informed me that the Finance person had been terminated for telling customers untruths. Less than a month after that conversation I found a large puddle of fluid under the vehicle. No problem I thought, I have an extended warranty that covers anything that could cause a leak. So, I called the service department and made an appointment to have it diagnosed. They were very cordial, arranged for transportation to the rental car company and told me it would take one to two days to diagnose but not to worry because the extended warranty covers rental car fees. I called after two days and they had not yet looked at the vehicle and on the third day after I had called several times to get an up-date I was told that the water pump was bad and the turbo charger seals were leaking. No problem I thought, I purchased the additional seal warranty for such an occurrence. The service advisor told me he would contact the warranty company and get the process started. Several hours later he called me back to inform me that the warranty did not cover the “causal part” and would only pay for the water pump replacement and two days of car rental and that I would be responsible for $1685 for the repair. I authorized the work and was told It should be ready on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon I called to see what time I could pick up the vehicle and was told it wouldn’t be ready until the end of the day Wednesday. When I called Wednesday, I was told it still wasn’t ready but would be ready Thursday. I spoke to the acting service manager and explained to him that I was now in a rental car for eight days for a repair that was to take two days. He apologized and said the car would be ready Thursday and would have the General Manager contact me. The General Manager did call, but only to tell me that they would do nothing to help me, no discount on parts, no help with the rental fees (that now totaled almost $400) no attempt to get the warranty company to help. The dealer should have made some attempt to help seeing that the warranty was misrepresented by an employee that they fired for that reason. This dealer is disreputable.
