Ford Galaxy 2007MY - How long to get home!!

[Double_Agent]

Does anyone have one of these (new Shape).

Mine decided to die on me on the Motorway last night.

Engine Malfunction. Completely dead in my terms.

Anyone have one of these or had experience of what has happenned to it. Its in the garage now but just wondering how long I may have to wait to get it back.

The story starts just after leaving work. Towed off of Motorway to nearest service station. Thats all the guy was allowed to do according to the instructions. An hour wait saw a mechanic come out and say "Yep its broke and we cant do anything for you as its under Warranty but I will stick the computer on to check the Fault Codes." Great thanks. He looks on the computer for the port to plug in and pulls the coin slot which is where it is. It has never been used so slightly stiff. Heavey handedly he decides to give a tug and he pulls it off clean into his hand then claims to me "has this always been broke" I could have shouted at this point but thought I would keep calm and ask how long for a pickup to get home.

Off to his truck he goes and comes back a few minutes later. About 3 hours as your not an emergency now as your off the motorway and I have to go as I have another call waiting. I seriously could have killed him at this point.

16:40 the initial breakdown - finally got home at 22:15. Knightmare.

 

[mattyh]

Thats horrible How old is it? Not very if it's a 2007?

 

[Double_Agent]

Bought at the end of May. Needed a big car for the twins and everything that goes in it.... The hire car they had for me was going to be a 3 door Micra. I told the hire company about the situation who have ended up giving me a VW Passat (which is better sizewise) for a tenner till after the weekend payable by myself.

 

[mattyh]

If it were me, depending on what's wrong with the car I'd be considering rejecting it under the Sale of Goods act and asking for a new one, at their cost. I'd certainly not be paying for a hire car thats the same as what you've got!

Have Ford said whats wrong with it, or how long it's going to take to repair?

 

[Yv]

Bad luck mate. The problem with modern cars is that everything is computer controlled and one simple malfunction can cause everything to shut down. It could be something as simple as a faulty sensor giving a wrong reading and telling the main computer not to run the engine, or something much more complicated....electronics eh.... bring back rotor arms and dizzy caps I say!! :bonk:


edit: Marky, thats a bit harsh, give them a chance to see what the issue is first - its why they have a warranty, even the best built machines are still machines, and can have faults.

 

[mattyh]

edit: Marky, thats a bit harsh, give them a chance to see what the issue is first - its why they have a warranty, even the best built machines are still machines, and can have faults.

Who's marky

I did say considering. It does depend on what's wrong with it

If it was making me feel unsafe, I'd reject it without a second thought.

Hmmm, what I've written above sounds a bit "harsh" but it's not meant to be

 

[Double_Agent]

Have Ford said whats wrong with it, or how long it's going to take to repair?

Not yet. They are fully booked today so cant get it on the ramps. Tomorrow hopefully they will give a better idea if they can get it on the ramps.

 

[Yv]

:embarrassed: sorry

 

[mattyh]

I'll let you off, but only cos you've been to my home town and taken some good shots (Harwich)

Not yet. They are fully booked today so cant get it on the ramps. Tomorrow hopefully they will give a better idea if they can get it on the ramps.

Cheeky sods. I'd have demanded being pushed to the front of the queue

it appears I'm a bit of a nightmare when things go wrong

 

[Yv]

I'll let you off, but only cos you've been to my home town and taken some good shots (Harwich)



Cheeky sods. I'd have demanded being pushed to the front of the queue

it appears I'm a bit of a nightmare when things go wrong

Dont come into MY garage then.... that sort of reactions gets you pushed MUCH further back down the queue

Seriously, we do get customers demanding being seen first - the usual response is 'if you were one of those customers in front of you, would you appreciate your car being delayed because a breakdown has come in?'

Mind you, I do LOVE the terminology 'on the ramps' - what they mean is 'mechanics are already fully occupied', becuase sticking a car on a diagnostic machine does not require a car to be lifted. [and trust me, we have had ALL ramps tied up, and my mechs have repaired cars WITHOUT a ramp...

 

[natjag]

Who was the breakdown provider. Thats also terrible that it took so long to get you home.

 

[Double_Agent]

Who was the breakdown provider. Thats also terrible that it took so long to get you home.

Ford Assistance using AA service. Originally only authorised to make safe - in other words not make a hazard for other drivers. The rest was just total pants and I spoke to the garage about this this morning. They had not heard of that before but apparently Ford only pay for the service when it is needed so they bill for the usage and therefore need special approvals from mechanics before getting a tow home etc.

Service was certainly appalling I thought last night and in the light of day I am still of the opinion that it was appalling.

 

[Double_Agent]

Ladylens, do you work for an independant garage or a Brand?

 

[Yv]

Ladylens, do you work for an independant garage or a Brand?

depends on your definition of 'work for' - we [my other half mainly, I am a 'jnr' partner if you like], own an independent franchised service centre - which in simple terms means that we own the business, the 'Brand' lay down the laws :bonk: ALL the responsibility of self employment, with all the hassle of having bosses.... and NO, its not Ford!

 

[minky_monkey]

I do work as a subcontractor for the AA. What you describe is quite normal. As a breakdown on the motorway, they ask for a recovery vehicle to tow you off to a safe location i.e. Next available junction or services. As patrols are not allowed on vehicles on the side of the road as a general rule of thumb.

Then a patrol comes out as has a look. What we tend to do is have a quick look even as a recovery driver. We`ve got a pretty good idea of what is, or isn`t a roadside fix. If we don`t think you`ll be on your way, what`s the point in patrolling the job? We might as well get you home.

Sometimes they`re adamant that it has to be patrolled, so we leave. When the patrol can`t fix it, they ask us to go out again and tow it to it`s final destination.

 

[minky_monkey]

Mind you, three hour ETA`s for the second recovery is pushing it abit.....

 

[digitalfailure]

The AA patrol should have removed the vehicle from the hazardous location, attempted a roadside fix and then organised a recovery to a dealership.

It's nothing to do with what Ford will pay for, the AA claim to fix more roadside breakdowns than they recover.

Re the fault, If it says Engine malfuction it'll be an engine management fault.
Did he manage to actually get the codes from the fault memory?

They should have also arranged for a hire vehicle for the first 24 hours on car line vehicles within the first 12 months of their life*

After that, the dealer can approach FMC via the customer relationship center and request further hire if the car can not be fixed due to a part supply,technical issue.

Awaiting labour is sadly not a reason for hire and alternative transport should be provided by the dealer where appropriate.

* Ford Protect Classic plans offer 12 months Ford assist, premium plans are upgradeable at cost to the customer.

 

[minky_monkey]

It`s definitely getting more difficult to repair them on the side of the road, just purely from a parts point of view, I certainly don`t equip my vans with £1000`s worth of parts that may or may not get used! I know they claim to repair 90% but even on our AA audits, the area manager accepts that they can`t argue with our repair rate these days because it`s just not possible to fix them.

The patrols I know carry renault coil packs as a matter of course, as they`re always going up the wall.

Gone are the days with the basics, we used to fix pretty much anything, barring a major mechanical failure. A dozen sets of points, condensors etc in the service vans covered 85% of what was on the road.

I reckon within ten years, it`ll be a lift and tow service. Unless it`s out of petrol, flat battery or tyre everything will end up being recovered.

Cynical? Yup.......

 

[Yv]

It`s definitely getting more difficult to repair them on the side of the road, just purely from a parts point of view, I certainly don`t equip my vans with £1000`s worth of parts that may or may not get used! I know they claim to repair 90% but even on our AA audits, the area manager accepts that they can`t argue with our repair rate these days because it`s just not possible to fix them.

The patrols I know carry renault coil packs as a matter of course, as they`re always going up the wall.

Gone are the days with the basics, we used to fix pretty much anything, barring a major mechanical failure. A dozen sets of points, condensors etc in the service vans covered 85% of what was on the road.

I reckon within ten years, it`ll be a lift and tow service. Unless it`s out of petrol, flat battery or tyre everything will end up being recovered.

Cynical? Yup.......

But Accurate...

 

[digitalfailure]

I'd agree with a lot of that Minky

But AA patrols can and indeed do go to dealership parts counters and request parts to enable a roadside fix.

I was talking to an AA patrol last week, who had traveled to a parts dealership after diagnosing a fault in order to get a power steering pipe. He returned and fitted it.

FMC published labor time the replacement of the pipe was 1.3 hours. So fair play to them.....they do try to help.

 

[Richard1234]

And to "TOP" it all Mike as well as the Ford breaking down you missed a good "Macro" practical night at the club last night.

Don't tell anyone but I held and used a NIKON last night!! :bonk:

Have to confess, almost quite liked the feel of it but dont tell anyone :nono:

Sorry to hear about the car mate, If I can be of any assistance then just holler....

 

[minky_monkey]

I'd agree with a lot of that Minky

But AA patrols can and indeed do go to dealership parts counters and request parts to enable a roadside fix.

I was talking to an AA patrol last week, who had traveled to a parts dealership after diagnosing a fault in order to get a power steering pipe. He returned and fitted it.

FMC published labor time the replacement of the pipe was 1.3 hours. So fair play to them.....they do try to help.

That`s probably the difference between a patrol and a contractor. The member gets an allowed roadside time of an hour within the call out rate. And that includes going and getting parts. So once that`s taken out, there`s actually less than an hour roadside. I don`t know of a single garage that would spend that amount of time on a job for £36.

 

[whitewash]

whats the deal with the handbrake lever on the new galaxys and Smax's how are you supposed to make a turn 'on the bar' with that piece of junky pull up crap!



i got sick of RAC patrols (how come whenever you break down you always see 9zillion yellow AA vans and never a single orange RAC one!) i had a massive arguement with an RAC man who attempted to jack my mini up under the front floor pan (a big no no if you understand how quickly a mini rusts and where you should jack a car up -on a solid part of the car!) incompetant pratt got told!

ive always considered the RAC as simply a "take me and my car home service" i dont expect them to be able to fix it, especially if i cant! sometimes they dont understand when you tell them exactly whats gone wrong, they insist on having a look which is what happened with mr incompetant "ive worked on the patrols for 30 years and ive never known not to jack a car up on its floorpan...."


hope you get your car sorted soon, lets hope the ford dealership you get booked into are a damnsight less **** than my local one! (i have no confidence in them and thus ive quite happily forgone the remaining warranty and got my car serviced elsewhere at a garage i know will do a good job

 

[whitewash]

Heavey handedly he decides to give a tug and he pulls it off clean into his hand then claims to me "has this always been broke" I could have shouted at this point but thought I would keep calm and ask how long for a pickup to get home.

he wasnt called mario was he? ( a lad who got sacked from my work went on to become an AA patrol and he was the least competant person ive ever seen, i feel sorry for anyone who has to be picked up by him, especially if he starts talking to them):bonk: