jeffs47 Posted September 8, 2014 at 08:09 PM Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 at 08:09 PM Yesterday, I was driving along on the highway with the Cruise Control turned on. Suddenly, the cruise disengaged, and the car when into EV mode. I pressed the EV Mode button, the car started to Chime and "Stop Safely Now" came up on the screen. I pulled over. Turned the car on and off, and was able to drive away. 10 Miles later, the same thing happened again. This time, the car wouldn't start back up and had a bunch of warning messages. When I turn it on, I see "Press Brake to Start", "Steering Assist Fault" (Which I don't even have), "Service AdvanceTrac", and "Collision Warning Not Available". The best I can do is get the car into "Run Power Active" mode. Ford Roadside Assistance towed the car to the dealer. They called me this afternoon and said that there's a very small mark on the front rims showing that there was "impact damage" and that this somehow damaged a very expensive part of the steering system, which is now preventing the car from moving/starting. They said it's "Cosmetic" so the rim is fine, but they believe that this is what's causing the problem and I need to get my insurance company involved. The part that needs to be replaced is damaged, but it's damaged in such a way that the computer knows about it. My question: Does this make any sense? When the issue occurred, I was driving down the highway and there wasn't any sort of an impact. Should I let he insurance company duke it out with Ford, or is this something I should escalate to consumer affairs? It's very upsetting since I never hit anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybridbear Posted September 8, 2014 at 09:18 PM Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 at 09:18 PM Yesterday, I was driving along on the highway with the Cruise Control turned on. Suddenly, the cruise disengaged, and the car when into EV mode. I pressed the EV Mode button, the car started to Chime and "Stop Safely Now" came up on the screen. I pulled over. Turned the car on and off, and was able to drive away. 10 Miles later, the same thing happened again. This time, the car wouldn't start back up and had a bunch of warning messages. When I turn it on, I see "Press Brake to Start", "Steering Assist Fault" (Which I don't even have), "Service AdvanceTrac", and "Collision Warning Not Available". The best I can do is get the car into "Run Power Active" mode. Ford Roadside Assistance towed the car to the dealer. They called me this afternoon and said that there's a very small mark on the front rims showing that there was "impact damage" and that this somehow damaged a very expensive part of the steering system, which is now preventing the car from moving/starting. They said it's "Cosmetic" so the rim is fine, but they believe that this is what's causing the problem and I need to get my insurance company involved. The part that needs to be replaced is damaged, but it's damaged in such a way that the computer knows about it. My question: Does this make any sense? When the issue occurred, I was driving down the highway and there wasn't any sort of an impact. Should I let he insurance company duke it out with Ford, or is this something I should escalate to consumer affairs? It's very upsetting since I never hit anything. Do you have Adaptive Cruise? Lane-Keep Assist? Even if you don't have Active Park Assist the Lane-Keep Assist function means that the car can control the steering which would cause the "Steering Assist Fault" message. If you didn't hit anything is it possible that someone backed into your car while it was parked? It someone bumped you while you were parked and then you began driving it's possible that the car didn't find the fault until you were on the highway and tried to use that computer by engaging the Adaptive Cruise Control and/or the Lane-Keep Assist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug0716 Posted September 9, 2014 at 12:29 AM Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 at 12:29 AM Without seeing the damage it's hard to tell, but if a small bump to a wheel could break an expensive part it would be a pretty bad engineering problem. I would escalate it at Ford before getting your insurance involved, remember that for them to deny warranty work they have to *prove* that the damage caused the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffs47 Posted September 9, 2014 at 07:55 PM Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 at 07:55 PM (edited) I ended up calling the Service Manager and calling Ford. Ford advised me that they couldn't override the opinion of the Service Manager and my only option was to have it towed to another dealer (at my expense) for a second opinion. I next called my Insurance Company and the adjuster went out today. He advised that the "rim damage" was able to be "wiped off" leaving something like "Scuff mark" on the tire. It sounded like there was a lot of conversation between the Adjuster and the Dealer and that everyone was being pretty reasonable. He said that the dealer was going to send it to Ford Engineering to determine whether they thought the impact was hard enough. An hour or so later, the adjuster called me back, said that Ford Engineering advised the impact wasn't hard enough to break anything, and that the issue may be related to a "known issue", so it will be covered by warranty, and they'll even be providing a loaner. Seeing the photo that the dealer sent me, I see the point of the dealer and really can't blame them for doing their due diligence. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how things worked out. Edited September 9, 2014 at 08:15 PM by jeffs47 Doug0716 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blars Posted September 9, 2014 at 09:05 PM Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 at 09:05 PM I call BS on the dealerships story. Looks like a scuff mark that someone could have left with their shoe. It would sound awful fishy to me if a dealer told me that the equivalent of me kicking the tires is going to damage my vehicle to the point that it is undrivable...total BS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmullins Posted September 9, 2014 at 09:45 PM Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 at 09:45 PM +1 to "Total BS". There's no world in which a scuff mark to a tire would leave a car in an undrivable state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotLap Posted September 22, 2014 at 04:59 PM Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 at 04:59 PM Really hard to tell with that pic, but that almost looks to be a tear in your sidewall? If it is replace your tire and it would tend to indicate that it was more than a minor impact? Still, not sure how a wheel impact could/should cause a steering fault, steering system s/b more robust than that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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