Last November, I bought a used 2009 F150 STX from a dealer about 25 miles from my home. Within a week, I got a "sensor failure" warning. I finally got around to taking it to my nearby Ford dealer. I was told by the service writer that Ford would not warranty the sensor. They had replaced 3 sensors before they found out they would not be covered. Ford told them that in every case the sensor was "damaged". So $112 and some change later, my sensor was replaced. Anybody else have this same experience. Dean

 

If it's something you're doing that is causing the failure (ie: off roading and damaging it due to something being thrown against it) then I can see where they might want to charge you for the 'damage', but if its just normal wear and tear then I would insist that the dealer pay for it under warranty. Make a stink, ask for the GM, tell them you're calling Ford Corp ... they'll back down and pay for it.

Besides, even if it was "damage" due to neglect by the previous owner, you can't be responsible for the damage a prior owner caused that the dealer re-sold on to you.

 

Contact the dealer who sold it to you and, since they never specified that there were "limitations" to the vehicle warranty, they need to man-up and cover your loss. the tire presure minitors are federally mandated safety devices so I would assume that they have to be warranteed.

 

What sensor was it? What type damage? How did they come to this conclusion?

 

It it is a tire sensor warning and you have any type of lift or set of tires other than OEM, service will try to blame both. Another thing to note is if your old lady "curbed" a rim (always blame your wife- never yourself for such a faux paus) most likely you took out a sensor

 

It truly depends on the dealer. I've dealt with this when I was in KIA and Mitsubishi automotive service. I've witnessed sensors damaged upon tire installation. It happened to me on my '05 Nissan Titan and I'm glad Nissan covered it under warranty.

If it was 3 or 4 bad sensors and tires were recently installed, it could be the tire installer that is at fault. If you are doing some serious off roading or have accidentally run off the road, you could be at fault.

I had a customer that let her son drive her SUV. He decided to run it off the road at a construction sight and jumped a curb on the passenger side. The mother brought it to the dealer and wanted new oem tires because her's were damaged. Upon inspection, we found two alloy wheels to have flat spots. She then admitted that the son had run it off the road a few days prior. We marked the inner lip with orange paint, we replaced the two tires, we balanced the wheels the best we could and then I sold her a road hazard plan. A week later, I received a call from out of town. She had a flat tire on one of the bad wheels. The out of town dealer would not warranty the road hazard due to a puncture. Long story short, I was the Service Manager and I refused to warranty the road hazard because the plan did not cover the damage. Her husband called and cussed me out and then she called and cussed me out. My boss told me to warranty it; the tire came out of my direct profit/paycheck. I walked in the next day and quit. Service has to be careful when they warranty an item. There are a lot of gray areas in auto service when it comes to warranty repair.

Sorry, that's just the nature of the business.

 

I do not consider this a problem with the dealer. The service writer wanted to warranty the sensor, but Ford had denied the claim on sensors 3 times previously saying they were "damaged" and the dealer had to eat the cost on all three. My truck is 2 wheel drive, OEM wheels and tires no curb rash or off roading. As far as that goes, if off roading can damage the sensors, then they should come up with another system for 4 wheel drive trucks. Although sensor failure must be rare as I seem to be the only one with a problem with them. Anyway, I payed out of pocket and everything is OK again. Thanks for the input. Dean