Purchased Demo - now being told out of warranty in March, but I've only had the truck 2 years

[thedadlegend]

I purchased the truck (was told it was their mannequin) in April 2023 with ~300 miles. The rear lightbar failed and the bed camera failed on me, and I'm being quoted $3k to fix both. I'm told that I'm out of warranty as of March.

Am I SOL? I was not told on purchase that the warranty started from the date the dealer I purchased from got the truck.

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[Vulnox]

The warranty starts on the day the vehicle was purchased, meaning purchase paperwork is submitted to Ford. Not when it arrived at the dealer. That would be insane. But if the dealer had it registered in the dealers name with the state, then it could have started at that point and you would have been the second owner. I admit I don't know how all dealers handle demo vehicles or what the rules are there.

You can PM me the VIN if you like and I can check in OASIS, the system Ford techs use, to see what it says your warranty start date was.

 

[thedadlegend]

The service center that has the truck right now told me the warranty expired in March. So I assume that they are reading March 2022 as the warranty start date.

 

[Vulnox]

Huh, warranty would have expired in June.

WARRANTY START DATE:16-June-2022

BUILD DATE:21-March-2022

Either way, I would talk to the dealer. Maybe someone else knows more, but I would not expect a demo vehicle to be registered like that, so the warranty starts, until it was sold to someone. Unless the dealer had a warranty issue with it and did it to get the work covered, but I would have hoped they would disclose that at sale.

 

[thedadlegend]

I am expecting a call back from the dealership I purchased from to discuss further. I will look at my purchase agreement/docs right now to see if there was any note.

 

[PreservedSwine]

The service center that has the truck right now told me the warranty expired in March. So I assume that they are reading March 2022 as the warranty start date.

I don't know much in this arena, but I've heard mannequin trucks have a 42/42 warranty. If the truck was a demo vehicle, the 42/42 warranty should still apply.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...42-42-due-to-warranty-issue.25916/post-496849



EDIT: Just noticed you have already posted in that thread. Good luck to you!

 

[thedadlegend]

FCCH (1-800-392-3673) told me that they cannot actually do anything themselves and it would be up to the dealer to "do something" (what that is seems unclear). The dealer told me they can't do anything, and that Ford "told them to put it in Mannequin mode" and that the mode is what registers the truck under them as owner, and starts the warranty.

It sounds like FoMoCo won't do anything, and is punting to the dealer, who won't do anything.

I'm curious how folks worked out a 42/42, or a 60/60 (per @RickLightning) - but specifically after purchase.

Funny enough, FoMoCo offered, post repair, to provide some extra coverage/warranty as a good will gesture. And they offered to provide "financial assistance" towards repair costs on out of warranty ev-specific parts/labor.

 

[RickLightning]

Lots of incorrect info here.

Mannequin warranty starts when dealer makes it a mannequin, regardless of titling / registration of the vehicle.

Mannequins do NOT come with a longer warranty. Dealership COULD have paid to add 6 months/6,000 miles. Could.

I own a mannequin.

 

[thedadlegend]

I see. According to the dealer, Ford made them do it. And they did not mention, and claim ignorance of the fact that they could have offered a longer warranty.

I’m SOL, unless Ford through their infinite kindness decides to offer to

1. pay for the services entirely (parts and labor) and
2. offer, post repair, an extended warranty period - on ALL warranty (yes even the 8/100)

Without these two, it’s like I bought a used car with 1 year less warranty than everyone else received.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

There’s too many scenarios to account for, and it all depends on what your dealer wanted to do. Some dealers take delivery as a fleet vehicle, service, loaner, etc and that would start the clock. Others just keep it in fleet and drive it with dealer tags, demo it at events.

If you think your dealer/service center is lying to you…verify it for yourself:

https://www.ford.com/support/warranty/ /

My mannequin has a bumper to bumper warranty into 2026, I didn’t negotiate anything. When I first took delivery, everything - warranty, connected service showed an earlier expiration. Then at some point it all flipped and synced to the date of when I took delivery.

 

[thedadlegend]

Yes so I wouldn’t attribute maliciousness to the dealers actions. I was assuming, and based on what they told me, that they didn’t receive any instructions or details about what happens to that vehicles warranty period or how to handle “mannequins” in their systems.

It was sold to me as a new car, but they have it as registered to them 10 months prior. That’s the gist.

All I want is to be made whole.

 

[Henry Ford]

My mannequin has a 42/42k warranty. I was under the impression that was SOP because dealers weren't allowed to sell them for 180 days after taking delivery. @RickLightning disagrees with this assumption. I'm inclined to believe him.

 

[flyct]

In 2019 I bought a F150 with 2000 miles on it, that was a dealer loaner. The warranty start date was when the dealer put it in service so I lost 6 months of warranty.

It still qualified for all new vehicle incentives and rebates ($10,750) and with an additional ($9,967 dealer discount. It qualified for new car financing from Ford. BUT The warranty start date was when the dealer put it in service, 6 months before I bought it.

That deal was the best deal I’ve ever done. A $44,550.MSRP truck for $23,833 plus TTT. That was pre-covid. I sold it to CARVANA 18 months later for $37,313, over a $13,000 profit. Those were crazy days.

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[RickLightning]

Yes so I wouldn’t attribute maliciousness to the dealers actions. I was assuming, and based on what they told me, that they didn’t receive any instructions or details about what happens to that vehicles warranty period or how to handle “mannequins” in their systems.

It was sold to me as a new car, but they have it as registered to them 10 months prior. That’s the gist.

All I want is to be made whole.

You are incorrect.

If a vehicle is titled and registered by a dealership, it cannot later be sold as new. Many states allow a vehicle to be used as a mannequin without titling and registering it. When sold, it is legally a new vehicle, eligible for all incentives and the tax credit. As stated, warranty begins on in-service date regardless. Same with features like Blue Cruise, Navigation, etc. While a dealership could have added 6 months / 6,000 miles to the warranty (mine refused), they could not do anything about the features.

My truck received an extended warranty after the sale because of a failure in the vehicle that Ford agreed should not have happened. They do this at times, juts like they sometimes cover car payments for a vehicle that is undrivable for an extended period (I paid cash for my truck).

During your ownership period, the warranty and other expiration dates were clearly shown in FordPass or on the Ford.com website. You had years to notice that.

After the 36 month / 36,000 mile warranty expires, you have until 41 months / 41,000 miles to purchase an extended warranty.

Of course with a failure, you cannot extend the warranty after the fact until you fix it.

 

[thedadlegend]

Thanks for the detail Rick.

What am I incorrect about? My assumptions? What I’ve said is just repeat of what the dealer and ford told me.

And I never checked the warranty because I never had to - I assumed it was good until 3/36 AFTER PURCHASE. Why would I think otherwise? At sale it was new. I was not informed the warranty had less coverage.

Anyways, ford offered to maybe help with the repair. And then they may offer an extended warranty after that. All maybes.

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