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Ford Escape Paint

38 messages,  Last post on Jul 23, 2011 at 3:09 PM

You are in the Ford Escape Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Escape, Auto Body, SUV

Messages Page 3 of 4

#18 of 38 Ford Motor Company Small Claims Lawsuit by hesters

Nov 17, 2009 (11:52 pm)

I filed a small claims lawsuit against the Ford Mortor Company and go to court on Friday. I'm surprised that they haven't offered to settle since I'm only asking for $1,800 (from the estimate) to paint the hood and back panel of my 2003 Escape. The paint started peeling in large sheets and I contacted Ford, the dealer, Ford again by e-mail and also by mail. All the responses I got were the same that it was out of warranty and there was nothing they would do about it..
 
I found the proper legal language to use that addresses Ford saying that the defect is out of warranty. The "discovery rule" should apply in this case. The discovery rule is a legal concept that "tolls" (suspends) the statute of limitations as it would be impossible to discover the latent paint defect until the paint started peeling off your vehicle. Some judges may decide that the statute of limitations did not comemence running until you actually learned ot that the paint condition on your vehicle was a result of a concealed, latent manufacturing defect.
 
It's cost me $50 to file the small claims case and $10 to have Ford served. I'll post again once I go to Small Claims Court on Friday.

#19 of 38 Re: Ford Motor Company Small Claims Lawsuit [hesters] by mtcarmelfox

Nov 19, 2009 (8:24 pm)

Replying to: hesters (Nov 17, 2009 11:52 pm)
Complaints have appeared on various blogs concerning the Escape.
 
Ford does have a Facebook page where paint issues have been expressed
on other models.

#20 of 38 Re: Ford Motor Company Small Claims Lawsuit [hesters] by explorerx4

Nov 20, 2009 (4:50 pm)

Replying to: hesters (Nov 17, 2009 11:52 pm)
can you post some pictures?

#21 of 38 Re: Ford Motor Company Small Claims Lawsuit [hesters] by hesters

Nov 20, 2009 (9:12 pm)

Replying to: hesters (Nov 17, 2009 11:52 pm)
I did go to court today and the Field Representative and also someone 'in pro terme' (someone authorized to represent Ford were present.) The case was postponed until December 15th. If anyone is interested, I am looking to get letters from people explaining the same paint peeling problem with their cars that I'm having with mine. I know this might be a hassle but if I can win my small claims suit against the Ford Motor Company then it would be helpful to others on how best to fight this and get Ford to pay for their paint defect.

#22 of 38 Re: Ford Motor Company Small Claims Lawsuit [explorerx4] by hesters

Nov 20, 2009 (9:13 pm)

Replying to: explorerx4 (Nov 20, 2009 4:50 pm)
Yes, I can post some pictures and will tomorrow. It's pretty unbelievable when you see the photos. The car is garaged and yet the paint is peeling off to bare metal.

#23 of 38 Could outsourcing be the cause of the paint peeling? by mtcarmelfox

Nov 28, 2009 (7:52 am)

Replying to: hesters (Nov 20, 2009 9:12 pm)
I did an internet search on the topic: "Automotive Paint Operations Outsourcing".
 
There was a press release on Vehicle Paint Quality Flaws associated with Outsourcing.
 
It described a study correlating factory data with paint failures.
 
Apparently there has been multiple newscasts throughout North America documenting automotive paint failures.

#24 of 38 Re: 2003 ford escape paint peeling [lakitydu] by colochemist

Dec 07, 2009 (5:42 am)

Replying to: lakitydu (Oct 29, 2009 2:27 pm)
My 2003 escape is also peeling around the left side of the back window and between the sunroof and the windshield. There was someone on vacation in our state form arizona that took a picture of ours about six months ago because they had identical peeling and were trying to get their Ford dealer to do something about it.

#25 of 38 Factory Paint Defect - Use Objective Criteria by mtcarmelfox

Dec 14, 2009 (8:48 am)

My understanding is that the automakers use film thickness per coating layer as their main criteria to determine if a vehicle is a factory paint defect for paint durability. Has anyone requested that information to determine if the vehicles were painted to the correct specifications? If the data is in specifications, its not a defect.
If its out of specification, then it would be a factory paint defect.

#26 of 38 Re: Ford says no Escape owners complained about paint! [plwinteregg] by disappointed68

Dec 14, 2009 (1:52 pm)

Replying to: plwinteregg (Jul 23, 2008 11:29 am)
I also have a light gold 2003 Ford Escape I bought 3 years ago. The paint on the roof near the windshield started peeling about nine months ago. Someone suggested I find out if there is a recall. After reading all of these complaints, I am surprised there is not one. Perhaps there will be soon.

#27 of 38 Re: Ford Motor Company Small Claims Lawsuit [hesters] by barfeningjodi

Dec 16, 2009 (2:54 pm)

Replying to: hesters (Nov 20, 2009 9:13 pm)
I'm very interested in hearing your progress with your plight against Ford-- I have a 2003 Tribute Metallic Ash (gold color) and I have the same problem as you all with Fords.
 
 Of course my issue is with Mazda-- a body shop here has told me that you can visibly see that the sealant coat is missing between the top coat & ecoat and it is a manufacturers defect. Large sections are just falling off-- when it first happened I thought is way a sheet of paper flying out the back of my car. They also let me know that painting even a portion of the car would (the cost is very high for a full strip/paint of the car). I have had both the Mazda dealership review it and a body shop-- but Mazda refuses to correct the situation. I am pleading my case with the dealership, but I'm very discouraged after seeing similar issues like these are widespread.
 
This issue seems very large and related as both the Escape and Tribute came off the same production lines in some cases -- I have to wonder if these issues aren't very related and if there is something a group of unhappy customers could do to change this situation if needed. Please see this thread discussion as well (here on Edmunds) link title

Messages Page 3 of 4

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