Ford Owner Beware

Ford Owner Beware In July 2017 I bought a new Ford Everest 3.2 TDi Limited. I have had all the services at Motus Ford in George that were required. Ie The vehicle was not even 4 ½ yrs old and had 87 000km on the odometer! On the 19th October 2022 my wife and I hooked up our Bushlapa Miskruier and set off for the KNP for a 2-week holiday. We planned to overnight at Gariep. The journey went well but when we got to Gariep I heard an ominous knocking sound coming out of the engine. I called a local mechanic who said that he couldn’t do anything for me and advised that I travel slowly to the Ford agents in Bloemfontein. We travelled the 200km to Bloem at 70km/h and arrived at Human Auto (Ford dealer). I was immediately told in a rather “off-hand” manner by a workshop foreman that the engine was “gone” and it would take at least 2 weeks to repair. Now I was in a real quandry. I also had arranged a meeting with a person from the US Embassy the following day in Pretoria on the way up to the Game Reserve so I needed to get there asap. I tried to hire a vehicle that was capable of towing the Bushlapa but unfortunately there was nothing available in Bloemfontein so I was between a rock and a hard place. Here I sat in Bloem with all the stuff we had in the Everest for our holiday on the pavement and a rather irate wife stuck at Human Auto in Bloemfontein. Before we left on holiday I had, had the vehicle serviced (although a service was not due I did not want to go on a long road trip without having the vehicle checked over) by a recognised mechanic in George (the car was no longer under warranty so I went for a slightly less expensive option of a local mechanic who incidentally does a lot of work for Ford in George) Remember that this vehicle was not even 4 ½ years old with less than 88 000km on the clock. The net result was that I had to purchase a second-hand vehicle from Human Auto’s trade-in stock and continue on our way. In this regard Johan Lubbe was a great help! I called in at Human Auto on the way back from the game Reserve only to be told that Ford South Africa would not offer any assistance with the cost of repairs to the Everest because I had had it serviced by a “non-franchise” workshop. The cost of repairs that I was quoted came to R 102 000.00 I want to re-iterate that the vehicle was not even 4 ½ years old and had less than 88 000km 0n the odometer. It was also supposed to be the flagship of the Everest range. I expected that Ford would stand by their product but obviously they neither back-up their product or care for their customers.