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2013 MKZ Panaromic Roof Repair Nightmare - 3 Weeks & Still Not Fixed!


hbalek

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At 60,000 miles my 2013 MKZ panaromic roof started making a creaking and grinding noise when opening and closing. Fortunately it has an extended warranty until 100,000 miles and 6 years from purchase. I took it to my nearby Ford dealer who said they would have to have the car for a day or 2 to fix it. At the end of the first day, they said they would have to send it to a specialty repair shop to figure out the problem and fix it. It took 2 weeks for them to diagnose, get warranty repair approval and now the parts are on order. Fortunately they gave me a free of charge loaner car! This ordeal began on 11/27/17, over 3 weeks ago. I'm just not sure now if this is taking so long because of the dealership and their sublet repair facility or is it because Ford was so strict on verifying the damage and repair. The service dept. told me they had to take everything apart and send photos to Ford before they would give approval for such a presumably expensive repair under warranty. They told me they had to order a new motor and new cables, essentially the entire mechanism and assembly that moves the glass roof. Has anyone else experienced such a failure or please share your thoughts and suggestions. They've had my car so far for 18 business days, which is an inconvenience but I'm relieved that there are no charges that I have to pay out of my pocket!

Edited by hbalek
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I have never had a problem like that but having to take pictures and obtain approval for warranty work is pretty common these days. That was done when my MKS developed brake grinding even though there was a TSB for it. The instrument cluster on my Continental developed a problem and my dealer had to send a picture of it to Ford. In both of my cases, the approval was given within about an hour.

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I've never had a problem with this Ford dealer in over 6 years of warranty repairs and maintenance/recalls. The dealer I bought it from is over 30 miles away, whereas this Ford dealer is only 1 mile away! LOL There are other Lincoln dealers closer than 15 miles to me. The thing is I figured even though this roof is a unique Lincoln feature, they have Ford models with Panoramic roofs.

Edited by hbalek
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I've never had a problem with this Ford dealer in over 6 years of warranty repairs and maintenance/recalls. The dealer I bought it from is over 30 miles away, whereas this Ford dealer is only 1 mile away! LOL There are other Lincoln dealers closer than 15 miles to me. The thing is I figured even though this roof is a unique Lincoln feature, they have Ford models with Panaromaic roofs.

 

I think the thing with this roof, is that the Lincoln dealer SHOULD have more experience dealing with these issues. Ford has big roofs but none like this.

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I think the issue is the dealer doesnt have anyone willing or able to work on that roof. The edge roof is similar. Your issue is probably more dealer lack of qualified personel. I did all the moon roofs , convertible roofs, water leaks, interior stuff. But before I came to my dealer they sublet it all out. That roof can be difficult for sure but its not impossible. They could have replaced the entire track assembly easily in a couple days.

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I think the issue is the dealer doesnt have anyone willing or able to work on that roof. The edge roof is similar. Your issue is probably more dealer lack of qualified personel. I did all the moon roofs , convertible roofs, water leaks, interior stuff. But before I came to my dealer they sublet it all out. That roof can be difficult for sure but its not impossible. They could have replaced the entire track assembly easily in a couple days.

 

I appreciate your advice! I know for sure that it sat for at least a week or more at the sublet repair shop and no work was done on it. The reason no one seems to be in a hurry now is because I'm in a dealer owned loaner and not a rental car costing them money. The service guy even said as far as he's concerned they did their part because they're honoring the warranty and providing a free loaner car, so why rush it. He did assure me that this specialty shop are the experts but later admitted that they had never seen an MKZ roof before but they did all kinds of re-upholstery, leaks, sunroofs, convertibles, etc.

Edited by hbalek
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So here's an update on this ordeal. Last Thursday, 12/21 they received the motor and cables for the side that was determined to be broken. Today I received news that they installed the parts and tested it, it worked fine but when they restarted the vehicle, the other side motor and cable wouldn't operate and couldn't retain the program or memory, whatever that means. Now they're saying they will order the other side cable and motor and have to replace it. So it will take another several days or week. The dealership is Lindsay Ford in Wheaton, Maryland and the sublet repair shop is Paymer and Phillips in Laurel, Maryland. The new service manager told me that he's been there for a month and worked for a Cadillac dealer that NEVER sublet this type of repair and did it all in house. He is saying that he will work on expediting this and also will never send a vehicle to a third party ever again! The vehicle is certified used with a 6 year/100K mile bumper to bumper warranty. They had to submit photos to make the warranty claim which took time also. The extended warranty has a $100 deductible which he waived because I said I wouldn't pay it. I told the manager that they should be paying me for this miserable and unnecessary experience.

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  • 2 weeks later...

An update on the repair. I picked up the car on Thursday after 38 days! Everything was working fine except one thing. I discovered that the power sun shade for the roof would one touch open but will not one touch close using either the shade button or the close button in the overhead console. You can close it all the way by holding down the button. Using the lock button on the keyfob is no problem. It one touch closes like normal. So I took the car back today and the service manager has asked the sublet tech to fix it today. They said it needs programming and/or calibration.

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  • 1 year later...

I still love this car now at almost 7 years old and 80,000 miles and out of warranty. Sadly, 5 months after the extended warranty expired (I bought it Certified Pre-Owned which had a 6 year/100,000 mile bumper to bumper  warranty) the AC quit on me at the worst time possible.  We were having an early fall heat wave, breaking record high 90s temperatures.  I had the fuses/relays checked and also the Freon pressure and they were fine.  This means it will most likely be an expensive out of pocket repair to replace the compressor or sensor inside the dash.  The only other problem I had was the heated/cooled front seats stopped working last winter but that was repaired during the warranty period.

Edited by hbalek
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