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Airbag Recall - Free Rental


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Our 2010 Milan is covered under the Takata airbag recall for the front passenger. We received the notice around February, and thankfully, we have a 3rd vehicle to use so we just use the Milan when nobody is riding in the front passenger seat. Well, my daughter turns 15 tomorrow and is able to get her permit. One main reason for buying the Milan is for her to learn with and for a car for her to drive when she turns 16. The Flex is a little big, and there is NO WAY she's learning on my Super Duty. We had the Milan in for service last week and I asked about the recall and still no news on when the parts will be available. So, in the middle of trying to figure out what we are going to do, we get a letter in the mail on Friday stating that Ford will cover a rental vehicle up to $30/day until the parts are available for the recall. Parts are expected to be available in Q2 or Q3 2018, so it could be 4 more months until parts are available.

 

Has anyone else had anything similar? This has to be costing Ford a fortune if many folks take advantage of this. I need to call the dealership today to find out the details, specifically if our 15 year old will be able to drive the rental.

 

On another note, any tips to keep me from pulling out my hair teaching a 15 year old to drive? :) She's actually a pretty responsible kid, so I'm not too concerned about here. It's her brother following up in 3 years that I have serious worries about...

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Ford did this with the minivan recall regarding the rear axle I believe. My sister had a windstar and it was ready to snap. They had a minivan covered by Ford for almost a year while it sat waiting for parts.

 

My nephew was wheelchair bound so they needed something equivalent.

 

The only thing I can add is that typically rentals are covered through 3rd parties (like enterprise) and you need to be 21 or 25 to rent. It will be a standard rental agreement, just Ford paying the bill.

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I got this as well for my 2008 Milan. I still need to call my dealer and figured out what I should do. However, I did some quick searching online, and the cheapest rental I could find was at least $50 a day. Im not sure what Ill do.

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Thank god my dealer does their own rentals. If I had to rent from enterprise ever again I would go without a vehicle. Fuck them.

They may still outsource because of the length of time the vehicle will be gone from them. I personally dont see them allowing it since they are not physically licensed.

 

Be sure to let us know what they say.

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I got this as well for my 2008 Milan. I still need to call my dealer and figured out what I should do. However, I did some quick searching online, and the cheapest rental I could find was at least $50 a day. Im not sure what Ill do.

3rd parties do discounted rates. My esp always was for $30 a day and I've had fusions to explorers, even expeditions. Just like insurance companies.. I had a 2018 mustang convertible and the discounted rate was $40.xx a day.. Your dealer will arrange it to make it work for the $30 a day.

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They may still outsource because of the length of time the vehicle will be gone from them. I personally dont see them allowing it since they are not physically licensed.

 

Be sure to let us know what they say.

Im not effected by the airbag recall. Dont anticipate needing to take the Fusion to the shop, its barely a month old and less than 1000 miles.

 

Every time I had the Focus in the shop for more than a day after my son was born I got a loaner through the dealer though. If they ever try to send me to enterprise Ill walk home. I will never give enterprise my business ever again, even if someone else is covering the bill.

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Im not effected by the airbag recall. Dont anticipate needing to take the Fusion to the shop, its barely a month old and less than 1000 miles.

 

Every time I had the Focus in the shop for more than a day after my son was born I got a loaner through the dealer though. If they ever try to send me to enterprise Ill walk home. I will never give enterprise my business ever again, even if someone else is covering the bill.

 

Did you have a bad experience with them? Or has it just been consistently bad when you've used them?

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Im not effected by the airbag recall. Dont anticipate needing to take the Fusion to the shop, its barely a month old and less than 1000 miles.

 

Every time I had the Focus in the shop for more than a day after my son was born I got a loaner through the dealer though. If they ever try to send me to enterprise Ill walk home. I will never give enterprise my business ever again, even if someone else is covering the bill.

Lol, it's funny the different experiences. Overall Enterprise is my go to rental place and have pretty good experiences. Rented a Macan through their Exotic and had a few issues (driving down my driveway in D and the backup camera was on, blown speaker in the passenger door, few scratches/scuffs on a 3,000 mile porsche). They advertise their exotics as white glove and have it all scuffed up, no tire shine etc is not white glove) They refunded me 50% so I was happy. I made a professional stink about it because it was a surprise for my 10 year wedding anniversary and took my wife from NH to NYC for 5 days.. I wanted it perfect and it wasnt. The 18 Mustang I just had for 2 1/2 weeks, they went out of state to go get it for me. It was a convert with 380 miles on it. Only big issues I had was the crappy trans in the focus I was given. Had Expedition Limiteds 3 times, 17 Explorer, multiple fusions including 1 hybrid.. all great experiences. Edited by blwnsmoke
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Did you have a bad experience with them? Or has it just been consistently bad when you've used them?

I had a very bad experience with them that culminated with them taking money from my checking account without my knowledge or authorization and then refused to refund my money when I called them out on it. Belle Tire was also involved and they too will never get any money from me ever again. Edited by fuzzymoomoo
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I had a very bad experience with them that culminated with them taking money from my checking account without my knowledge or authorization and then refused to refund my money when I called them out on it. Belle Tire was also involved and they too will never get any money from me ever again.

 

Oh wow, that's terrible. I can't say I blame you then!

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Just got off the phone with the dealer and they are handling it through their loaner program. Ford will just reimburse them. Bad thing is that it's a Focus instead of a Fusion, but that will probably be better for my daughter learning than the Fusion which is a bit bigger. They also have to have to keep our car, but he said they will keep it inside their now-closed body shop.

 

Guess we'll be able to see how awful the Focus transmission is. :)

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Just got off the phone with the dealer and they are handling it through their loaner program. Ford will just reimburse them. Bad thing is that it's a Focus instead of a Fusion, but that will probably be better for my daughter learning than the Fusion which is a bit bigger. They also have to have to keep our car, but he said they will keep it inside their now-closed body shop.

 

Guess we'll be able to see how awful the Focus transmission is. :)

Well its a rental so chances are its worse than most.
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On another note, any tips to keep me from pulling out my hair teaching a 15 year old to drive? :) She's actually a pretty responsible kid, so I'm not too concerned about here. It's her brother following up in 3 years that I have serious worries about...

You will probably be looking for that imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side a few times, lol.

 

It can be frustrating at times but they usually pick it up reasonably quick. Their attention span is a little concerning periodically.

 

My son got his DL in March. He seems to be doing well, but its still a little worrisome when they are out on their own.

 

I know Missouri country roads pretty well, and those would make me nervous for them. Not much give on those roads, as basically you go from road to ditch since there never seems to be a shoulder. Not to mention they rarely seem to be straight. On the upside, they all seem to be paved, unlike the country roads I grew up with, which were gravel.

Edited by tbone
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You will probably be looking for that imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side a few times, lol.

 

It can be frustrating at times but they usually pick it up reasonably quick. Their attention span is a little concerning periodically.

 

My son got his DL in March. He seems to be doing well, but its still a little worrisome when they are out on their own.

 

I know Missouri country roads pretty well, and those would make me nervous for them. Not much give on those roads, as basically you go from road to ditch since there never seems to be a shoulder. Not to mention they rarely seem to be straight. On the upside, they all seem to be paved, unlike the country roads I grew up with, which were gravel.

 

LOL, I was thinking that I'm glad it has the hand e-brake, but I'm sure I'll try to put my foot through the floor a time or two! :)

 

Yeah, our rural country roads are not very forgiving since they don't have a shoulder at all (and we live in a rural area). We do have plenty of gravel roads though, too, and my plan is to take her out on one of those first. Slower speed, less (practically zero) traffic. Let her get the hang of steering, brakes, feel of the gas pedal, etc. before taking her out on the road.

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Biggest issue is panicking when they're not sure what to do. Controlling the vehicle and learning the rules comes pretty quickly.

 

Teach her to expect the unexpected - watch out for other drivers, pedestrians, animals, etc. And don't follow too closely - leave at least 2-3 seconds. 23 yr old daughter still follows too closely even after totaling her car at 16 when she didn't see cars stopped in front of her turning. Drives me crazy.

 

The real problem is when they've been driving by themselves for a little while and start to think they're invincible and that nothing will happen to them. Until it does.

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