2006 Mariner Hybrid Fire Warranty HELP

My hybrid caught on fire in the middle of the night while parked. The fire started in the back cargo area where the hybrid battery is located. We are concerned as we are getting no where with corporate Ford and the insurance says we have to accept a low ball claim with them (including our deductible). So much for the 3 yr ‘bumper to bumper’ warranty if your car is toast. And Ford gets full payment? Not right I tells ya. I have filed a NHTSA complaint, written to the state atty gen, I even wrote to Bill Ford EX Chairman of Ford. We are waiting for an independent fire investigator report. Anyone have advice for warranty help when your car is a total loss?!? Thanks

It’s a 3 year warranty but is it not also a 36k mile warranty? How many miles on the vehicle?
How much is the insurance company offering you as a total?
Do you owe the bank more than what the insurance payoff is?

Well if Ford warranteed it, that’d be an admission of fault, wouldn’t it? And it sounds like they’re not willing to admit fault yet. Yet. Get your ducks (attorneys) in a row, get that independent fire investigator report, and then see what your insurance and Ford are saying. I would assume that Ford keeps {i]mumsies[/i] on things like this to avoid them getting picked up in the press, and to avoid having to pay fire damage.

Unattended fires are big, scary issues for car companies, because cars get parked in garages, and garages are attached to houses, and people sleep in houses. Meaning that Ford can be on the hook for the car, the garage, the house, and the charred corpses (each more expensive than the last). They want to avoid any talk of their vehicle being at fault until there is hard proof being shoved down their throat by your lawyer. And with all of that said, you can’t really blame them, because in today’s world, there are real shysters who try to sue companies for every reason that you can imagine. Knowing that Ford has recently performed a recall for fires in other vehicles, I’m sure there are people out there trying to claim that their car caught fire and they are owed a new one / garage / house. I’m not saying that you fit that persona, I’m just saying take Ford’s position in to consideration when you are dealing with them. Good luck.

I can’t tell exactly what is happening. Do you mean you had a fire and the car was damaged and the insurance (which has a deductible) is going to cover it according to the policy, but you think they should pay more or have more done??? Or do you mean the fire totaled the car and they are not offering you as much as you believe they should? Was this a warranty or insurance?

I suggest if you are looking for something that is beyond what is covered under the letter of the insurance or warranty, you are not likely to get it.

Assuming this is not a legal issue, and that laws vary from one state or country to another, I would suggest that the only place you will find an answer is from a local legal professional.

What is the difference between the “low ball” claim payout vs the actual value of car by say edmunds.com?

You know you don’t have to accept the initial offer from your insurer? You can work with them.

Okay. The car was consumed by the fire the only paint left was in the front of the car. We would have lost 3 vehicles if my son had not been visiting and got up when he heard noises. We are building a garage, thank goodness or we would have never have known the cause of the fire. The car had 29,400 miles as I was watching for the next service. The dealership has been great, they have given me a loaner car. Corporate Ford however is giving us the brush off, they have turned it over to their ‘legal dept.’ Insurance says we have to take their ‘cost’ amount which they upgraded once as it did not include the computer and side curtain airbags. Now they are about $1700 below the Kelley Blue Book. What burns me is then Ford will receive full payment for this bad car and the problem is not studied and fixed! We were supposed to hear back on Thursday last week-nothing. We have not agreed to the insurance offer; one dept. does not know what the other one is doing there. I called the only consumer lawyer in the area left the info and they never called me back. The one insurance guy told me we had 3 days to decide and he was going to fax me their figures and we haven’t rec’d anything and it has been another 5 days. We are in limbo and in the meanwhile I am thinking I have to decide on my next car as I worry the dealership will take the loaner back. We still owe Ford credit $19,000, ugh.

Kbb is eagerly optimistic on pricing. Try edmunds.com for a more realistic picture of what the “value” is. It probably fall between the two somewhere.

On Ford you have no proof the vehicle was defective nor do they.

I personally would take the insurance if reasonable and move on with life. But we all choose our battles, Ford is not an easy one to take on.

Not meant to be cold-hearted here, but the insurance company is only going to pay off on the actual value of the vehicle. The amount owed is actually irrelevant on a deal like this.

FOMOCO is of course doing the right thing by refusing to say much at this point. That’s what any lawyer will tell their client to do.
About all I could suggest is take the insurance payout if you can’t wait them out, get the fire investigation report, and if the report points to an electrical fault in the car, you may be able to prod Ford into a replacement vehicle.
Of course this may wind up requiring an attorney on your part also and if by some chance Ford gave you another vehicle then your insurance company is also going to be looking for some money back.

Filing the NHTSA report is a good thing but waiting on some action from there could take a while. Generally it involves years, a number of similar problems, etc. before a recall is issued. Even then, this problem would have to occur at least on a random basis before one was issued. There’s a lot of politics played at the government level in regards to car problems.

If lawyers aren’t helping much, you might try the local TV station. I think is channel 6 in Columbus Ohio that has a consumer oriented news block where people basically give the station news to report(dealerships know a car is a Katrina car but don’t disclose the fact, that kinda thing). If the vehicle has been determined to be the cause of the fire, Ford is giving you headaches, then let the TV station know. Like a previous poster said, the last thing Ford wants is for this to go public. If you’re not satisfied with the way you’re being treated, let them know you’ll go to the media.