I look after our small fleet of vehicles at work and yesterday at 2.30pm had a call from one of our drivers to say that the Transit had died on the M2 on his way to Dover. We called the AA straight away and they recovered him at 9.30pm and that was after countless phone calls to them !!!! I won't be renewing that policy next time its due !
The garage phoned today to say that the timing chain had snapped, this is on a 3.5 year old vehicle with 50,000 miles on the clock and a full Ford history. They are going to put a new chain on it tomorrow and see if it runs, if it does the bill will be £750 + VAT - if it doesn't ..............I know that Ford diesels are crap from the Mondeos I had, but I just don't get the hero worshiping there is for timing chains over belts as they are not the bullet proof item they are perceived to be.
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If it has a full Ford service history why did you ring the AA?
FULL service history would include SARA. I'd also push the dealer for a contribution given the relatively low mileage.
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There is no breakdown cover that comes with a FSH that comes on a Ford commercial here as far as I am aware, but I might well be wrong. We have AA fleet cover which is why that was used. Dealer couldn't look at it for over a week and I know from past experience that Ford customer services are pretty useless. Its the only flat bed we have and we need it back on the road asap.
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>> www.ford.co.uk/BuyingandprotectingyourFord/RoadsideAssistance
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>> Applicable since 1 March 2010.
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Unless I am reading that wrong it only for the first year then you have to pay if you want to extend it.
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My understanding is you're paying everyone you have the vehicle serviced. SARA is valid during the interval between services whether that is distance or time based whatever is sooner.
Best call to Ford. They will tell you if it's been activated by your dealer. You have the service history to back up. OK, no good this time around but you'll know for sure next time and also if you're paying for AA cover you may not need.
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Thanks gmac I will check it out.
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>> I just don't get the hero worshiping there is for timing chains over belts as they are not the bullet proof item they are perceived to be.
Nothing lasts for ever. A timing chain on its way out will become noisy. Ignore that sort of thing at your peril.
Apart from oil starvation caused by dirty old engines and low oil levels, chain tensioners are often poorly adjusted or defective. Most of these things will cause symptoms, untoward noise being the most easily identified. Vehicles have to be looked after with special reference to their known weaknesses. Stands to reason.
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>> Apart from oil starvation caused by dirty old engines and low oil levels, chain tensioners
>> are often poorly adjusted or defective. Most of these things will cause symptoms, untoward noise
>> being the most easily identified. Vehicles have to be looked after with special reference to
>> their known weaknesses. Stands to reason.
>>
Weekly checks are carried out on fluids, tyres and lights etc and they are serviced as per the manufacturers schedules. Am not really sure what more you can do really.
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Do you mean the vehicle was left on the M2 all that time or that the total time to relay the vehicle home was 7hours ?
Last time we needed a flatbed we had to wait 90mins or so for a driver with sufficient hours to go Sheffield>Northampton and return - alternator cable broke.
We were pole towed from central Sheff, where the car sat down, to a depot though where we we warm and had access to tea, coffee etc.
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The driver was off today so have not had chance to speak to him, but he text me at 9.30pm to say that he had they had just got back to our site in Dartford.
Edit, sorry meant to say that he had just been loaded onto the flatbed at 9.30pm. They got back to Dartford at 10.30pm.
Last edited by: Skip on Wed 15 Oct 14 at 19:18
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Transits of this age are prone for timing chain problems. They can put a new chain on it but I bet you it won't run properly, it'll be a head off job with quite a few new parts. What normally happens (in my experience) is that the timing chain tensioner fails, the chain jumps the teeth and the damage is done.
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Hello, sorry to hear about the delay one of your drivers experienced. We would very much like to address the reasons for the delay. Please email the details to chat@theaa.com including your fleet policy number, name and address with Reference FOR88225. We look forward to hearing from you. Kind Regards, The AA
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With all due respect;
The E-Mail address officially and formally used by "The AA" to investigate customer dissatisfaction and issues is "Chat"?
A little unprofessional perhaps?
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What do you expect, it is an insurance company.
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Regardless the email address, at least they've got the decency to look into the allegation made. The same can't be said for some companies.
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>> Regardless the email address, at least they've got the decency to look into the allegation
>> made. The same can't be said for some companies.
>>
My experience of these social media monitors is that they promise the world but deliver nothing. A special mention for stringing me along for weeks and then completely back-tracking goes to VW UK.
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Ford Transit - Rubbish Ford & Rubish AA - ....
