Evan Saugstad: I Fought With Ford and ……? (part 1 of 2)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Evan versus FORD Canada …. Who do you think would win?

To all those 4-wheel drive FORD SUPER DUTY truck owners/operators out there: this story can apply to you.

Have you ever wondered why your Super Duty 4×4 got stuck in a bit of snow when it should have been able to plow right through?  Spun out on a hill and slid backwards when you thought 4-wheel drive was adequate to make it to the top?  Or, spun sideways when you hit the throttle as you pulled into the unplowed centre lane to pass those slow-moving trucks?

Think no more, as there is a reason why SUPER DUTY 4x4s will fail in these circumstances and both FORD and Transport Canada have chosen not tell you the reasons why.

My story and the reasons why.

In September 2022 I bought a new F350 Super Duty 4-wheel drive pickup to replace my 2016 F150 4×4.  Wanted something a bit beefier with an eight-foot box for my quad and to pull my hunting trailer.  Settled on a one ton as the luxury tax didn’t apply like it does on the ½ tonne (F150) and ¾ tonne (F250) models.

A good truck that met my needs during the fall hunting months.  A bit rougher on the gravel roads and lower gas milage than the F150, but that comes with the bigger and heavier vehicle.

Then came our normal winter; December with some very cold winter weather, down to -40 C on some days.

On one cold day we were invited out of town for dinner, with temperatures hovering in the mid -30’s C.  Warmed up the truck, turned the Electronic Shift on the Fly (ESOF) dial to 4-wheel high, instrumentation said it shifted, then indicated it was in 4H, so headed out. Cold and frequent snow flurries had covered most of our city streets with a layer of snow and ice as it was now too cold for road salt to be effective, and the ice had become hard and difficult to scrape off.  Slippery enough to use 4-wheel drive in town as intersections were glazed and hard to get traction when starting out from a stop.  

Spun out at every intersection while crossing town.  Was bad enough that I made a comment to Karen that one had to be careful with this truck, as you think you can quickly and safely cross the intersection but that wasn’t happening and if you don’t give lots of room to other traffic, one could easily be broadsided.

Roads out of town were bare and dry, as the snow had been blown off by traffic and the north winds, so I shifted out of 4-wheel drive and back into two.  When I reached our friends driveway (rural and covered with snow drifts) I switched back into 4-wheel drive.  At the friend’s home, I backed into his driveway, facing uphill on a slight incline, with a couple inches of fresh snow on the ground under my tires.  After dinner, fired up the truck, went to leave, but would only spin out.  Try as I might, could not get traction, until I spun down to gravel, then would go a few feet and then spin out again.

After about 10 minutes, my friend came out to give me a pull with his truck and mentioned only my rear tires where spinning.  After multiple tries trying to engage the 4-wheel drive by switching it off and on, it finally did engage, but not until I made a mess of his driveway.  I had not thought about locking in the hubs as my instrumentation said I was in 4H, and was unaware the front tires were not in drive mode.

Early the following week took the truck into the Fort St John FORD dealer (Fort Motors) to inquire about my 4-wheel drive not working.  After some back and forth and research, they informed me that FORD has an internal bulletin advising that SUPER DUTY trucks with the Electronic Shift on the Fly (ESOF) does not work when temperatures are colder than about -25 C (-13 F), that there is no fix for the problem, and one is to use the manual lock-in hubs when the ESOF fails.  Apparently, the vacuum assist does not have enough air pressure and/or the front hub seals leak at cold temperatures, therefore the hubs do not lock in when using ESOF.

As temperature warmed up and everything went back to normal and me being Evan, read all the literature I could find and nothing, not one word about the failure of the 4-wheel drive at cold temperatures.  Asked my salesperson and he was unaware, dealer had already told me they were unaware until I asked, nothing hidden in the hundreds of warnings and alerts in the SUPER DUTY Operator’s Manual, so thought I would ask the FORD Canada CEO if she would fix my truck, so it worked properly and safely.

After two letters in the spring of 2023 and nary a response, I thought about a class action lawsuit to get their attention but decided not.

Then discovered a process called Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan (CAMVAP) which deals with warranty disputes.  Major auto manufacturers fund the process, use professional arbitrators, and can be completed online and with ZOOM calls.

Simple and straight forward I thought.

CAMVAP in BC is operated by the BC Better Business Bureau.  Sent my information to them and was assigned to an arbitrator.  My primary request was to have the hubs fixed so they work, and failing that, FORD buy back my vehicle (formula used reduced my truck’s value by about $9,000 for any buy back).  I then found out how interested FORD was in fixing or solving anything.

In October 2023 I filled out the CAMVAP online dispute/claim forms and sent them in.

FORD’s first response to CAMVAP was to dispute that the warranty applies as the truck works as they designed it, (just doesn’t work as it is supposed to) and they asked for my hearing to be denied.  I disputed their assertion, and the Arbitrator agreed to hold a hearing on the eligibility of my claim.

An eligibility hearing was held via ZOOM call on Jan 22/24.

FORD did not dispute that the ESOF does not lock the front hubs at temps of -25 C or that the instrumentation instructs the driver that the truck has shifted into 4-wheel drive, when it has not, or that the instrumentation indicates one is in 4H when they are not.  Their only response was to claim their Service Bulletin to dealers stating there is no fix and that clears them of any responsibility and that the remedy is to manually lock in the front hubs.

In essence, FORD didn’t care about what you thought you were paying for.

They didn’t dispute that there are no warnings or instructions to owners/operators of these failures in any of their manuals.

They did not dispute that FORD sells these vehicles under the false pretense that ESOF always works and because of the hub design, achieves greater gas milage than their competitors who use permanently locked in hubs.

They did not dispute that FORD does not advise owners of this failure and that could help prevent accidents/incidents from occurring. 

The Arbitrator did make a comment that he has not had a claim such as this where the ask is to fix something that FORD designed not to work and is something where nothing has been broken. 

Despite FORDS objections, the Arbitrator determined that I had a case and he would hold the hearing.

My hearing was held on Feb 9/24 via a ZOOM call.

Same Arbitrator and same FORD representative.  Make virtually the same presentation again and emphasize that it is a safety concern when one drives thinking their vehicle is in 4-wheel drive, but in fact it is still in 2-wheel drive.

No new information from FORD, just a denial there is a problem, that the vehicle is working as designed and there is no fix.

My position is that if there is no fix, then FORD buy my vehicle back at the calculated price.

Arbitrator states he cannot instruct the manufacture to redesign a vehicle to fix something that is not working by design.

To be continued; The Arbitrators decision in Part 2

Evan, and yes, despite the time it takes to work through processes such as these, they are there for a purpose and worth the time it takes to use them.