Anyone Else Asked To Pay Diagnostic Fee For In-Warranty Repair?

[dano]

I have an issue with my car's GPS thinking it's about 30 miles from where the car is. It's been going on for a couple of weeks.
Thinking the issue may clear itself up over time, some Sync resets and/or periodic OTA updates, I had been waiting it out.

Today I called a local dealer to ask them to schedule looking into the problem.
The person I talked to put me on their schedule, but informed me there would be a $198 diagnostic fee.
I replied that it's under the original warranty and should be covered by that.
She said, not unless I had an extended warranty (which I have, but should be irrelevant since I'm nowhere near the age or distance limit of the original bumper-to-bumper warranty).

Has anyone else run into this?

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[benk016]

I've had a small dealer tell me this as well. Basically they can't submit a claim for just diagnosing if there isn't an issue to actually claim on the warranty. So if they can't find an issue they want paid for their diagnostic time.

 

[Vulnox]

I have an issue with my car's GPS thinking it's about 30 miles from where the car is. It's been going on for a couple of weeks.
Thinking the issue may clear itself up over time, some Sync resets and/or periodic OTA updates, I had been waiting it out.

Today I called a local dealer to ask them to schedule looking into the problem.
The person I talked to put me on their schedule, but informed me there would be a $198 diagnostic fee.
I replied that it's under the original warranty and should be covered by that.
She said, not unless I had an extended warranty (which I have, but should be irrelevant since I'm nowhere near the age or distance limit of the original bumper-to-bumper warranty).

Has anyone else run into this?

I suspect she put in the wrong VIN or something, as even with an extended warranty there is a diagnostic fee if they don't find a covered warranty claim. Them saying that makes me think they typed something in wrong or had the wrong customer and pulled up an older vehicle.

Just a guess anyway, I have been to a number of Ford dealerships among three states for warranty issues over the years and have never had a diagnostic fee, even in the one or two times they couldn't reproduce. That isn't to say dealerships aren't eating the cost in those cases or they can't charge a fee, to be clear, just not something I have run into is all.

 

[dano]

I suspect she put in the wrong VIN or something, as even with an extended warranty there is a diagnostic fee if they don't find a covered warranty claim. Them saying that makes me think they typed something in wrong or had the wrong customer and pulled up an older vehicle.

Just a guess anyway, I have been to a number of Ford dealerships among three states for warranty issues over the years and have never had a diagnostic fee, even in the one or two times they couldn't reproduce. That isn't to say dealerships aren't eating the cost in those cases or they can't charge a fee, to be clear, just not something I have run into is all.

That's a good point on the VIN number. They did have the correct VIN number because they saw our name and that we had an extended warranty. I get that they want to be paid for their work, but you would think that Ford would prohibit this sort of fee collection for cars under warranty without a really good reason.

 

[generaltso]

I have an issue with my car's GPS thinking it's about 30 miles from where the car is. It's been going on for a couple of weeks.
Thinking the issue may clear itself up over time, some Sync resets and/or periodic OTA updates, I had been waiting it out.

Today I called a local dealer to ask them to schedule looking into the problem.
The person I talked to put me on their schedule, but informed me there would be a $198 diagnostic fee.
I replied that it's under the original warranty and should be covered by that.
She said, not unless I had an extended warranty (which I have, but should be irrelevant since I'm nowhere near the age or distance limit of the original bumper-to-bumper warranty).

Has anyone else run into this?

Some dealers charge a diagnostic fee if they can't reproduce the problem or if the problem turns out to be something not covered under warranty. But plenty of dealer don't, so you should try to avoid the ones that do. If they're saying the they'll charge you the diagnostic fee even if it's covered under warranty, you absolutely need to switch to a different dealer.

 

[RickMachE]

That's a good point on the VIN number. They did have the correct VIN number because they saw our name and that we had an extended warranty. I get that they want to be paid for their work, but you would think that Ford would prohibit this sort of fee collection for cars under warranty without a really good reason.

If they find an issue covered under warranty, they will not charge the fee.

If they don't find the issue, or it's not covered under warranty, do you expect the mechanic to work for free?

 

[MacherAWD]

If they find an issue covered under warranty, they will not charge the fee.

If they don't find the issue, or it's not covered under warranty, do you expect the mechanic to work for free?

but with tech issues they often come then go, and may not be diagnosable. This is a situation that Ford Dealers and Corp need to figure out, not just dump it on the consumer.

I would avoid this dealer.

 

[Logal727]

do you expect the mechanic to work for free?

No but diagnosing things that are hard to diagnose is part of doing business.

 

[dano]

I'm not asking anyone to work for free. I just expect them to deal with the costs among themselves, not ask me to deal with it.

This particular issue would be immediately obvious that the GPS location is about 30 miles off and it's not intermittent. Additionally, I'm well within the warranty period, so I'm not sure how this could/should ever fall into my plate to cover (even temporarily) a diagnostic charge.

 

[heisnuts]

I'm not asking anyone to work for free. I just expect them to deal with the costs among themselves, not ask me to deal with it.

This particular issue would be immediately obvious that the GPS location is about 30 miles off and it's not intermittent. Additionally, I'm well within the warranty period, so I'm not sure how this could/should ever fall into my plate to cover (even temporarily) a diagnostic charge.

I get it, but here are the facts: The tech will need to drive the car, try to recreate the concern, and then hook up FDRS to see if there are error codes and/or software updates that might apply to the concern. This will usually take at least 30 minutes to an hour of their time.

If the tech can't duplicate it, and/or does not find error codes or updates (or TSB's to fix the problem), or Ford tech line comes back and says operation normal then Ford Corporate will not pay the dealer for any of the tech time spent so far. Since techs only get paid for the hours they bill to a job, this will mean either the dealer pays the tech internally for the time they spent on that job or the customer pays (or the dealer makes the tech eat it and tells them too bad, you will make up those hours on another job... But that is rare these days since the tech in that case usually walks and goes to another dealership and it is very hard to replace a tech). Some dealers cover this charge internally while others say no, the customer pays that.

 

[BMT1071]

I get it, but here are the facts: The tech will need to drive the car, try to recreate the concern, and then hook up FDRS to see if there are error codes and/or software updates that might apply to the concern. This will usually take at least 30 minutes to an hour of their time.

If the tech can't duplicate it, and/or does not find error codes or updates (or TSB's to fix the problem), or Ford tech line comes back and says operation normal then Ford Corporate will not pay the dealer for any of the tech time spent so far. Since techs only get paid for the hours they bill to a job, this will mean either the dealer pays the tech internally for the time they spent on that job or the customer pays (or the dealer makes the tech eat it and tells them too bad, you will make up those hours on another job... But that is rare these days since the tech in that case usually walks and goes to another dealership and it is very hard to replace a tech). Some dealers cover this charge internally while others say no, the customer pays that.

I'll add that warranty generally does not cover diagnostics regardless of whether a warrantable issue is found. At least for many other manufacturers, I can't speak directly to FOMOCO P&Ps as I have never worked at a Ford dealer. Back in the day GM and Nissan would pay .1-.3 for diag, but that was being phased out on almost every labor op.

 

[heisnuts]

I'll add that warranty generally does not cover diagnostics regardless of whether a warrantable issue is found. At least for many other manufacturers, I can't speak directly to FOMOCO P&Ps as I have never worked at a Ford dealer. Back in the day GM and Nissan would pay .1-.3 for diag, but that was being phased out on almost every labor op.

True, but I was trying to keep it simple. That is also why techs hate warranty work, warranty typically pays less than customer pay repairs and diagnostic time is only on a very limited and requested situation.

However, if the repair is covered by warranty, I have not seen a dealer charge the customer a diagnostic charge, even if warranty did not pay for diagnostics specifically.

 

[BMT1071]

True, but I was trying to keep it simple. That is also why techs hate warranty work, warranty typically pays less than customer pay repairs and diagnostic time is only on a very limited and requested situation.

However, if the repair is covered by warranty, I have not seen a dealer charge the customer a diagnostic charge, even if warranty did not pay for diagnostics specifically.

Agreed. It's why dealers hate warranty work too, assuming they have CP work that their techs could be doing instead.

 

[Logal727]

Agreed. It's why dealers hate warranty work too, assuming they have CP work that their techs could be doing instead.

Not really my problem though, maybe they shouldn't be working in places that do warranty work?

 

[BMT1071]

Not really my problem though, maybe they shouldn't be working in places that do warranty work?

You're right, it's not your problem. What is your problem however is the length of time it takes to get a service appointment because so many of us left the industry and recommend to anyone who asks us that they pursue a different trade.

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