cshort07

My 2008 FWD has always done this. Dealer didn't have much to say about it.

What about the shocks, has anyone had their rear shocks start leaking at 40K miles? It costs over $600 to replace the rear shocks. Another thing that is strange, on the battery, I have never had any problems with the car starting or anything else. The only evidence of a problem is the sudden appearance of corrosion on the posts. My tires were rotated, supposedly, every 7500 miles when the oil was changed. Are the tires that come on new vehicles, just cheap tires? If anyone on here has replaced these parts on their Edge, of any age, please let me know. I'm particularly interested in people's experience with the shocks, I think I'm probably just screwed on battery and tires, but I'm really furious about the shocks and want Ford to replace them for free.

I'd like to get opinions on what transpired on my last two 7500 mile Service visits to my dealership. On 10/19/2010, I took my 2008 Edge FWD LTD, with 35,767 miles, to the dealer for its Scheduled Maintenance oil change, tire rotation, etc. They did a "full 27 multi-point inspection", which included check of Brakes (linings= "VI".whatever that means) and Rotors, Battery (cold crank amps =650), filters, drive belts, steering and suspension, exhaust system and tires (tread depth 10). Everything checked out "OK" at this time. I take the Edge back to the dealer on 03/14/2011, with 44,299 miles, for the next Scheduled Maintenance. They do another "full 27 multi-point inspection", but have dramatically different results. According to the inspection, my battery, shocks and tires all need immediate replacement. My battery had cold crank amps (CCA) of 374, my rear shocks are leaking "badly" and my tire tread depth is now 4. How could so many components, given the highest rating on previous visits, suddenly go bad in 5 months and 8,000 miles? I believe that these items must've shown signs of wearing on the October visit, but was still under the bumper to bumper warranty, so the dealer failed to report any abnormal wear or test results. I believe that on the Oct visit, before the 36,000 mile mark, they either, just did a cursory inspection and wrote down a standard wear number or test value for all inspected items, or they actually did a thorough inspection and just lied about the actual condition and measurements in the inspection, A couple of weeks after the March servicing, I took the Edge to another mechanic to inspect the items in question and he verified the dealer's findings, but said the only thing that he, personally, would replace immediately was the battery. First off, I guess I want to know if these parts should've worn out with less than 40,000 miles on the car? Secondly, I'd like to know if these items could possibly have gone from "good" condition to "replace immediately" condition in 8,000 miles? Has anybody had to replace these components and, if so, how many miles did you have when replaced? I drive at normal speeds, on paved roads, mostly running errands around town. In other words, I am way past the age where one would consider hot rodding and boon docking pleasurable! I have never had this kind of dramatic wear on any of the used vehicles I've purchased in the past and my husband said he's only replaced those items once in the entire life of his 1988 Ford F150 4wd. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks to akirby and bbf2530 for your responses. Thanks for confirming what I suspected regarding the Special Service Maintenance Schedule, for the most part I ignored the Dealers and have been following the "normal" guidelines. Why do Dealers think they have to "double deal" their customers? I guess it'll be another 30 years before I buy a new car again. heavy sigh

Hi, newbie on forum with 2008 FWD Edge Limited. When I called my dealer to schedule appt. for the 30,000 mile check-up and find out what the cost for this check-up would be, he quoted me a price of around $500. After I recovered from the sticker shock and got my stuttering under control, I told him that I must've gotten the wrong scheduled maintenance guide, because mine just recommended a couple of filter replacements, an oil change and a number of inspections, but there was nothing about a complete engine overhaul. He said that he didn't have an engine overhaul on his list either and wondered where I got that idea from. I told him from the price he'd just quoted me for performing my 30K scheduled maintenance, which, from looking over my list, sure didn't look like $500 worth of work to me. He gave me the prices for each line item, plus one item I didn't have, an automatic transmission flush with a cost of $155. I told him that an ATF wasn't on my list until 60,000 miles, that I had never been charged for inspections before and that I was beginning to get the impression that he might be trying to rip me off because I was woman. He said he absolutely was not trying to rip me off and went on to explain to me that there was a different maintenance schedule for cars driven in the SW part of the country. I figured this was just another line in this scam and told him what him and his Service Dept could do to themselves and I was going to check out his claims with the Ford Customer Service people. Before I called Ford, I called another dealer to see what price they would quote me for this service. The other dealer's price was $200 lower, but it also included the ATF. When I questioned this item, he verified that there was indeed a different guide for cars driven in the SW due to the dusty road conditions . I inquired as to what dusty roads he was talking about, because all the roads I drive on had been paved for over 30 years! I asked him why this information wasn't in my Owner Manual, he told me it was and it was located under "Special Operating Conditions - Operating in dusty road conditions such as unpaved or dusty roads". I told him that I had read that part and never gave it a second thought, since I live right in the middle of town and don't drive on unpaved roads. He asked me for my VIN number and pulled up the Scheduled Maintenance page for my specific vehicle and said. that according to Ford. I did fall in this category. Bottom line, not having this service done could void my warranty later on if I had transmission problems. I'm still pretty upset that this information isn't made clearer in these manuals, especially since Ford could/would refuse to honor my warranty if these services had not been performed. I was also furious that I'd been taking my car in to these dealerships every 7500 miles to have the oil changed and neither dealership had ever told me, that because I live in the SW, I should be doing this every 5,000 miles. In fact, they added further confusion to the oil change issue, because the stickers they put on your windshield, telling you when to bring it back for another oil change, still print out using the old 3 months or 3,000 miles rule. When I asked why they still used 3,000 instead of 5,000 miles on these stickers, the mechanic responded, "Well, I don't really know why, I guess they haven't changed the program or something like that. Anyway, it wouldn't really hurt anything if you did change your oil every 3,000 miles." DUH? I got so ripped off by the dealership I bought my very first new car from, that I refused to buy another new car for 30 years. I had so hoped that new laws and regulations passed in the last 30 years had stopped this kind of double dealing from happening, but I guess some things will never change and "wannabe, rip-off warranties" will always be at the top of that list. Has anyone else living in the SW, been informed of the "special rules" for us and, if so, how were you informed? Thanks,