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Flashe30

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What is most concerning about those welds is that the body shop supervisor must have signed off on it….. You need to complain to them and to Ford corporate, if you haven’t already, and post an online review with pictures (for example Google Reviews) for other customers to see. You should annotate the pics with circles or arrows highlighting the crap welds, with text descriptions. And find a different dealer.

FYI - here in the USA, for ANY body or collision repairs, an independent shop with good credentials will do a better job and will guarantee the repairs for life. I personally would never ever choose a dealer for this kind of work. Of the three Ford dealers near me, only one has an “in house” body shop, the others send the vehicles to independent body shops, which is the way it should be!

I had the bed reinforcements added a year ago to my RR, the dealers were all clueless and could not even quote me accurate or reasonable costs - a local body shop did it perfectly, affordably and with minimal delay….

John Davies
Spokane WA
I don't think the superviser checked on this, his words: "But the tech told me he welded it better than from factory." They have an in house bodyshop but I don't know to what extent and this was "welded" by the mechanic.
It sounded like a no brainer back then to take this to the dealer but I didn't know the new subframe needed to be welded.

I don't know if I'm going to take this any further. I'll probably use it as some kind of leverage when it suits me in the future.

I'd definitely be making sure Ford will still honor their corrosion warranty after that hack job.
I'm placing the old one back, but I'll sure as hell keep an eye on any sign of malpractice.

OMG, that has "endangerment law suit" written all over it. You're not accepting that horrible welding job on a new-ish vehicle are you?
No I'm not. I've probably could've asked for new parts and welded them myself (bc no way I'm letting them do it again), but I'm just going to place the old one back. I should probably share a photo of the minor damage that one has.
We're not that big on law suits over here...
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Tailwagger

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Our local regional tech school does worlds better welding than that. That job borders on criminal.
 

sweeks888

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I don't think the superviser checked on this, his words: "But the tech told me he welded it better than from factory." They have an in house bodyshop but I don't know to what extent and this was "welded" by the mechanic.
It sounded like a no brainer back then to take this to the dealer but I didn't know the new subframe needed to be welded.

I don't know if I'm going to take this any further. I'll probably use it as some kind of leverage when it suits me in the future.



I'm placing the old one back, but I'll sure as hell keep an eye on any sign of malpractice.



No I'm not. I've probably could've asked for new parts and welded them myself (bc no way I'm letting them do it again), but I'm just going to place the old one back. I should probably share a photo of the minor damage that one has.
We're not that big on law suits over here...
I can't believe a dealer or maintenance supervisor even let that travesty go out the door like that. That could bring them a horrid law suit if issues happened from braking (if so inclined). Apparently to one in charge bothered to look at the job after completion and before rattle can painting. Some things are just wrong, glad you still have the "slightly" damaged part to replace it with. I'll bet you could even take that poorly welded part back in (once removed) and have a word with the maintenance supervisor about getting it replaced on their dime.
 

Jeffola

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Bring it back and tell your insurance company the car was poorly fixed, not to factory spec and it COULD be unsafe. I wouldn't drive it out of principle.
 
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Flashe30

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Bring it back and tell your insurance company the car was poorly fixed, not to factory spec and it COULD be unsafe. I wouldn't drive it out of principle.
I get what most guys are saying here and appreciate the advice, but I just want to use my RR now and be done with all the logistics and paperwork.

Yesterday I had the right turbo actuator replaced. Again switching to a replacement car which means moving my tools and kid seat, lots of emails and calls to get it sorted etc. Simply a lot of my time which I didn't expect from a dealer maintained semi high-end car that's 2 years old. My daily driver should be something with little to no problems, I have enough of those with my project cars. I'm just going to put the old subframe back and be done with it for now but I'll definitely use this fuck up against them if needed in the future.
 

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Bushmechanic

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Bring it back and tell your insurance company the car was poorly fixed, not to factory spec and it COULD be unsafe. I wouldn't drive it out of principle.
I was missing one crossmember when the Rover was slammed.

Luckily, I was at the center of the axis of rotation, so I was perfectly fine.

The lack of that crossmember, however, obviously contributed to significant damage. I was only a few days away from reinstalling it. Drivability was fine, handling was great (it wasn't stock), going down washboards was fine.

That impact, though, bent the frame right where that thing was meant to attach; a crossmember held on by eight bolts, which would have survived and prevented damage to the middle of the frame.

I could feel the whole vehicle bend and snap back when it happened.

Those welds are so messy it's difficult to see if they penetrated properly. I'm no welder, but even I can tell that thing might snap off in a collision, or potentially just when hitting a rock.
 

Johnny 5

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Porosity City! I'd ask for a new vehicle. That is unsafe and they'll never get it to the oem weld.
 

Hootbro

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I guess you got bubba welders in Europe also, that is a shame as much as they tout trade schools over there you would expect a better outcome.
 
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Flashe30

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Porosity City! I'd ask for a new vehicle. That is unsafe and they'll never get it to the oem weld.
That's why I've got the original one back. I'm fairly certain I could weld a new one myself so that it looks good and won't break, but it's not worth the hassle.

I guess you got bubba welders in Europe also, that is a shame as much as they tout trade schools over there you would expect a better outcome.
This is welded by the mechanic, so he probably learned to weld a little in school but nowhere near enough to be skilled or certified.
 

Alan Hale

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Interesting how different people see these tires. I love the KO3; have been great in any condition, ice, snow, rain, sand, mud, rocky off road trails. Driving for the conditions, I haven't seen any issues. Can't please everyone I guess covers it.
I agree with you about the KO3. I just made a 11,000 mile round trip to Alaska pulling a camper with my RR and had no issues. Driving in Rain, snow, hail and off road camping without any problems with traction.
 
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Flashe30

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I agree with you about the KO3. I just made a 11,000 mile round trip to Alaska pulling a camper with my RR and had no issues. Driving in Rain, snow, hail and off road camping without any problems with traction.
You're automatulically driving more careful when towing imo and you have all the extra weight on the rear wheels and thus more traction.
I just feel like I need to adjust my driving style in the rain more than it should and definitely more than eg with a General Grabber, which I can attest to from previous experience.
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