My EcoSport breaks down: Impressed by Ford's quick response

The breakdown happened on a highway. Ford took a little over 3 hours to resolve the whole issue and I was back on the road.

BHPian Floyd de Souza recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Yesterday, I was returning home from a funeral of a relative in my Ecosport Ecoboost and as I entered the Western Express highway from Kalina, the car was stuck in 1st gear. The gear stick was moving freely without changing gears and the clutch was fine, so I knew that the bushing was likely done for. Shock and dismay as it happened most unexpectedly and my family was with me.

Before Ford shut shop, I had taken the EW+RSA for 2 years (valid till Aug '23). So, I sent my family home by Ola and called up Bhavna Ford RSA. The tow truck came in half an hour and the car went to Bhavna Kalina service centre. I followed.

Bhavna customer care took over and after a check-up by the engineer present, it was determined that the bushing had to be replaced. The part was available. Being a wear and tear part, it was chargeable for both the parts and labour which was acceptable and the cost was low.

They did the work and also replaced the engine insulation free of cost (safety recall). And within two and a half hours from the car reaching the workshop, I was back on the road. From the start of the issue to resolution, it took a total of a little over 3 hours.

Hats off to Ford for taking care of their customers. Wish they stayed and gave us a chance to consider their cars.

Here's what BHPian narmad had to say about the matter:

I had a similar experience last week with my Ecosport.

Was travelling to Hinjewadi, Pune for the weekend, from Mumbai via Mumbai Pune Expressway. Seems there was a truck that had a breakdown while climbing the ghat section. The three lanes were squeezed into two. So it was a stop and go traffic on the climb.

Suddenly my clutch gave away and I was stuck in the 2nd gear. I got a response after pumping the clutch and was able to change the gear to 1st. Moved over to the slow lane, driving on 1st for a few mins then changed to 2nd. Again the clutch lost all resistance and I could not change the gear. Got the clutch function back after pumping the pedal. This happened 2-3 times more till I found the tow truck on the side.

A local mechanic drained some fluid [learned later it was to remove air pockets] and I was normally driving to my destination.

Got back to Mumbai and went to Bhavna Ford on Tuesday. They kept the car overnight. I was told there was nothing wrong with the cylinders and everything was all right. They changed the oil for free and just charged me Rs 300/- for labour.

Inquired about the status of my extended warranty and they said it would be honoured and there should be no issue with the servicing.

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