Consumer complaint received 2021-01-16
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Lease
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Billing problem
Company: FORD MOTOR CREDIT CO. (ND)

XX/XX/2019 ; went to XXXX XXXX in XXXX ND to lease a pickup. They wouldn't lease the one to me that I picked out so I ended up having to choose another and I chose a 2019 XXXX XXXX XXXX  in the orange colour with power cloth seats, XXXX, XXXX, with a rear locking differential. The salesman told me they had it in stock and would get it ready while I was doing the paperwork with the finance person. Once the paperwork was done it was after closing time and the dealership was trying to rush me out. When I got out to see the new vehicle the salesman pointed me to a white XXXX XXXX with manual seats, no navigation or rear locking differential. I said it wasn't the right one and he threw a hissy fit and said the paperwork was done and it was too late to change. Reluctantly, I gave in and just took the vehicle. After a week I took the truck back because the warning system for the pre collision and crash detection kept going off while driving on open roads with clear skies and no other vehicles in sight. The system has the ability to apply brake pressure and I was worried it may do so when I was at interstate speeds. The lane keeping system would sometimes malfunction and tell me I was outside the lane and would pull the steering XXXX way or another, often nudging the truck into the wrong lane and even pulling it into the ditch numerous times. The truck had also been stalling, and there were times when I put the truck in park but it would continue moving as though it was still in gear or in neutral. It also has a lot of vibration when driving on the highway. There was also an issue with 4x4 low not working. After taking the truck in numerous times to see what they would do, XXXX XXXX refused to do any repairs on the vehicle and refused to replace it. I asked if they would replace it with a XXXX, thinking they would be fine with that because it would have increased the monthly payment about {$200.00}, but they said no and the general manager told me I was no longer welcome to come back to the dealership, he also said they would start charging me for bringing the truck in to have repairs done, even though it's under warranty. 
The issues listed are still going in with the truck. Other issues include many areas of paint that are flaking off down to bare metal, driver 's door mirror is not secured properly and rattles, driver 's door window doesn't always close completely and sometimes falls down slightly when going over bumps, the transmission sometimes slips in-between gears and makes a grinding noise, XXXX doesn't always work, the weather seals around the doors aren't sealing which causes cold air to rush in during winter and dust clouds in summer, the driveshaft is misaligned causing vibration, the suspension on the driver 's side is weak and causes truck to lean on that side and causes issues with towing, the truck is supposed to be able to tow 7500lbs but stalls if you try to tow over 4500 to 5000 lbs, the window sticker said 21/27mpg but the absolute highest mpg it's ever gotten is 19mpg with a tailwind, the hvac system sometimes will have a burning plastic smell and a puff of blue smoke enters the cab, in the winter if you drive through a snowbank the hvac system will stop heating and will only blow ice cold air, in the winter you can sometimes hear the sound of water trickling and the passenger foot well will begin to puddle with water, the fender trim is loose at all 4 wheels, sometimes the brake lights wont illuminate, auto dimming headlights won't switch at appropriate times, there is a hesitation/shuddering that accompanies a loss of power and speed. 
There have been well over a dozen times the vehicle has rolled away after placing the gear shift in park. This happened a couple of times in a parking ramp, one of those times almost running into a friend and myself and another time the vehicle rolled into the parking ramp wall. During that same day the crash detection warning alarm went off while on a major XXXX street, the truck then lost power and started shuddering and power steering, lights and radio all stopped working for a few moments. I reported it to XXXX XXXX as well as ford motor company consumer care. I was told by both that they would not be looking into the incident and would not help me. They refused to take statements from the two other passengers in the truck, all three of us were scared because we were at a major intersection when that happened. I was told by Ford that they do not take statements from individuals and if I wanted to take it any further that I'd need a lawyer. I'm a XXXX veteran that lives solely on my XXXX pension. I have frequent XXXX  issues and doctors appts so I need a reliable vehicle. I live in rural North Dakota so I need something with 4wheel drive. Because of these issues with this truck and the refusal of Ford motor company to work with me to put me in a reliable vehicle I was forced to purchase a second vehicle. The purchase of an additional vehicle means I had to choose which bills to pay on time or do I really need to eat every day. All the while I'm still forced to pay monthly lease payments and full coverage insurance on this truck that I can't rely on to get me where I need to go safely. There is another dealership I've taken it to numerous times and they have said they aren't allowed to look into these issues until the service engine light comes on otherwise I'll have to pay for the work to be done as per ford warranty policy. 
This is ridiculous that I have had to pay all this money for a vehicle that doesn't work and is a hazard to have on the road. The issues with the truck will eventually cause an accident that will possibly result in my death or the death of another passenger, driver or pedestrian. Ford doesn't seem to care about that at all, they have stated that they will look into the issues if an accident occurs where one of these issues could be the cause, but they won't look into it before then and they won't look into anything unless there is a police report. I've reported the issues to the XXXX XXXX XXXX because they are the ones that encourage car companies to issue recalls dye to safety, but even though my reports are listed online ford continues to deny that any customer has reported any of these issues for a ranger built in XXXX of 2019. It's clear to me that ford does not care about the safety of it's consumers or of the safety of XXXX veterans.