FocusCanada Forums

So, I've been off the board for a little while due to some errors on the login. No biggie.

For you on the BBM board you well know about my car problems, but I want to share to the rest of you considering tomorrow, December 1st could be the end of the Lil Blue Alien (Some people I work with start calling my Focus that due to the looking at the back of it looks like an Alien looking at you with black eyes lol)

Day 1
November 18th
Auto-start the car to warm it up in the morning.
Hope in and pull out the driveway. Smell something burning. Thought nothing, perhaps the atmosphere outside the car.
Drive down the road a bit and all hell broke loose.
Smell got bad, door locks triggered, horn sounded, lights flickered, engine died and the interior filled with smoke from where the fuse panel is.
Towed it to my house and figured I can handle it.
Took the paneling off and oh man. The wiring harness was melted.
Called Colony Ford (where I bought the car from)
They sent over a Hansen Towing to pic her up.
Left it with them for the day after explaining everything that happened.
Approved 2 hours Diagnostics.

Day 2
November 19th
They got the car in and check it out.
Called me up needing to order an Engine Harness. $1200 with Labour.
Approved and it will take about 3 days to get in. State side.

Day 3
November 25th
Got a call...
Harness in, lights and gauge cluster not working. Need 2 more hours of Diagnostics to figure it out.
Approved.
Got a call in the afternoon.
Need the 2 Rear Harnesses. $1400 with Labour.
I was like hold up...
This is way, way too much. Gotta get my Father involved seeing how he is the owner of the car.
Called my pops up and he was pretty fucking pissed. He said, "It’s your problem."
Called Colony and said stop work I gotta see what I can do before we can go any further because the dam car isn't even worth the repairs.
Searched the internet and found tones of Fofo's that had this problem and same symptoms mine did but the recall was serialized to select cars.
Called Ford Canada.
They pretty much gave me the run around and said that in order for Ford to pay for this repair the insurance company has to make a huge deal or a Fatality has to come from it. I said so how would be stupid enough to stay sitting in a car that was filling with smoke and ready to burn to the ground.
Called my Father again and told him to call Stat Farm.
State Farm said stop all work and they were sending a person over right away.

26th, 29th and 30th
Called dealer ship just to check to see if anyone had seen an adjuster from State Farm. No one did...
On the 29th we found out from talking with our agent found out that whatever causes the fire is not covered but say the fire damages the carpet, then the carpet with be fixed. So if Joe Blow flicks a lit match in ur car and it sets fire to your seat. It is claimable under Fire and Comprehensive.
Father called State Farm up couple hours ago... (30th)
They had someone come by and see the car on the 26th and decided not to tell anyone.
Saw the call was lowered in the front and had the CF Hood on. Looked in the trunk threw the glass and saw my disconnected wires from my stereo too.
The adjuster saw the car as not insurable.
Father at this point is holding sooooooo much back from crushing the phone in his hand. (To imagine what my father looks like, imagine a Grizzly Bear, pissed off and looking to kill something. That’s him)
Asked politely, what the f**k does the suspension have to do with Fire!!
What do any of the modifications have to do with the Fire? The one thing on the car my son didn't touch ignites and sets on fire and you deem this as uninsurable. I suggest you take another look at it tomorrow because we don't pay these high premiums for nothing.
Clams agent... Yes sir. Tomorrow we will send someone over right away and call you upon inspection.

So like I said tomorrow might be the end of her.
Right it off, fix it, not fix it and I get the bill.
Those are my outcomes.
I'll let you know.

Shitty deal man... Let's see what the insurance man says though, maybe the first adjuster was a little quick, and the one tomorrow might be a little more reasonable.

Dude wow.
I've been always warned that if you mod the car prepare for insuarence denial.

So all together dealer is asking $2600 so far?

Unbelievable John - that totally blows.

I read the whole thing but I couldn't see in there what the actual cause of the fire was ... wouldn't that be the key to being insurable or not?

If the cause was unrelated to anything you've changed on the car, I don't see how the insurance company could deny your claim.

And furthermore ... if it was indeed related to something that Ford has recalled other cars for, you should seriously consider a CAMVAP claim.

(12-01-2010, 01:03 PM)Scorcher000 Wrote: [ -> ]What do any of the modifications have to do with the Fire?

It might not be the "mods" you are thinking that are causing the claim to be denied, personally I'm thinking the "modification" to the wiring harness to put in an aftermarket (if I'm correct in assuming it's aftermarket) remote start system.

All the wiring harnesses that you mentioned will have splices for a remotes start system; the fact that your electrical system has been modified (ie maybe he talked to the dealership tech) could be enough to deny coverage.

Don't get me wrong here; I'm not taking sides or anything. You can thank Joe ricer that cuts his springs with a blowtorch or people that invest $4000 in a turbo and $0 on brakes and wraps themselves around a tree or another person for the insurance companies clamping down on mods.

Speachless...... That's it. Sorry to hear Johnny. Give me a call tonight.

There was nothing the dealer could find that caused the fire. The Service tech Nelson (nice guy) said that all of the aftermarket stuff was not the problem.

Stereo was never connected to the harness accept the deck. Everything else was standalone.

Auto-start was installed by Ford cause its a Ford product and they said they never had a problem before...

Ken what is a CAMVAP

Nik, $1780 is the current bill for the front harness and tow with 9 hours labour. The rear harness is $1400 plus tax and anything else...

All my mods were done correctly. Nothing half ass or dangerous too.

Anything else lol...

Kev I will call PM your number. and tell me what it is too. (like your Home phone or Cell)

I had the wiring harness in my old car set fire like that, all this was due to the IAT sensor shorting out on the EGR tube. Simple crap like that and the wires set fire. Fortunatly I found the problem and was able to trace/replace the melted nest.

Sucks to hear, hope things get resolved with minimal cost.

(12-01-2010, 11:44 PM)Scorcher000 Wrote: [ -> ]All my mods were done correctly. Nothing half ass or dangerous too.

That sucks then.

Call... shanahan ford in new market. Ask for Randy in service.

I spent about 2000$ at their dealership, after having spent a previous 2g's fixing the focus elsewhere. After the first 1400$ they started cutting me some slack on the labour rate, 600$ to R&R a transmission + whatever they did while it was out.

explain to Randy your situation, I don't know if name dropping me will help any but you could always bring up Luc from Oshawa with the Focus that spent a couple weeks in the shop. Maybe they'll give u a deal since you're on referral and would be coming from far.


edit: cause yeah, 1400$ is redic. The other thing though is you can always ask if they'll let you perform part of the labour; as in you go in and in the parking lot take out the interior, trim, panels whatever needs to come off you do it. You can cut down on the 100$ labour charge by doing that.

Well, at least they aren't claiming any of the lighting mods that you did were the cause of the fire, that would have been game over right there.

As to where this goes from here, all I can say is document everything, when it comes to dealing with adjusters especially (you know the fun times I've had with those people in the past)

NefCanuck

The cause of fire is the rear spoiler in the car. thats insurnace for you.

Good luck with the repair.

Not to be negative here, but your original policy that you agreed to from state farms says any modification to the suspension or alteration to the original body can Deny your coverage. If you were in an accident they could refuse as soon as they see the car is lowered. They are nasty with that., I have been with state farm for years, including an insanely modded Z24 (Body Lighting Stereo Suspension Engine and Interior) the key was they knew about all of the changes (my specific agent) they had it all documented and I had to have the car saftied (which it passed) because all the parts were high end. When I got hit by abus and it destroyed the Z24, they not only covered the cost of the car they covered mods, I did not lose a cent on the loss (they were great), however it was made clear that with the next car must remain stock, they will not longer cover modded cars at all for new policies, hence the reason I went SVT instead of doing up a regular ZX3.
I hope the dealer will help you out, and before fixing all that they better find out what caused it.

David

I know all about policies, infact when you change your brake pads to anyhting other than a OEM Ford pad on a Focus you in fact void you warranty...
I almost married an underwriter that majored in personal, comercial, motorcycle/atv insurance.

My friend has a modded Talon. 1st Gen. A Jeep backed over the hood of the car in the mall parking lot...
Statefarm cam by replaced his broken aftermarket engine parts rapainted his whole car and since they were unable to find/repair the orignial front bumper they upgraded it to a body kit if he put in the cash for the sides and rear bumper.
I've have always had a problem with insurance. Never liked them, ever since they f**ked me over for a while when I was paying $998 per month.
Also when you think you are insured by StateFarm for your modded car. You were really insured by another company... Plus all retail insurance companies are just the fronts for the bigger boys we don't evern know or hear about.

December 1st.
No word from anyone about the mess so far.
Though... A tow truck driver came knocking on the door a little while ago.
I'm here to pick up the Focus, you missed a payment.
My dad had a lot on his mind lately since his brother passed away and some other things here and there. s**t happends right.
So my Dad says to him, s**t I forgot. Aaaa don't worry about it anyway buddy. The dam thing is already on the lot. It caught fire 2 weeks ago lol.

The s**t keeps piling up. It would seem that you and your family has a lot on the plate at the moment. Take it easy my man. Things have a way of working out for the better in the end.

If all else fails, it's nothing a match won't fix. LOL

(12-01-2010, 11:44 PM)Scorcher000 Wrote: [ -> ]There was nothing the dealer could find that caused the fire. The Service tech Nelson (nice guy) said that all of the aftermarket stuff was not the problem.

Stereo was never connected to the harness accept the deck. Everything else was standalone.

Auto-start was installed by Ford cause its a Ford product and they said they never had a problem before...

Ken what is a CAMVAP

Nik, $1780 is the current bill for the front harness and tow with 9 hours labour. The rear harness is $1400 plus tax and anything else...

All my mods were done correctly. Nothing half ass or dangerous too.

Anything else lol...

Kev I will call PM your number. and tell me what it is too. (like your Home phone or Cell)

I know in the US it is unlawful for the manufacturer to deny you warranty coverage due to modifications, unless the mods were directly the cause of the problem ... ie: having a CAI is not enough reason for the mfg to deny repairing the brakes if they are ... and the same should apply here and it should apply to your insurance coverage - no matter what the policy says - although it might take a date in front of a judge to get it.

It's important to understand what caused the fire ... if it was unrelated to the mods you should push the insurance company hard - and make sure you talk to the Ontario Insurance Ombudsman.

If it was related to a problem with the OE equipment, you should push the dealership hard to have it covered by warranty ... even if your car is technically not in warranty, there are ways they can cover the repairs or a portion of them under a good will policy.

If you're convinced that it was a problem with the OE parts of your car and Ford denys responsibility, you can issue a claim with CAMVAP the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Program.

I did this once and as a result Ford was forced to pay for the installation of the underseat heat ducts on my 2004 ZTW. There's a thread in here somewhere with details about it. If you go the CAMVAP route you have to have your ducks in a row and your documentation tight.

Thanks Ken, very good to know.
Currently StateFarm is dicking us around by playing phone TAG right now. My Fathers agent does this whenever she is afriad to talk to my Dad. So we will see what happends today.

If we hear nothing from the insurance we are just pulling the car and paying what we owe then parking it in the garage and switching insurance companies lol. Funny thing is Belair Direct keeps emailing me. All the email says is, Give us a try! lol

Yeah, when I called the dealership I bought my car from to inquire about mods they told me that the only way a mod will void warranty is if it is determined that the mod caused the problems you are having. If it was OE equipment, should be covered as Ken mentioned. All I can say is fight hard, even though it's a pain in the ass if you do your research and have people on your side like the Ontario Insurance Ombudsman or CAMVAP.. your chances will be a lot better.

Good luck man.

good luck man, insurance companies are the devil.

(12-04-2010, 01:13 AM)Flofocus Wrote: [ -> ]good luck man, insurance companies are the devil.

amen.