2013 Convertible Leaking

bobm

New Member
Jan 17, 2013
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Have a 2013 convertible that leaking, typically in a heavy rain with car sitting for several hours, we get a couple quarts of water on the rear passenger floor. No signs of water anywhere except the carpet.

Ford dealer has had the car more times than I care to admit, they've removed most of the interior(carpet, seats, interior panels) to try and find the leak. Adjusted the windows, resealed all the seams on the floor.

Have opened a case with Ford, their engineer has been out, indicated the issue was a seam leaking in the top, Ford replaced the top last week and when it rained yesterday, it leaked.
Love the car when it's not a swimming pool.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
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Ride them like a dog until they make it right. I don't know what the laws are in your state, but it would seem to me that they're rapidly approaching lemon status.

My son' hasn't had any problems with his 13 vert in the rain, nor have I. That would make me nuts!
 
...Love the car when it's not a swimming pool...

bobm,

Are you sure it’s not liquid from too many “spit-takes”? :spit:

Seriously though, I’m Cory from Ford Service and I can help by arranging a call from your regional customer service manager. Please shoot me a PM with your best daytime phone number, full name, VIN, approximate mileage, and dealer name/state.

Call Ford customer service again. Have them set an appointment to iron out the leak and request they provide you with a loaner. We have a Ford customer service rep that frequents Stangnet. Maybe I can get them to chime in. FordCustSrvc

Thanks a bunch for the shout-out, gearheadboy. :nice:

Cory
 
bobm,

Are you sure it’s not liquid from too many “spit-takes”? :spit:

Seriously though, I’m Cory from Ford Service and I can help by arranging a call from your regional customer service manager. Please shoot me a PM with your best daytime phone number, full name, VIN, approximate mileage, and dealer name/state.



Thanks a bunch for the shout-out, gearheadboy. :nice:

Cory
No problem. Being a former service manager I understand both sides of the coin. He deserves a non-leaking enjoyable Mustang and new car experience and Ford deserves the chance to make it right. Not to mention new models with problems lead to fixes for other folks down the road. Glad to be a help.
 
No problem. Being a former service manager I understand both sides of the coin. He deserves a non-leaking enjoyable Mustang and new car experience and Ford deserves the chance to make it right. Not to mention new models with problems lead to fixes for other folks down the road. Glad to be a help.

gearheadboy,

You can say that again; I appreciate it! :D

Cory
 
Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'll send Cory the info. I'll keep you posted on how it goes, my case with Ford has been open for about a month. We first noticed the issue about a month after purchasing it in July and have been working with the dealer since then.
 
Just a further update, Ford wanted to wait until some rain was expected to try to see the vehicle leak(real time).
Dropped it off, the dealer removed the entire interior, it rained heavily Wednesday night this week, when they got in on Thursday, they found it did not leak. I really can't determine what the circumstances that causes it to leak other than it's in our driveway overnight, the front is elevated and sometimes after a heavy rain, you come out and get a puddle on the back passenger floor. The Dealer is willing to continue to work with me but they are about out of suggestions. The Ford Cust Service Manager called indicating since they can't determine the cause, they are closing my case. She indicated that she might(and I emphasize might) be able to extend the warranty for me . WTF. Hard to believe that a company that made $5.67 billion in profit last year can't figure this out.

Mustangleak_11_5_2013.JPG
 
Just a further update, Ford wanted to wait until some rain was expected to try to see the vehicle leak(real time).
Dropped it off, the dealer removed the entire interior, it rained heavily Wednesday night this week, when they got in on Thursday, they found it did not leak. I really can't determine what the circumstances that causes it to leak other than it's in our driveway overnight, the front is elevated and sometimes after a heavy rain, you come out and get a puddle on the back passenger floor. The Dealer is willing to continue to work with me but they are about out of suggestions. The Ford Cust Service Manager called indicating since they can't determine the cause, they are closing my case. She indicated that she might(and I emphasize might) be able to extend the warranty for me . WTF. Hard to believe that a company that made $5.67 billion in profit last year can't figure this out.

Mustangleak_11_5_2013.JPG
Um..they need to park it how you do. Duplicate it. And again they need to fix it before you pick it up.
 
^^This. And, they don't have to wait for rain. A garden sprinkler should be able to replicate that.

What about car wash, or hose sprayer? Does it leak then?

FWIW, I wouldn't let them close the issue.

Got a pic of the way the car is parked? Does it ever leak when it's parked on flat ground in the rain? What if you park it backwards, so the rear-end is elevated? The nose-up attitude is a definite clue, particularly if it was flat when they had it and it didn't leak. Another thing to check would be wind--do you get a lot when its "raining heavy"? If it's only leaking in your driveway on the PS, is it possible you're getting blowing rain on that side?
 
The front end elevated clue, and how it looked as if no water came from around the seat, I'm guessing the water is coming from along the A-pillar and running along the sill plate to the rear floor. Have you pulled the sill cover to see if there is water under there?

Just stay on the Service Dept. and make sure the duplicate the same conditions when the leak occurs.
 
Put the top down and look down in the void behind the side windows. You will find a rain channel in there. This is where the rain runs down the top when the top is up.

Put the top back up then lift up the overlap flaps from the inside of the car. You will find that there are a couple flaps that look rough cut. They're not sewn or seamed or anything. Those flaps direct the water that runs down the outside of the top, into the rain channel that's between the car panels. Sometimes those flap end up INSIDE the passenger compartment instead running down into the channel.

Ensure that those flaps are where they are supposed to be. If you can't located the pieces that I'm talking about, let me know. I'll try to get pics from my wife's car to post up.
 
Any more updates? There's a guy on SVTP with a GT500 hardtop with a very similar defect: leaks on drivers side into rear floorboard when parked nose uphill in heavy rain. I'm beginning to think it's something coming from front of car down under sill plate and out to back floor.

I told him I would check to see what you found out.
 
Thought I'd give an update. 17 months after purchasing the car, probably 15 trips and over 30 days in the shop at 2 different dealers, untold phone calls with Service Managers, Service Writers, a Ford Customer Service Manager and 8 months after filing a lawsuit against Ford we got our check in the mail from Ford. One day before we were scheduled for court, their attorney finally contacted ours and agreed to settle. They got their car back, we got our money back.
We loved the car except after a heavy rain, really found Ford's handling of this unprofessional. I don't have an axe to grind, just found the entire process with Ford disappointing.
The End