Jason’s Ford Mustang broke down, requiring a repair he expected to be covered under the warranty, given that the car was well under the 5-year, 60,000-mile limit. The Ford dealership to which he towed his car denied the warranty service, basically accusing him of abusing the car by driving it “beyond its design limits.”

John, who needs to come up with $2,600 to fix the Mustang, writes:

I’m in desperate need of some publicity to help my case. I’m a 22 year old college student with a 2007 Ford Mustang that has 36,200 miles on it. Just this past week the differential went out, which is warrantied for 5 years or 60,000 miles. My car was towed to a dealership in Tampa, FL (the nearest Ford dealer), where after 4 days the warranty repair was denied due to a generic claim of “This vehicle has been driven beyond its design limits.” I’ve since been spending $50 a day on a rental car to get back and forth to college.

Ford, as well as the dealer where my car was towed, have both been of no assistance, and have even gone as far as telling me I’ve “abused” the vehicle, and want $2,600 to repair it. I’m a full time college student and don’t have $2,600 lying around to spend on something that shouldn’t cost me anything.

Have you ever had a warranty denied under a similar circumstance? What would you do if you were in Joel’s shoes?

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