Broken 360 camera warranty won’t cover

[jaroddf89]

I have a drivers side 360 camera that the dealership doesn’t want to cover. I’m under warranty still, and since I purchased the vehicle a little over a year ago my driver side 360 camera has been going in and out. I took it apart myself and believe the issue to be a short in the wiring. I tried to glue it in place but with no success. Dealership wants to tell me they won’t cover it now since it’s been tampered with. Has anyone dealt with something similar and had success fighting this?

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[BroncoChallenger]

Did you buy the vehicle new or used? Are you still inside the 36k miles? When was the vehicle intially put in service? I see your info says a 2023, that could have been put in service as early as 2022, which puts you OUTSIDE the warranty window.

Did you document the issue with them when you first noticed it? Did they look at it and attempt to diagnose it? Is there a paper trail on it? If you did, they'll be more likely to work with you and escalate the issue. If not...they have reasonable suspicion that you may have caused it.

Did you tell them you messed with it? Is there evidence that you messed with it? It sounds like it since you attempted to glue it in place - everything should just snap in place when placed correctly (I accidentally popped my wife's passenger side mirror camera out of place on her expedition, and after some messing around was able to see how it went back in and popped it back in properly). If you told them, OR there is evidence of something being tampered with, then there are grounds to determine that you did something to it, even if you actually didn't.

Occasional issues need to be documented, even if the dealer 'cannot replicate at this time.' It starts a paper trail that, as the issue gets worse (because it often will), you and the dealer can use to escalate it to Ford to get a resolution. I haven't personally had to do it, but my FIL had an issue with his 2022 F250, it would 'clunk' occasionally going from R to D, but not every time and inspections showed nothing wrong. They never found a resolution before he traded it in but it was well-documented at least.

 

[jaroddf89]

Did you buy the vehicle new or used? Are you still inside the 36k miles? When was the vehicle intially put in service? I see your info says a 2023, that could have been put in service as early as 2022, which puts you OUTSIDE the warranty window.

Did you document the issue with them when you first noticed it? Did they look at it and attempt to diagnose it? Is there a paper trail on it? If you did, they'll be more likely to work with you and escalate the issue. If not...they have reasonable suspicion that you may have caused it.

Did you tell them you messed with it? Is there evidence that you messed with it? It sounds like it since you attempted to glue it in place - everything should just snap in place when placed correctly (I accidentally popped my wife's passenger side mirror camera out of place on her expedition, and after some messing around was able to see how it went back in and popped it back in properly). If you told them, OR there is evidence of something being tampered with, then there are grounds to determine that you did something to it, even if you actually didn't.

Occasional issues need to be documented, even if the dealer 'cannot replicate at this time.' It starts a paper trail that, as the issue gets worse (because it often will), you and the dealer can use to escalate it to Ford to get a resolution. I haven't personally had to do it, but my FIL had an issue with his 2022 F250, it would 'clunk' occasionally going from R to D, but not every time and inspections showed nothing wrong. They never found a resolution before he traded it in but it was well-documented at least.

Purchased new in late 2024. Still well within the warranty. Unfortunately this had no paper trail prior to me taking it in on this round, But it seems they’re being overly critical at the same time, saying some pinstripes on the exterior plastic from off-roading would void the warranty. The part I do understand their perspective on, is there is some glue residue still on the camera, but it doesn’t affect the wires or cover the camera. It’s just leftover from my diy attempt to fix it.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

Purchased new in late 2024. Still well within the warranty. Unfortunately this had no paper trail prior to me taking it in on this round, But it seems they’re being overly critical at the same time, saying some pinstripes on the exterior plastic from off-roading would void the warranty. The part I do understand their perspective on, is there is some glue residue still on the camera, but it doesn’t affect the wires or cover the camera. It’s just leftover from my diy attempt to fix it.

Okay so yes, you're still under the warranty. They can't really say anything about the pinstriping - that could have happened in your own back yard for all they know (I have done this a couple times on my property up north with other vehicles that were a LITTLE too big to go where I needed them). That's also form over function and the warranty is supposed to cover function, not necessarily form.

The glue is going to be the problem, especially if you admitted to it. With you having already tampered with it, they have grounds to claim you caused the issue, especially since it was never documented before that. That's why I take my vehicles that have a warranty in for an oil change instead of doing it myself - first, it creates a paper trail that THEY did all the work on it if ANYTHING happens down the road, and second, it gives me an opportunity to tell them to look into any little glitch that I may have noticed more than once. Even if all they do is hook up the computer and run a quick diagnostic that comes back clean, it will still be documented that an issue was noticed - and I won't have to pay for it because it was a potential warranty concern.

Good luck, but I've got a feeling you're going to be up a creek without a paddle on this one. Hopefully lesson learned though - don't try to fix something yourself that should be covered under warranty, if you're going to have them look at it at any point in the future.

 

[JD18]

I have a drivers side 360 camera that the dealership doesn’t want to cover. I’m under warranty still, and since I purchased the vehicle a little over a year ago my driver side 360 camera has been going in and out. I took it apart myself and believe the issue to be a short in the wiring. I tried to glue it in place but with no success. Dealership wants to tell me they won’t cover it now since it’s been tampered with. Has anyone dealt with something similar and had success fighting this?

Have/had a similar issue on my passenger side camera. The loose connection I found to be where the wires connect to the camera plug. When you put on the mirror cover it applies just enough pressure to disconnect to give you a blank/black camera image. Ended up using a pretty healthy dose of electrical and duct tape to keep it in place. Camera image shows clearly.

Not a full warranty replacement but at least the camera image shows now.

 

[DJBMSU]

I cannot imagine "any" warranty being accepted if the item has been tampered with. Any ! and i served as Parts and Service president Ford dealership owners for 5 years.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Never ever admit or volunteer to any intervention while under warranty. Any thing can happen in a Union Ford Factory incl bubblegum fixes and glue.

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