$5k repair on 40k miles

[MrJaver]

Hi, I got 2018 Ford Edge in January 2022 at 19k miles. In February 2023 at 25k miles the car would vibrate in drive - it had a recall repair on shifter cable bushing and a flex plate. Bad experience with dealer, took 2 months, $1k+ in rentals/taxi.

 

Right now (January 2025) at 39k miles it stater to vibrate again and a shop said flex plate needs to be replaced again. Ford won't cover because the recall has been closed and repair warranty has passed. Once the shop disassembled the car they found some other stuff as well totalling $5k repair bill.

 

Carfax shows regular oil changes, I also did as recommended at 22k, 25k, 28k, 32k, 38k as well as the 30k miles service. The car is generally without any issues but this came out of nowhere on such low mileage.

 

I called Ford and they said I "qualify for financial assistance" based on VIN but wouldn't say how much and for what items exactly. They did say it's not 100% coverage, so I'd pay something either way. I would need to get the car into a Ford dealership for service.

Ford doesn't provide loaners, Ford dealer would charge more than a 3rd party shop, Ford won't cover 100% - so I thought I'd just repair here since they gave me a loaner and it's less hassle. But I am selling it in 1 year.

The shop says a torque converter had 1 bolt snap and destroy flex plate. And they suspect that previous recall did not replace the converter even though it was listed there because the bolt shows shiny metal when snapped and rusted metal otherwise which means it's been there for a while and snapped recently. They also found that crankshaft had a little chip on it probably from that bolt.

 

 

I like the car but this is too expensive to do again, do you have any advice on a similar one? Perhaps another Ford Edge but newer doesn't have that problem? I see there was that recall and it only applied up to 2018, so 2019 should be ok. I read online that Mazda's SUVs are more reliable and seem comparable. I don't want to spend money if I don't have to though. Carfax says it's worth about $17k private, online trade-ins offer me $13k if no issues at all.

Edited 14 hours ago by MrJaver