NEW Cat 150 AWD

[20/80]

It's an expensive machine. Cat should have been involved as soon as it was determined it wasn't a simple repair. How could it not be covered by warranty?

Well my understanding of how warranty coverage works is that upper level Cat has to approve it, new machine or not, a Cat mobile just can't order a part he thinks he needs, as a example, smaller less expensive parts like a coil he would have some leeway but for him to order and put on a 3-$4000 ECM he would need approval, upper level Cat would need proof that the ECM was the problem and will fix the machine, so its not just cut and dry sort of speak, with my new 150 the mobile is not sure what's going on, so he has reached out to a more broader network for a fix

 

[John C.]

You are lucky the issues are showing up now and not 10 months down the line.

The dealer is the first to decide if something is a warranty situation. They have reams of papers that decide what is and isn't a warranty situation. While this situation is absolutely warrantable, it is also some type of design or workmanship problem that the factory would want to be part of. There are technical people both at the dealer and the factory who brainstorm the problem and try to come to some sort of solution. The dealership could just find and fix the problem and then submit the warranty claim papers to the factory for review and payment. The factory can turn down payment in that situation and the dealer and the customer would then be on the hook for it.

Generally what happens now days is that the owner is charged for the repair and required to pay the bill up front to the dealer, the dealer submits all the paperwork and returns the failed parts to the factory who take months to decide whether or not the problem was theirs. They will refund payment to the dealer who then credits the owner's account. What isn't paid at all anymore is travel and mileage. There also may be freight charges that are not covered under a warranty.

The upshot of all this is that down time on a new machine is no less likely than down time on an auction unit. The process of handling warranties is being manipulated so the buyer is saddled with more and more of the charges. There are people handling warranties at the dealerships and factories who's job it is to find a way to deny warranty claims.

 

[20/80]

I totally agree John C, it seems these warranties repairs get caught up and constipated with internal red tape and BS, our warranty on this new 150 is 5 years bumper to bumper, whatever the hell that means, i'm sure there is lots of windows in the fine print for Cat to jump out of for some of the claims, but the fact of the matter is we have a brand new CAT 150 grader with 35hrs on it and its sitting on the floor broke not able to do the work it was bought and paid for, not one mechanic showed up today and not even as much as a phone call to let us no what's happening or if they are coming back, where is the Cat Pride and reliability that Cat promoted when we handed them the money for this machine, Day four, HERE WE GO AGAIN NEW 150 CAT AWD DOWN.

 

[Welder Dave]

I went through a bunch of garbage getting warranty on my truck. They did the scheduled service and noticed the oil pan and valve covers were leaking. It was getting to be a pretty common problem. They had to order the parts and keep my truck for 2 days. It was over $1000 to do the repair. My warranty was close to expiring but at the time everybody was told to stay home because of covid. I waited until the gov't. eased the covid rules a bit. I was fighting for a couple weeks because my warranty expired (by the date, not the mileage) and they are claiming Ford denied it. I was dealing with a woman who gave me a number to Ford. The service manager was on holidays. Ford was of no help and said my warranty expired (Ford has some stupid computer program that guesses what your mileage is). Looking online I see where there is such a thing where a dealer has discretion and can pay some or all of the costs to fix a loyal customers vehicle. There was name for the program but I forget what it was. I asked this woman about it and she said it was never offered because the dealer isn't part of that program. I called another Ford dealer who said it's available to all Ford dealers but only at the dealer the vehicle was purchased at. She said Ford said no so there's nothing we can do. I asked when the service manager would be back and she said in 2 days. I said I want to speak to him as soon as he gets back. She said she would leave a note. 2 days later I wait till about 4pm and then call to speak with the service manager. He said he never got a message to call me but did see some paper work on my truck. He said it didn't make sense to him why it wouldn't be covered under warranty and would make some calls. I think it was the next day I got message to call him. I called back and got this beatch of a woman on the phone who said it would be covered by warranty(I thought if Ford said no there's nothing the dealer can do). I later talked to the service manager and he said he talked to someone at Ford he's known for years and got it approved right away. After the work was done I called to see when I could pick the truck up. The woman answered the phone which was odd. Every other time I called she was always busy. She said I could pick up the truck anytime in the afternoon and then was trying to take credit for getting it approved for warranty (aren't you happy we got it approved for you). Well, you just lost a customer you unqualified beatch. I'm not trying to bash women, this just happened to be a woman. I would have had the same attitude had it been a man. What a %$#@! ordeal that was. Funny all the police F150's had the repair done under a recall but the general public doesn't get a recall unless it's a safety issue. Leaking oil could certainly be a safety issue if ask me.

 

[20/80]

Very sad Welder Dave, isn't it stress full how you have to fight tooth and nail to get warranty coverage, when you bought your truck the warranty would have been pushed by the sales men as a selling point.

 

[Welder Dave]

Absolutely! They didn't want to send it to a body shop because it had a deep scratch when I went to pick it up. I left it there and they tried to fix it with a touch up pen! It's a black $50,000 cad. truck. I said if it was an appliance it would have 25% knocked off and be put in the scratch and dent area. They claimed they screwed up on my trade in because they thought it was a 4x4 and it wasn't and the body shop would be too expensive. Who cares, that's not my screw up. On a grader in the $500,000 range, Cat/the dealer should be bending over backwards trying to help you out.

 

[20/80]

Absolutely! They didn't want to send it to a body shop because it had a deep scratch when I went to pick it up. I left it there and they tried to fix it with a touch up pen! It's a black $50,000 cad. truck. I said if it was an appliance it would have 25% knocked off and be put in the scratch and dent area. They claimed they screwed up on my trade in because they thought it was a 4x4 and it wasn't and the body shop would be too expensive. Who cares, that's not my screw up. On a grader in the $500,000 range, Cat/the dealer should be bending over backwards trying to help you out.

I agree, not sure who is getting bent over though, lol

 

[Welder Dave]

Who ever pays for your machine is for sure getting bent over. I'd bet if you were a big contractor with 100's of Cat machines you'd have a loaner or even a good trade in from somewhere to use till the 150 gets sorted out. $500K is still a major purchase that Cat should be looking after you. The Cat and JD dealers here show lots of fairly new graders that I assume are trade ins listed for sale.

 

[20/80]

I believe we bought over ten new graders and 9 backhoe's this past April from Cat, all bought not leased, Cat was awarded to supply us with equipment for the next 5 years, we are a dam good costumer and play a big role for Cat sales and parts for the last 10 years in this province.

 

[John C.]

I'm sure someone above you is being communicated with. Your sales rep should be catching all kinds of hell right now and he will be all over the service department to get the machine up. You might also mention that this is being monitored by all the people that can be contacted on the internet.

 

[Welder Dave]

I believe we bought over ten new graders and 9 backhoe's this past April from Cat, all bought not leased, Cat was awarded to supply us with equipment for the next 5 years, we are a dam good costumer and play a big role for Cat sales and parts for the last 10 years in this province.

They should be bending over backwards to help you. The sad part is they should for an owner/operator as well. This a vital machine to your operation and there has to be a loaner or something available somewhere. It really gives Cat a bad name. I wonder if there's a clause somewhere in the 5 year contract if you're not satisfied, the contract can be dissolved or modified? If so might give them some more motivation to fix you up ASAP.

 

[20/80]

I often wonder if Cat ever surfs this forum, if they don't they should, some real world experiences are happening with their gear their selling on this forum.

 

[Welder Dave]

It might be wake up call. They sure need one on your machine.

 

[DB2]

There’s an argument to be made here about making payments as opposed to paying everything up front. Tell them the payments will stop until the machine is up and running again or a loaner is supplied. It’s honestly hard to believe one hasn’t been provided already.

 

[Tones]

A name for the new thread " BOHICA". Sounds like a first nations place but it ain't. Bend Over Here It Comes Again.

 

[DB2]

A name for the new thread " BOHICA". Sounds like a first nations place but it ain't. Bend Over Here It Comes Again.

Dry

 

[John C.]

I'm sure that all the manufacturers read anything that shows up on the net. Does it mean anything and do they change anything because of what is printed here? How would anyone know? My point is that it couldn't hurt. Withholding payments will do nothing as financing is always done with either another company or a different part of the organization. I believe there are "Force Majeure" clauses in many contracts that allow for the suspension of payments. I've never seen where a broken down machine counts for that. As far as this event goes, no manufacturer would ignore it. From your point of view nothing is happening, that doesn't mean that the phones are silent all the way up the chain of command.

What most people don't know is that sales contracts can be negotiated and modified to the buyer's benefit depending on any leverage they may have. Things like travel time and mileage can be added. Terms on freight charges can also be included. If your company is big enough you might try to add a provision on down time.

 

[20/80]

Well.. Day 5, no Cat support again today, after calling them this morning wondering what the hell is going on with this machine they replied that parts will be in this afternoon and a mobile will be out tomorrow morning, I now have lost a week of great grading weather to down time, which puts me behind for other projects that were planed, there is a 50/50 chance they get it up and running tomorrow, hopefully with any luck they will, HERE WE GO AGAIN NEW CAT 150 AWD DOWN

 

[20/80]

Day 6, Cat called this morning said not all the parts showed up so they were not coming today, late into the afternoon Cat Mobile showed up with parts, he replaced the new parts with more new parts, all failed still same codes showing up, no regen, failed ignition, level three shut down, mobile is reaching out to the TC again, This is awful, can't believe this is happening to our area brand new machine, Cat mobile is staying late to try to figure this out, he figures the TC will want him to order more parts which will take us into next week, unless he figures out the problem tonight, HEAR WE GO AGAIN NEW CAT 150 AWD DOWN

 

[Welder Dave]

There was a bridge job here a few years ago that the contractor was past the deadline and had to pay $10,000/day in late fee's. Maybe Cat should be giving you a credit of a couple thousand dollars a day for the downtime on your new $500K grader that you can't use! If other municipalities or construction outfits here of this could make them think twice about purchasing a Cat grader(s) or other Cat machines. I think it's close to the point if they can't figure it out soon, they give you another grader that actually works properly.