My 1992 Lincoln Town was purchased from John Scanlon's Fort Myers Lincoln-Mercury dealership in November, 1998. I enjoyed trouble-free use of the car until it was destroyed by fire April 23rd, 1999. Under urging from the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the course of their investigation, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company made an on-site inspection of the automobile's remains. A week after this visit, they issued a "voluntary recall" of 1992 - 1993 large Ford sedans, primarily the Lincoln Town Car.
Assistance from the Dealer - John Scanlon's Fort Myers Lincoln-Mercury, Inc.
After the fire I wrote and faxed the dealer where I purchased the automobile from. There was (and continues to be) no response to my letter as to how to proceed. I was not informed by my dealer how best to contact Ford Motor Company, should I have the dealer examine the car, etc. It has been up to me to find my way through the maze.
Since then, I have had other occasion to write to Mr Scanlon. None of my other correspondence has ever been answered or acknowledged.
After Ford Motor Company issued the recall, I contacted them through their Customer Assistance department to begin a process of claiming compensation for my losses. While Ford personnel were initially curteous and sympathetic, I had been instructed that I would be contacted by the Office of General Counsel (legal dept) for Ford Motor Company.
The following week I was able to get the Ford Legal Dept to fax me a copy of the letter that they had sent, outlining the information that they required to process a claim for damages.
Approx. four weeks after receiving from me via Overnight courrier the information that Ford had requested to process my claim, I received a short letter denying my claim. They were willing, however to pay me approx. 25% of my claim to make me "go away".
Numerous letters back and forth has upped their offer to approx 60% of my vehicles value, and 40% of the value of the contents that have been destroyed. As I did not fall to my knees and thank them for their offer of a pittance of what our direct costs are from the destruction by their defective and dangerous vehicle- they now consider "the file to be closed".
So, I am still left without an automobile, accumulating storage fees for my destroyed Lincoln, and with no idea as to what the next step will be.
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