A Tennessee woman says she took her Ford Bronco Sport to a dealership for a simple oil change and ended up with a much bigger problem. Her SUV started smoking and reportedly caught fire shortly after she left; she later received a $15,000 repair estimate.
Ashley, who posts on TikTok as @saltabstract, shared what happened after visiting Ford of Franklin in Tennessee. She said the oil change took place about a year ago, but she’s still trying to get the dealership to pay for the damage.
Other drivers noticed something wrong with Ashley’s Bronco shortly after she picked it up. They flagged her down and told her the SUV was smoking and on fire.
Ashley headed straight back to Ford of Franklin, but the Bronco started jerking along the way. She said an employee stepped on the gas hard when she got there, and a bunch of smoke poured out.
Ford Dealership Blames Bronco’s Jerking on a Tire
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@saltabstract @Ford Motor Company @thefreshfather ♬ original sound – saltabstract
Ashley said the dealership told her there was too much oil in the engine. As for the jerking, employees said one of her tires was low on air.
The strange part was that she’d just had a multipoint inspection, and nothing in the paperwork mentioned low tire pressure. Ashley said the dealership also replaced the tire for free without asking her first.
She kept driving the Bronco, but it was still giving her trouble a week later. Ashley said she tried to contact the manager about the problems and could see he’d read her messages, but he never responded.
Ashley also said she’d been having problems with the Bronco since buying it. The oil change had only made things worse.
Second Mechanic Suspects Ford Drained the Wrong Fluid
When Ashley took the Bronco back to the dealership, she got some bad news about the transmission. Employees told her they’d found metal shavings in the transmission fluid and that repairs would cost $15,000.
Ashley said they also told her the transmission trouble had nothing to do with the earlier oil change. She wasn’t buying that explanation and went to another mechanic to have the Bronco checked.
That mechanic suspected someone at Ford had accidentally drained the transmission fluid. He thought the technician might have mistaken it for engine oil during the original service.
If that’s what happened, the old engine oil would have still been there when the technician added more. The transmission would also have been low on fluid, which the mechanic believed was behind the jerking. That was the second mechanic’s theory, according to Ashley.
Ford Dealership Owner Offers To Cover $11,000
Ashley eventually managed to speak with the dealership’s owner. In a follow-up video, she said he offered to pay $11,000 toward the repairs.
That wasn’t enough for Ashley, who was still looking at another $4,000. She wanted the dealership to cover the entire $15,000 bill, including the transmission damage.
Ashley said the owner wouldn’t agree to pay the full amount, so she told him she planned to pursue legal action.