DeKalb woman says Ford replaced car's engine under recall after denying claim almost 2 years earlier

DeKALB, Ill. (WLS) -- A car manufacturer is changing its tune and replacing a woman's car engine under a recall.

But that wasn't the case almost two years ago.

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In March of 2024, the manufacturer told the I-Team that the engine troubles were likely from an issue with an oil change.

"They could've done this in the first place, saved me a whole lot of money that I did not have, for them to turn around and fix it. You know that's just crazy," Tanya Washington said.

DeKalb resident Washington says her granddaughter is now happily driving a 2017 Ford Focus in Alabama. The car's engine is now fixed for free under a recall.

In the I-Team's March 2024 report, Ford said that Washington's car troubles did not qualify for the engine recall, and that "Ford did find metal flakes and paper debris from a non-Ford oil filter, which appears to have come apart and released debris into the engine oil system."

So, Washington paid $3,800 to get the debris cleaned so the car would run.

About a month after that repair, the check engine light came on again. So Washington and her granddaughter brought the car back to the dealership.

"They diagnosed it and said, 'we reached out to Ford, and it was a recall on it, the same recall.' And they said, 'Ford agreed to replace the entire engine for the recall,'" Washington said.

Ford said the car would be covered under the same recall (23V905) that she was trying to qualify for in 2024.

It is a relief, considering an average new engine replacement can cost between $6,000 and $15,000.

Ford did not immediately respond to a request for an updated comment.