The Founder
Santos Rivera started in the automotive industry as a rental car manager, then moved into fixed operations as a service advisor at a Ford dealership. Over the next two decades, he worked his way through every role that touches Ford warranty — service advisor, service manager, fixed ops director, and warranty administrator — before joining Ford Motor Company's own Warranty Assistance Team (WAT) as a Ford Warranty Dealer Advocate.
On the WAT, Santos worked directly with Ford and Lincoln dealerships to resolve warranty disputes, improve DAS scores, and correct documentation practices — the same work ClaimIQ now delivers at scale. He knows what Ford's warranty department looks for, how auditors think, and what the documentation needs to say to get a claim paid on the first submission.
ClaimIQ was built because Santos kept seeing the same problems at every store he visited: warranty admins who were doing their best with almost no training, claim return patterns nobody was tracking, and schedules full of money nobody was collecting. The platform and services he built address all of it — and every feature reflects a real problem he encountered in a real Ford dealership.
Santos is Puerto Rican — born in Buffalo, now based in Florida — and has been in Automotive Fixed Operations for more than 20 years and as a remote Ford Warranty Dealer Advocate on the Ford Warranty Assistance Team.
Member of Ford's Warranty Assistance Team — working directly with Ford and Lincoln dealerships on warranty disputes and DAS improvement.
Service advisor through fixed ops director. Every Ford and Lincoln dealer role that touches warranty administration.
Submitted, reviewed, and appealed Ford warranty claims through OWS directly — not theoretically.
Hands-on training at Ford and Lincoln dealerships across multiple states.
Fleet operations, vehicle acquisition, customer service, and revenue management.
Front-line warranty write-up. Customer concern documentation. Early exposure to Ford OWS and 3C requirements.
Full service department management. Warranty policy enforcement. Staff training. First direct experience with DAS scores.
Oversight of service and parts. P&L responsibility. Ford warranty program compliance. Multi-department leadership.
Direct OWS submission. Claim documentation review. Denial management and appeals. Deep audit experience.
Member of Ford's Warranty Assistance Team (WAT). Worked directly with Ford and Lincoln dealers to resolve warranty disputes, improve documentation, and rebuild DAS scores.
Building the platform and service firm that Ford dealers actually needed — from someone who's been inside the process.
Why Ford and Lincoln Only
Ford's warranty program has its own language, its own dashboard, its own audit process, and its own way of thinking about documentation. OWS isn't like CDK Warranty or Reynolds. The DAS score isn't how other OEMs evaluate dealer performance. Ford's Warranty Excellence Status is its own system entirely.
You can't build tools and training that are truly useful for Ford warranty administrators while also trying to serve Chevrolet, Toyota, and everyone else. The details matter too much. The op codes matter. The claim return codes matter. The WPAC process matters. None of that transfers between brands.
ClaimIQ exists to be the best Ford and Lincoln warranty resource in the country. Not a generic automotive warranty tool.
ONE Warranty Solution — Ford's proprietary claim submission portal. Every ClaimIQ feature is built around OWS workflows.
Dealer Assessment Score — the 100-point Ford metric that determines Warranty Excellence Status. Every ClaimIQ service targets DAS improvement.
Ford's Complaint, Cause, and Correction documentation standard. The #1 cause of returned and rejected claims. The core of ClaimIQ's coaching engine.
Warranty Assistance Team — Ford's internal team that helps dealers resolve warranty issues. ClaimIQ's founder was on this team.
Reference
Ford warranty has its own vocabulary. These are the terms your warranty admin, service manager, and fixed ops director need to know — and that ClaimIQ is built around.
A complete guide to training Ford warranty administrators — what they need to know and how long it takes.
Important Disclosures
ClaimIQ is operated under EchoDial LLC. Santos Rivera's prior role as a Ford Warranty Dealer Advocate was as an independent contractor or employee of a third-party firm contracted by Ford Motor Company, and does not represent a current affiliation with or endorsement by Ford Motor Company or Lincoln Motor Company. ClaimIQ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ford Motor Company or Lincoln Motor Company. The ClaimIQ Certified Warranty Administrator designation is a proprietary certification issued by EchoDial LLC and is not affiliated with Ford Motor Company. ClaimIQ does not guarantee that any warranty claim will be approved, paid, or accepted by Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company retains sole discretion over all warranty claim decisions.
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