Ford knew Focus, Fiesta models had flawed transmission, sold them anyway

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https://amp.freep.com/amp/1671198001

This is a Godzilla huge article detailing just how great the scope of this issue is, that Ford knew from before the first car rolled out, and how both Ford and the NHTSA plan to continue to do pretty much nothing about it.
 
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Every year that goes by less and less of these cars and car problems exist. Just like Ford hopes. Until the right important person gets killed nothing will be done. It seems to me a LOT of people should be in jail for outright fraud.
 
I've driven a PowerShift equipped Focus once and it did shift roughly, like a Honda but more jerky. I've seen posts here of people getting multiple PCM flashes and internal parts replaced to no avail. And Getrag can make a good tranny if you're willing to pay - their manuals are considered solid, their work with Porsche and Nissan DSGs seems to be good.

The funny part is that VW was able to tame the DSG/AMG design and make its operation almost transparent to the driver and passenger and ZF successfully launched a heavy-duty AMG for tour buses and big rigs. Honda even has their own AMG out right now. I'm guessing this is classic Ford cost-cutting at work coming back to bite them.
 
Interesting.

It's annoying that automakers today continue to rush out substandard product under the premise that they can sort out the problems in the future.


Looks like supplier Getrag (aka Magna) and FORD ended up just pointing fingers but FORD was able to obtain some compensation.
 
After thirty years of buying new Ford trucks, last year I bought a Toyota. I am currently on my 14th vehicle in 30 years, mostly because each new Ford I bought was worse than the one before, it had yet more defects that Ford refused to acknowledge, this left me in a pattern on buying new vehicles every couple years. I did once buy a new 1999 Chevy Silverado, it honestly didn't make it home from the dealership. I also bought two new Jeep Wranglers, ironically I had only one issue with the first one and none with the second. the first one had the air conditioner compressor replaced, this was not Chrysler's fault as it was a defective part from Nippon Denso.

I'm absolutely amazed that in 20,000 miles, my 2018 Toyota has needed only one repair, the battery died, zero hassles from Toyota. The abuse I suffered from Ford and GM was staggering, yet I kept going back because I fell into the buy American hooplah. I am now quite angry with myself for not switching to Toyota years ago. In my opinion, Ford deserves to wither and die along with their dealership network that is as guilty as Ford itself.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
tl;dr moral of the story is to buy the manual transmission.



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In the early 1990s I worked at a Chrysler dealer, my primary job was warranty administrator. The A604 transmission was an absolute nightmare, and we did not deny it, we tried our best to fix them, and did our best to make the customer as happy as possible at the dealership. We didn't deny there was a problem, or suggest that things were "normal" as Ford tries to do. We went out of our way to make the customer as happy as we could, free loaner or rental cars, going to their home to pick up repeat repair cars, we actually paid a towing company to always have at least one tow truck available to us, and two tow trucks when the weather got bitterly cold. Two tow trucks because the A604 had a habit of failing with spectacular effect when people got out on the Interstate and accelerated hard in extreme cold.

We also made sure we always had transmissions and parts in stock to minimize repair times.

Ford just denies everything and continues to treat their victims poorly.
 
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Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
tl;dr moral of the story is to buy the manual transmission.



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Hindsight is 20/20.

Back in 2011-2012 you would not have stated this. In fact I remember many saying to buy with confidence because in EU this model was proven. But most buyers over there get manual transmissions, which is not the case in NA.
 
My girlfriend bought one on these recently (without my consent, though I must admit I knew nothing of the issue at the time). Just had to get the clutches and input shaft seal replaced, just missed the extended warranty, but did get the TCM replaced for free as the extended warranty on this part is longer. I drove in it multiple times when it found neutral. It is without question a potentially dangerous event. Sidenote: anyone know the reliability of that input shaft seal nowadays? I've heard it has improved.

My anecdotal information gathered from friends and family and my personal cars is that domestic vehicles are just not built as well as Japanese vehicles. I hate saying that, but I would also hate to own another Ford/Chev/Chrysler.
 
There are now 10's of thousands of customers more former customers that will never own another Ford. Goodwill is VERY expensive to regain once lost. Even more expensive when lost this way. Executive decisions made a Ford by some wealthy guy who gets his cars out of the company motor pool for free, He never pays for a repair. Heck he never has to wash and wax one. Oh the flaws he would see if he took the time and pride to hand wash and wax.


Rod
 
As much as I like how non-problematic my manual 6-speed non-ST ford focus is, I will never buy another ford again just for them doing this.
 
Like anything, you have to watch what you buy. Yes, the Focus DCT is junk but Ford also makes good cars and trucks. I never was much of a Ford fan, but I love the Mustang and the F-150 truck. GM made a decent truck too but the domestic parts content isn't high enough anymore for me to buy a new one. The Japanese have better perceived quality because they usually experiment on their domestic market. Arguable quality control is better too, but I've had few assembly mistakes with my domestics.
 
ragtoplvr said:
There are now 10's of thousands of customers more former customers that will never own another Ford. Goodwill is VERY expensive to regain once lost. Even more expensive when lost this way. Executive decisions made a Ford by some wealthy guy who gets his cars out of the company motor pool for free, He never pays for a repair. Heck he never has to wash and wax one. Oh the flaws he would see if he took the time and pride to hand wash and wax.


Ironically history as shown that these companies keep on chugging along.

Most recently is VW/Audi with dieselgate. They're still selling a ton of vehicles and many owners didn't care the VW was caught. In fact many owners saw it as a badge of honor.
 
Originally Posted by KrisZ
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
tl;dr moral of the story is to buy the manual transmission.

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Hindsight is 20/20.

Back in 2011-2012 you would not have stated this. In fact I remember many saying to buy with confidence because in EU this model was proven. But most buyers over there get manual transmissions, which is not the case in NA.

FWIW I am on my 3rd manual transmission in my '14. The first one had a noise that wouldn't go away even with fluid changes. The second shipped from China without an input shaft seal that you couldn't see because the slave cylinder comes on the trans. Put in a seal and a few months later the counter shaft dropped to the bottom of the case while driving.
 
Originally Posted by CJWinWA
After thirty years of buying new Ford trucks, last year I bought a Toyota. I am currently on my 14th vehicle in 30 years, mostly because each new Ford I bought was worse than the one before, it had yet more defects that Ford refused to acknowledge, this left me in a pattern on buying new vehicles every couple years. I did once buy a new 1999 Chevy Silverado, it honestly didn't make it home from the dealership. I also bought two new Jeep Wranglers, ironically I had only one issue with the first one and none with the second. the first one had the air conditioner compressor replaced, this was not Chrysler's fault as it was a defective part from Nippon Denso.

I'm absolutely amazed that in 20,000 miles, my 2018 Toyota has needed only one repair, the battery died, zero hassles from Toyota. The abuse I suffered from Ford and GM was staggering, yet I kept going back because I fell into the buy American hooplah. I am now quite angry with myself for not switching to Toyota years ago. In my opinion, Ford deserves to wither and die along with their dealership network that is as guilty as Ford itself.

My only big gripe with Toyota trucks is the gas mileage. The Son In Law got a new 16 model and the stupid thing struggles to get 14 mpg. ...–that's on the Interstate . It gets 11 around town🤨. I can't believe a MPGI 5.7 can be that bad . The old throttle body GM 5.7 4x4 2500 did better than that in the 80s.
As for Ford a friend of my daughters had one of those on a lease. What a POS tranny , jumping all over. It gets better though for her. Some rodent built a nest near a sensor, blocked it or something. Ford wouldn't do a [censored] thing and made her pat for it. Now between the two sisters father and mother those folks had leased 12+ cars from a this same small dealership over the years. She said screw em and now they all are leasing Subaru's ever since. Vote with your wallet and your feet🤬
 
The DCT fix was implemented for the 2017 year. There is info available for this. The 17 and up Fiestas are fine. The DCT in my 17 works perfectly, and has a great reliability record so far.
 
Originally Posted by Driz
Some rodent built a nest near a sensor, blocked it or something. Ford wouldn't do a [censored] thing and made her pat for it. Now between the two sisters father and mother those folks had leased 12+ cars from a this same small dealership over the years. She said screw em and now they all are leasing Subaru's ever since. Vote with your
Wallet and your feet🤬

Rodent damage is not the manufacturer's fault. We get it a lot here and I have never seen Ford or Mazda cover it. The repair goes through the owner's insurance.
 
These problems definitely affected Ford's inability to sell it's cars which IMO directly led them to discontinue most of their car production. It wasn't just a consumer shift to trucks and SUVs like they claim, and it wasn't just the problems themselves, it was also the way that those problems were handled. Once Ford lost all of those customers they were never going to get them back. Count me as one of them. Ford is now in a position of not having any inexpensive entry level cars for new owners/drivers to get them into the Ford family. This is going to come back to bite them in a BIG way.
 
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