Ford Focus Fail

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by DJM83

^^^ go buy one, do us a favour, there is even a forum for you
http://www.hyundai-forums.com/


OP joins AFF, instant rant. I understand cars/dealer have their faults but a thread like this on here wont help you

And then Hyundai can pay you the commission.

You've done a great job there of selling Fords.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

And then Hyundai can pay you the commission.

You've done a great job there of selling Fords.

If you check some of the posts from some people here all they do is hang crap on Fords, ford does this, never does that, cant do anything right. It gets tiring thats for sure, myself ive been more than happy with every ford ive owned that includes the last 2 new ones ive purchased.

But if i had an issue a thread like this wouldnt be the way i went.

[Bossxr8]

I love how Ford keep banging on about creating a great dealer experience. And then you hear about stuff like this.

It's going great Ford. Thumbs up.

[esppwr]

I know you shouldn't have to do this but I always do, test drive a used high k example of the car you plan to buy. If it drives the way the new car did and all the features work like new your onto a winner. Do your research on the net and never buy the first of a new model.
Most people don't test drive cars long enough or hard enough. Punish the car on a test drive if it's from a dealer, it's better than finding issues after you've handed over your hard earned.

[nuthin' fancy]

Originally Posted by esppwr

I know you shouldn't have to do this but I always do, test drive a used high k example of the car you plan to buy. If it drives the way the new car did and all the features work like new your onto a winner. Do your research on the net and never buy the first of a new model.
Most people don't test drive cars long enough or hard enough. Punish the car on a test drive if it's from a dealer, it's better than finding issues after you've handed over your hard earned.

Really good advice.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by DJM83

If you check some of the posts from some people here all they do is hang crap on Fords,

Like DJM83 on a Falcon thread... ;)

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by esppwr

I know you shouldn't have to do this but I always do, test drive a used high k example of the car you plan to buy. If it drives the way the new car did and all the features work like new your onto a winner. Do your research on the net and never buy the first of a new model.
Most people don't test drive cars long enough or hard enough. Punish the car on a test drive if it's from a dealer, it's better than finding issues after you've handed over your hard earned.

Very good advice.

[Bucknaked]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Shouldnt come to this but is there only one dealer in the ACT?

We used to have 3, but now we have just the one.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Very good advice.

Better still, find a car hire place that has same model and hire it for a day or two.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Better still, find a car hire place that has same model and hire it for a day or two.

That too!

[Falco GT51]

Hi guys, I purchased a Focus sports 2years ago for my daughter and have had no problem luckily, what should I be looking out for?

[LeadFoot81]

Originally Posted by Falco GT51

Hi guys, I purchased a Focus sports 2years ago for my daughter and have had no problem luckily, what should I be looking out for?

- shudder/slipping clutch on light acceleration
- "churning metal" sound coming from the transmission on gear changes
- a little bit of trans fluid on the driveway

(Is what my wife experienced on her 2013 Focus)

[JC]

Originally Posted by Ford Focus Fail

The letter from Ford says 'It may be possible for the transmission to exhibit excessive transmission shudder during light acceleration. This condition may be caused by fluid contamination of the clutch due to leaking transmission seals'. Substitute the word 'may' for 'will'.
Tried to raise the issue with the Dealer Principal (phone, email and letters) he has refused to speak with me or respond. Advised Ford of this and they said I 'should try again'.
Some of the other problems are - Blue Tooth and Voice Control not working. Deleting of all music off IPod. Radio locking in the 'text' and displaying the same information and weather for days with no way to remove it. When reversing, sometimes cuts out audio, sometimes doesn't, sometimes makes it LOUDER. You can hear the other person on the phone, they can't hear you. USB is 'disconnected' when it isn't. USB is 'connected' when it isn't. USB goes through being 'initialised' on a daily basis, which takes hours. 'No phone connected' when there is. 'Phone connected' when there is no phone in the vehicle or any where near it. 'No phone in range' when there is. Bluetooth sometimes plays music very fast, or very slow, or 'skips' like an old LP record, or all three on the same track. Voice recognition doesn't work, ask for (example) Jane Smith and it connects to Mohammed Ali, i.e. Not even close.
Dealer claims to have changed the 'APM board', funny how he couldn't show me the replaced part when he claimed to have 'just finished' doing the work.
Irrespective of whether the affected functions are 'fluff' or even first world problems we are entitled to receive what we paid for. It doesn't seem unreasonable to expect the vehicle and it's features to function as advertised and as they were sold to us.
For it to be otherwise is misleading and deceptive advertising and behaviour and show a lack of honesty and integrity by Ford, it's Canberra dealer and their sales and service people.
Given that we have consistently tried over the last year for Ford and the Canberra dealer to resolve these matter we feel more than justified in raising these issues here.
All Ford and the Canberra dealer had to do was provide the car that we paid them for.
But Ford and the Canberra dealer sold us the car while knowing full well that they couldn't and wouldn't fix the problems.

The DP at McGrath Ford (Woden) is Alex Whitecross. His kids attend the same school as mine. We went in when the Kuga first came out and had a look at it, and we then contacted him about pricing etc, and got NOTHING back - and his son and my sons are mates.....so getting nothing from him seems about normal to me (in Ford speak "They all do that"). ie you will need to be persistent.

You may have to go in and pretty much not leave until you see him.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

My new cars come from Mitsubishi now...

The company that hid recalls and known faults from everyone for 20 years? Good choice!

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by JC

The company that hid recalls and known faults from everyone for 20 years? Good choice!

Yes, because Ford's motoring past is squeaky clean of controversy and it always had its buyers well being in mind.

I spend my money where I choose

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by JC

The DP at McGrath Ford (Woden) is Alex Whitecross. His kids attend the same school as mine. We went in when the Kuga first came out and had a look at it, and we then contacted him about pricing etc, and got NOTHING back - and his son and my sons are mates.....so getting nothing from him seems about normal to me (in Ford speak "They all do that"). ie you will need to be persistent.

You may have to go in and pretty much not leave until you see him.

Yes, it seems they all do 'do that'...

I made 2 formal requests by email with the 'customer liaison officer' to have a meeting with the DP after not getting anywhere with the sales / service staff and managers and she replied saying she 'didn't know when he was free to see me.'

Great way to solve a problem isn't it - ignore it in the hope it eventually goes away!

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Yes, it seems they all do 'do that'...

I made 2 formal requests by email with the 'customer liaison officer' to have a meeting with the DP after not getting anywhere with the sales / service staff and managers and she replied saying she 'didn't know when he was free to see me.'

Great way to solve a problem isn't it - ignore it in the hope it eventually goes away!

Yellow, you did go away! to a Mitsubishi dealer, so as far as ford are concerned, mission accomplished!

Ive said it before on here and ill say it again, a few dealers with a bad rep will tarnish the entire brand, and, there is now a generation of drivers who buy cars from Mitsi, Hyundai,toyota and mazda who simply don't have to put up with failures and 1980s style crap from ford dealer warranty interactions.
I worked with a guy who had a Subaru with 120ks on it, took it to the dealer for its service, the car displayed signs of break shudder. The Subi dealer apologized profusely stating that "it shouldn't be doing that at such low kms" and replaced his rotors under warranty without being prompted.
This is the customer first culture ford has now acknowledged they will need to adopt to continue to succeed post falcon.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

I love how Ford keep banging on about creating a great dealer experience. And then you hear about stuff like this.

It's going great Ford. Thumbs up.

Maybe i should post up my dealer experience to counter act this?

See you always hear about the bad stories but never anything good, because the people that have a good one never come on here and say, oh hai i had a good experience at such and such

[csv8]

John Hughes Ford PERTH has new Focus Ambiente $14,990 drive away .!! Auto $2k metallic paint $385..never seen them priced like that in Queensland!! Should sell heaps. Trend is $18900 drive away Bargain!!

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by csv8

John Hughes Ford PERTH has new Focus Ambiente $14,990 drive away .!! Auto $2k metallic paint $385..never seen them priced like that in Queensland!! Should sell heaps. Trend is $18900 drive away Bargain!!

That is outstanding value right there! That's Fiesta pricing! Sure you don't need a visit to spec savers LOL?

[XR Martin]

Every Canberra dealer is just as useless IMO.
Ive dealt with Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Mitsubishi etc and they are all the same.

Nissan wouldnt cover peeling paint on a Patrol's flares as there was evidence of it being offroad.
They also wouldnt cover a idler bearing because it had an aftermarket drive belt, wouldnt cover 'pimple' type marks on a dash because they blamed us for spraying something on it. (a different dealer did replace this though) After much fighting, very reluctantly replaced the instrument clusters on 2 Patrols where the fuel guages wouldnt read full.

Mitsubishi wouldnt cover leaking rear shocks on a Triton (it was normal they said)
Wouldnt cover a throwout bearing squeaking noise from the gearbox (normal again)

Toyota doesnt cover split seams on Hilux or Hiace seats. They all start splitting at around 80k kms.

Renault made us pay half of a gearbox fault on a Master van, despite it having a 200k kms warranty.

I could go on...

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Maybe i should post up my dealer experience to counter act this?

See you always hear about the bad stories but never anything good, because the people that have a good one never come on here and say, oh hai i had a good experience at such and such

That's the kicker, if they were truly serious about being a company with great customer service there would not be rogue dealers treating buyers with utter contempt like this.

Every dealer needs to buy into this or they are completely wasting their time.

[PridenJoy]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Maybe i should post up my dealer experience to counter act this?

See you always hear about the bad stories but never anything good, because the people that have a good one never come on here and say, oh hai i had a good experience at such and such

Maybe because having a 'good experience' is what should happen and expected when people spend their hard earned. Its simply dealers doing their job properly.

As a junior engineer I was told 'do a good job all day long and no one will know about it but make one stuff up and you'll be blamed forever'. Same principle as above.

[sprint347dave]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Better still, find a car hire place that has same model and hire it for a day or two.

EXACTLY what i did,,,just so happened i timed it the same day as a track day at queensland raceway,,,,add a bit of tyre pressure ,,and turn off the traction control,,,best $65 i spent on a road test

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Every Canberra dealer is just as useless IMO.
Ive dealt with Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Mitsubishi etc and they are all the same.

Nissan wouldnt cover peeling paint on a Patrol's flares as there was evidence of it being offroad.
They also wouldnt cover a idler bearing because it had an aftermarket drive belt, wouldnt cover 'pimple' type marks on a dash because they blamed us for spraying something on it. (a different dealer did replace this though) After much fighting, very reluctantly replaced the instrument clusters on 2 Patrols where the fuel guages wouldnt read full.

Mitsubishi wouldnt cover leaking rear shocks on a Triton (it was normal they said)
Wouldnt cover a throwout bearing squeaking noise from the gearbox (normal again)

Toyota doesnt cover split seams on Hilux or Hiace seats. They all start splitting at around 80k kms.

Renault made us pay half of a gearbox fault on a Master van, despite it having a 200k kms warranty.

I could go on...

It's a shame that the trend of bad service has been experienced by you with so many different brands. My brother had a Hilux and I do recall him having to argue about a few things but in the end they came to the party.

Oh, that's right - the alternator packed it in after he took it off road and through deep mud. I don't think they did it under warranty as it was taken 'off road'. (Alternator was caked in crud and there was hardly any protection / shielding on it to stop it from happening).

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my mum was treated like royalty at a Campbelltown Hyundai dealer when she had randomly dropped in to ask them to look at an issue. It was still under warranty, but she had never serviced it there or bought it from there - in fact, I think it had never been back to a Hyundai dealership for a service after we bought it at the auctions.

I guess it all depends on who you get on the day (but that shouldn't really be a factor).

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Yellow, you did go away! to a Mitsubishi dealer, so as far as ford are concerned, mission accomplished!

Ive said it before on here and ill say it again, a few dealers with a bad rep will tarnish the entire brand, and, there is now a generation of drivers who buy cars from Mitsi, Hyundai,toyota and mazda who simply don't have to put up with failures and 1980s style crap from ford dealer warranty interactions.
I worked with a guy who had a Subaru with 120ks on it, took it to the dealer for its service, the car displayed signs of break shudder. The Subi dealer apologized profusely stating that "it shouldn't be doing that at such low kms" and replaced his rotors under warranty without being prompted.
This is the customer first culture ford has now acknowledged they will need to adopt to continue to succeed post falcon.

Late last year I got the better half a new Mirage. This was after selling her lemon Focus. Soon after, the dealership closed down so come the first service I looked for a more local dealer.

After 3-4 months my wife comes home and tells me that the car made a 'funny sound' when she tried to start it. She stopped, tried again and all was well.

Another 3 months passed and it made it again. She isn't car savy at all but she did know the sound was not good. All she could tell me was that it was a grinding metal sound.

Never happened with me when I drove it. 12 months is fast approaching so I book the car in. She starts the car a 3rd time in the morning about 2 weeks before the service and this time it makes the noise right out the front of our place. I knew what it was instantly - the starter cogs and the flywheel weren't mating correctly so it just ground around rather than started. Not good!

This is where I put Mitsubishi to the test. I took the car in, was greeted professionally and they went through the run sheet of what was to be done. I then told them that the car makes a funny noise on occasion when being started and that I had never heard it but it happened once or twice according to my wife. I didn't make a fuss about it - hell I think I even made a joke that my wife knows bugger all about cars and it was probably her imagination.

Drive off in the spare car I left at the dealership the night before and within 2 hrs the phone rang.

"Hello Mr B, we have investigated the noise and have found that there is a fault with your starter and flywheel - they have not been syncing correctly upon initial start up and it has been a problem we have seen on several other cars.

We have already ordered the parts (starter and flywheel), they will arrive in 3 days, when can we book it in? - we will need it for a whole day at least".

Well bugger me... wasn't expecting that at all. Nice surprise actually.

I hope this trend continues. We will soon be moving to a different area, and I'm sure there will be a more local Mitsubishi dealer but I'm happy to give my business to a dealership that looks after me.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by sprint347dave

EXACTLY what i did,,,just so happened i timed it the same day as a track day at queensland raceway,,,,add a bit of tyre pressure ,,and turn off the traction control,,,best $65 i spent on a road test

Haaa nice work. I heard this happened back in the day when the old Falcons + 351 motors were able to be hired.

My mate works for Avis and I help him out every now and again.. You can hire a Toyota 86 from Avis you know, and up until a little more recently the Fiat 500

Didn't like the 86 actually - my back is too wide for the deeply sculpted seat backs and I couldn't get comfortable.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

This is where I put Mitsubishi to the test. I took the car in, was greeted professionally and they went through the run sheet of what was to be done. I then told them that the car makes a funny noise on occasion when being started and that I had never heard it but it happened once or twice according to my wife. I didn't make a fuss about it - hell I think I even made a joke that my wife knows bugger all about cars and it was probably her imagination.

Drive off in the spare car I left at the dealership the night before and within 2 hrs the phone rang.

"Hello Mr B, we have investigated the noise and have found that there is a fault with your starter and flywheel - they have not been syncing correctly upon initial start up and it has been a problem we have seen on several other cars.

We have already ordered the parts (starter and flywheel), they will arrive in 3 days, when can we book it in? - we will need it for a whole day at least".

Well bugger me... wasn't expecting that at all. Nice surprise actually.

I hope this trend continues. We will soon be moving to a different area, and I'm sure there will be a more local Mitsubishi dealer but I'm happy to give my business to a dealership that looks after me.

That's because that's a known issue with a bulletin. If it was something new you probably wouldn't have had it fixed so easily.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Windsor220

That's because that's a known issue with a bulletin. If it was something new you probably wouldn't have had it fixed so easily.

Who cares about bulletins etc. They didn't mention anything about a bulletin to me, just that it wasn't the first time they had seen the problem.

They could have just as easily had said that they couldn't replicate the problem and that there is nothing to fix. When reporting it, I under emphasised it and made out like I had no clue if there was even an issue at all - plenty of wriggle room for them to bluff me off if they wanted to.

Even if it was a new issue, there would have been physical evidence of this from scoring or filings.

On the other hand, when I reported my (well known) issue to my Ford dealership they 1) Had advised me that it was the first time they had heard of such an issue (a lie), 2) Wanted to charge me $660 to investigate (total BS IMO) and 3) Failed to fix several other recurring issues EVEN WITH photo / video evidence "it has only happened 3 times now - when it happens more often let us know"...

Phone calls and emails not returned, lie after lie, being charged for work not carried out, being told story after story that kept changing depending on who was talking to me at the office and what mood they were in.

Come on..... it's this sort of rubbish that makes people jump ship like I have.

Then there was the reverse sensors that I optioned that were a wrong shade of red (But I shouldn't have complained as they were not invoiced on the order - ie 'free' even though they were $400).

Then there was the air filter at the major 60k km service that I was charged for but they 'forgot' to replace...

That's not so bad - I was more worried when I found that the original factory filter was never installed correctly on the production line - the connecting tube was buckled allowing a gap for dirty air to bypass the filter and enter the engine.

They then had the gall to challenge me to 'prove' that it was their fault - I reminded them they they were the ONLY dealer to service the car from pre delivery (where checking the filter is a listed item) to every other subsequent service to 60k km where it was obvious that the air filter element was NEVER inspected as it should have been in the near 3 years of ownership. Disgraceful.

Once I made that obvious to them, and got Ford CRC involved the service refund in full followed soon after.

This is not 'I heard from a mate / my cousin's neighbor told me'... it was my own personal experience - and one that I started several threads about at the time.

I (or anyone else for that matter) shouldn't have to go through what I did. I wasn't being unreasonable or greedy - I just wanted what I paid for. Simple.

I actually HATE the fact I'm not driving a Ford. I still fondly remember the dozens of road trips in the family XA falcon, and the fact I learnt to drive in the family XF Falcon. I made sure my first new car was a blue oval as well.
I still have my Tickford Boxer shorts, I still wear the 2 Ford shirts I ordered from Trippy, I still have all the Ford Memorabilia I have collected over the years.

I don't hate the brand at all - I just hate the way they dealt with issues and showed me total disrespect. I think the Focus is a world class car bar the powershift but there won't be another Ford in my garage till they lift their game in several areas.

Cheers,

Jason

[Top_Ghia]

That's it, I'm taking my Focus to a Mitsubishi dealer.

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Who cares about bulletins etc. They didn't mention anything about a bulletin to me, just that it wasn't the first time they had seen the problem.

They could have just as easily had said that they couldn't replicate the problem and that there is nothing to fix. When reporting it, I under emphasised it and made out like I had no clue if there was even an issue at all - plenty of wriggle room for them to bluff me off if they wanted to.

Even if it was a new issue, there would have been physical evidence of this from scoring or filings.

On the other hand, when I reported my (well known) issue to my Ford dealership they 1) Had advised me that it was the first time they had heard of such an issue (a lie), 2) Wanted to charge me $660 to investigate (total BS IMO) and 3) Failed to fix several other recurring issues EVEN WITH photo / video evidence "it has only happened 3 times now - when it happens more often let us know"...

Phone calls and emails not returned, lie after lie, being charged for work not carried out, being told story after story that kept changing depending on who was talking to me at the office and what mood they were in.

Come on..... it's this sort of rubbish that makes people jump ship like I have.

Then there was the reverse sensors that I optioned that were a wrong shade of red (But I shouldn't have complained as they were not invoiced on the order - ie 'free' even though they were $400).

Then there was the air filter at the major 60k km service that I was charged for but they 'forgot' to replace...

That's not so bad - I was more worried when I found that the original factory filter was never installed correctly on the production line - the connecting tube was buckled allowing a gap for dirty air to bypass the filter and enter the engine.

They then had the gall to challenge me to 'prove' that it was their fault - I reminded them they they were the ONLY dealer to service the car from pre delivery (where checking the filter is a listed item) to every other subsequent service to 60k km where it was obvious that the air filter element was NEVER inspected as it should have been in the near 3 years of ownership. Disgraceful.

Once I made that obvious to them, and got Ford CRC involved the service refund in full followed soon after.

This is not 'I heard from a mate / my cousin's neighbor told me'... it was my own personal experience - and one that I started several threads about at the time.

I (or anyone else for that matter) shouldn't have to go through what I did. I wasn't being unreasonable or greedy - I just wanted what I paid for. Simple.

I actually HATE the fact I'm not driving a Ford. I still fondly remember the dozens of road trips in the family XA falcon, and the fact I learnt to drive in the family XF Falcon. I made sure my first new car was a blue oval as well.
I still have my Tickford Boxer shorts, I still wear the 2 Ford shirts I ordered from Trippy, I still have all the Ford Memorabilia I have collected over the years.

I don't hate the brand at all - I just hate the way they dealt with issues and showed me total disrespect. I think the Focus is a world class car bar the powershift but there won't be another Ford in my garage till they lift their game in several areas.

Cheers,

Jason

Just because something is a known issue doesn't mean they can fix it. Its taken over a year for Mitsubishi to bring out a fix for the Triton auto gearbox issues. Until now we have been telling customers "sorry cant do anything". The Mirage starter motor problem was something that they recognised early with a fix. That means the dealer doesn't have to waste time diagnosing or trying to replicate the issue and is a guaranteed money earner.

Dealers hate having to waste time diagnosing as they lose potential money they can earn.

People still keep going on about Ford dealers being rubbish yet it happens everywhere. Fords being a bit more unreliable than the Japs probably makes things seem worse than they are.