Warranty useless? (long)

Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
721
Location
Martinsburg West Virginia
Just wondering if anyone has any tips or advice. Never had this type of a problem before and pretty much dumbfounded. Bought a brand new 2018 Ford Focus 1.0 automatic with the 6F15 auto tranny and 2 miles on the odometer. Car was fine for the first 14k or so. I was down in Atlanta Georgia driving down a road at about 35 MPH. I pushed the gas about half way to pass someone and merge into their lane. The downshift or whatever it was, was so harsh, I thought I got rear ended by a semi. Honestly, the car has never driven well since and that event seemed to have broken mounts. It has the start/stop feature which was really smooth before, now it feels like the engine is going to fall out when it restarts. It "shifts" from first to second, the tach drops as it normally would. But then a second or two later you feel it complete that shift with a clunk. Sometimes two clunks, sometimes 3 before shifting into third. Once it is in third it is good to go. Also the heated steering wheel only heats sometimes in some places.

Took it to dealer #1 - Steering wheel should only heat at the 10 & 2 notches, so it is functioning properly. Funny because the whole wheel got burning hot when it was brand new. Also the transmission is operating to manufacturers specifications and they see nothing wrong with it because it isn't setting any codes. I said there was no way it was normal to have it slipping from first to second regularly. The service manager said this is an entirely new powertrain for 2019 and they have never seen it before so they aren't familiar with it. They told me to take it to a different dealer or the dealer where I bought it from (which is a 10 hour drive away). So it was returned to me the same day and they sent me on my way. Well, the car drove totally different, so they obviously flashed the tranny with a different program. It actually drove worse so I figured that may help get it diagnosed and/or repaired.

Dealer #2 - Dropped it off with a full explanation of what it was doing. Needed something out of it the first day they had it, so I stopped by the dealer. They told me the steering wheel wasn't heating evenly and they will probably just order a new wheel for me and get it taken care of. I was very happy to hear this and let them do their thing as they were going to diagnose the tranny next. They had it a total of 3 days this time and I went to check on it and see what they came up with. They said they had every tech drive it and they all feel the steering wheel is heating as it should, and that the tranny is shifting as it should as well. They said they are not authorized to look at it if it doesn't throw a code or leave me on the side of the road. So they said when it leaves me on the side of the road, not to worry, they will take care of it then. This time when I got it back it drove totally different again. I admit it was much better this time. But after a few days it def started to go back to the old routine and is still doing the same clunk thing after the 1-2 shift. Which I believe to be slipping.

The car is now at 21k and driving worse and worse every time I drive it. Got in touch with Ford to complain about the service and lack of service. They gave me a case number and a regional representative to take care of my case and issues. Gave her a call every day for 2 weeks and have not received a single call back, always been nice and pleasant, not trying to start off on the wrong foot. Tried contacting Ford again over and over and keep getting the runaround. Finally someone gave me a new case number and said this will authorize them to look at it. Also told me it HAD to be the last dealer to look at it. So I go back to the dealer to get an appointment to get the car in there. I asked about a loaner while they have my car for what I imagine is at least a week or more. They said the warranty doesn't cover loaners or rentals while my car is down. Okay, i'm thinking progress, right? WRONG. Go into the dealer this morning and talk to them, they said unless I am willing to pay up front for tearing down the tranny, nobody is going to touch it. Called Ford back at the recommendation of the dealer, to ask them to call the dealer with authorization to tear the tranny apart and see what is wrong, so it can be fixed under warranty. They said they do not offer that kind of service, it has to have a total failure for them to even look at it. To me this is like an episode of the twilight zone. I need to travel to Boston and am afraid to drive this car up there and kind of upset about having to rent a car for travel when I have a brand new one in my driveway. Also contacted the dealer where I bought it (Boston) and they said they aren't sure what I should do, they can't really help.

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated. Just not sure how they can just totally refuse to service my car that is under warranty. The steering wheel doesn't heat (Just the 12 o' clock position for the past few weeks) and the tranny is obviously not right. Had a slamming downshift today that actually chirped the tires, this is normal? Just frustrated beyond
words at this point. Looks like I may just have to get a used tranny and get it in there myself. Traded a perfectly good car in on this one, should have kept it. Never really liked Ford before, def don't like them now. But the spouse always gets what they want for their birthday right? LOL. Thanks in advance guys! And sorry for the long post, tried to keep it as short as I could.
 
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A call to the ford number in your owners manual should do it.

If not a call to the state attorney general will. They take a dim view of bad dealers.

Rod
 
Just finished going through something with a 2000 Dodge Dakota with intermittent stalling for 2-3 months, and no codes! Finally 2 weekends ago it stalled and wouldn't restart and finally threw a code for a crankshaft position sensor. To make matters worse, I could only read this code by using the code reader built into the trucks dash. My $200-$250 Actron scanner gave me NO codes even when the dash was giving me P0320. I tried all kind of tune up related things during those 2-3 months, none of which made any difference! So I really feel your frustration! That and I wasn't really expecting a CPS to fail intermittently like that! I understand why they just can't throw parts at it. Perhaps of the codes that they are looking for are something you can read with a normal code reader or some other way at home and you can check it periodically and take it right tot he dealer when you get one (or take a digital camera picture of it in case it goes away)???
 
Google your state's lemon law. Sounds like you have already met the threshold for replacement or buyback in most states.
 
1. Research lemon law requirements in your state and find out what it takes to start an official lemon law complaint. Unfortunately some dealers will string you along, and this may motivate the dealer or Ford corporate to take your complaint seriously.. Start building your case by assembling documentation of your complaint and Ford's inability/refusal to repair under warranty. It would help if you had paper documentation of your complaints starting Georgia or before.

2. If you have reached the minimum number of returns for failure to repair, then pursue the lemon law complaint. If not, then build the case. Obtaining an independent accounting of the transmission problem with an independent mechanic test drive would be helpful since the dealer mechanics seem to think the transmission is OK


As an aside, I have noticed severalone and two model year old Focus sedans on the market at Ford dealers in the Kansas City area. All the ones from California are labeled lemon law buybacks. The others might be buybacks, but the other states don't have the same requirement to label them as lemon law buybacks. I am staying away from them as I research obtaining a sedan for my grandson.
 
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Sounds like you're dealing with the DCT (Duel Clutch Transmission) Ford issues.
It is a problematic design and probably a big reason why Ford is exiting the small car market.
Just google "Ford focus dual clutch problems"
 
Originally Posted by Danno
Sounds like you're dealing with the DCT (Duel Clutch Transmission) Ford issues.
It is a problematic design and probably a big reason why Ford is exiting the small car market.
Just google "Ford focus dual clutch problems"


The 1.0l comes with regular automatic transmission,not a DCT.
 
As others have pointed out.

1) Call Ford corporate.
2) Once a call with Ford is done, they should give you a reference number/code. Once you go to the dealer you will typically give them that number and corporate is able to track the issue.
3) Start researching WV's lemon law.

I've been fortunate with my warranty repairs, never a balk. Mazda always told me "We'll take a look." then confirm the problem and replace. I show up to Alfa and they basically just replace or correct whatever it is I'm complaining about (hasn't been much) without really doing a diagnostic on it. I even have an annoyance with the HVAC, SA confirmed that people have complained about it and they've replaced the blower motors but that typically that doesn't correct the issue. With that being said, if I request the repair they would do it anyway.
 
Originally Posted by KrisZ
Originally Posted by Danno
Sounds like you're dealing with the DCT (Duel Clutch Transmission) Ford issues.
It is a problematic design and probably a big reason why Ford is exiting the small car market.
Just google "Ford focus dual clutch problems"


The 1.0l comes with regular automatic transmission,not a DCT.


This is correct... the 6F15 mated to the 1.0T is not the DCT....I'm sorry to hear that it is also trouble prone.

I can't understand why Ford got rid of the 1.0T in the (smaller) Fiesta and kept it in the (bigger) Focus which can't be bought with an M/T.....So much for "Ford has a better idea".....
 
Download Forscan, maybe it will pull up a code:

https://forscan.org/download.html

It is a very comprehensive Ford app, deals with 95-present.

You could probably set it up to monitor some shift parameters, maybe make you able to talk shop with their techs.

You have to buy an OBD adapter, there are many inexpensive ones that work well with this app.

Look up forscan obd adapter, or if you want to spend a bit more OBDLINK MX +
 
Ford knows about the issues these are having and aren't working with the dealers. It's about numbers and Ford is shafting the dealers and the dealers are shafting their customers.
Complaining to Ford stating "I'll never buy another Ford Product" doesn't phase them, they know that.
if you want to discuss anything to Ford, bring this up to them and follow through with it if Ford blows you off. https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplain
 
^ Forscan may be able to reset adaptive learning parameters. It may have learned "bad habits" somehow. Then it starts off like a new car to relearn shift patterns.
 
Originally Posted by skyactiv
Ford knows about the issues these are having and aren't working with the dealers. It's about numbers and Ford is shafting the dealers and the dealers are shafting their customers.
Complaining to Ford stating "I'll never buy another Ford Product" doesn't phase them, they know that.
if you want to discuss anything to Ford, bring this up to them and follow through with it if Ford blows you off. https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

Ford is out of the car business pretty much. It is like complaining to sears about bad customer service at this point :lol:.
I had my car state inspected at Ford and I noticed an attitude toward customers who had new cars with issues.
The people who buy their trucks are another breed.
 
Ford's products are garbage, but they overcharge enough for the trucks that they can still make money after warranty repairs! Cars, not enough profit built in to fix them right. Add dishonest, downright stupid dealership departments, which are overcrowded due to Ford dumping 25-30% of their dealers in the Great Recession-there's ZERO incentive to do right by the customer.
 
well i really hate to recommend this but at this point i would do some 4000rpm neutral drops to drive until something lets go, tow it to the dealer and say here you go total transmission failure fix it now.
 
First of all, sorry you're going through this!!

Originally Posted by Oily_Thing
Google your state's lemon law. Sounds like you have already met the threshold for replacement or buyback in most states.


Yup, this. Keep taking it back, rack up the visits until you reach the lemon law threshold, then they have to buy it back from you.
 
Unfortunately, you may be looking at lemon law. The good news is you will win as long as you meet the requirements, and Ford will have to pay your attorney fees.
 
Wow thank you for all the responses so quickly. I am doing my best to document everything. Have about 5 pages of notes about visits, phone calls, etc. I did call the Ford number in my manual and they were the ones that gave me a case number and were of no further assistance. They said my buyback request was denied. I never made a request, I said I want it fixed, replaced or bought back if those aren't successful. Then again Ford customer service is in India and there is a language barrier there. I think it is pretty sad when the manufacturer tells you that they won't help you till you are stranded out on the road somewhere. I am looking into the lemon law, but I live in WV and purchased the vehicle in Boston MA since they were the only ones around who had the vehicle color/options combination I was looking for. So not sure if the MA or WV lemon laws apply? The laws in MA don't look to be very favorable at all. It is indeed the 6F15 and not the DCT, that is why I bought it and it seems this one isn't any better.
 
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