My 2016 Ford Fiesta Failure

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Aug 16, 2019
Messages
1,245
My Fiesta ignition key began to act up a few days ago, and Wednesday it wouldn't start at all. So Progressive Insurance sent a tow truck here and it was towed to a local Ford dealership. They called today and said it's going to cost me $436 for a new lock cylinder.

Now I can't help but think of my sister, who ran a Toyota Corolla for many years with no issues at all, then traded it for a Dodge Omni and had problems galore.
After I get it fixed, I may be tempted to trade it in fro another Hyundai Elantra or a Corolla or Civic. The Ford Fiesta is supposed to be a reliable car and this is just a freak thing that just happened to happen to me, but I don't know if I'm going to feel good about running it any more.
 
I hear you, but any vehicle is going to have it's surprise expenses every now and then. I had to have $1200 worth of HVAC work done on our 2016 model year vehicle this past spring. My extended warranty covered it, but that cost me to have it.
 
You're going to go through the hassle of trading in a car (or selling it), likely losing money on it, then buy another car, likely spending more than you wanted because of a $400 repair? I see this costing you thousands more than just keeping the Ford.
 
Random stuff happens randomly. I wouldn't offload it just for this reason alone.
 
I got a buncha Toyotas. They are not perfect but they have served me well enough that I will never buy another brand. (well, maybe a Honda product).

If your Ford has done fine up to this point, I'd really think before trading it in. Now if this is one of a long list of many repairs, I'd lean to washing my hands of it.
 
Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
My Fiesta ignition key began to act up a few days ago, and Wednesday it wouldn't start at all. So Progressive Insurance sent a tow truck here and it was towed to a local Ford dealership. They called today and said it's going to cost me $436 for a new lock cylinder.

Now I can't help but think of my sister, who ran a Toyota Corolla for many years with no issues at all, then traded it for a Dodge Omni and had problems galore.
After I get it fixed, I may be tempted to trade it in fro another Hyundai Elantra or a Corolla or Civic. The Ford Fiesta is supposed to be a reliable car and this is just a freak thing that just happened to happen to me, but I don't know if I'm going to feel good about running it any more.

Lose thousands of dollars to trade in something that has only caused you a $400 repair? This makes terrible sense financially. My older sister recently financed $40,000 on a $27k Rogue to avoid paying a $800 repair on her Tiguan--also a terrible idea.
 
Toyotas can break too. Tomorrow I'll be spending my day replacing the alternator on my Sienna. 138k miles on the car, and this is the first alternator I've had to replace on any of my vehicles, ever. It doesn't mean the car is junk or that it's definitely going to need more repairs in the near future, and I definitely don't want to get rid of it for something else just because it needed one minor repair.
 
How much crap is on your keychain? Having a lot of keys, dongles, knives, etc. hanging off the ignition barrel can cause this.
 
Originally Posted by Reddy45
How much crap is on your keychain? Having a lot of keys, dongles, knives, etc. hanging off the ignition barrel can cause this.

That's a good question--I never thought much about that until the GM debacle, since then I carry two sets of keys. One is just vehicles, one is everything else. Less weight in the ignition now.
 
I agree with you. It's a bit of bad luck but it's been a good car and will probably go for years with no more issues other than needing tires, brakes, etc.

I could have had Pop-a-lock check it out and possibly just replace the electrical switch behind the lock cylinder, but the car is now at the Ford dealer and I have no way of getting the other key to Pop-a-lock. And even if he said he could fix it for $150, I'd have to cancel the order from Ford and I'm not sure they'd even let me do that. The locksmiths seemed to think it would be overkill for Ford to replace the whole lock cylinder and it was likely that just a switch below the lock is where the problem is, though that has not yet been determined to be fact.

My car insurance will not pay for a rental car so I'm going to go without a car until next Wednesday or so.
 
Originally Posted by Reddy45
How much crap is on your keychain? Having a lot of keys, dongles, knives, etc. hanging off the ignition barrel can cause this.


I have 2 sets of keys, one with a lot of keys, and the other one with only the ignition key, that I use in the ignition when I drive the car.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
My car insurance will not pay for a rental car so I'm going to go without a car until next Wednesday or so.

Now that sucks! It's probably cheaper to get a rental than do anything else, but, this is one of the reasons why I keep N+1 vehicles around.
 
I always bring both sets of keys with me just in case I happen to misplace one of them.
 
Is that key a chip key? IMO, I think this will be a bigger problem as time goes on. I would just fix it and keep driving the car if the rest of the car is ok.
 
Do you honestly have any idea how much money that idea is going to cost you ( trading , just on a maybe / what if ) ?

First of all , what if you drive the wheels off that Ford and never have any problems , until it lays down and dies , MANY miles / years down the road ?

What if you trade for something else , and it turns out to be a lemon / money pit ?

Anything that involves money is or should be , a business decision . Forget about the emotions .

You just sunk several hundred dollars into the Ford . You just going to throw that money away , by trading it off ? Not a good business decision .

Or , if you really want to trade , because you want to trade ? Be honest with yourself and us , and just say so . Fine , it is your money , not mine .

Now , I have read about the Ford dual clutch transmission . That has had problems . Does your Ford have that transmission ? Did Ford solve the problems ? Before your car was built ? Is your car still in power train warranty .

If you have the problematic transmission , I might consider trading , before the car runs out of warranty . I would consider that to be a , possibly , good business decision . Transmissions are EXPENSIVE ! Especially if the manufacture has not figured out how to fix the problems .

Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
My Fiesta ignition key began to act up a few days ago, and Wednesday it wouldn't start at all. So Progressive Insurance sent a tow truck here and it was towed to a local Ford dealership. They called today and said it's going to cost me $436 for a new lock cylinder.

Now I can't help but think of my sister, who ran a Toyota Corolla for many years with no issues at all, then traded it for a Dodge Omni and had problems galore.
After I get it fixed, I may be tempted to trade it in fro another Hyundai Elantra or a Corolla or Civic. The Ford Fiesta is supposed to be a reliable car and this is just a freak thing that just happened to happen to me, but I don't know if I'm going to feel good about running it any more.
 
Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
I always bring both sets of keys with me just in case I happen to misplace one of them.


I drive a company truck , most of the time . I have 2 key rings , one in right front pocket and the other in the left . If I dumb up and lock my keys inn the truck , I reach into my other pocket , fish out the other key ring , open the door and I am good .
 
Originally Posted by Mr_Luke
I always bring both sets of keys with me just in case I happen to misplace one of them.

Not a bad idea. I usually have a spare on my house keys. I miss the days when they have you a key for your wallet.

I keep my keys on a carabiner. If I go hiking or something I'll clip them down. I'm about to go and find a real carabiner: I had one given to me 20 years ago, a real climbing one, and it's been working great for 20 years. I've gone through like 5 of the cheapo ones that you find in department store.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top