Another One Bites The Dust

[hand-filer]

Originally Posted by hand-filer

All I can say is that this thread no longer serves any useful purpose.

I retract my statement. This is turning into a comedy fest which does serve a purpose.


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[PratoN]

DRAMA! I love soap operas!

[WizeGuyDezignz]

Originally Posted by hotleadsingerguy

And there's nothing saying your car will suddenly crap out at any point in the future. I hope it works wonderfully for you in the future!

Either way, 7,700 miles is nothing...I did that in the first 3 months of ownership. Many of the people that are having big problems have also had their car 20k, 30k, or 40k miles already. Some problems immediately manifest themselves, while some hold out for quite awhile. We're just talking about our experiences.

Originally Posted by PratoN

yup...

For what it's worth - my clutch slipping didn't appear until 25k miles. I'm at 42k but I've given up on getting the dealers to fix it until spring/summer. I was tired of rotating through 3 dealers and arranging different ways to get to work 50 miles away just to be told "it's normal."

But I hope for your sake (WizeGuyDezignz) that your clutch is perfect and that never have to go through this.

Right, and couldn't any make or model have an issue at 25k miles, 40k miles, etc? Does every single Focus have a problem at those mileages? If so, you would hear more about it than on a Focus forum.

My transmission could go out tomorrow for all I know. Or maybe it will be fine for over 100k miles. Who knows is the point that I'm getting at.

But yes, I hope I never have to go through it!

[Woggy64]

All I can say is this - my $25k Focus now has 6,000 miles on it. Been in the dealer zero times - our $37k Mercedes Benz GLK-350 was just towed from home for it's third overnight visit to the dealer with 7,100 miles on it.

Both are nice to drive, but my Focus is more fun.

[WizeGuyDezignz]

Originally Posted by Woggy64

All I can say is this - my $25k Focus now has 6,000 miles on it. Been in the dealer zero times - our $37k Mercedes Benz GLK-350 was just towed from home for it's third overnight visit to the dealer with 7,100 miles on it.

Both are nice to drive, but my Focus is more fun.

This was my point. Any car, regardless of the make or model can take a dump at 5,000 miles or 60,000 miles. Or at any mileage for that matter.

I understand if there is a common problem that a very high percentage of people are getting at a specific mileage range, but to think the few on this forum is a high percentage of Focus owners is silly.

[kb911]

Originally Posted by kam327

What are you blathering on about sir? You've totally missed the mark. The majority of complaints are from people expecting their DCT to act like an automated manual. Most have experienced a perfectly operating DCT in the first few weeks or months of ownership, maybe longer, and therefore know exactly how the DCT is SUPPOSED to operate. It's only when the seals decide to start leaking, or the software decides to do a HAL 9000, or some other malady and we start getting extreme shuddering or loss of power that we complain.

If you haven't experienced these things then you have no idea what I'm talking about and you should therefore pipe down.

And manuals often do not get better gas mileage than automatics these days, as is the case in the very Focus you are currently driving.

Originally Posted by dan50

Given there are known problems with the DCT, notably lousy software for the first, oh 15 months of production, bad clutches (long-shoulder rivets were an intended solution) and leaking seals that contaminate the clutch plates, I think it's not quite right to blame the user. Most of us here knew exactly what we were buying, it just doesn't work very well for some.

As far as buying a manual, 3 problems for many of us: spouses and/or too short gearing on the manual and/or living in an urban environment where a manual is not very appealing.

Further, this is mass-market car that is sold to everyone from enthusiasts to grandmothers, not a Porsche. Without explanation (heck even with explanation) do you expect everyone in this population to understand the DCT difference? Do you think Ford tried to explain the differences to customers? Do you think the salespeople understand the difference? Should this group understand the pluses and minuses of direct fuel injection, too? Electric power assisted steering?

This is a troublesome gearbox. While the basics seem solid, the clutches and software are problems. Even Consumer Reports says so, giving the "transmission minor" trouble area its worst reliability mark.

If the 2013 Fusion had been available when I bought my Focus I probably would gone that way instead. Then I could participate in a forum about engines that catch fire instead. At least the dealer couldn't say "can't duplicate problem"!

I was not blaming a majority of users but honestly sit in a dealership service area for a while and listen to the people complaining in my experience of the rhode island area as I bought my car at one dealer and now have it serviced at another the complaints were a little mind boggling. The DCT is Fords first forray into double clutch and is a good one. is quality going to be that tried and tested engineering...no, never will be. it was a shame of the issues and complete ignorance to build quality (i guess you can say that for a majority of the Focus) have handicapped it as such. One credit to Ford is that they have stepped up and admitted to the problems and that cannot be said with other companies in recent history.

The whole point of my post was to be tongue and cheek. I have had past experiences with double clutch transmission including my partner's DCT titanium (which has yet to have a problem) and is still a technology that needs improvement just like everything else in a modern car in an age where we are pushing for absolute quality/power/fuel mileage/price/safety etc.... I get the whole idea of having an automated manual instead of a regular automatic for the fuel benefits of not using a torque converter but as for acting with the smoothness of an auto it's not going to happen no way you put it especially in a dry clutch set up... even VW with a wet based clutch can't emulate it.

in a perfect world yes people should understand differences in the powertrain and features that they are buying but this is not the case and nor will they understand. Ford should have offered a standard auto on the models with an option for DCT on the more performance oriented models but then cost would have been a factor.

And to end on a more humerus situation:

as for fire related and cant duplicate problem my jeep's heated seat caught fire one brisk afternoon after turning it on and I was given a "you must have messed with the wiring as we could not duplicate this problem" that was a slap in the face moment

[kb911]

also to add....
my focus is now approaching 35,000 miles
and my partner's is currently at 28,000 miles

I have averaged between 38 and 42 while he gets around 34 but YMMV

[hand-filer]

Originally Posted by kb911

And to end on a more humerus situation:

as for fire related and cant duplicate problem my jeep's heated seat caught fire one brisk afternoon after turning it on and I was given a "you must have messed with the wiring as we could not duplicate this problem" that was a slap in the face moment

A former colleague of mine worked for the company that supplied the modules for those seat heaters and they were the cause of some of those fires. They found out about the flaw in the design through their own investigation and notified Chrysler of it. It would cost Chrysler an additional $1.50 per module to eliminate the potential problem.
Chrysler's response: No thanks given the 1 in 50,000 failure rate, we'll take our chances. True story.

[VOLDAR]

Originally Posted by hand-filer

I retract my statement. This is turning into a comedy fest which does serve a purpose.

+1 to this. One user announces to be another one to take a dump and almost instantly a lot of folks feel very presed in congratulating him. It is really funny !

P.S. And if Ford did better in solving the problematic cars in US, this forum would be only for "flower and power".
In Canada, talking from my own experience, Ford dealers seem to be more professional and less inclined into selling the phrase "it is normal behavior". Maybe I am mistaken, but I doubt being too much off.

[revhigh]

Originally Posted by VOLDAR

+1 to this. One user announces to be another one to take a dump and almost instantly a lot of folks feel very presed in congratulating him. It is really funny

WOW .... I guess that must be canadian because it sure as hell doesn't make any sense in English

REV