More of the Same

[e30og]

Originally Posted by Zillon

Drivetrain aside, they weren't totally brand new for the 2012 model year. They had been on sale in Europe as a 2011 model. Also, the platform is an overhauled evolution of the C1 platform that underpinned the previous-gen Euro Focus, Volvo C30, and Mazda3. No excuses, really.

A lot of the problems stem from poor quality control, an entitled unionized factory workforce, and typical American cost-cutting. One Ford should mean One Ford. The American-built Foci should have been built just as well as the ones made in Germany, or elsewhere in the world.

I jumped ship too. I bought a late-production 2012, and still had issues.

Almost traded my '12 for a GTI if it wasn't for the insurance! haha. No real issues other than rattling though. I just knew from the beginning the DCT was trouble, especially with horror stories I read from first adopters of the Fiesta. MFT was brand new, and we can take lessons from the aforementioned iDrive. Im impressed with 3.5.1 now, and among all the salty DCT owners there are plenty happy

no excuses for Ford, but a big learning lesson for some, unfortunately

[GhiaFan]

Originally Posted by Zillon

Drivetrain aside, they weren't totally brand new for the 2012 model year. They had been on sale in Europe as a 2011 model.

A lot of the problems stem from poor quality control, an entitled unionized factory workforce, and typical American cost-cutting. One Ford should mean One Ford. The American-built Foci should have been built just as well as the ones made in Germany, or elsewhere in the world.

I jumped ship too. I bought a late-production 2012, and still had issues.

The MK3 Focus even though called a MY2011 in Europe began its life at exactly the same time as the North American tagged as a MY2012.

Your other points have merit for sure, and to add to Ford North American troubles assembling the new Focus, were new suppliers, totally new assembly equipment and a new assembly plant.

When I was in Madrid and Ford had both Michigan built Focus alongside Saarlouis (German) built Focus, although impressed with the build quality of the USA Focus, many of the parts used are watered down and easy to see did not have the same substance found in the parts used in the Euro Focus.

I also lay lots of blame on whoever calls the shots at the USA assembly plants making decisions to push vehicles out of the plant and into dealerships because someone from above is screaming to get vehicles out, even though they know Quality Control is telling them problems exist.
But that is a mentality from many years of building (don't give a shit its just a car) low profit making cars, with priority being units per day shipped.Takes time to rid this type of virus in the attitude, but hopefully someone up the chain of command has the guts to let the big chief know what is really going down at the assembly plant.

It is not coincidence that we do not have MyFord Touch in Europe yet. Consumers here would rebel if they were sold a system with the poor performance record it has had in North America.

[Strix]

Originally Posted by StingRay

Oh hey look it's ANOTHER one of these threads. Where are the mods when you need them? If we could get all of these complaint threads merged into one, the MK3 section would be 1/25th of it's size.

And if Ford actually fixed any of these problems, the pool of complainers would be 1/25 of it's size.

But you're right... mods should just start closing the threads of people who are dissatisfied. Lots of people are happy with their trouble-free Focuses, so those with problems should just shut up.

[Blizzard35]

Originally Posted by Strix

And if Ford actually fixed any of these problems, the pool of complainers would be 1/25 of it's size.

But you're right... mods should just start closing the threads of people who are dissatisfied. Lots of people are happy with their trouble-free Focuses, so those with problems should just shut up.

That way of thinking is simply arrogant presumption on your part. Where does it say on this forum that the only point of view worthy to be posted is one "praising" the Focus and those with something negative to say should be banned from posting? If you are not experiencing problems/issues with your Focus, then all the power to you and congratulations.....that however does not negate those that have had or continue to have ongoing issues. With your point of view and very myopic statement you better hope you never have problems with your Focus because you will not be able to post your complaint, frustration, anger on this forum as only favorable posts will be permitted. If you don't want to read negative posts then don't read them but acting like an ostrich and putting your head in the sand chanting "there are no problems at all with the Ford Focus" is ridiculous and quite frankly insulting to other forum members that are dealing with issues.

[6769MOPARS]

Originally Posted by RedoFromStart

I really thought (maybe just hoped) Ford was better than this. After just over 7 months of ownership of this car, I've come to the conclusion that it's quite apparent that Americans can't build quality automobiles that last. I've already had to take this Focus in 6 times for 4 different problems and one of them is not solved still. Every time I take it in, they ask me how I like it. I don't anymore.

I do a lot of highway and light city driving. The front end suspension quickly developed a rattle, which was fixed, but there is also a loud squeaking/quacking/rubbing noise that is audible over the stereo but conveniently never present when the technician is driving it. If I wanted to be without my car while it sits at a dealership service department parking lot not being worked on every other week, I'd have kept my old car that I traded in for this thing. It had the exact same problems from the get go when it was brand new, too. It appears that it's just more of the same...I bought another 6 years to a decade of constant extremely inconvenient and unproductive service department visits. YAY!

The 2012 Ford Focus is just another of many very nice looking but poorly-built American automobiles. I regret buying it, and this is what I tell people who are interested in buying one when they ask me about it.

I disagree completely. The Focus is a terrific, well-built car. I recommend it and Ford to everyone who asks about my wife's Ti or my ST. My Ford dealer gives me excellent service. If that is your real problem, change dealers.

[RonMaiden]

Originally Posted by Strix

But you're right... mods should just start closing the threads of people who are dissatisfied. Lots of people are happy with their trouble-free Focuses, so those with problems should just shut up.

Why should they be closed up and people should shut up? So,we can't be informed of some consistent problems. Why hide these issues and some of these issues are real problems. So,owners shouldn't have a place to voice opinions and everything should only be voiced if it's positive. This would be the worst and most uninformitive site ever if that happened.

I love my Focus but I'm paying attention to it really closely. I've owned no amercian cars for the last 20 years til I bought the Focus based on reviews and design.

I admit this car isn't quite up to the fit and finish of the Japanese cars I've owned and rattles a bit more than my Toyota 4Runner did at 100,000 miles but so far so good.

[Zillon]

Originally Posted by e30og

Almost traded my '12 for a GTI if it wasn't for the insurance!

My insurance actually went down a few dollars a month, surprisingly.

I ran the numbers for an ST, and it would've gone up by several.

[RedoFromStart]

The thing about the Focus that upsets me the most is if it weren't for having to take the thing in every other week or few weeks for another failed component, the car would be the best car I've ever had.

I really like it overall, but I just don't see it lasting long enough to make the price worth it. Years of car payments for this? It's looking like it'll have to be traded away just before the warranty is up.

So incredibly disappointed.

[RedoFromStart]

Originally Posted by 6769MOPARS

I disagree completely. The Focus is a terrific, well-built car. I recommend it and Ford to everyone who asks about my wife's Ti or my ST. My Ford dealer gives me excellent service. If that is your real problem, change dealers.

Somehow....and maybe I'm just crazy but.... I just don't understand how changing dealers is going stop this runaway train of prematurely failing mechanical components on this supposedly well-built automobile. Suspension components should be durable enough to handle highway and light city driving for more than 4,000 miles, right? No...I'm crazy...I must be.

Get real. I bought a brand new car so that I'd have reliable transportation, not leave it parked at a dealership while they scratch their heads trying to find out which bad component needs to be replaced every other week or two weeks.

[StingRay]

Originally Posted by Strix

And if Ford actually fixed any of these problems, the pool of complainers would be 1/25 of it's size.

But you're right... mods should just start closing the threads of people who are dissatisfied. Lots of people are happy with their trouble-free Focuses, so those with problems should just shut up.

You're missing my point. Voicing your concern is fine, but the sheer amount of threads with the same topic is ridiculous. Like this thread for example, It doesn't have an exact complaint topic, It's just a general complaint thread. I bet I could find 20 or more of these threads in the first few pages of the MK3 section. It gets really tiring when the rare positive posts are flooded and lost by repetitive complaint threads. I didn't say the mods should close them and censor the complaints, I'm saying there needs to be ONE thread for this to keep the forum more organized.