One Year Later - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

[Some Guy From NY]

I really do not know what my next course of action will be.

I think I may be stuck with this car for another few years. I purchased the extended warranty, so I may have to live with this until that expires.

This will be the last Ford I own for the forseeable future.

[Some Guy From NY]

Originally Posted by mp223

No denying you are having problems, and it seems like the dealerships are incompetent at fixing them. After looking at the toe numbers on your alignment, that would seem to be the case with the wandering issue. Your front wheels are not supposed to point perfectly straight forward (0°). Your toe is supposed to be ever so slightly positive, between 0.18° and 0.58° according to your picture.

Before, when you had negative toe (toe-out) and you went over a bump, a large amount of weight transferred off of one wheel and on to the opposite wheel. Because your wheel is pointed outwards, this causes the car to track in a direction away from your intended point of travel. When the weight distribution returns to normal, the other tire regains the lost downward force from the bump, and since it too is pointed away from the direction of intended travel, the car will get squirrely. This is what you felt, why it was difficult keeping the car between the lanes, and caused the wondering.

Your wheels should be ever so slightly pointed inwards (positive toe or toe-in). This causes the vehicle to track down a straight line as the wheels are ever so slightly working against each other to keep the vehicle in a straight line.


If you have been driving on tires that have been out of alignment for long enough, they will wear down in such a way no amount of alignment will ever make them feel right. My advice would be to rotate the tires, then have the dealership preform another alignment and insist all of the adjustments are dead center within the specified ranges. I would also look for more competent dealerships. If Ford insists the issue is fixed when it is not, I would push for a lemon law claim if possible, BBB report against Ford and the dealerships, etc.

It's a shame you've received such terrible service.



edit: the electric steering is not necessarily the culprit.

I spoke to Dana Ford about this and they told me before they performed their alignment that "their techs just came back 2 weeks ago from school on how to do a proper alignment".

According to them, the second time I brought it back to them, they test drove it and put it on the rack again and said "everything is in spec". I was unable to see what the spec was this time around.

I have gone to FOUR different dealers. That's 3 too many.

I do not have the time or patience to keep getting the run around. This is literally sickening to me.

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by Some Guy From NY

...However the highway speed wander is definitely better, but now mainly at low speeds, it is very hard to drive straight...

Some Guy From NY,

Please see your inbox for the PM I sent.

Originally Posted by Strix

...I sure hope that someone higher up than Cory is paying attention to this...

I’ll often forward a concern up the line, Strix.

Cory

[Some Guy From NY]

Thanks Cory, I sent a reply.

Another "the ugly" is gas mileage. I know it may differ from person to person...but in the city I am seeing LOW 20s. Like 21-24mpg. For highway, 27-33mpg.

Shameful for a 4cylinder engine.

[kam327]

Originally Posted by Some Guy From NY

Another "the ugly" is gas mileage. I know it may differ from person to person...but in the city I am seeing LOW 20s. Like 21-24mpg. For highway, 27-33mpg.

Shameful for a 4cylinder engine.

What were you getting in your Escape in the same driving conditions though?

In my '08 Tribute V6 (a rebadged Escape) I was getting 20 mpg. Now I'm getting 34-35mpg on the exact same commute. I say thank god for this 4-cylinder engine.

Even more astounding, the EPA highway rating for my old '99 Contour V6 (under the 2008 rating system) is 26. That's less than the city rating of the '12 Focus. Basically the same size car with only 10 less hp. That is truly amazing. The most I ever got out of that old Contour was maybe 25 mpg.

[Some Guy From NY]

Originally Posted by kam327

What were you getting in your Escape in the same driving conditions though?

In my '08 Tribute V6 (a rebadged Escape) I was getting 20 mpg. Now I'm getting 34-35mpg on the exact same commute. I say thank god for this 4-cylinder engine.

Even more astounding, the EPA highway rating for my old '99 Contour V6 (under the 2008 rating system) is 26. That's less than the city rating of the '12 Focus. Basically the same size car with only 10 less hp. That is truly amazing. The most I ever got out of that old Contour was maybe 25 mpg.

I had a V6 4wd Escape and was getting just about 20mpg city. In My previous 2002 4wd Explorer I was getting a solid 11-12mpg city. I did get 20-22mpg highway with it which was ABOVE the EPA highway rating.

[kam327]

Originally Posted by Some Guy From NY

I had a V6 4wd Escape and was getting just about 20mpg city. In My previous 2002 4wd Explorer I was getting a solid 11-12mpg city. I did get 20-22mpg highway with it which was ABOVE the EPA highway rating.

I see this once in a while on here and other forums. People claiming to get only a few more mpg with their Focus than their old V6 or V8 4WD SUV under the same driving conditions. It's exceedingly hard (for me) to understand how that could be. Especially since my own experience with my last 4 cars on the same commute is that I got at or moderately above the EPA combined rating with all of them. I do think that modern cars are becoming tuned more and more just to maximize the EPA ratings for marketing purposes, at the expense of all-low or -high speed operation. But still...

[Some Guy From NY]

Originally Posted by kam327

I see this once in a while on here and other forums. People claiming to get only a few more mpg with their Focus than their old V6 or V8 4WD SUV under the same driving conditions. It's exceedingly hard (for me) to understand how that could be. Especially since my own experience with my last 4 cars on the same commute is that I got at or moderately above the EPA combined rating with all of them. I do think that modern cars are becoming tuned more and more just to maximize the EPA ratings for marketing purposes, at the expense of all-low or -high speed operation. But still...

It is what it is.

The only time with my Focus that i got anywhere close to 37mpg was on a trip from Brooklyn NY to Newport Rhode Island in August, a week before my steering rack was changed. I averaged 36.8mpg going there, on the return trip, same roads, same driving conditions (no ac, windows cracked open), I got 34mpg...

I want to like this car. Like I have said, it is the perfect size for me, drives great on curvy roads, fit and finish for me is great, no clunking, DCT works nearly flawlessly besides the minor shuddering at very low speeds, MFT works great with few if any hiccups. If it drove straight at low speeds like it used to before with my old rack, I would LOVE this car.

[Uptcv1]

Well you need a tried-true dealer... Ask here for a reccomendation from other members that had succesfull rack replacements within NY metro...
Hopefully you find one that will diagnose, replace, install correctly! And hopefully they also do a proper alignment afterwards...
Regarding alignment though I have found you re better off to pay for one.. Go to an indepedent shop and ask they let you stay in your car so you re holding the steering dead center while they adjust/align...
In the mean time contact Ford... no service center... or forum rep.. that doesnt do it.. go on yahoo finance type f for ford then look up co. Profile it lists their main number (not 800#) and also lists their CEO etc.. Call and ask for Mulally the CEO you will be transfered to assistant voicemail - now write down your message so you can make it in the 60 seconds you probably get.. Start by saying this a recorded note for all intensivd purposes with intent to broadcast on national TV like 7 on your side... Briefly explain you had x attemts no resolution this is your good faith last request before you proceed.. Then wait you either true attention and resolution or some TV time!
*if you get a call back from Lynn from executive office ask for another she is useless
- sorry for typos - wrting on phone...

[gsxrboy]

I have to say that this post was well written, I enjoyed reading it.

So far, it seems the car is solid, the issue here is incompetent mechanics who cannot fix the issue, they are simply patching the problem. An alignment is not a fix for issues like these, most people believe if the car is not driving properly, do an alignment. If you request an alignment, that is what you are going to get. I would get either the steering replaced or take it to a dealership that actually knows what they are doing.

My car has been solid from day one, I recently updated the MFT to 3.5.1 and it has been excellent.