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

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by Strix

Most people are so short-sighted that they can't see past the timeclock. They do as little as possible to keep their jobs and haven't a clue how their performance or lack of it affects the bottom line... nor do they care. Until their employer goes out of business or fires them.

At which point they tend to blame whoever is in the White House.

[Some Guy From NY]

If the next time I bring my focus in to get checked, and they find nothing wrong, I am getting rid of it.

I really do believe the new steering rack is either defective or was installed incorrectly, moreso the latter.

I cannot live with it this way. I can't "get used to it" like Praton has. It is just too ridiculous to even want to deal with it on a brand new car in the year 2012.

[Strix]

Originally Posted by flyboyike

At which point they tend to blame whoever is in the White House.

LOL! That is true. I was going to say something along those lines, but decided to leave politics out of it.

My point is that most people don't care about doing a good job.

When you find one who does, whether it's your mechanic, your dentist, your plumber, or your doctor, consider yourself lucky.

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by Some Guy From NY

If the next time I bring my focus in to get checked, and they find nothing wrong, I am getting rid of it.

I really do believe the new steering rack is either defective or was installed incorrectly, moreso the latter.

I cannot live with it this way. I can't "get used to it" like Praton has. It is just too ridiculous to even want to deal with it on a brand new car in the year 2012.

I don't suppose you could take it to a dealership with some competent techs. Granted, in Brooklyn that might be a challenge, you'd be lucky to find an English-speaking tech there.

[Some Guy From NY]

Originally Posted by flyboyike

I don't suppose you could take it to a dealership with some competent techs. Granted, in Brooklyn that might be a challenge, you'd be lucky to find an English-speaking tech there.

I've taken it to FOUR different dealerships, 2 in Brooklyn, Bay Ridge Ford & Premier Ford, 1 in Staten Island where I bought the car and did the most recent alignment which helped significantly but did not completely fix the problem - Dana Ford, and 1 dealership in Pennsylvania, Lehighton Ford.

They have all failed me.

I am hopefully going to hear back from the regional service rep either tomorrow or tuesday and talk about taking it back to Dana Ford to have them specifically check the steering rack for problems.

[Some Guy From NY]

UGH.

I missed the call from the Regional Rep by ONE second. I immediately call back and get her voicemail.

I hate playing phone tag. Now I have to wait until tomorrow most to hopefully get a call back. Hope I don't miss that one too...

[Some Guy From NY]

I have an appointment scheduled with Dana Ford for next wednesday, the 13th. I will be sure to keep you all updated on how it goes.

[FordCustomerService]

Hi everyone!

This is just a reminder that Cory and I are here to do what we can to help. If you are currently experiencing a concern and haven't contacted us already, send us a PM with your VIN, dealer, mileage, daytime phone number, and full name. We'll get to work on investigating some options.

Those of you who have already contacted us, thank you! If you need any additional assistance, just let us know.

Thanks!

Crystal

[liquidblue88]

First time poster.

I had to register to reply to this forum. I truly hope that not all dealerships react to customers in the same manner as it has been described on these forums. It appears as thought they all dismiss it as "this is how it operates" instead of trying to understand the customer's issue.

Great story (albeit a terrible one). I really, truly hope that everything gets sorted out for you!

At least the Ford reps on this forum are great !

[hotleadsingerguy]

Originally Posted by mmmfloorpie

That's pretty offensive.

What about the thousands of people employed by those hundreds of dealerships that you say should have been closed?

It's people like you that are the reason for a lot of the problems our country currently faces. Helping others is very important (as is caring for them, in general), but at some point it becomes a detriment to society if done to too great a level. If a company rips off their customers, doesn't treat them well, and handles its money improperly...they should be closed. You can't say "we need to save them" just because of the people that work there. As employees, they should stand up to the corporation and tell them what they're doing is wrong.

If I worked for a company that was doing things like this to our customers I would be marching into the CEO's office to tell him we need to change direction. If that meant the end of my career at the company...so be it. People need to learn to stand up against that kind of thing.

Originally Posted by JMD787

His financial loss will be made up in a few years when the Accord has a resale value that a Focus owner could only dream of.

It already has been lol at this point in the Focus life cycle my car was already worse less than what the Accord currently is (in relative percentages and time frames). I've lost around 10% on this car so far (which is above the curve), whereas the Focus had already lost nearly 20% in the same timeframe. It's ridiculous.

Originally Posted by dissident

electric power steering and these 'automated manual' transmissions strike me as fixing things that are not broken. People always scream about how much gas a torque converter wastes and the like but I've never actually seen this in real life conditions nor have I ever had a problem with torque converters, automatics, or come to detest them as some car people do for whatever reason.... as for electronic power steering, the wandering problem is not limited to fords.. toyota corolla have had and do have the same problem. I want to feel connected to the road, I want the car to drive straight naturally due to the laws of physics at fast interstate speeds, not wander all over because of an electric motor that does not respond to these laws... these items have made me hesitant to upgrade besides the fact that new cars are just plain expensive and a bad economic investment.

Want a real gas mileage boost? Start making more diesel powered vehicles and stop whining about the supposed problems that diesel has... right now my going on 13 year old Grand Am still runs great.. it's supposed to be an unreliable vehicle but it's actually been the opposite, and all the things that do go wrong with it are easily fixed with $40 parts on ebay. (power window regulator, blinker switch, etc) so I see no reason to upgrade 'just because' something might happen.. that's what AAA is for... or upgrade because I'm 'bored' with the car, because I'm actually not. :)

I can't help but think this is targeted at myself and a few others that have traded our cars in. As for electric power steering and an automated manual...I've driven many cars with both of those features and none had the problems this did (and I don't mean drive as in "I got in and test drove", I mean I've driven them for longer periods of time). This one didn't work correctly.

As for trading it in because I was bored or unhappy...why is that even a point of contention? What right is it of yours to ridicule a decision I, or anyone else here, have/has made? Even if I traded it in because the horn didn't sound the way I like it...that's my business. To me, the problems I had were valid enough to warrant a trade. You may have been more complacent and accepting with these things, but I don't have the time to deal with the problems I had.