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

17K views 102 replies 30 participants last post by  Strix 
#1 ·
Part 1

This is a write up of my experiences with the 2012 Ford Focus. I will talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the very ugly. Names will be dropped.

A year ago today, I was looking to trade in my 2006 Ford Escape for something more fuel efficient. I stopped at a local Ford dealer, Dana Ford in Staten Island - just to look around. As soon as I walked in with my father, a salesman bearhugs my father out of the blue. Turns out, this salesman was a childhood friend of my father and they haven't seen each other in years.

This was good news for me.

Needless to say I got a great deal on my Sterling Grey DCT sedan.

However, the one I wanted was at a different lot, and they said they would get it for me. After we had worked out the numbers for it (it was an SE with the black painted wheels and winter package, no MFT) the salesman offered me the SEL for the same negotiated price as the SE. The one feature I had really wanted was the winter package which he assured me this one had. I was also weary on MFT but since the deal was too good to be true, I accepted.

Welp, turns out the car DID NOT HAVE the winter package. He offered me a price of $200 dollars to have factory remote start installed - which I gladly took him up on. REMOTE START IS AWESOME.

My car how it looked exactly one year ago:



This was my first new car. At the time I thought it drove like a dream. Small, quick handling, great features, great fit and finish. It felt so sporty after coming from 2 previous SUV's (2002 explorer, 2006 escape)

After driving it a lot on the highway back and forth between NY and PA, I noticed I was getting fatigued from driving it on the highway, the car swayed left and right a lot. This is when I finally decided to google it which lead me to these very forums. The problem - the dreaded steering wander TSB 12-02-17.

It was now the end of July. I made an appointment with Bay Ridge Ford in Brooklyn to have it looked at. They were preparing to move service department locations. They had a beautiful computer drawn sketch of their new building in the office. They found the TSB but warned me the steering rack was back ordered and will take 4-6 weeks to arrive, and by that time they would be moved into their new location. I was fine with this.

5 weeks later I get the call that the rack is in, and to bring the car in. It is now early September. I go to drop the car off at their new service department, AND THE BUILDING IS NOT FINISHED BEING BUILT. IT HAS NO WALLS YET THEY ARE SET UP INSIDE. FROM THE STREET YOU CAN SEE THE COMPLETE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING. I KNEW from this point my car was going to not turn out correctly.

After 3 days, my father picks up my car because I am at work. He immediately calls me to tell me the steering wheel is very crooked and the alignment is off. I call back the service manager Rich who tries to tell me the alignment is fine and asks if I drove it. I inform him my father has been driving for well over 45 years and I think he knows if the wheel is crooked and the alignment is off. Rich goes on to tell me that "if it was up to him he would not have taken my car in for repair because they are not set up completely in their new building and their alignment machine may have been knocked out of calibration." I tell him straight up that is NOT MY PROBLEM. They accepted to fix my car, and it was not fixed. I make plans to bring it back for them to fix the alignment.

Which they still do not do correctly. The wheel is straight but the car is still driving funny.[:(!]

to be continued...
 
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#65 ·
I experienced a very similar problem with steering with my Focus SEL. The problem became unworkable when the road surface became icy. I couldn't control the vehicle in a straight line at 30 miles per hour on a interstate hiway. The car acted just like it was swimming and sliding from side to side. Anyway, on dry pavement it wandered back and forth. I have had a excellent relationship with my service dealer (not the purchase dealer) and they aligned the car pointing out that it was out of specifications. Result, no improvement. The dealer then replaced the rack and realigned the vehicle, result, no improvement. I then made the decision to replace the OEM Continental tires. Result, problem gone. I can now drive the vehicle at 55 to 60 on icy interstate roads in North Dakota without the wandering for feeling like I am about to lose control. My issue appears to have been the tires and why they were problematic is anyone's guess. Could be a bad rack caused wear problems that may be enhanced due to the fact they are the 17 inch version or could have been defective tires from the get go. For me, glad I got my problem corrected by replacing the tires. Don't know if brand makes a difference but I replaced with Goodyear triple tred 215 50 R 17
 
#66 ·
I refuse to buy new tires at only 11k miles on them, especially when not knowing if that would resolve the problem. I am glad it worked for you though!
 
#69 ·
Apparently my alignment is off AGAIN. the front toe is out of spec. Right now its getting fixed by THE BEST alignment specialist they have. Then I will be going for a test drive. I asked what could be causing this to constantly happen, and they shook their heads dumbfoundedly. I don't drive crazy nor do I hit huge holes or bumps.

This is ridiculous.
 
#70 ·
Alignments seem to me to be an inexact science. I once got new tires and an alignment, went for an extended test drive and decided it was pulling to one side. Took it back a half hour later and complained. They put it back up to check the alignment and asked me if I hit something after I left because it was way off. I hadn't.
 
#71 ·
It seems I'll need to do my own oil changes, clutch changes, headliner replacements AND alignments from now on?

Perhaps it is unfair to expect one person to be an expert in replacing so many different components across a range of vastly different cars.
 
#72 ·
Welp I don't want to get ahead of myself but so far the steering seems MUCH MUCH BETTER with this new alignment. I will know in a few days worth of driving if it is actually improved, so I will wait a bit before coming to a final conclusion.

I also had the tech check the tires for uneven wear and he said everything appears normal. He also checked for "sticking" calipers but said they too appear to be operating normally.

BUT,

of course the steering wheel is a bit crooked...Even though during the test drive with the tech I had told him I thought the steering wheel was crooked, he reassured me "its the crowning of the road" so I didn't push the issue. But now after driving it home the wheel is definitely crooked, ugh.

I just can't win.

Now the real question is WHAT THE %$%#$ IS MAKING MY CAR CONTINUALLY BE OUT OF ALIGNMENT? are the dealerships just messing up the alignment? are the alignment machines calibrated incorrectly? Does it have to do with the steering rack in any way being installed incorrectly or being defective? Are the bumps and potholes I hit occasionally so severe it is messing up my alignment? Is this car just a POS?

Thoughts?
 
#74 ·
So I thought I could live with the crooked steering wheel until my next oil change in 2-3 months.

Well I can't.

Back to the dealer saturday morning, just what I want to be doing. I'm pissed.
 
#75 ·
sounds to me like when the rack was installed they didn't properly align the splines when they re-connected the steering arm to the rack....if that were the case, you would be stuck choosing between a straight steering wheel but an alignment that de-centeres the tie-rods in the rack(more pressure pulling to one side, causing your erratic steering issues) OR crooked steering wheel with proper alignment. they might have to drop your rack back down and turn the arm a couple splines and re-attach, then re-align again.....
 
#77 ·
I'm sitting in the waiting room once again waiting for my car to be fixed for the crooked wheel.

Who wants to bet that they fix the steering wheel but mess up the alignment, or that they will make the steering wheel crooked left instead of right like how it is now?
 
#78 ·
Ok after a 3 hour wait my car was done. longer than when I was there on wednesday and actually got a full alignment) Seems like everything is ok now, the steering angle was off obviously. Have to drive it around more now to see how the alignment is.
 
#82 ·
I'm the OP and would like closure on this issue too!

Basically my car is doing 3 things;

1) pulls to the left quite often

2) sometimes if the car is drifting left or right, i have to turn the wheel LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT many times to get the car to go straight. It is like there is no "center" position for the car/steering.

3) Sometimes I feel the electric motor of the steering rack wanting to move the steering wheel for NO reason.

On Feb 27th I brought it back and test drove it with the tech. Of course none of my problems could be duplicated. However while we test drove on the highway, at times it did pull to the left, but the roads have such a large crown effect to them, it was hard to tell if it was the car being dumb or because of road crowning, which the tech admitted that it was hard to tell because of the road.

I drove the car that day up until Sunday to and around Pennsylvania. I put on 400+ miles. At times it does drive straight, but at least 85% of the time, it slowly drifts to the left way faster than any car should.

I am awaiting to talk to the dealer today to see what Corporate is going to say about changing out the steering rack again. I am not holding my breath.

I had a long conversation with the service manager at the dealer and it was just going in circles, like it has been every time I spoke to the Regional Rep. They keep telling me "it is a small car so it will move around a lot and follow grooves/bumps in the road". I then tell them IT DID NOT DO THIS BEFORE THE RACK WAS CHANGED. IT WAS THE SAME "SMALL CAR" BEFORE THE RACK WAS CHANGED AND IT DID NOT DRIVE THIS WAY. This usually leaves them in silence, because what can they honestly say to that.

I will keep you all updated, hopefully later today.
 
#90 ·
IT DID NOT DO THIS BEFORE THE RACK WAS CHANGED. IT WAS THE SAME "SMALL CAR" BEFORE THE RACK WAS CHANGED AND IT DID NOT DRIVE THIS WAY. This usually leaves them in silence, because what can they honestly say to that.
This has been my experience as well. Pointing out that a problem did not exist until something was changed should make trouble-shooting it a no-brainer. Change it back or do the job again. Simple.

One of the first things I ask people whose computer problems I am tasked with fixing is "Has anything changed recently? Any new hardware or software?"

The reason I ask that question is because when a problem starts after a particular change, there's a very high likelihood that the problem is related to the change. It's not always the case, but the correlation is extremely high.

But what the hell do I know?... I only fix 98% of the problems I see and at my last position, I had a meager 4.9 of 5 customer satisfaction rating. I clearly shouldn't be talking about how to fix problems and make customers happy! LOL
 
#83 ·
at this point, the car is in the realm of the lemon law....you've had it back to the dealer 3+ times for the same issue and it is still unresolved. If they won't swap out your steering rack again, then I'd start the lemon-law process to have ford buy the car back from you and move on.
 
#84 ·
I don't know if it will be that easy. The steering seems very subjective, well according to the ford techs anyway.

It is not something easily duplicated. It is only living with the car, driving it day in and day out that you realize it does not drive normally.

When going for a short test drive, the problems I feel can be brushed off as road conditions. But like I said, living with the car, and paying close attention to how many small corrections you have to make nearly constantly, and looking at other cars on the road really show that something is not right with my car.
 
#85 ·
This may be the final update...

I just spoke to the service manager at Dana Ford and it is "out of his hands". Ford Corporate won't approve replacing the steering rack because the ford dealer cannot duplicate the problems.

The Ford service manager at Dana Ford offered to do one more alignment on the car, but I would have to leave the car there the entire day. He said he did a "fine tune alignment" on my car last time, which he NEVER has done on any car.

He told me to "keep going after Ford Corporate" and tell them all my trouble happened when the rack was replaced.

This is what I have done NUMEROUS times already. And what is Ford Corporate's response? "The dealer has to tell us the problem"

[rant][mad][rant]

The circle jerk continues.

As of now I don't know what to do. I have paperwork from the BBB which I have not filed yet, hoping for a resolution from Ford. It looks like I will be filing this paperwork.

I can't believe it is coming down to this. Ford has just lost a fan and customer. [thumbd]
 
#91 ·
...As of now I don't know what to do. I have paperwork from the BBB which I have not filed yet, hoping for a resolution from Ford...
Hi Some Guy From NY,

I can arrange for a follow-up call from your CSM; just send me a PM with your current mileage.

Crystal
 
#86 ·
I would file the paperwork, and at least attempt to go through the lemon law process....if nothing else, the combination of putting both of those things into motion should shake things up with ford and make them realize it's time for them to stop jerking you around.....

I wonder if they would let you drive a lot car/loaner of the exact same make/model as yours for a week to note the differences in the two....

I wonder if there's an app for your phone kinda like the sleep-cycle app....the sleep cycle app monitors your movement in your sleep....all you do is set it on your bed.

if you could somehow show that you're required to adjust steering MORE in your car than another identical car on the same commute over a couple of days to show averages....you'd have RAW DATA to prove there's something wrong.
 
#89 ·
Here's an idea, if you have a video camera, or at least a smartphone, record yourself driving and you can demonstrate how bad the car's steering tracks. You can point it in a straight line, remove your hands from the wheel and show how it veers right or left, as long as it is safe and there are no other vehicles around. Try to get your speedo in frame so they can see the speed the car is traveling at when the condition occurs and when it doesn't, I did this with a high speed problem I had with my Cobra that the dealer couldn't dublicate because they wouldn't drive the car fast enough so that the problem would rear its ugly head. And then go show the service manager and make sure they have a Ford area service rep there too so he can validate it.
 
#87 ·
But either way, it's not the fault of the dealerships. It's the fault of Ford corporation for binding their hands as much as they can. Claims get denied for *every* reason under the sun, which means the dealerships can't do anything about it.
You are speaking the Gospel here. I've been down this road with Ford more than once, damn surprised I still buy them, must be losing my mind in my old age. I have been told that transmission failures were "MY" fault due to my driving, even though the exact same problem had been mentioned in countless automobile publications and forums, just so Ford could deny the claim and get out of paying for my issue. This, by the way, was the T-45 on my 96 SVT Cobra Mustang. I had a friend, exact same car, and had his T-45 fail, 3rd-4th shifter fork broke just like mine, and had his tranny replaced under warranty, but they denied mine, citing customer abuse. I asked them to show me the so called "abuse", like a scored flywheel or burnt clutch disc which would mean I was being hard on the poor little so-called performance car, but they couldn't because none existed. They could however, because they can, just say no we won't fix it and then cancel the remaining portion of your powertrain warranty which they did. And all of this on their top of the line performance car, at the time, the SVT Cobra. So you see Ford has been doing this sort of crap for a long time, and I'm sure they will continue to do so as long as we, the consumer, continue to allow it. My advice, if your state has a Lemon Law, file a claim and use it. I did it on my 96 Cobra and won. I made Ford buy it back from me. Maybe you can get them to do that for you, or at least have them take this car back, and give you another Focus at no additional cost. I made them do that on my 03' Terminator Cobra, it had electrical gremlins that caused it to quit running, and made them replace it with an 04' Terminator which I still have and drive on occasion when I feel the need for speed. Good luck to you and don't give up!
 
#88 ·
waist time no more!
seriously consider approach per my prior post... you might be pleasantly surprised.. this is a tried-true approach..
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4566290&postcount=19
and also something to consider with lemon law claims... if you pursue legal representation then this card is gone... your layers only represent you and the auto manufacturer (Ford) will not talk to you at all since you have assigned councel -but- your lwyer will just build a case/file (time/paperwork) so they can then ask Ford for comp for their time (X billable hours for the so many months you will be waiting for layers to build file...) plus comp for you- result is usually some kind of split between lawyers/you (probably nothing $substantial) but after a very long time waiting..
call the CEO!
 
#94 ·
UPDATE 4/3/13

So I had contacted the BBB a month or so ago. They got the ball rolling with Ford to get a field service engineer to look at my car.

Yesterday I dropped the car off at Dana Ford where a Field Engineer checked it out.

Of course when I got there, the engineer was not. TWO service managers there told me to just tell them in detail what my problems were, which they wrote down, and for me to leave the car because it will probably be there for hours. Luckily I had my father follow me because I figured I would have to leave the car.

Halfway home (i live 20-30 minutes away and have to cross a bridge+ pay a toll) I get a call from one of the service managers asking "where I was" because "I was supposed to go on a test drive with the engineer". I was INFURIATED. [:(!] I told them I was nearly home and I was NOT going to go all the way back. The engineer would just have to look at my numerous service record complaints and test drive it himself.

6 Hours later I get a call that shocked no one. "NORMAL OPERATION". The engineer found nothing wrong and spent "4" hours checking the entire car out, including the alignment which was found in spec.

I guess I just have to live with this POS for a few more years.

My only hope is that the tires are unevenly worn and my steering problems will be solved with new tires...however I won't be in the market for new tires for at least another year or so.

I guess this is the end of my saga with Ford.
 
#95 ·
If I was having the problems you have had, I would have made sure I was present when the so called Field Engineer was available.
Now you just have to take the word of the service manager saying they actually checked your car.
Does not sound like it was worth your time to go back to the dealership and get to really find out what is going on with your car.
 
#97 ·
I did not know when the field engineer would arrive, and they did not know either - I guess I did not make that clear. Also, at the point the service manager had called me, the engineer was still NOT there. They were calling me wondering where I was for when he DID come, I would be there. (all this after being told twice to leave the car)

I was not going to hang around for potentially hours waiting. In a perfect world, I would have had nothing to do all day and could have stayed, but this was not the case.

Obviously if the engineer was there at the time of my appointment I would have stayed and test drove it with him.
 
#98 ·
That's pretty crappy of the SE and the dealer for not making sure he was there ON TIME for your appointment. They should have offered to call you when he arrived and then provided transportation to come get you at your home so you could come back and do the test drive. They should have gone out their way for you, not the other way around, but that's Ford. I say, if your state has it, file a Lemon Law suit against Ford for either replacement of the vehicle or refund of monies you have paid to date.
 
#99 ·
Not saying this will fix your issue but as I had stated previously, my focus demonstrated much of the same symptoms and was actually dangerous to drive, in my opinion, especially on icy roads. The dealership aligned the car with no improvement, were able to replicate the issue and replaced the steering sector and then aligned. After this repair the car couldn't be driven without almost losing control at 30 mph on icy interstate roads even in town. I had plenty of tread left on the OEM 17 inch Continental tires but in spite of that, decided to replace them with different tires. That was in February, problem gone and hasn't resurfaced. For me, the time, travel to dealership (75 miles one way) upset, etc. exceeded the cost for new tires. In my case, it appears there is nothing the dealership could have mechanically done to take care of the issue caused by those factory tires. Now not letting Ford totally off the hook, even though I purchased these tires at a Ford dealership in which Ford offered a 60 dollar rebate coupon, I am still waiting for that rebate. Even though you go to the Ford ownership site to check on the status of your rebate and even though the work was listed on their web site, the rebate people told me they have no access to that site, thus I had to send them a copy of my work order. Oh, well. Life goes on
 
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