Issues with new 2012 Ford Focus

[Beepster]

Week 12 and still no news from the dealer and Ford.

The worst part is that the car is getting a lot of attention.With all the TV ads ,people are curious about the car.But the second they ask me if I like it and I open my mouth ,they step away from the car.It's not the actual mechanical problem that scare people away,it's Ford attitude after selling a car that never should have made it to the dealership.My intention is not to make bad publicity,the car pretty much does it on it's own and I'm not gonna lie to cover some people not doing their job.

I recently had to cancel another road trip that I already postponed a few times.Looks like if I want to do this I'll need to rent a car.

[Montana]

Originally Posted by jake1

I checked the NHSTA web site, however, and there is not a single complaint about the transmission on that site. You folks with problems need to access that site and file a complaint with NHSTA. Even though it is a US government site, I think Canadians can also file a complaint there.

Wait 72 hours and there will be one at least, If anyone that has this issue is tired of the line that Ford is feeding us about a normal situation but is a isolated incident then I would ask that you fill out a complaint form with the NHSTA as well. It only takes a few minutes and maybe as jake1 pointed out it may put some pressure on Ford to fix this issue, If a larger percentage of vehicles don't have this problem then it is fixable. It is just they don't want to spend the money to do it.

Here is the link to the NHSTA complaint form.

Montana

[CourtneyNYC]

On a brighter note . . . I had the first service done on my 2012 Focus Titanium this morning. Afterward I was struggling with the procedure on "Resetting the Oil Life Monitoring System".

I decided since I had the Ford 800 number in the car to call . . .

They did a fabulous job and I was able to reset the system properly in a matter of minutes.

Well done . . .

Now . . . if someone would get to work on the dealer problem so I could get this service done by a "Trained" tech at a Ford Dealer and not a local kid doing oil changes on a "per change" basis behind a tree behind the shop.

It's a great car and a seriously scary dealer network.

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by CourtneyNYC

They did a fabulous job and I was able to reset the system properly in a matter of minutes.

Well done . . .

Now . . . if someone would get to work on the dealer problem so I could get this service done by a "Trained" tech at a Ford Dealer and not a local kid doing oil changes on a "per change" basis behind a tree behind the shop.

Hello CourtneyNYC,

It's wonderful they were prompt and helpful when you called today. I hope you have a significantly improved experience at your future service appointments. Please know that I am here if you have any questions.

~Natasha

[TonyTDYagain]

Here is an odd one for all you out there that live in a lightning prone area of the country. I was driving my 2012 Titanium home the other night during one of the worst thunderstorms of the year. While I was driving under a freeway overpass, a lightning bolt hit just outside the overpass knocking out all power to the surrounding area, including the traffic signal in front of me.

After waiting for cross traffic to go through, all of my cars idiot lights came on, and a slow progression of failure errors came up on the dash screen. Engine Failure Service Now, Transmission Failure Service Now, Breaking, Parking Brake, etc, etc. I turned off the car for about thirty seconds hoping that would clear the faults. I started it back up, but when I did, the faults came back and no matter what gear position I put it in, it still thought it was in park.

Towed it to my Ford dealer and left it for them to figure it out, this was on 13 September. They still have it and now have the Ford computer engineers baffled as to why it lost it's mind. They have checked every component and still cannot get it fixed. After talking this over with some of my very smart engineer friends, we have come to the conclusion, and have passed this off to Ford, that the close proximity of the lightning bolt, and the channeling effect of the overpass, caused the electro-magnetic pulse of the lightning to go through the circuitry of the car and made it start to lose components.

We are still waiting on the final consensus of the big brains at Ford. There is no date when I will, if ever, get my car back. They can always give me another one and take this one back to the laboratory and dissect it.

[CourtneyNYC]

Wow ! . . . . If there is an "Odd Occurance" Trophy I nominate you for a winner.

Generally the body of a car acts like a Faraday cage and provides a level of protection. But . . . given the myriad of devices now controlled by little sensitive chips buried in every crack and crevice of the car . . you may have been subjected to the perfect storm of Focus vs. Electrical Energy.

Put me . . . after a 42 year career building and working on energized powerlines and now a Professor in the Graduate School at Columbia University . . . in the "haven't a clue" column.

I can't wait to hear how this one plays out . . .

By the way . . . in the early days of running my construction business I had a car with 3 antennas on it (AM radio, IMTS telephone and Motorola Motrac VHF radio) and was driving through Western Kansas when the antennas on the car got hit by lightning. No problem to anybody in the car but the antennas were melted into balls of metal on the fenders and the radio was cooked. Got my attention.

[csvt2060]

Originally Posted by CourtneyNYC

It's a great car and a seriously scary dealer network.

Bingo. And I am glad you had good luck with Ford's customer support line. I have been less than impressed with Ford's support of this vehicle. Other than Natasha, I feel I have been slapped in the face dealing with this car and it's service after owning 19 Ford vehicles.

If intested in my saga, you can read more about my basket case of a car here: http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267424

[Beepster]

On my side ,the owner of the dealership who promised me a "speedy" resolution of the problem also has problem communicating with Ford.After almost 3 months of BS,my patience is getting pretty thin.Mostly when the service manager tells me that the engineering them are working on my problem since the 4th of August.Obviously,they never even looked at it!If they actually did,they would have been fired for taking 6 weeks to find a solution to a vibration problem!!!

Not sure what Ford has to win from this? So far ,a dozen people approached me about the car and after what I said ,they will buy something else.Seriously!!!3 months??How long after that?Four,six ,eight????Are they waiting for someone with the same problem to lose a wheel???Not really fun when you go at work and people ask news about the "lemon"!I'm normally proud of my cars and normally hide this kind of issue.But after a month of driving a loaner,it's hard to hide that the car as a major issue.Ford calls it "safe to drive" but if this is gonna drag forever that vibration may cause something way serious.Shouldn't be hard,they fix it ,or replace it!!!

Unless someone get his head out of his own a... very soon.I will never EVER buy another Ford vehicle again!

[yankeelpn]

Had the same issue with my 2012 Focus hatchback! They had to replace both front strut bearings because thet were over torqued. I drove off the lot with the car doing this and the dealer said it was the new tires grrrr! But guess what the grinding has returned and now back to the dealer!!!

[CourtneyNYC]

>>>a dozen people approached me about the car and after what I said ,they will buy something else.Seriously

I'm having precisely the opposite experience. I keep getting folks stopping me asking about the car. My wife and I have been driving Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, along with my old 2006 F-150, and folks walking dogs keep stopping to ask about the "new white car".