Lemon Law

[xpartmgr]

Finally had enough of the problems from my car. I filed a claim with the BBB lemon law department. After my car being in the shop 33 days since late Feb and still most the problems still present, I just decided I needed to push harder for a Ford to fix my car or replace it. Has anyone else did this? I'd like to know what to expect. I know Ford is now all the sudden interested in talking to me and working on fixing the car, but seems there is little they can do until the engineers come up with software and hardware fixes. I guess I'll know a little more next week. Oh and now I am taking it back to the dealer, per Ford's request, to allow them to fix it. So add more time to the 33 days it has already been there!

[Sponsor]

[Some Guy From NY]

What exactly is wrong with your car?

Sorry if there have been threads detailing your issues that I'm not aware of.

[xpartmgr]

Originally Posted by Some Guy From NY

What exactly is wrong with your car?

Sorry if there have been threads detailing your issues that I'm not aware of.

Here is a list. There are a few more, but this is the main list.
1. Transmission noises, shift patterns and jerking. The dealer has attempted to repair these issues, but they still exist.
a. Transmission noises: During shifting from 1st to 2nd gear the car makes a growling noise that is accompanied by a shuttering type feeling.
b. Shift pattern: The car does not always shift down into a proper gear for the road conditions. If you slow down, but do not make a complete stop, the car will often fail to shift into the proper gear. It will then shutter and feel as if it might die. If you are on an incline the car will labor to accelerate.
c. Jerking: This occurs randomly while shifting. If you are accelerating half to full throttle, the car will “pop” into the next gear. This is accompanied by a surge forward as if the clutch on a manual transmission was let out abruptly.
d. Lazy shifts. The transmission is lazy when shifting gears. This is especially worrisome when entering a highway or crossing a busy intersection.
2. Steering “wobble”. The car will wobble left and right while traveling at highway speeds. The left and right movement as unsettling and at times appear to be dangerous. The car has veered several times far enough to put the tires on or over the lane limiting lines. The dealer has replaced some parts to correct this issue, but the issue is not solved.
3. Clock loses correct time after parking the car. Occasionally when first entering the car after it has sat, it will show the time that corresponds to the time the car was shut off last time. So if I parked the car at 10:50 pm, it will show 10:50 pm the next time I start the car. The clock must be manually reset to the proper time. The dealer has attempted to repair this problem, but it still exists.
4. Intelligent entry. Occasionally the intelligent entry does not unlock the doors when prompted. This requires the fob be used to gain entry. The dealer has attempted to repair this problem, but it still exists.
5. One touch locking. Occasionally the car does not lock when the sensor is touched. This requires the fob be used to secure the car. The dealer has attempted to repair this problem, but it still exists.
6. Front end noises. The car makes a “clunking” noise when driving over rough pavement. This is something new that was noticed on 05/02/2012. The dealer has not been informed yet of this. I will inform them on the next shop visit. See Below for information.
7. Stalling. The car will occasionally stall after backing out of the driveway and when it is put into drive from reverse. The car will “sputter” and appear as if it will die, but after 1-2 seconds it will drive as normal. The dealer has attempted to repair this problem, but it still exists.
8. Rain sensing wipers. The rain sensing wipers are not functioning enough to use them during rain. They will wipe 5-10 times in short succession and then not wipe while the windshield gets so much rain that it is creating streaks and running off from the wind. They appear to randomly wipe and not based on the amount of rain on the windshield. I have attempted to adjust the sensitivity setting, but this does not appear to fix the problem. The dealer is aware of this issue and has attempted to fix it, but the problem is still present.
9. Touch screen preset buttons. The preset buttons on the touch screen have gone blank. The information is still present, if you push a button it will change to the channel. However, you are not sure what channel is assigned to that button. So it appears only the information that is displayed is missed. This is a new issue that started the morning of 05/04/2012, the dealer is not aware of this issue yet.
10. Touch screen blacking out. The touch screen will occasionally go black. It appears as if an error occurred and the software is resetting. After 5-10 minutes the touch screen will be back to normal.
11. AC will show that it is on “LO” after restart, but it is not on “LO”. This happens when the car is parked and the AC is set to max. After a restart the AC is no longer on max, but continues to display “LO” both on the MTF screen and the AC controls.
12. The car will sometimes switch its audio or fail to resume the audio after hanging up from a phone call or on restart….tend to push to the usb drive.
13. Car wiped out usb drive and corrupted music files.

[Some Guy From NY]

wow that is a lot of problems.

I have experienced a few of them myself. The transmission update corrected most of the issues related to feeling like the car is going to stall and the jerky shifting for me. I am currently waiting for parts to come in to repair that steering wander issue at highway speeds. Maybe once a month, usually longer, I have to reset the time on MFT manually. With your presets being blank, that happens on my car too sometimes, but if you change from say FM1 to FM2 to FM3, the preset will show the station again. Also, sometimes my screen goes blank but it is usually updating or sending out a report.

You still have far more serious problems than I have. The rain sensing wipers are sometimes quirky but most of the time work as designed.

I hope everything works out.

[xpartmgr]

Yeah some items have been fixed, but when I copied the text it did not show the lined out text. I got the steering update, but that did not correct the wobble. So good luck with that. I am just worn out from hearing "Ford is working on a fix for that issue, be patient". I do not think I should be patient when I paid good money for this car. Just my opinion.

[2012Tuxedo]

I bought an S, Im pretty sure everything that dont work on your car I dont have on the S LOL. All kidding aside, very sorry to hear that! These seem to be such great little cars. Hope you get this either fixed, or corrected.

[hotleadsingerguy]

I'm not sure you understand how the Lemon Law works...it's basically only for when you buy a car that doesn't operate. No matter what problems you have with the car, unless it's caused near-death experiences and fails to start on a regular basis (and the dealer *refuses* to attempt to fix it), you don't have a case.

Just letting you know...since the dealership is still attempting to help you, you can't "lemon law" the car. Not how it works. I hate to say it...but these are the things a warranty is for. There's bound to be a car or two out of every few thousand that doesn't operate up to the bar the rest do. You got unlucky, but at least Ford is continuing to try and help.

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

Originally Posted by hotleadsingerguy

I'm not sure you understand how the Lemon Law works...it's basically only for when you buy a car that doesn't operate. No matter what problems you have with the car, unless it's caused near-death experiences and fails to start on a regular basis (and the dealer *refuses* to attempt to fix it), you don't have a case.

Just letting you know...since the dealership is still attempting to help you, you can't "lemon law" the car. Not how it works. I hate to say it...but these are the things a warranty is for. There's bound to be a car or two out of every few thousand that doesn't operate up to the bar the rest do. You got unlucky, but at least Ford is continuing to try and help.

He's right, but if you keep pushing the issue (and get a lawyer involved) ford will most likely buy the car back and give you a huge discount on the purchase of another vehicle just to shut you up and get you to go away. That what they did for me when I had a 2000 focus that was in the shop for all kinds of electrical gremlins that they could never figure out.

Issues #9 and 10 are happening on mine also, but they did not occur until I upgraded to version 3.02 of the MFT software

[kgoshia]

I have returned a Mercedes in as a lemon under the Colorado lemon law requirements. Out of all the issue you have listed you only have the items in 1 & 2 to help you along. The remaining items are not safety critical issues that could cause the car to become a driving hazard. Or jeopardize overall resale value.

[forceflow2]

Originally Posted by hotleadsingerguy

I'm not sure you understand how the Lemon Law works...it's basically only for when you buy a car that doesn't operate. No matter what problems you have with the car, unless it's caused near-death experiences and fails to start on a regular basis (and the dealer *refuses* to attempt to fix it), you don't have a case.

Just letting you know...since the dealership is still attempting to help you, you can't "lemon law" the car. Not how it works. I hate to say it...but these are the things a warranty is for. There's bound to be a car or two out of every few thousand that doesn't operate up to the bar the rest do. You got unlucky, but at least Ford is continuing to try and help.

This is absurdly wrong. You don't know how they work.

Originally Posted by I Bleed Ford Blue

He's right, but if you keep pushing the issue (and get a lawyer involved) ford will most likely buy the car back and give you a huge discount on the purchase of another vehicle just to shut you up and get you to go away. That what they did for me when I had a 2000 focus that was in the shop for all kinds of electrical gremlins that they could never figure out.

Issues #9 and 10 are happening on mine also, but they did not occur until I upgraded to version 3.02 of the MFT software

No he isn't. At all. A vast majority (if not all) states have in their lemon laws that if it is under repair for 30 days (cumulative) within the first year (a lot of them don't specify a date, it's just that after a certain mileage your car ends up being worth nothing according to the law so you're wasting your time filing) it is classified as a lemon.