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Discussion starter · #21 ·
[/QUOTE]
Burner1515 said:
I just got here, but suggest you re-read what AMC posted if it's not making sense right away.

When it comes time to replace my Car I am not going with a Ford. I don't need a bigger car and they are abandoning the small ones.
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Yes. My problem is I want a hatch, not a CUV. Asian marques have not yet given up on the American market; neither has Chevy. I'm not sure what my next move will be. Kia/Hyundai do make attractive cars.
 
#23 ·
momus_98 said:
OK, I'm humbled a bit here. The question I've been asking has been answered in the most honest way possible by amc49, Burner1515, and others and I want to thank everyone who responded. Honest answers are the best answers.

So maybe I'm not so lucky because I don't drive enough. The quandary for me is that my previous 2009 Pontiac G6 did just up & die on me twice (within a year of ownership) whereas my Focus has not (yet). Further, my Focus got me to & from work during the recent catastrophe that was the Texas ice storm. My car (and everything else) was covered in snow, it was 6°F outside, but the car started without issue and I made it home.

I now understand that my transmission is just waiting to fail, but how do I reconcile that with the fact that (for me), it has otherwise been a very reliable car and I don't want to trade it in? Besides, my budget doesn't currently allow for a car payment right now.

Secondary question, is there a third-party solution available for my car? I have a venerable transmission repair shop near me that I could go to. However from what I gather, the core problem is that the transmission itself is flawed from the start, so I'm going to presume the answer is "no"?

Lastly, thanks again to everyone who answered. I appreciate all the responses.

P.S. I left out a detail: I traded that G6 for a base Focus sometime around 2014/2015 or so. What I left out was that Focus never let me down either. I traded that for my current car because I felt that there should be some enjoyment when commuting. In case you were wondering about the gap.
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Do a manual transmission swap. What I would do.
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
saintsfins said:
Yeah, that's the title, but owners can still talk about what complete shyte the DCT is. Glad yours is good at 40K, but there are countless DCT issue threads here.
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So you're telling me that (just like in the malaise era), I should have bought a KIA instead? That Stinger does look nice...

jalopnik.com

The 2022 Kia Stinger Could Be An Instant Classic

The Kia Stinger, you probably have heard by now, is the real deal, an honest challenger to a car like the BMW M340i. And cheaper, too. On Tuesday, Kia confirmed that the base model will get 300 horsepower, or 45 horsepower more than the outgoing, as we first heard in August. The Kia Stinger is...
jalopnik.com jalopnik.com

Goodbye Ford
 
#34 ·
Not still made in the USA some are made in the USA.
Most manufacturers make some cars in the USA.

Hyundai / Kia / Genesis are decent I have two in my family. Honda and Toyota are still overall better built when it comes to long-term quality.

Personally Mazda is my favorite.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
 
Discussion starter · #35 · (Edited)
zacautomotive said:
Not still made in the USA some are made in the USA.
Most manufacturers make some cars in the USA.

Hyundai / Kia / Genesis are decent I have two in my family. Honda and Toyota are still overall better built when it comes to long-term quality.

Personally Mazda is my favorite.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
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True. Hondas been here since the 70's. Most BMW X5's are made in South Carolina. My friend's Journey was made in Canada.
 
#36 ·
momus_98 said:
So maybe I'm not so lucky because I don't drive enough. The quandary for me is that my previous 2009 Pontiac G6 did just up & die on me twice (within a year of ownership) whereas my Focus has not (yet). Further, my Focus got me to & from work during the recent catastrophe that was the Texas ice storm. My car (and everything else) was covered in snow, it was 6°F outside, but the car started without issue and I made it home.

I now understand that my transmission is just waiting to fail, but how do I reconcile that with the fact that (for me), it has otherwise been a very reliable car and I don't want to trade it in? Besides, my budget doesn't currently allow for a car payment right now.

Secondary question, is there a third-party solution available for my car? I have a venerable transmission repair shop near me that I could go to. However from what I gather, the core problem is that the transmission itself is flawed from the start, so I'm going to presume the answer is "no"?

Lastly, thanks again to everyone who answered. I appreciate all the responses.
Click to expand...
Thanks for being receptive. There has been an uptick in troll posters and people being flat out insultingly rude when a disagreement comes up. IDK what's wrong with some people, they just want others to give them the answer they are looking for instead of honest ones. Anyway moving on...

The answer to how to reconcile is not easy to swallow. You would call everywhere around you and get quotes to replace the clutch, quick searches estimate $1500-$2500. In ~40k more miles you will need it again. Built Ford tough was true, but stuff like this makes you not feel warm and fuzzy inside anymore (search spark plugs blowing out of the triton). I don't think there is a third party solution and there may never be. There is a lot of information and guessing floating around. For all anyone knows the issue could be the rest of the transmission design damaging the clutch. Ford will never admit that & we will never know unless some mechanic or engineer obsesses enough to figure it out. Even if they did figure it out exactly, it may be unfixable besides replacing for a different transmission that was designed better.

We all feel bad for everyone going through what you are. I am currently reconciling with my 07 needing to move on it's way soon. No one makes a good alternator for my vehicle anymore and they keep needing to be replaced in short order. I got lucky my first alternator lasted so long and the aftermarket replacement lasted over 4 more years. Now I am going on 4 alternators in the last 12 months. Luckily these new alternators flicker the battery light to warn they are going to fail instead of flat out dying like the first two did, but I still am not having that nice warm fuzzy reliable feeling anymore. Call it karma since it happened again right after my last post to you lol.

P.S. For anyone going to comment on the alternator. Yes everything else was checked and pigtail replaced, I have been getting them replaced under warranty by a local shop at no cost beyond the initial crazy long labor charge. After researching and hearing terrible stories Like I am going through now I decided to put the onus on a shop. So far it's saved me a lot of labor, but still sucks.
 
#37 ·
Burner1515 said:
Thanks for being receptive. There has been an uptick in troll posters and people being flat out insultingly rude when a disagreement comes up. IDK what's wrong with some people, they just want others to give them the answer they are looking for instead of honest ones. Anyway moving on...

The answer to how to reconcile is not easy to swallow. You would call everywhere around you and get quotes to replace the clutch, quick searches estimate $1500-$2500. In ~40k more miles you will need it again. Built Ford tough was true, but stuff like this makes you not feel warm and fuzzy inside anymore (search spark plugs blowing out of the triton). I don't think there is a third party solution and there may never be. There is a lot of information and guessing floating around. For all anyone knows the issue could be the rest of the transmission design damaging the clutch. Ford will never admit that & we will never know unless some mechanic or engineer obsesses enough to figure it out. Even if they did figure it out exactly, it may be unfixable besides replacing for a different transmission that was designed better.

We all feel bad for everyone going through what you are. I am currently reconciling with my 07 needing to move on it's way soon. No one makes a good alternator for my vehicle anymore and they keep needing to be replaced in short order. I got lucky my first alternator lasted so long and the aftermarket replacement lasted over 4 more years. Now I am going on 4 alternators in the last 12 months. Luckily these new alternators flicker the battery light to warn they are going to fail instead of flat out dying like the first two did, but I still am not having that nice warm fuzzy reliable feeling anymore. Call it karma since it happened again right after my last post to you lol.

P.S. For anyone going to comment on the alternator. Yes everything else was checked and pigtail replaced, I have been getting them replaced under warranty by a local shop at no cost beyond the initial crazy long labor charge. After researching and hearing terrible stories Like I am going through now I decided to put the onus on a shop. So far it's saved me a lot of labor, but still sucks.
Click to expand...
I have had better luck having my alternators rebuilt at a local alternator/starter shop than any new in a box alternator.
 
Discussion starter · #38 ·
Burner1515 said:
The answer to how to reconcile is not easy to swallow. You would call everywhere around you and get quotes to replace the clutch, quick searches estimate $1500-$2500. In ~40k more miles you will need it again. Built Ford tough was true, but stuff like this makes you not feel warm and fuzzy inside anymore (search spark plugs blowing out of the triton). I don't think there is a third party solution and there may never be. There is a lot of information and guessing floating around. For all anyone knows the issue could be the rest of the transmission design damaging the clutch. Ford will never admit that & we will never know unless some mechanic or engineer obsesses enough to figure it out. Even if they did figure it out exactly, it may be unfixable besides replacing for a different transmission that was designed better.

We all feel bad for everyone going through what you are. I am currently reconciling with my 07 needing to move on it's way soon. No one makes a good alternator for my vehicle anymore and they keep needing to be replaced in short order. I got lucky my first alternator lasted so long and the aftermarket replacement lasted over 4 more years. Now I am going on 4 alternators in the last 12 months. Luckily these new alternators flicker the battery light to warn they are going to fail instead of flat out dying like the first two did, but I still am not having that nice warm fuzzy reliable feeling anymore. Call it karma since it happened again right after my last post to you lol.
Click to expand...
I think Ford made a mistake leaving the compact/sedan market. I get the financials and the Asians & Europeans may eventually leave as well.

But I contend no: All the Asian marques still seem to find a reason to stay in the US and profit from sedans, hatches, and other related vehicles. (European brands too, but I'm thinking price).

The Focus, Cruze, Fusion, Impala, hell even the Dart were fine vehicles. The damned Escape is just a Focus on a lift kit. Setting aside transmission issues, there's no advantage.

But whatever, when it comes time to turn in my car, it will not be a Ford.
 
#39 ·
The transmission issue is overblown IMHO. My daughter's 2012 Fiesta was driven for years with the shudder issue. It was manageable unless my wife drove it. She still liked the car so we took it to our local dealership to have it repaired before she started her first real job. The clutches and all upgrades including a new rear main seal were $1500. About what you would pay for a manual clutch replacement. BTW. The transmission guy at my dealership is a friend of mine and one of the smartest people I know. I don't know if that makes a difference. It might.

I would recommend putting something between the intake and the wire harness of your Focus to avoid the whole dying on the hwy issue. I trimmed the plastic back on the intake with a hack saw blade to fix mine.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
#40 · (Edited)
So I might have some relevant data points here:

My '12 automatic focus with a dps6 shuddered from the day I bought it. It made it until ~180k miles until failure was imminent. (Ultimately this was due to a combination of transmission and rear main seal failure.)

I replaced the transmission with an automatic dps6 from a '16. The dps6 from the '16 has some significant improvements over the '12 including gearing, clutches and seals. This transmission still has it's occasional quirks but IMHO is significantly more solid in comparison to the 2012.

My 2012 dps6 endured Florida summers (you know), Colorado winters (below zero temps and snow), and towing 2000+ lbs at 75+ mph. I cannot stress enough how badly I flogged this car for nearly a decade. It acted a fool, shuddering the whole time, but it never left me stranded.

Take this with a grain of salt, though. It's just one dummy's experience.
 
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