[dan50]

At what point does ford start entertaining the idea of buying back a vehicle? I am on my third clutch for my focus and it is starting to do everything the first two did that caused them to get replaced. At any point will ford work with me to put me in another vehicle? I am even willing to stay ford...(escape or fusion). But the constant hit or miss trips to the dealer to get it diagnosed and replaced is wearing me thin and just wanted to know if anyone has ever had to or been able to have the car bought back?

With a 2012 you're well beyond the time any state "Lemon Laws" could result in a buyback.

So, will Ford buy back your car? Almost certainly not.

If you've been a good customer, your dealer might be sympathetic, but they aren't going to be very enthused about putting a troublesome car on their used car lot, so don't expect miracles. And be aware the resale value on these cars is not great even when working properly.

If you really want to get rid of the car, wait until it's bad enough to take advantage of the extended warranty on the clutch and seals (if that's in fact the problem). After it's fixed, trade it or sell it before it has a chance to turn on you again.

 

[BeastMD]

At what point does ford start entertaining the idea of buying back a vehicle? I am on my third clutch for my focus and it is starting to do everything the first two did that caused them to get replaced. At any point will ford work with me to put me in another vehicle? I am even willing to stay ford...(escape or fusion). But the constant hit or miss trips to the dealer to get it diagnosed and replaced is wearing me thin and just wanted to know if anyone has ever had to or been able to have the car bought back?

Check your states lemon laws, despite what the above person said you may still be in the states lemon law timeframe. Otherwise.... what he said.

 

[wavsine]

Check your states lemon laws, despite what the above person said you may still be in the states lemon law timeframe. Otherwise.... what he said.

Dan is correct:

"within two years of delivery to the original retail consumer and within the first 24,000 miles of operation"

http://www.atg.wa.gov/LemonLaw/General.aspx

 

[Tabor]

I'm not an attorney, and everything that I have read about the lemon law is worded funny, but isn't it the first time that the problem was diagnosed that needs to be within 24,000 miles?

 

[Etch.]

With a 2012 you're well beyond the time any state "Lemon Laws" could result in a buyback.

So, will Ford buy back your car? Almost certainly not.

If you've been a good customer, your dealer might be sympathetic, but they aren't going to be very enthused about putting a troublesome car on their used car lot, so don't expect miracles. And be aware the resale value on these cars is not great even when working properly.

If you really want to get rid of the car, wait until it's bad enough to take advantage of the extended warranty on the clutch and seals (if that's in fact the problem). After it's fixed, trade it or sell it before it has a chance to turn on you again.

Pretty much this. Even if you fit the terms of the lemon law, it's very likely going to be a long uphill battle that has a great chance of being unsuccessful.

Have you looked around on here and other places long enough to see how many people have posted wanting to push lemon law on these junk transmissions like your post? Tons of those posts. How many of those do you see with successful outcomes? VERY few, and most the ones who have were early on before Ford got wise and started calling everything normal operation as a default answer for anything DCT related.

Just sayin.

 

[rockmurf]

In FL the initial problem needs to occur within 18 months and the manufacturer needs to be notified per procedure within 24 months 24k miles.

 

[Tubeway Army]

Trade it in ASAP, that's what I did and I have zero regrets. If you lose money, ask yourself what it's worth compared to the misery your going through now, for me it was something I had to do. Best of luck!

 

[rockmurf]

thanks.

 

[unfocused1]

At what point does ford start entertaining the idea of buying back a vehicle? I am on my third clutch for my focus and it is starting to do everything the first two did that caused them to get replaced. At any point will ford work with me to put me in another vehicle? I am even willing to stay ford...(escape or fusion). But the constant hit or miss trips to the dealer to get it diagnosed and replaced is wearing me thin and just wanted to know if anyone has ever had to or been able to have the car bought back?

You can try a "breach of warranty" contract, which you might or might not win if you have documentation - and some dealers won't be bothered to write up even a basic visit (been there, done that, trying to get paperwork.) Successful or not, keep in mind two things:

1. Any reward will be roughly $1000 (the difference between KBB value in excellent and good conditions)
2. If you still use the car and take it in for service, you might be roughhoused - someone claimed that in one of these forums where customers responded:

2012 Ford Focus Problems, Defects & Complaints
Ford Focus Transmission Problem - Lemon Law Alert
Top 1,047 Complaints and Reviews about Ford Focus
Investigation finds hundreds of complaints about Ford transmissions | Investigations - WTAE Home
Is Your New Ford Focus a Lemon Law Case Waiting to Happen?
https://www.facebook.com/fordfocuslemonowners

 

[unfocused1]

Trade it in ASAP, that's what I did and I have zero regrets. If you lose money, ask yourself what it's worth compared to the misery your going through now, for me it was something I had to do. Best of luck!

^^This.

Some people have had great luck, good luck, great luck after the repair... some units are just better than others.

The emotional aspect is far more important as well. Not just misery, but fear of a problem developing, getting into an accident, and so on.

In a way, anyone buying a car to keep it for 10 years has lost money since they're having to trade in and start all over again three or four years, and there is no reason that makes sense that would have major mechanical components failing under 30,000 miles. Or 100,000 these days since cars are said to be built better now.