They intentionally sold fiesta and focus models with a defective transmission system. There’s been TONS of issues and at first ford acted like that’s the way the cars were supposed to run until enough people complained that there cars were doing the same thing and then they were making people pay for the repairs in some instances even though it is 100% something ford should be covering. Then I think a lawsuit was filed (I think there’s two now) where they’re trying to get ford to pay back/buy back people’s cars. And throughout this whole thing they recalled something related to the transmission once, and for those people the fix at the time actually made their cars worse. Mine personally has had the clutch replaced once, and the transmission reprogrammed at least three times, I bought the car in 2016 and it’s a 2012 so I don’t know if the previous owner had lots of problems before me. Also these are all automatic cars, but the transmission is supposed to be an automatic manual hybrid so it’s faster but more fuel efficient. Then I just read an article that talks about how if the class action even goes through ford customers will probably get even less, because Ford is getting such a good deal vs the 4 billion they’d owe if every owner sued individually.
A class-action lawsuit representing 1.9 million Ford Fiesta and Focus owners has Ford on the hook for tens of millions if not billions in penalties.
www.freep.com
I had an '06 Taurus that had
two three catastrophic issues that I still need to report to NHTSA (probably easier than I think it is), but the torque converter on the transmission has tiny teeth that strip out, so car no go. (I think their Windstar vans had the same issue and they recalled them.) Mine failed coming home a couple years ago on the highway at night, so I coasted to the shoulder and parked. Thank goodness for AAA. I had 2 pints of ice cream and an hour weight for the tow truck, so I just ate it all in anger in my now tranny-less car.
The second one is potentially more fatal: unintended acceleration. The car just accelerates like you're flooring the gas pedal, and it doesn't care if you're in rush hour traffic at a red light, you're flooring it and have to fight it with the brake pedal with all your weight (+/- shift into Neutral while it spins crazy fast). I found the solution was to get out of my car, pop the hood, and take the cruise control cable off the throttle and it would stop, but people have legitimately died (maybe Toyotas?).
I guess I had a 3rd potentially fatal issue: total electrical failure (alternator suuucked, even the replacement I put in). Even at 5 AM going to work and it's pitch black and you lose engine, headlights, brakes, steering, and you're a sitting duck on the highway. This happened all the dang time.
**** Ford. I'll consider their new Ranger and F-150s still (and a decently made Mustang toy) but no thanks.
I'm considerably pickier now for future vehicle purchases. (Except this one was a hand-me-down for free, so whatev.)
and my mom has had two kias and I had one as my first car they were all pretty decent/reliable. I had a really old Subaru before this and that is where I want to go. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that on one of these threads already but oh well. Also I’ve definitelyheard good things about Volvo’s too! My best friend has a 98 Volvo that’s doing great!
I think for Focus owners the cars affected start in 2012. But I’m not 100% on that.
