Ford Ordering Dealerships to Fix Dual-clutch Fiesta and Focus Models: Report

by Chad Kirchner

Published: July 19th, 2019

ford ordering dealerships to fix dual clutch fiesta and focus models report

Following a scathing analysis from the Detroit Free Press regarding Ford’s handling of their dual-clutch transmission troubles in the Focus and Fiesta, the company has apparently ordered dealerships to fix all affected cars for free, regardless of warranty status.

Automotive News is reporting that the company sent a memo out to dealerships instructing them to fix transmissions if the customer is having issues:

In the July 12 memo, Ford says dealerships should “arrange to diagnose the vehicle and repair as necessary.” The fixes can be applied to 2011-17 models, many of which are out of warranty.

Dealerships were also told to expect another update later today.

I personally own a 2011 Fiesta hatchback with the referenced dual-clutch transmission. I have also had quite a few issues with it, but not as many as some people I know. Nearly every repair was covered under warranty or the extended service bulletin. Unfortunately an issue I had earlier this year was out of even that coverage’s timeframe, meaning I had to pay out of pocket for the fix.

If this above memo is true, and it looks to be, I’ll hopefully not have to worry about footing the cost for another repair when I need it in the near future. In the business I’m in, my car spends a considerable amount of time sitting at airport parking. It’s a nice car for doing that and I’m not eager to get rid of it.

Once we learn more about the specifics of Ford’s memo and their plans we’ll be sure to pass them along to you. I’m not the only one with one of these vehicles and based on the Free Press’ report, there are people out there who desperately do need to get their cars into the shop and taken care of.

[Image: Ford]

#DSP5 #DualClutch #Fix #Ford #FordFiesta #FordFocus #Transmission

Chad Kirchner

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14 of 90 comments

Theoldguard on Jul 21, 2019

One of my two PowerShud-d-d-ers was a 2012 Focus. After a few years I gave it to my son in college. He said anytime someone else drove it (that wasn't supposed to happen) they thought they had broken the car. He wrecked it (a college student wrecks a car?) and as soon as I found out no one was hurt, I was happy. For everyone with PowerShud-d-d-er problems, there is really only one way to fix it. In the scrap yard it works fine.

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Geo on Jul 21, 2019

A new Focus was a multi-year commitment and a great expense for many buyers. To buy a vehicle is, in a sense, to put your life and much of your financial security in the hands of the automaker. You're committing to pay large sums of your hard-earned money, plus you're using the vehicle to get to work to earn it. Because of Ford's utter incompetence and traditional Ford distain for entry-level vehicle buyers, hundreds of thousands have suffered financially and emotionally. Many physically. Every Ford exec with any hand in the PowerShift issue should, at worst, be imprisoned. At best, they should never again be allowed to be involved in the auto industry again. Perhaps then domestic executives would finally grasp the seriousness of what they're involved in. This was NOT okay. I will never, ever buy a Ford again.

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- Lie2me on Jul 21, 2019
  
  Can you imagine what the auto industry would be if they jailed every exec that ever tried to pull a fast one? I would say they'd all be in jail, maybe that's not such a bad idea if it means the consumer gets a better, safer car
  
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- ToddAtlasF1 on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @Lie2me I'm going to say that GM would have never put an ignition switch into production that they knew was defective. Ford would have never started delivering transmissions that they didn't know how to make work. I don't have a problem with that as opposed to our system of executive compensation in the tens of millions per year in exchange for making the tough decisions to kill customers for short term profits.
  
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- Geo on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @Lie2me The "invisible hand" of the free market is supposed to eventually take care of issues like this, and in a sense it is; Ford is being forced out of the car market. My sense of justice is violated when I see how the executives responsible for this catastrophe remain happy, wealthy, and gainfully employed. There are no excuses for how incompetently-run the big three have all been. The marketing, the engineering, the design, everything. But the execs responsible bask in retirement glory and blame "the unions" for the problems they created themselves. If the free market can't bring any sort of justice for the victims of endless domestic Lemons over decades, then perhaps the government needs to; especially if a company exists because of government intervention. It sickens how people buy domestics out of goodwill and a desire to "buy American", and they're endlessly robbed of their money, time, health, and sometimes their lives. I've rooted for the domestics since I was a kid. No longer. I'm done.
  
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- ToddAtlasF1 on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @geo The government is the reason the free market doesn't work. There would be no more GM or Chrysler without government intervention, and there would be new vehicle manufacturers entering and leaving the market constantly without regulatory barriers to entry. Tesla only came into being because of DOE loans and rent-seeking opportunities created by regulations. Without government interference in markets, we'd have new car companies which make vehicles people would pay for voluntarily.
  
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- Arthur Dailey on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @ToddAtlasF1 In theory, however in practice whenever government restrictions have been removed the 'free market' has entered into a 'bubble' then burst. And created insufferable levels of income disparity. Or as per Chris Brown's post in Quora: I hate to be the one to break this to everyone, but Adam Smith only mentions the “Invisible hand” 3 times in all of his works and only once in the Wealth of Nations “Adam Smith suggested the invisible hand in an otherwise obscure passage in his Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776. He mentioned it only once in the book, while he repeatedly noted situations where “natural liberty” does not work. “Let banks charge much more than 5% interest, and they will lend to “prodigals and projectors,” precipitating bubbles and crashes. Let “people of the same trade” meet, and their conversation turns to “some contrivance to raise prices.” Let market competition continue to drive the division of labor, and it produces workers as “stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become.”
  
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- ToddAtlasF1 on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @ToddAtlasF1 If you really think the boom/bust cycle is bad, you should see what unfunded government obligations are going to do to our civilization. You just might have time to figure out the causal relationship before your belief that governments consist of better people than businesses costs you your life.
  
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Flybrian on Jul 21, 2019

Looks like all those people lamenting the "outdated Americanized" '08-11 Focus in favor of the new "correct European" one are the real fools now. Those are truly the Cutlass Cieras of the second decade of the 2000s.

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- ToddAtlasF1 on Jul 21, 2019
  
  How about the people who bashed the 2012 Civic in favor of the 2012 Focus?
  
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- Geo on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @ToddAtlasF1 1998 Ford gets their compact car right, but it's become outdated. Ford introduced the new Focus, which shames its competitors in every way. Sales take off. Customers find that Ford has heavily cut corners, resulting in endless, frustrating trips to the dealer. The Focus's Euro reputation goes into the Euro trash. 2012: Repeat. Never again will Ford be trusted. When trucks inevitably go out of style, Ford will be done. Ford and GM make me wonder if America is truly a third-world country with a nice infrastructure.
  
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- Eng_alvarado90 on Jul 29, 2019
  
  Actually, the lamenting was more about not getting the 2nd generation sold elsewehere (even more about those sweet ST and RS 2 door HB with the I-5). Since I live near the border, I have seen quite a few 2nd gens with Mexican plates. I drove a 2nd gen Focus and it was a nice little ride. The owner has owned it for 10 years and he has only replaced batteries, tires and brakes. It has the same gas engine and transmission from the warmed over 08-11 North American Focus, it just looked way better and handled a bit tighter.
  
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Dividebytube on Jul 22, 2019

Ugh - I just read the Freep article and it was damning. ::looks at his own Mustang:: at least I got the manual, oh wait!

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- RideTheCliche on Jul 22, 2019
  
  I had a 2011 Mustang with the "Getrag" MT82. That piece of garbage transmission ruined what was an otherwise excellent car. It was my first Ford and I absolutely loved everything else about that car, but 5 visits to the dealership with various explanations of "You're driving it wrong" "Could not replicate" and "They all do that" wore me down to the point where I just wanted to get clear of the vehicle, which I did after 18 months. Even under mildly-spirited driving I could not get a clean shift from 1st to 2nd without a grind, or worse yet, throwing the shifter from 1st to 2nd and having it stop mid-way, as if the gate into 2nd disappeared. The 'fix' is to wait a half-to-full second between the neutral-to-2nd part of the throw Surprise! The MT82 is built in China under a joint-venture with... Jiangling? Thanks to this and the terrible dealership experience I will never own another Ford, and if anyone asks I make sure they know about my ownership experience. Ford screwed me to the wall so I'm happy to return the favor.
  
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