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In December of 2013, I purchased a used 2012 Ford Focus from Birchwood Ford in Winnipeg, Manitoba at slightly over 50,000kms. I live in Steinbach, Manitoba and drive approximately 200kms/day to travel to and from work which is all highway mileage. In mid-November, 2014 on my way to work one morning, I experienced a jolt when accelerating after stopping at a stop sign and the "transmission malfunction" error message appeared on my dash. I felt the vehicle start to shift on its own so I pulled over and turned the vehicle off. At this point, the vehicle had just over 99,000kms. My husband works in Winnipeg near the Capital Ford Dealership so since I work in a rural area, he brought it into their dealership for me the following day. The work order shows the mileage at being 99,751kms. My husband was told that the shifting and transmission issues were a result of a programming problem. The transmission was re-programmed and my husband was told to drive the vehicle for 2 weeks and if there were any additional problems, to bring it back. My husband drove the vehicle back to Steinbach from Winnipeg. The following day, again on my way to work, the same thing happened where there was a jolt and the "transmission malfunction" error message appeared on my dash. I tried to drive it after and the vehicle would not go into reverse. Once turning it off and back on, the vehicle would not shift out of first gear. After turning it off and back on again, only the engine light remained. I brought the vehicle in to Fairway Ford in Steinbach to have it looked at since it was clearly not safe to be driving. The kilometers were documented at 99,881. I was told by the service person at Fairway Ford that they had to reset the programming 4 times to fix the problem but that it was functioning properly now. I am not sure as to why if the reprogramming had already previously been done at another dealership (which they were told about and I had given them the invoice for) this was required to be done again before realizing that there was clearly a much bigger problem here. It was also very obvious from their knowledge of this problem as well as information found on the internet that Ford is having a VERY big problem regarding the clutches on the Ford Focus and that is why they have extended the warranty. I assumed that my problem had been resolved by the reprogramming since that is what I was told, but I was very mistaken. I continued driving my vehicle which obviously put me over my 100,000km warranty. When the exact same thing happened YET AGAIN and I experienced a jolt and my "transmission malfunction" error message came on, I brought my vehicle back into Fairway Ford. I am now being told that this is somehow a different issue than was it was previously brought in for and that Ford Canada is not covering this under warranty since I am over my kilometers. They are telling me that there is debris in the transmission potentially caused by a worn output shaft. This should have been noticed the first time I brought it in. I should not be penalized as a result of Ford not taking the time to figure out what the problem actually is. After hearing this we went back to the Capital Ford technician who looked at it originally and asked if they check the transmission fluid and he said "No, we do hundreds of these and itโ€™s just a re-program". Not only if this is a prevalent issue should this have been looked at by Birchwood Ford prior to selling me this vehicle, but it also should have been looked at further by Capital Ford while it was there originally. Furthermore, since I was told to continue driving the vehicle and come back within 2 weeks if the problem persisted (and it was definitely brought back in within that time line) I donโ€™t understand why this is so difficult. It has been the exact same issue all along. I understand there are certain protocols that need to be followed and steps that need to be taken when addressing certain problems, but since this is not unique and seems to be a common problem with the Ford Focus, the clutch and transmission should have been physically looked at rather than just being re-programmed twice. If that were the case, I wouldnโ€™t be in my current situation which is over my warranty and now being charged $5800 to have my transmission replaced when there is absolutely NO REASON this should not be covered since it was an existing problem notated prior to my warranty expiring. It has now been there for over 3 weeks and I am getting absolutely nowhere close to having my problem resolved. I have also been incurring the cost of having a rental vehicle since my vehicle is unsafe to drive if it is not shifting properly. The customer service we have received from Ford Canada has been atrocious and we will continue to pursue an appropriate resolution for this unethical and unreasonable treatment. Now after a month of having my vehicle in the shop with absolutely no work done to it, Fairway Ford gave us two options. Either they would give us a new transmission at the cost of $5800 including parts and labour, plus tax and they would cover 40% which is still $4000 out of pocket for us OR we could trade in the vehicle which they would value at $10,000 (it was purchased 1 year ago at $17,000 and still has over $13,000 owing) less the $6000 they say it would cost to repair even though when they re-sell a vehicle they are not paying for labour and they would be getting the parts at cost. So realistically, they would make at least $3000 off of me and I would be out $9000 in that scenario or I pay the $4000 for a brand new transmission. If this "good will deal" occurred we would have to sign papers saying we are happy with the service we received and would not take this any further. Oh, but they donโ€™t have a new transmission so why that was even an option in the first place is ridiculous. All it has done is delay the issue even longer. We have now informed them that we will take what is the lesser of two evils and have them install a used transmission and we will take this vehicle and trade it in elsewhere so we NEVER have to deal with another Ford dealership ever again. My family members all have Fords and they will be getting rid of theirs as well.

Reason of review: Poor customer service.

Monetary Loss: $2500.

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution.

Location: Steinbach, Manitoba

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