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Report: #102257

Complaint Review: Ford Motor Company - Dearborn Minnesota

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  • Reported By: North Chili New York
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  • Ford Motor Company 16800 Executive Plaze Drive Dearborn, Minnesota U.S.A.

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I bought my 2000 Ford Focus in December of 1999. I was 21 and this was my first car. I chose the Focus because of all of the wonderful reviews it had received. I should have known better when I went to open the glove compartment and the handle broke off in my hand before I had even driven it off the lot!

In the first year that I owned my car is was in the shop for probably 5 months in order to repair all of the recalls the car initially had. The whole time I was paying $300 to drive a less than desireable rental.
At 20,000 miles my transmission died. Lucky for me the car was still under my extended warranty so it was repaired at no cost. Now, I'm no car genious but it seems to me that transmissions should last just a tad longer than 20,000 miles!

In late 2002 my front breaks went. My friendly local Ford dealership, Cortese Ford in Rochester, NY quoted me $400 to repair them. I had my father do them for the cost of parts, about $150.

In 2003 the fuse for my automatic doors blew. I didn't think too much of it until I went to replace it only to realize that it is located BEHIND the fuse box. Which by the way is impossible to get to. Cortese quoted me $36 to replace the fuse. Pretty silly if you ask me since the fuse itself comes in a multi pack of about twenty for a little under two bucks. Needless to say the fuse was never replaced.

Right after the fuse blew both front doors started to stick. There were mornings it took me twenty minutes to get either one of my doors open. About four months ago the lock actuator on my drivers side door broke leaving the door in a permantly locked position. I had to climb in through my passenger side door. Did I mention I was eight months pregnant when the lock acutator broke? I finally got this fixed last week.

I decided to go to a different dealership, Vision Ford, whom I had heard good things about from friends who had also dealt with Cortese Ford. They had a heck of a time trying to get my door open. After several hours they were able to pry the trim apart far enough to get the door unlocked so that they could get the door open and remove the panel. I now have ripped trim, a bubble in the fabric on the panel and a window that clicks when you roll it about 2/3 of the way down.

At this point my car also had two broken springs in the front and a hole in the PCV hose. The springs were repaired at no cost because (to quote my rep) "there is a campaign out on them." I took this to mean that a ton of other people had the same problems with there Focus' so Ford decided that maybe they should handle things for once. The PCV hose was repaired but the car still runs funny, but at least I don't have to put the car in park and rev the engine at every red light to avoid having it stall. At this visit I was also told that my bearings had to much play and that it would cost me between $400 and $500 to repair them.

About two years ago I had a minor collision that popped the mirror out of my driver's side mirror. I had the entire thing replaced for $150. I was told they couldn't just pop the mirror back on because it had power adjustment. Earlier this year a coworker called from her cell to let me know that my mirror was hanging from the wire. When I went out to investigate the mirror was indeed hanging from the wire with no sign of any impact.
I complained to Ford early on and was told there was nothing they could do since all that had gone wrong at that point had been covered either by recalls or by my warranty. They said they would fax my information to Cortese and that I should speak with the manager there. I went in and his answer to my problems was that I should buy a new Ford Focus. This didn't seem like much of a solution to me. At this point I gave up and figured that I would just have to deal with it.

My rear brakes now need ot be replaced and I'm pretty fed up. I hear that's another $800. I still owe a little over $3000 on my car which is approximately the Blue Book value of my car. If I decide to trade in the car that four years ago I thought would be reliable enough to last at least ten years I would be starting from scratch and would have to put the rest of my life on hold just to feel safe driving my car especially with my three month old son in the back seat.

Andrea
North Chili, New York
U.S.A.

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This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 08/05/2004 09:55 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ford-motor-company/dearborn-minnesota-48121/ford-motor-company-rip-off-customers-to-pay-for-poor-quality-in-ford-focus-dearborn-minn-102257. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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3Consumer
1Employee/Owner

#4 Consumer Comment

Engine Problems with 2000 Ford Focus

AUTHOR: Ellen - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 14, 2005

We purchased a used 2000 Ford Focus in April of 2004 for our son, with 56,000 miles on it. In the 14 months we've owned it, the engine has been replaced 4 times!!

The first time the engine went out (at 60,000 miles), the extended warranty took care of it. The new engine then went out at 1200 miles, the 3rd engine before the mechanics even got it out of the service bay and the 4th engine went out about a month ago.

Ford has taken care of it each time - however, we want to sell the car, still have a significant balance on the loan and would not be able to sell the car in good conscience to anyone else. Our feeling is that the car is now severely devalued.

We've spoken to Ford twice and of course they will not do anything based on the year of the car and the mileage. Engines do not blow like this and of course the dealer has told us that Ford will not let the mechanics take the engines apart to find out what exactly the problem is.

At this point - all we feel we can do is hire a lawyer and hope for the best.

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#3 Consumer Suggestion

yup, i got a crappy focus too... henry must be rolling over in his grave...

AUTHOR: John - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, January 19, 2005

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I have had all the above problems and then some...

I had the brake recall, a recall for the fuel pump (caused a low idle and frequent stalling), and i'm sure a few others.

both springs on the front suspension broke within a year of eachother, all this on about a two year old car. On both occasions the springs were replaced for free from ford due to a "special action notice", which to me equates to, "if the lawsuits cost less than a recall, we'll take our chances".

the doors make a horrible loud squeak when opened, and using graphite as the dealer instructed doesn't help.

The icing on the cake was last summer when I was just sitting in my garage doing an oil change and a light bulb change, and when I got behind the wheel, I noticed a haze of smoke in the car, and when I turned the key and removed it, the car remained running! talk about frightening, I thought I was gonna burn my house down. Anyways, after I survived that, It turned out to be a short that burnt up ALL my wiring in a spot on the floor board. Well, even WITH AN EXTENDED WARRANTY I purchased on the vehicle, it was not covered. Yes, it covers any electrical problems, but not "rust or corrosion". Well they showed me a small light bulb connector that costs a quarter, and yes it had "corrosion" on it. Soo, maybe a better question why is there corrosion on the INSIDE OF MY TRUNK AFTER TWO YEARS, AND WHY THE HeLL DO I HAVE FUSES FOR? Wel according to those incedibly intelligent men who do ford's dirty work, fuses are to "keep you car from catching on fire". Well the quotes went up hundreds of dollars day by day until they replaced the whole wiring harness at a cost of nearly two thousand dollars!!!

henry must be rolling over in his grave...

And to the previous writer who was in favor of their focus, im glad you're having no problems... but there was no need to replace your brakes even if you left your emergency brake on during a tire change... i think you need to file a ripoffreport on your mechanic! come to think of it, ford tried to claim i needed new brake pads because they would "fall off and need replacement" upon changing of the rotors... which is incredible rediculous and untrue...

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#2 REBUTTAL Individual responds

Over 25 Repairs to 2000 Ford Focus

AUTHOR: Elisa - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, September 16, 2004

I purchased a 2000 Ford Focus with 11,000 miles. I owe alot of money on my car loan and have had over 25 repairs/recalls. Ford is the rip off. They do not care. My engine fell out in a mall parking lot right after my warranty expired. Ford said "SORRY".

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#1 Consumer Comment

My 2000 Focus has been wonderful for me

AUTHOR: Juliet - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, August 05, 2004

I have to defend the 2000 Ford Focus as I have had one since June 2001 when I took over another person's payments, and that car has worked like a dream for me, up until last week. I did get stuck at Walmart, having to call AAA for what turned out to be a drained battery, but I took it to a Ford dealer and they fixed it the next day at a very reasonable cost. $60 for the battery.

I HAVE had to have the brakes replaced twice but not because they failed on me. One time may well have been my fault for leaving the emergency brake on after getting a tire changed. So I still can't complain about the car.

My experience has been terrific and I was NOT a Ford fan at all prior to owning this one. I had always driven cars my husband could work on, specifically 1960s and 70s cars. The car I was driving before I got the Focus was a 1967 Buick Wildcat. So I was very suspicious of this "newfangled" car but I really needed a reliable car that any shop could work on, so I got the Focus.

I am very sorry for all your troubles with your Focus, and I did receive 2 recall notices, but mine has been an excellent car and I have to say so, cause in my case, at least, Ford definitely did things right.

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