Ford EcoSport more like Ford big disappointment

Last year i decided to purchase a brand new Ford EcoSport for my mum as she lives alone and i work outside of the country and i didnt want her to have any issues while i am not around. Let me tell you how this turned into one of the biggest fiascos and disappointments of my life, and boy have i had a lot of disappointments.

We finally picked up the brand new vehicle and within a week it started giving us issues. All the lights on the dashboard would start coming on and going off while driving. Since i was out of the country i asked my mum to take the vehicle to Ford Umgeni Rd to have it seen to. Their response, "Please bring it in the next time it does this." Now how does that even make sense? But anyways, my mum is old and does not know much about cars so she did as she was told.

It happened again, she took the vehicle in and they told her that they were unable to find any faults, at this point I was already losing my patients, thank god i was still out of the country.

I returned to South Africa in February and drove the vehicle for a while to see if it happened and it did, not once but 3 to 4 times. So I took the vehicle in (this was overseen by Deshnee and the service manager Vincent at Ford Umgeni Road). I was told that they did a deep dive, checked the vehicle extensively and updated the software and that everything was fine. I was happy.

Two days later, in an extremely dangerous area in Durban the same thing happens again and the car stalls. This time i was even able to get pictures which i sent to Vincent Furious at this point (as I was meant to take my mother to the drakensberg for her 60th birthday), I took the car to Ford Umgeni Rd and told them I have had it with this vehicle and would like it changed. I was not prepared to put my mother's life at risk while I was out of the country.

At this point I also began recording my interactions with the managers at Ford so that there were records available. In a call with the service manager Vincent, he explicitly stated to me, "There is definitely something wrong with this vehicle." This is something he seems to have forgotten saying to me, but no matter, my recording (which he was informed off), will assist in refreshing his memory.

While the vehicle was still there I went through and had a quick sit down with the manager Ward. He asked me, what would you like me to do about the vehicle, do you want to change it? My response was that both my mum and I love this vehicle and I want the same vehicle but not this specific one. He said ok he will work on it.

I did not hear back from Ward for a number of days, even the days where I would actually hear from him and we would agree that he would call back later in that day to update me about something or the other, he would not actually call.

On Thursday August 20th, I attempted to call Ward and was told that he is in a meeting. I asked if he was at work and I was told that he was at the office but in a meeting. At around 17:30 on the same day Vincent calls me to state that they were unable to find any faults with the vehicle and I need to come and pick it up. (Note that Vincent is the SERVICE MANAGER so he would know what faults were found). When I asked why he was calling and not Ward he said to me "Ward was not at work today." Huh? I then said to him that I will not be accepting this vehicle. Now im FURIOUS AND BEING **** TO.

On Friday morning I got a call from Ward telling me that they had actually found a fault with the vehicle but he "DOESN'T KNOW WHY VINCENT SAID THAT NO FAULT WAS FOUND." Ummmmm I know why, you see Vincent only actually realised on Thursday that when i was saying im recording the call i was actually recording the call, so now they needed to change the narrative.

I now decided that it was time to get the dealer I purchased the vehicle from involved. So I called up the salesperson and got the details for Haroon from Sentracore in Ladysmith. I finally got into contact with Haroon from Sentracore Ladysmith.

After explaining the entire situation to him he also tries to convince me that a battery cable was loose. So let me get this straight, after going in twice for a check up, one service as well as a 2 day deep dive they were unable to pick up a battery cable fault? Someone should obviously be fired, I'm sure there are more competent people that can do the job.

I make it clear to Haroon that I am not prepared to take back the vehicle and his response is, ok, we can give you a new one but we will work out a new deal. IM SORRY? SAY WHAT? A NEW DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You mean you want me to start paying again for a vehicle that was faulty from day one and that I have been trying to get fixed but Ford was unable to sort out!!!!! WHAT THE ACTUAL F*#@! (Excuse my French but when im told something this absurd i tend to get angry)

My mother has had multiple issues with this vehicle, this is not what i expect from a brand new vehicle. Not to mention the fact that I was just told that the vehicle was test driven for over 1,5 hours (all that mileage being put on to my vehicle which currently has 13000 on the clock) and also my entire vehicle being taken apart and put back together. And this was done by the team at Ford Umgeni and we have just spoken about how reliable their work is.

If I take this vehicle back and my mother has a problem and something happens to her, is Ford Umgeni, Ford SA or Sentracore willing to take responsibility for that!? I'm not sure what the morals and values of the companies i have just mentioned are but i DO NOT PLAY AROUND WHEN IT COMES TO THE SAFETY OF MY MOTHER.

In conclusion, I am not prepared to take back the vehicle. I am not prepared to sign a new deal. The vehicle has been giving me issues since day 1 and it is fords responsibility to replace it.

This email is addressed to the CEO of Ford South Africa, but i will also send it through to the individuals mentioned in the email so that we are all on the same page.