Problems with Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost
I would first like to make it clear that I used to be a huge fan of the Ford brand.
Let me begin by indicating that I owned a 2010 ford Fiesta which at 120000km it went for a major service and then a few weeks later an engine light appeared which when taken to ford I was told there was a crack on the engine that would cost about R10000 to R15000 to repair. The car had an extended warranty however Fury Ford William Nicor (where I bought the vehicle) refused to repair indicating that the warranty was not loaded correctly (note that I was paying for this every month). After attempts to get the matter resolved, I ended up trading the car in for a brand new 2015 Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost at the Imperial Ford Kempton Park dealership.
The 2015 ford focus Ecoboost was good but begun to develop problems of which the first was regarding the sensors malfunctioning. What followed was an occasion while driving the vehicle suddenly lost power and when taken into ford, I was told that the turbo had failed. After having replaced the turbo, the oxygen sensor then failed on the car which was followed by the engine mountings.This all happened when the car had a mileage of about 60000km. At this point I was getting fed up with the service I was receiving from ford as it was a mission to even get a courtesy car. With the fear of not knowing what would break next on this vehicle, I approached ford to ask for them to take the car back and they advised that the best they would do was to trade the 2015 model with a 2017 model.
I never liked the idea but it appeared that I was left with little if no choice regarding the matter. I ended up agreeing and was left with a R30000 shortfall as the car was still under car finance by Wesbank. I tried to argue that this was not my intention nor was it my fault however this was to no success so we ended up paying the money in order to get rid of the problematic 2015 ford focus.
Fast forward to the year 2017, I was then given the Ford focus 2017 1.0 Ecoboost. On Sunday the 5th of May 2019 the engine light came on. I thought it was something minor however the light never switched off until the following day. I then contacted Imperial Ford Kempton Park (dealership where I got both the 2015 as well as 2017 models) and spoke with the service manager (Mark Griffiths) who said I was welcome to take the vehicle to any dealership or to the Kempton Park branch. With the previous history from the 2015 model, I opted to take the vehicle to the Kempton park dealership. Mark then got his service technician to do a diagnostic on the vehicle and the result given to me was that the oxygen sensor on the vehicle was faulty and that the car would have to be booked in. My concern was that I needed transport to get home (Oakdene, JHB South) and he said that they had no driver or car to offer. I then asked if it was possible for him to speak to the service manager from McCarthy ford the Glen (as this was the closest ford dealership to my house). I then took the vehicle to McCarthy ford the Glen on Tuesday the 7th of May 2019 and it was booked in.
Later in the day I received a call from one of the service advisor, Alison, who mentioned that after running a diagnostic, the problem on the vehicle was the Injectors that needed to be replaced (we are talking about a vehicle with 53000km). With Wednesday the 8th of May 2019 being a holiday (national elections), she said that they would only get back to me on Thursday the 9th of May 2019. As it is I was not even offered a car to use in the mean time seeing the vehicle is still under both service and warranty.
I then sent an email to the dealer principal at Imperial Ford Kempton Park, Lavonne Davis, who rep**** to my email saying she read the email and would discuss with Mark Griffiths (Service Manager) on Thursday the 9th of May 2019. She further mentioned that McCarthy ford the Glen had assisted their customers in the past and that she would ask Mark to liaise with Barry (Service Manager at McCarthy ford the Glen) regarding the diagnosis. This of cause does not help me at all as I made it clear that apart from my disappointment with the car, I needed to be given a vehicle to use in the meantime.
Now, After taking the time to narrate my story above, I would like to make it clear that I am now considering changing vehicle brands (which means FORD needs to consider taking back this vehicle and paying off WESBANK on the amount owed) as FORD customer care seems to be really poor as well as the vehicle themselves, this with my current history on the ford focus models. This is a second brand new vehicle with ford and I would expect to receive decent treatment more especially with the fact that the first was faulty and now the second appears to be following suit.
I am hoping that I receive a reply to this email that will be action oriented and not mere promises.