Ford Focus and Fiesta Lemons
Hundreds of Lemon Law cases pending, and Ford has decided to extend the warranty on the dubious Focus and Fiesta transmission. Customers complain about a harsh shift or the basic handling of the transmission on the Focus or Fiesta vehicles. A recent letter announced that Ford had extended the warranty to seven (7) years or 100,000 miles,whichever occurs first. Ford also announced that it was directing its dealerships to service these transmissions free of charge. Previously there was nothing to fix according to Ford, and the performance was normal of its “automated manual transmission.
History: Ford launched the new transmission in 2011. Ford called first called the transmission as an “automatic.” This transmission was touted as being “new technology” that was “fun to drive” that was“smooth.” This automatic transmission is called a Dual Power Shift transmission, or “DPS6”.
Problem: The Dual Power Shift transmission is not an automatic. Rather, it is two 3 speed manual transmissions “bolted” together. The vehicle has two (2) clutches, whereas atypical manual transmission has only one (1) clutch. A computer controls both clutches that enable the vehicle to shift up and down through the various gears. This is why the vehicle does not drive or feel like an automatic transmission. It is a computer controlled manual transmission vehicle.
InSeptember 2012, Ford began to realize that it could not fix the complaints people had with the way the Focus and Fiesta shifted. Ford published a document for its dealerships entitled “PowerShift 6 Speed Transmission Operating Characteristics.” This document attempted to define the complaints that people had with their vehicles as being “normal.” These “normal” characteristics includes various whines, clicks, low speed grinding, and a trailer hitch feel.
Dealerships occasionally provided a copy of this document to their customers. They did this to support the position that the complaints about the problematic shifting was not a defect, but a “normal characteristic” of the vehicle. Perhaps a dealer told this to you. We have seen various dealerships refusing to document transmission concerns on the repair orders because these concerns were considered “normal.”
Ford published various Technical Service Bulletins to address the alleged “normal” characteristics. Ford’smarketing brochure describes the 2012 Ford Focus as “Not just fun to drive –it’s unforgettable to drive.” The problem is the Ford Focus is “unforgettable to drive” for all the wrong reasons due to the intermittent jerk and shudder on acceleration.
On September 5, 2013, Ford published TSB 13-9-4 to address an Intermittent Transmission Clutch Shudder in the DPS6 transmission that may include fluid leak. This TSB superseded the following TSB’s: 13-4-5, 12-4-6, and11-12-13. A TSB is an advisory issued by a vehicle manufacturer when there are several occurrences of an unanticipated problem requiring repair. TSBs can range from vehicle-specific to covering entire product lines and break down the specified repair into a step-by-step process. TSBs are widely circulated among dealership service departments and mechanics to provide an engineering-level description and solution for a problem common to type, year, make, or model. A well-managed TSB process can save technicians troubleshooting time, provide organized, itemized repair procedures, and standardize the repair process.
These TSBs confirm Ford and its dealerships knew the DPS6 transmission was defective,but made no efforts to change their marketing, description, or warranty. Ford and its dealerships continued to to the DPS6. All the while Ford and its dealerships concealed the actual “Operating Characteristics.”
On March 11, 2014, Ford published TSB 14-0047. This TSB instructed dealerships to perform a pinpoint test to evaluate whether the transmission was problematic. The problem is that TSB stated that it was attempting to test for an“intermittent clutch shudder.” We believe that Ford developed this pinpoint test to create an “objective” test to reinforce its position that there was nothing wrong with your vehicle.
This now brings us to the current TSB14m01. Ford called this TSB a “Customer Satisfaction Program.” Many people do not realize that part of the Customer Satisfaction Program, Ford published yet another TSB. TSB 14-0131 superseded the previous TSB. Ford has now changed the description to that of an “excessive transmission clutch shudder on lightacceleration,” which may or may not include an internal fluid leak. Ford published this TSB on July 22, 2014, at about the same time Ford informed its dealers that the Customer Satisfaction Program was being released.
Ford’s warranty specifically includes defects with the design of the vehicle:
Defects may be unintentionally introduced into vehicles during the design and manufacturing process and such defects could result in the need for repairs. For this reason, Ford provides the New Vehicle Limited Warranty in order to remedy any such defects that result in vehicle part malfunction or failure during the warranty period.