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My Ford Focus has now been back to the dealer five times to try to fix the dreaded and well-known transmission problem. They acknowledge the issue and have tried all the things they are "allowed" to do (claim from Ford Corp). The shuddering and gear selection issues still persist. I'm now told I have to pay for any more work on the transmission. I rang Ford four weeks ago and still haven't been able to talk with anyone that can help me. Do you know if there are many cases where Ford have gone ahead and just replaced the transmission as the last solution?
This is an issue that continues the haunt Ford even after it paid millions of dollars in fines levied by the ACCC for way it conducted itself in the face of the dual-clutch transmission fiasco. Fundamentally, about half the Fords delivered in Australia with the Powershift transmission, experienced either problems or outright transmission failures. Some of them on multiple occasions.
Ford’s response of initially ignoring the problem and then blaming its customers stands as a 24-carat example of how not to do things. And the ACCC agreed, fining and condemning the company’s behaviour. Eventually, Ford was forced to offer customers a good deal on the next model Focus which featured a conventional automatic gearbox. Even then, the ACCC’s view was that Ford should have offered a full refund, not a sweetened deal to trade up to the newer model. Simply replacing the problem gearboxes wasn’t a widespread permanent fix as the replacement units would have given precisely the same problems.
If you bought your car second-hand, that’s another problem because, really, the affected cars should have been scrapped, not resold to unsuspecting buyers (another beef the ACCC had with Ford at the time).
I think your first port of call should be to the ACCC who will be able to give you an idea of the current situation as far as the problem goes, and what Ford is currently doing about it. Bear in mind, though, the original problem surfaced many years ago, so you’re a late member of the Powershift club.
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