- Messages
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- City
- Grand Ledge
- State
- MI
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2013 focus
Hi all.
I'm Tony, from mid-Michigan. I have a 2013 Focus that I bought used about 2 years ago. It's been a good little car, but the transmission problem has been getting more pronounced. It stutters and stumbles when starting out. Other than that, it runs fine. My wife and I recently drove it on a 2,000 mile round trip, with no problems.
I took the car to a local dealer today, and asked that they evaluate it. I had heard that the extended warranty covered this, out to 100,000 miles and 7 years, whichever came first. The car has 87,000 miles, so I figured I was good.
Nope....
The dealer ran the diagnosis, and said it did need repair, and that this was the classic transmission problem known to be in these cars. His estimate for the repair was $1800. But it turns out that the 7 year time limit starts from the service date, which I assume was the date that the car was either manufactured, or more likely first sold. That was about May 19 or so. Which means I'm 3 weeks late, according to Ford.
Has anyone else had this problem? Have you found a way to convince Ford to cover it? Obviously the transmission didn't suddenly develop the problem in the last 3 weeks. I had a couple of appointments in the last year or so to have it evaluated, but had to cancel them. I thought I had time yet to get this done. Then the Covid-19 debacle came, and getting into a service garage was more difficult.
I called the 1-800 customer service line today, explained what I listed above, and was told, "Sorry, we can't anything". I stayed pleasant - no use in shouting at someone who works in the trenches - and I have a call coming tomorrow from her supervisor. I hope to work my way up the chain of command to find someone who might be able to help.
If you've been thru this, do you have any tips on how to convince Ford to do the repair, or at least cover part of it? One idea I had was to try to show that I've been a Ford driver for years. I listed the following vehicles that either I had, or my wife had before we were married. I threw a couple of other vehicles to show a family history of following the Blue Oval:
1968 Mustang
1979 Fiesta - my first brand new car.
Escort - year unknown, about 1982
1986 Ranger
2004 Escape
2006 Ranger
2009 Escape
2015 Explorer
My wife had a Mercury Capri, about 1978.
My dad has a 1927 Model T that's been in the family at least 70 years. He bought it from his uncle, and I remember seeing it as a boy in the early 1960's.
I learned to drive a manual transmission on Dad's 1965 F-100 pickup.
Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to offer. I'd be grateful for any links, stories, names or phone numbers of people to talk to, etc. Or at least a confirmation that Ford does occasionally grant an exception in a case where I'm literally just days past the deadline.
Tony
I'm Tony, from mid-Michigan. I have a 2013 Focus that I bought used about 2 years ago. It's been a good little car, but the transmission problem has been getting more pronounced. It stutters and stumbles when starting out. Other than that, it runs fine. My wife and I recently drove it on a 2,000 mile round trip, with no problems.
I took the car to a local dealer today, and asked that they evaluate it. I had heard that the extended warranty covered this, out to 100,000 miles and 7 years, whichever came first. The car has 87,000 miles, so I figured I was good.
Nope....
The dealer ran the diagnosis, and said it did need repair, and that this was the classic transmission problem known to be in these cars. His estimate for the repair was $1800. But it turns out that the 7 year time limit starts from the service date, which I assume was the date that the car was either manufactured, or more likely first sold. That was about May 19 or so. Which means I'm 3 weeks late, according to Ford.
Has anyone else had this problem? Have you found a way to convince Ford to cover it? Obviously the transmission didn't suddenly develop the problem in the last 3 weeks. I had a couple of appointments in the last year or so to have it evaluated, but had to cancel them. I thought I had time yet to get this done. Then the Covid-19 debacle came, and getting into a service garage was more difficult.
I called the 1-800 customer service line today, explained what I listed above, and was told, "Sorry, we can't anything". I stayed pleasant - no use in shouting at someone who works in the trenches - and I have a call coming tomorrow from her supervisor. I hope to work my way up the chain of command to find someone who might be able to help.
If you've been thru this, do you have any tips on how to convince Ford to do the repair, or at least cover part of it? One idea I had was to try to show that I've been a Ford driver for years. I listed the following vehicles that either I had, or my wife had before we were married. I threw a couple of other vehicles to show a family history of following the Blue Oval:
1968 Mustang
1979 Fiesta - my first brand new car.
Escort - year unknown, about 1982
1986 Ranger
2004 Escape
2006 Ranger
2009 Escape
2015 Explorer
My wife had a Mercury Capri, about 1978.
My dad has a 1927 Model T that's been in the family at least 70 years. He bought it from his uncle, and I remember seeing it as a boy in the early 1960's.
I learned to drive a manual transmission on Dad's 1965 F-100 pickup.
Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to offer. I'd be grateful for any links, stories, names or phone numbers of people to talk to, etc. Or at least a confirmation that Ford does occasionally grant an exception in a case where I'm literally just days past the deadline.
Tony
