WS Fiesta - Alternative Long Term Review

[Fiesta_Man69]

I purchased my 2010 WS 3 Door Manual Fiesta in March 2010: this is my experience with the car and Ford Australia over this period.

Positives:

1. It's a looker. The 3 door (ala WRC) is still the best looking light car you can buy.

2. Handling. Mine was fitted with 17inch wheels, now running Yokohama 205/40s A Drives. Superb handling, a delight to drive, especially through the Bell's Line of Road or the Wiseman's Ferry run, which are both nice and close. You would only lower the car for looks, there's no need to lower it for handling. Indeed, the ride quality with the 17s is stiff, lowering it would reduce its everyday appeal.

3. Fuel use - I get between 5.5 - 6L regularly, running on 98.

4. Noise - After fitting a simple cat back system and K&N filter the engine has a real nice sound to it without it being too 'hoon' like.

5. Stereo - even the 2 speaker that cam in my car is real good, haven't wanted to upgrade it.

Faults:

1. Within 3 months it required over $10,000 in replacements parts due to rust. However, this was not handled in a straight forward manner by Ford Aus. Upon initial inspection I was assured by the dealership that the rusted components were a "characteristic" of new cars: this was a little more than insulting to my intelligence.

Therefore I had no option but to call in Fair Trading NSW: and coincidentally after they became involved the rust went from a 'characteristic' to a major problem that would be fixed asap.

It took over 6 months to get the parts in from o/s: Ford Aus informed me that it was up to the dealer principal as to whether to use parts from a WS demo/new car they had in stock; this was declined at the dealership's discretion. When it came to 'fixing' the car, they had the vehicle for over 3 weeks. When I picked the car up, the hose clamps on the pipe from the airbox weren't done up: I ended up taking it back to my trusted local mechanic who spent over an hour tightening most things under the car.

Interestingly, the rust was first discovered by my mechanic when I took the Fiesta to him because the brakes were so bad (they had air in the fluid and hadn't been bled pre-delivery). He discovered the rust all underneath the car. When I took the car back to the dealership I was accused of driving the car through water - on a beach - and even surrounded by 6 mechanics and the service manager in an attempt to intimidate me. From there the process of getting the car fixed just got longer and longer. I have no doubt the car never received its pre-delivery check: from other threads on this forum and the confessions coming from Ford mechanics on here to tick a box because of 'time constraints' there can be no doubt: so what do Ford charge pre-delivery for.


2. As soon as I drove the car out of the dealership upon taking ownership the engine 'pinged'. Pinging is where the engine is running lean - there is the wrong/incorrect mixture of air to fuel. It is very damaging. It fries the pistons and damages the head of the engine, besides other damage. I immediately took the car back to the dealership where the foreman took the car for a drive, heard the pinging, and told me 'they all do that, just fill it up on 98RON petrol.' Ever since I took delivery of the car at 18kms it has been run on 98RON. According to Herrod Performance workshop, the biggest Ford performance workshop in Australia, the car should be running with no issue on 98 RON, since 95 is the recommended fuel. Several other performance workshops have diagnosed the problem: however, when I have informed 13 FORD of their findings, I have simply been told their results are invalid because they don't have Ford's diagnostic equipment! (You can hear the pinging with your ears, forget hooking it up to a computer!) The rub in this, of course, is only genuine Ford dealerships can find a fault with Ford.... Does anyone see a problem with this? The only time I have used other fuel was after another dealership tested the car and suggested I try E10: when I did the car pinged so badly I had to get it towed home. The car pings 80% of the time: it doesn't do it in colder weather, but at any temperature over 25 degrees it usually does. It also does it at high rpm (4000rpm plus) which is extremely damaging. I have had the ECU reflashed which improved the pinging slightly: when I replaced the air filter with a K&N filter it improved again, but is still there. What is most disturbing is my calls to Ford CRC. I spoke to Troy (a team leader, supposedly) on June 8 this year at 4pm, where he told me that "pinging was a characteristic of the Fiesta." I explained to him what pinging was and gave him a chance to change his stance but he did not. Troy insisted that my pinging was an isolated incident and no other complaints had been made to Ford CRC about pinging in Fiestas. Since joining this forum, I know this to be a lie.

3. The a/c can't be used as it causes the car to surge in 5th gear - like bunnyhopping down the road, but at 100km/h. This didn't happen until the a/c system was replaced when the engine and all componentry under the bonnet was removed. It is pretty much useless on days above 25 degrees anyways, so that's no big issue.

4. I recently had to replace the brake pads and brake discs. The issue is with the Brake Discs. Brake discs should last for at least 100,000kms (I replaced brake discs on my 1997 Mitsubishi Mirage at 150,000kms - a car in the same class as the Fiesta but an older design). Again, I brought this up with Ford CRC - again, this was a 'characteristic' of the car since it was European (and where does this leave the Thai WT)? To state that this is normal wear and tear is absolute garbage: it is a design fault. Again, to state that because the Fiesta is German and therefore a European vehicle and they use their discs faster than Japanese cars is rubbish. Why? I am a subscriber to the British car magazine EVO. They have coverage of European cars. Most require disc changes around the 60,000 MILE (or 100,000km) mark, and they use many, many cars as long termers for reviews. The Fiesta is way below par. I replaced the discs and pads at Penrith Brake and Clutch last month. Why didn't I go to Ford? Ford was charging triple the price for an inferior product (I got Bendix Brake pads on the car, which are noticeably superior to the Ford OEM pads).

5. The car has developed an annoying rattle in the dash that no one can trace and I've been told are, you guessed its a 'characteristic' of the car. As I've stated before, I owned a Mirage, back in the Fast & Furious days (that ended up doing 250,000kms) and I ripped out the interior, painted it white, drilled in neaons, fitted a huge stereo, ran cables up and down and through the car and even after all that the build quality of the interior was still superior to the Fiesta. Mine may be an isolated incident here, but again, disappointing.

However, the worst problem is the manner in which Ford handles after sales 'service.' I have been chasing Ford since the first day of ownership, 20 months ago. It is obvious that the entire system is set up to run out the warranty clock of 3 years. I have sent numerous emails to Ford CRC that get no response. It is impossible to contact anyone outside of the Ford call centre, staffed with people that, so far, simply don't care. I negotiated hard on my deal and got another $500 off the price of the car at the time of purchase. Considering I have had to leave my Fiesta and hire Ford cars at $60 a day to get to work, since my 'new' car is a lemon, Ford has made their money back - very clever!

Now, contrast this to VW: they recently recalled 400 Polos for pinging and fixed the problem - where Ford simply lies to customers and tries to convince us that it is part of the car - indeed, if you ever hear the word 'characteristic' used by a Ford salesperson, be very worried. It means 'there's a problem, but we don't know how to fix it.' Perhaps this is why Fiesta sales are half of what they were last year and Falcon sales are their worst ever: today people jump on forums or detail their ordeal on Facebook - Ford treats customer service like its still the 1980s and the net doesn't exist: i.e. at the very worst if you have a lemon Ford all you'll tell is Bill and Fred down at the local over a beer or two - and who cares, because Ford Falcons are selling thousands to fleets every month: this ain't the case anymore - Ford needs to realise its 2011: the Falcon (on private sales figures) is dead in the water and there's no ther cars to prop up sales.

Not for one minute am I suggesting that only Ford builds lemons, or is the only one to have issues with the cars they sell. Not at all. The huge issue is that manner in which Ford treats its customers once they hand over their cash. Compared to other car companies, Ford is well below par.

There is no after sales service. It should require Fair Trading NSW to get involved for warranty repairs.

There is no quality control.

Their actions show they hold their customers in contempt. Another example: I was at a local dealership (I live in Penrith, NSW) waiting for them to fit another wiper blade assembly as the other had broken, and I was in their flash waiting room. There was a young woman, quite attractive, having a heated arguement with one of the staff. I walked over so I could hear. Now, she owned a WS Fiesta, and was 'sick' of these two problems: 1. everytime she set off from standstill, water would run out the back of the washer nozzel for the rear window and 2. everytime she filled up the tank would overflow, on to her clothes/shoes. I stood there as the Service Manager came out and assured her that these were 'characteristics' of the car - every hatch/wagon dribbled water out the back because of 'gravity' and she just needed to fill the tank up to three quarters to stop the overflowing problem. I stood there, thinking wtf? and casually moved across, told the woman I owned the same car and (for once, yay) did not have either of those problems and what the Manager was telling her was absolute bull. After I collected the part, I was asked not to return to the dealership.

Now, argue all you like, but the facts are Ford's sales are plummetting: after owning a Ford for 20 months and experiencing their 'service' its obvious as to why.

However, I have no doubt that 90-95% of Fiestas are built fine and will have no issues throughout their life. My review should be taken with a grain of salt and used in balance with other 'glowing' reviews of the car. Just be aware if you have a problem with your Fiesta, the warranty means very little, or a long and arduous fight.

I do suggest, however, that people read the 'Focus Lemon Help!' thread in the Focus section of this forum: the customer 'service' this poor guy received was unbelievable.

No doubt people will see me as negative towards the Fiesta, considering many of my posts. Just be aware I joined those threads, not started them, when other Fiesta owners were having problems. Now, consider the ownership experience I have had - how would you feel towards a company that treated you - and others - in this way? Would you hand over your money to them in future?