New Focus (Quality Issues)

Hi,

After waiting 2 and a half months for my new ford focus. (Lx sedan in a pure silver)

Well l went to have a look at it before l take any kind of delivery and l am shocked with the quality of the paint work and the panel fit.

How do l start:

This is my list of faults just on the body.

1. RHS front door has a hair underneath the clear coating.
2. RHS Rear Door - Has touch up paint at the bottom corner... can see brush marks and bubbles.
- needs allligment to the wheel arch
- was a huge dag of plastic on the door handle.. (inside trim)

3. All the protective strips on all the doors has scratches and there is no clear coating on them.

4. LH rear door - has touch up paint at the bottom..

5. Rear bumper needs allignment around the wheel arches... (looks like the fitment of my old xe falcon.. -- and l mean after many years..)

- there are crows feet in the paint work (around the size of a 50c peice..) two of them, one on the bumper itself and one on the rear strip..

6. RH side mirror has scratches on the painted section..

7. Boot.. - need allignment .. nearly touching paint on one side..

8. Front bonnet - needs allignment.. sits high by about 5mm near the rear edges
- has two large scratches.. 2 inches long.. deep enough to be through the clear..

9. Windscreen - has a deep scratch on the window.. l would not even pass a roady with it....

10. front bumper.. --

- 6 inch scratch on the drivers side trim above the fog light
- drivers side has scratches also.
- the front bumber between the number plate and the right hand strip has scratches like its been buffed with steel wool..



And all this just from looking at it inside thier showroom. I told them that l did not want the car in the showroom but they said that it is locked and safe... yeah right.. I thought that the car would be in holding yards.. ???

Bear in mind now l am paying for insurance on the car and l have not even driven it.. including its already registered...


I dont know if any other people have had this problem, but after waiting so long and they saying it can be picked up last week.. i was very lucky that l did not take delivery yet..


If people have had this problem, what did you do about it.. and what should l do about it.. (considering this is not an early release.. its an Oct build.)


thankyou for listening.. I hope that my problems with the car will be fixed... I have a car that has a 10 year old paint job and its got less scratches.


I am going to talk to a guy that is responsible for fixing it.. (salesman gave me his name and number) so hopefully something can come out of it.. It would be funny if they said that the scratches are not under warranty..?

[Forest Bear]

I can only suspect your car was made late afternoon Friday near knock off time by pot smoking SA assembly workers. Unlucky. For a brand new car that is absolutely unacceptable. I wouldn't take it. You've got every right not to accept it.

What should l do? Can l ask for my money back, and then l might buy a Jap built car.. not SA....

[galaxy xr8]

Have you actually taken delivery of it and signed??.

I have not taken delivery yet, the only thing that l signed was the order for the car, and the finance paperwork.. this was over 2 months ago..

I have not signed anything since, Also another thing is that l ordered focus mats with my car, and l noticed they put their own dealer mats in which do not fit well.. I am going to get this checked too..

[Teki04]

I wouldnt accept it. Final. Sorry, but they are most likely going to have overspray problems after they try to fix it. Not to mention the fact alot of the car is not put together well. Yep, id be asking for another car.........

[murcod]

Whatever you do - DO NOT ACCEPT IT! Refuse to take delivery and don't sign anything.

Ask to talk to the Dealer Principal and tell them the issues. I personally would be asking for another vehicle- don't accept any repairs if you're comfortable with paying for a new vehicle that has repairs.

If that fails contact Ford Australia.

Good luck and don't let them push you around.

[b2tf]

Definitely a good thing that youve found the issues now instead of seeing them for the first time when somebody is trying to hand you the keys.

List them, detail and if possible photograph all the faults, present it to salesman and tell him the car doesnt move an inch until these faults are rectified. Dont budge until its done, then go through and check it again, look for the quality of repair etc and then make the final decision on whether you want to take the car or not.
Otherwise, if nothing has been signed and no delivery has taken place, ask nfor a refund less deposit (theyre entitled to keep it) and walk out the gate a happy man. Nothing worse than taking something you dont want.

[Mick K.]

Putting up a fight now and living with another delay till a replacement car is delivered will leave you much better off in the long run. Really, any good dealership should recognise the deficiencies that you have pointed out and refuse to let you take the car.

Hope it works out well for you and you - eventually - drive away happy.

Mick.

[fauxpas]

While my ghia was in getting work done I was strolling amongst the new fords and saw a new focus. I noticed the bottom of the A pillar and the front guard was scratched by the bonnet opening and closing. There was bare metal there.

Well i am in contact with a couple of the guys there today.. DId you know they even tried to give the car with their dealer carpet mats and not the Focus mats...

Considering l have given a 6000 deposit.. l dont think that i will let them keep the deposit..

I have seen poblems with paint too on other focus,s. Its just not on the way the fitment is..\


I will try to get them to put a new clear coating on the car if they try to buff the scratches out.. But the fitment is shocking.. The rear bumber sticks out a little on the side like its had a hit from the rear..

Well l will try to keep you informed.. I am open to more responses..

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by focuslxsilver

Well i am in contact with a couple of the guys there today.. DId you know they even tried to give the car with their dealer carpet mats and not the Focus mats...

Considering l have given a 6000 deposit.. l dont think that i will let them keep the deposit..

I have seen poblems with paint too on other focus,s. Its just not on the way the fitment is..\


I will try to get them to put a new clear coating on the car if they try to buff the scratches out.. But the fitment is shocking.. The rear bumber sticks out a little on the side like its had a hit from the rear..

Well l will try to keep you informed.. I am open to more responses..

With a deposit that size I dont blame you - be getting that one back methinks. But they are legally entitled to keep an amount - what that amount is depends on the contract so check it out.

[Forest Bear]

The problems you described and the fact that they tried to give you dealer instead of focus mats just tells me that i wouldn't bother with this dealership at all.

You paid for a brand new car and they're offering you a patched up reject that should never have passed QC.

I would not bother as you don't know what other shifty they are trying to pull on your car behind your back. A lot of dealers test people's acceptance of such things. If they see you are easily satisfied it just encourages them to try and shaft you more down the track. Ask for your money back and go elsewhere.

If you're really set on the Focus, I'd take not of that car's VIN, go to another dealer and wait for another car making sure you're not reunited with that lemon. Its really a great car in all aspects that car was just unlucky to built by idiots on a certain day.

[parawolf]

Yeah - wait for another car. I know it is a long time - however do not accept this car, you will always be finding faults with it, and never be satisfied. Only take it if the dealer gives you a _MASSIVE_ discount after fixing it. I'd be thinking in the order of $2500 (remember you will lose this is resale if someone spots the overspray because it will look like it was in an accident) and also pocket that $1000 cash back that Ford is offering at the moment.

Cash back is not applicable for Focus.

That sounds pretty bad focuslxsilver. See the dealer principle about it and sort something out. If it has to be a new car then so be it.

Well l am going to call the dealer principle tommorrow and try to get another car.. But if they are so wingy about it l am going to say that l am going to get an independent accessor to check the car before l take delivery, such as RACV..

Do you think this is a good idea...

Also this is a bump so that people do not have problems like me, or even fall into a trap of quickly accepting delivery and then finding such problem when they get home..

[cogdoc]

See what the dealer P will do, and if not to your liking send some digital pics of the bad bits to Ford Australia. You have to sign a delivery report basically saying you are happy with the car, and until that point you have every right to complain. As already stated, I'd be after another car entirely. The external is the only thing you can see, I'd be worried if the rest of the thing has been thrown together too....
RACV inspection is a top idea, as this is further proof by an independant party of the flaws, and you could use this as further leverage with Ford Australia etc.

Well after many phone calls this is what has turned out..


After ringing people like my insurance company, consumer affairs, and independant assessors which all told me not to take the car, and get it replaced...

Well l decided to ring up Ford Australia, after attemping on numerous accasions to talk to the dealer principle or manager. Well l spoke to the guy and he said that the dealer has 1 oportunity to fix any issues with the car that they would pay for.. He said that what if i did not see the items and they fixed it before l took delivery.. i said well it is sight unseen...

He said then that they have to right to fix the car and get it to new car standards..

So well after all that this is what l guess will happen..

But l am getting an independant reviewer .. ($200.00) to check the car before l take any delivery..

The guy from Ford australia contacted the manager, and to my surprise l get a phone call about 20min later from the dealer manager.. (he could have called responded to my calls earlier..


WEll .. i will see what happens on Friday when l look at the car..

Goodbye for now..

Well l went to check the car today only to find out they only fixed the scratches in the bonnet, the crows feet on the rear bumper, and item 1. I firstly had to wait for the car to come from the repairers, and when the car came they left it outside in the rain. I said to them to bring the car inside so that l can inspect it.. ( i dont think they were happy about this, and maybe expected me to believe them that they had repaired the car. ) I am having such a lovely time,.. (joking) while l am paying for insurance and rego for something that l dont have.....

[Teki04]

I think that you shouldnt accept the car.... plain and simple. Its not "new" anymore. Im guessing they have done more Ks in the car then you have. Tell them they can keep it as a Demo.... but that your not accepting it!

[murcod]

Hmmmm... Try ringing A Current Affair- that'll get Ford moving quick to help you! :

I had problems with the delivery of my Mondeo (damage caused by the dealer - STILLWELL FORD MEDINDIE SA <- whoops how did that get there?!) and Ford Australia basically washed their hands of it and said it had nothing to do with them. Stillwells also gave out my personal details to a junk mailing agency!

[efgiar]

nah stuff em, get a NEW car write down the vin and say i want a different car because this is BS and ring ford aus again and tell them what a crap job they did, the manager of the dealership will get his **** REEMED by a big black man

Does anyone else have any experience in what is happening to me. I would like to know how they handled it?
I should be putting the dealers name on here, and l am just guessing that there could be some of the people from this dealer on this forum, but l will see on Monday. I will try to call a current affair. And l am also going to talk to a lawyer. I feel that they have had their chance to fix the car..

I would like to know how it passed Ford Australia's Quality Control, and also the dealerships Quality Control and pre delivery check??

So l see that as two chances. Another is that l faxed the dealers sales manager and another person (basically got his name from the sales rep saying he was the person to talk to regarding these quality issues) a detailed decription of the faults that l have found on the car. .. see my first thread.... I have fax transmitals to prove this also.

When l had called Ford Australia again on the Friday after being once again disapointed with the car.. He told me that Ford Australia has basically nothing to do with it and that its the dealers problem and also stated that there must have been a communication problem.. (l dont see a communication problem on my behalf)

Well its going to start to become fords problem when l call up a current affair and tell my story and also l will be talking about puting a column in their local paper about my disatisfaction with the quality of the car, and the way the dealer and ford Australia have handled it.

[KJGH]

What state are you in? I thought there were cooling off periods for this sort of thing.

Ford customer service should be providing some "customer service" and they should be checking if the dealer is making you happy and liasing with both parties like they did with our lemon CL. Good dealers are hard to find, especially when you're used to a good one in another location then move to the big smoke.

I still can't believe a dealer would blame a customer for an apprentice crashing a loan car after we returned it 1 hour before and quote prices on conference call to ford customer service and myself and then raise the prices when we come in.

On the Friday l asked for a coutesy car, and well the sales rep spoke to the manager and ok it. The sales rep asked for my licence as you would, and then started to fill out the paper work. He then tells me that there is NO insurance on the car and that if you get in an accident you would have to pay $2500.00. I said for him to keep it as he might try to pull something back on me.. (ohhhh after we loaned you the car we see all these scratches ohhh and a little dent here and there) and then say that l have to pay for repairs,.

SO l just left. I must say the customer service for this company is on the ball.. I was on their web site and it has all this thing about its quality objectives and that and high levels of customer service and reducing complaints. It reads a lot more.......



Well i will keep people informed,

I checked out some other focus's today at other dealerships today and saw most of them being of ok standard.. Much better than mine, especially with the allignment of the front bonnet. Mine sits nice and high.. (there you go, if you let your bonnet sit higher than it should it will reflect more air and therefore reduce wind noice.. (joking but maybe true, not that l would like to see my bonnet sitting higher than the edges of the front guards.


Focus owners here, if l was you l would be double checking the fitment of your bonnet and rear bumper and if not satisfied try and get it fixed with your next service....Then maybe after a few people complaining it may help for future focus owners to recieve a car that does not differenciate in quality as much as now... (This is totally up to you)

[owens]

Hey mate. I've been watching your progress through this thread and I've got to say that i feel for you. I hope you get it all sorted out. This dealer sounds like they're a real pain in the butt to deal with.

My car has been back about 7 times to fix various minor things, nothing too major but it's still inconvenient.

All the best mate,
Owen.

[New2Focus]

Hang in there, pal.

My problems with mine (very early build LS LX pure silver sedan) were totally insignificant compared with yours, and have all been well and truly fixed up. You're doing the right thing by not taking delivery - my mistake was being in a hurry and too rosy-eyed at the time of delivery when I handed over the cheque before seeing the car.

Like you, what I still don't understand is how some problems are not just missed by Quality Control, but others are quite obviously observed and ignored - at both factory and dealer level.

Well it looks like the dealer is giving me a full refund. Found out on Monday by the Sales Manager. Apparently they do not want to fix the problems. I asked them to give me a discount if l was going to take the car as as, and they said that they wont give me a discount. So the only option is that l get a refund now. I have no trust in Ford now and will never recommend the Focus to anyone else. Thankyou Ford, and many thanks to the dealership......


Looks like l am in the market now for a new car.. maybe get a vw golf tdi or a peugeot diesel. Maybe and l know this is kinda the oppostion l might get the astra ...


Now all l have to do is now get my refund back.. This is first before l look around and make a decision. Its funny how they dont call you when they now owe you money.. (well in this case, give my money back) Have not heard from the dealer since Monday morning when the sales manager said he will give me a refund.,. Will have to call tommorrow to find out whats going on with my refund..

Thankyou for your opinions, but from being exited to get a new focus, and too now..you can just imagine my disappointment..

Dont get me wrong.. its still not finished, as l have put a complaint into consumer affairs.. It depends how the dealer treats me tommorrow when l call for my refund whether or not l take further action..

[owens]

Good luck mate. I hope that you can get your money back with no more hassles. I'll be writing a letter of complaint to the manager down here as the salesman's customer service is pathetic... never been called back even after being promised that he'll get back to me. And it's cost them at least 3 sales.

Anyway, all the best and keep us updated!