This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The car stalled while in stop and go traffic on the interstate, the mechanic told me the throttle body gasket failed as it is not thick enough due to the taper at the point of contact to the throttle body.
September 2013- whining/grinding noise in car. Nothing found. All 4 tires replaced (was told the sound was the tires). Sound was still there after tires were put on. Was told it was "normal". February 2014- transmission whine, grinding noise, car shudders when changing gears. Ford replaced the clutch assembly (first clutch replacement). May 2014- grinding noise in car. Ford checked the wheels, nothing found. July 2014- transmission whine, grinding noise, shudders in between gears. Ford replaced clutch (second clutch replacement). Also, gas tank was slow to fill. Ford replaced gas tank. August 2014- gas still slow to fill. Ford adjusted filler neck. October 2014- car overheated, stranded me at a gas station. Had to get car towed to the Ford dealership. Ford replaced cooling fan. February 2015- replaced serpentine belt (believe this was damaged when car was hit on the interstate by a crate that flew out of a truck 2 months prior. Insurance covered repairs at the time, but believe the damages to this belt was missed.) April 2015- transmission whine, grinding noise, shudders when shifting gears. Ford replaced clutch assembly (third clutch replacement). Took 2 months for parts to come in because they were on national backorder. Ac was also not cooling. Ford replaced the rt valve. The car now has 125K miles on it and our warranty has run out. Called Ford this week to launch a complaint and was told they couldn't do anything else because the warrant was out (warranty was good thru 125K miles). There are thousands of people who have the same issues. I do not understand how this is not a recall item yet. This transmission has slipped and on more than one occasion, my family and I were almost hit because of the car stalling. Why do you have to wait until someone gets killed to recall something"?"
As I was merging into traffic on a major highway, at around 35 mph my car suddenly bogged down and almost stalled before regaining power and I barely avoided getting run over by other vehicles. This transmission is very erratic and has since stalled and surged forward without cause. I am pretty much afraid to drive it in traffic. Some days, it does pretty good, but on others, it can be very tricky and dangerous to drive. I have to back out into the highway from my driveway and it has just stayed in a neutral gear when I had it in drive at times. This car is very unsafe and I don't see how Ford Motor Company can get away with such unsafe issues.
I opened the passenger rear door to put a package on the back seat. When I tried to close the door, it would not stay closed. It would shut and bounce back open and would not latch. I tested the latching mechanism and confirmed that it would not engage. I had to have a passenger hold the door shut on the short drive home and had to secure the door to the other passenger door with a bungee cord. I have contacted a dealer and will have to have the entire latch replaced and I'm not sure it's covered by warranty at this point. This is an extremely serious safety issue that should be subject to a mandatory recall by Ford.
Front door does not lock when pushing button in middle of dashboard. Back passenger side door does not latch to stay shut. Door is held shut with bungies strung up under front seat, very ghetto. Part (latch) cost over $200 to fix.
- Albuquerque , NM, USA
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2011 Ford Fiesta SE, 47500 miles. Use back doors approximately once a month. I closed the back door on driver's side and it just bounced back at me. Could not shut door, will not latch, causes interior lights to stay on. Temp fix was to close the latch manually to turn off the interior lights then bungee the door as close to closed as I could - still has about a one inch gap for rain to get in or thieves - plus whenever I turned right the back door would open. No way to bungee it tighter. Took car to Ford dealer who acted surprised when I told them about the latch/lock. Cost: $420 to repair one door. Upon returning home searched the internet and found out this has been an ongoing problem for the Fiesta's doors and in no way should my dealer of been surprised. Called dealership back, no compassion - said if the locks ever get recalled then Ford would refund my money. I'm looking for a new car and it will not be a Ford. Will keep my receipt should the locks make the recall list. This is a major safety issue but I guess until someone is hurt or worse it will not be recalled.
A month and a half ago the rear passenger door refused to close. Today the driver side passenger door swung open while I was backing out of the driveway and would not close.
2011 Ford Fiesta ses, manual transmission: Car started stalling about 3 or 4 mos ago when I would come to a stop. Yesterday, it stalled as I was driving!!! now I don't dare get behind the wheel! I bought this car in '11 brand new and have had no problems with it until now. And now all I want to do is dump it!
The car will stall when leaving from a stop. It has happened approximately 12 - 15 times since the first occurrence. Dealer is unable to find the problem as no codes are thrown. I am frustrated and scared as I am afraid it will stall in the middle of an intersection.
Driving to work stopping at a red light, I saw the engine light come on and the transmission selector display flickering through the gears. On green I tried to go but, even though the car was in drive, it did not go but the engine revved. I waited for the next red, turned the car off and on, put it in drive and it went. It was parked all day. When I started it up again, the engine light was off, thinking it might have only been a glitch. I drove home onto I-295 at 65mph speed and all of sudden it started again, engine light on, transmission selector going through all gears, and I lost power to the wheel. Luckily I coasted to an off ramp, before I was flattened by semitractors. I turned the engine off and on, the engine light went off, and the car drove again. This happened 2 more times before I finally got it to the dealership. Now I am just waiting to hear from them.
Referring to previous complaint #10546964, vehicle was towed to a Ford dealership for examination and repair after opening case # with Ford Motor Company and referencing research that points to a systemic problem with Fiestas. Shop had vehicle for three days and reported a repair had been completed, a computer "update." Car was retrieved and after 30 miles of driving +/- same problem returned when transmission stopped working and no gear could be found. Turning the car on and off was not easily done and on more than one occasion there was no response when trying to start the car. On at least two occasions, the problem occurred on a two lane road with no emergency lane so vehicle was stopped on us 321 with no immediate way to move it to a safe area. Since it was after 8:00 P.M. traffic was minimal. When the car was started finally, we were able to get it home by not going over 30 mph. This is a dangerous situation that does not seem isolated to this one car. This is the same problem that was not diagnosed when the car was in my possession for less than one month. The recommended fix, at over $100, did not result in any resolution of the problem. There appears to be a problem with the Fiesta transmission and the communication it receives from the computer rendering the vehicle completely immobilized and unable to function.
Early production models of the 2011 Ford Fiesta suffer from the same issue with the door activation as the F150's recalled. \early production Fiestas should also be recalled. "beginning with 2011 models built after July 2010, design changes were made to improve the robustness of the outside door handles to minimize the possibility of the handles starting to activate in side impact crashes" www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=1395
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- St. Paul, MN, USA