Stubborn LHS noise in my Ford Fiesta

[krish3]

Hi,
I'm writing this mail as a very frustrated Ford Fiesta owner.

We had bought a Fiesta on 7-Nov-2008 from Kairali Ford with full cash payment. We bought on the belief that the car will be trouble free and the service will be good.

The initial month went very smooth and we were happy with the car.

But by Jan, problems started with the car. There were big noises coming from the left front side and the centre when the car was passing through rough roads or while turning the car. My father took the car to the service centre (Kairali Ford) and as is usual with Service centres, they said "ITS NORMAL FOR ALL FIESTAS".

Since my father is alone in cochin, and my brother and I are in different places he called us up and asked us to raise a concern to Ford. My brother did raise a concern and FORD contacted him in 2 days.

They then contacted the dealership service centre and asked us to take our car over there. My father yet again took the car there and they set about checking the car.

They then started replacing many parts and then said its not resolvable. We again raised an issue with Ford and they sent an engineer from Chennai. I appreciate the efforts taken by them till now.

They also gave an old Ford Ikon as a replacement car for the time being. The car was in such a bad condition that my father avoided driving it and didnt move out of house for many days.

Now, the Ford engineer came over and checked the car. He then found out the real issue. It had to do with the steering component. So the dealership engineers where replacing many parts which were actually working fine and didn't have to be replaced. So much for their issue resolution skills.

The Ford engineer stayed for 2 days and then called up my father and told him that the issue is with the steering, which is done by a supplier, who supplies to Hyundai as well" and not FORD and hence the issue is "NOT REALLY A CONCERN FOR FORD"

We are still following up with Ford to resolve the issue and get the car back to its original condition, provided FORD shows some customer friendly behaviour and a will to resolve issues.

A special mention of my father, who is quite aged and in a weak condition and had to endure such a hard time for parting with his money on buying a car from FORD

[Nikhilb2008]

OMG! If that engineer actually said that, he should be fired on the spot! This is the height of insensitivity. After having diagnosed that it's a manufacturing problem, they had better set about repairing the car.

All the best to you!

[krish3]

Another thing that happened now is, FORD has closed the complaint saying "ISSUE RESOLVED, CUSTOMER has accepted the vehicle back". We did accept the vehicle back as father has no other vehicle to travel in, but in now way is the issue resolved.

The engineer himself told us that the issue is not resolved. Dont know how they can do this. And they haven't replied to my brothers mails for the past 10 days. And they aren't even acknowledging the mails.

There has been complete apathy from FORD

[benbsb29]

Krish, raise the issue once again, with a new complaint number, else try and reopen the complaint. If the car is under warranty, they should definitely replace the faulty part.

Since you've mentioned your location as Chennai/Bangalore, how about getting the car to either of these places, and trying with a dealer there? Kairali Ford enjoys a monopoly in Kerala, and hence their antics are unjustified.

There was also an email id of the MD for Ford India on one of the threads on the forum, do shoot an email to that i with a link to this thread.

[gemithomas]

aah! Kairali Ford. I remember posting some reviews about them all over the place. They were not so good.

And how can ford disown responsibility just because the component manufacturer also supplies for Hyundai!!! How ridiculous.

I really hope this is not going to turn out a long legal battle. Raise another complaint. Explain the instances in order and ask them to reply as to why the part found faulty is not replaced immediately. Also Try to get some e-mail ids of ford higher officials. No point talking to "kairali ford" people. I really think the "r" needs to move back (in "ford") espacially when it comes to these dealers.

[krish3]

I will certainly be raising another complaint or re-opening the issue once again. Will also try to get mail id of Ford MD and see if anything good comes of it.

I cant bring the car to bangalore, as my father will be left with no other vehicle to use. Maybe I can leave my Zen there and take the fiesta till the issue is resolved.

I did contact the Division Manager for South and west zone. He also happens to be from cochin, but he too wasn't of any help. He is of the opinion that Hydraulic steering systems are like this

[condor]

benbsb29 : Since you've mentioned your location as Chennai/Bangalore, how about getting the car to either of these places, and trying with a dealer there?

+1 to bring the car over till you get it resolved.

@krish3, As you said, leave your Zen there, bring the Fiesta here. This way your dad will have a car for his use, and you can get the problems resolved here.

[djay99]

Its not an issue with Hydraulic steering systems. Tell that bugger if that was the case then there are millions of vehicles with such steering system and not all having problem.

Write an email to autocarindia and overdrive. Then see the response of these ford guys - they will come running behind you to solve the problem.

[sameel]

bad luck brother.

sorry to tell you. FORD rips their customers!!

[krish3]

I worte a mail to their MD but nothing has come of it. They still say what their technical person has to say "PERFORMANCE OF THE CAR IS NOT AFFECTED". I agree that performance of car is not affected, but the car makes a huge racket and that is unacceptable for a 8 lakh car or even a 3 lakh car. Our ZEN which cost around 3.8 lakhs is a far less troublesome car than this one.

I will now write in to Auto magazines, put up a poster all on windows of my car asking people not to buy a FORD. If it dissuades at least 2 people from buying FORD then my I'll be happy.

[pras.oct25]

Krish, my sympathies with you. I too have had a tough time with hyundai motor plaza in chennai. They damaged my verna crdi during first service and it has taken me 3 months to catch hold of the senior service manager and have demanded taht he replacea ll the parts in my dashboards, and also the steering if necessary. Work is due on my car this saturday if all goes well.
First of all, if your steering wheel is faulty, by no means should you be letting your aged father drive that car. A faulty steering wheel is by all means dangerous to anyone driving it.
Secondly, e-mails are highly useless. Either keep catching hold of higher up people directly, else catch them over the phone. Catch hold of the service manager and see if he can do anything. Else demand that he introduces you to his senior, and so on until you find someone reliable who takes up the job.
Your other option would be to go to some other dealership or company service center and present your case to them. Since this is a serious issue and kairali ford have turned out useless, dont waste time in going to another service center.
All the best, I hope you will be able to resolve the issue soon.

[aaggoswami]

Hydraulic steering systems are like this ? Are they cracking jokes ? The best hydraulic systems can be seen on G1HC ( OHC ), Baleno and Esteem. They run without issues, I mean literally without any issues.

1) Stop emailing them. Generally email and email accounts are nothing but glorified and advanced trash cans which will cost very less and occupy less space for the amount of complaints they receive. Call them and record the calls.

2) The managers are generally marketing guys who will talk about performance and power. They ( mostly ) dont even know what is the exact cubic capacity of the car they are talking about. Again record the conversation.

3) Try calling at the head office with your complaint number and inform them accepting vehicle = problem solved. They have to take concrete steps to replace all the faulty parts.

4) Whenever they are servicing the car, have an eagle eye on them. You cant trust these guys.

5) When the engineer or someone tell you that its suppliers problem and not ford, remind him that the car he is inspecting is a Ford. Be firm and tell the dealership you are not moving away from that dealership till the engineer tell the same to superior Ford managers.

6) Try other dealerships also. What happens is that in order to win customer from other dealer, the competitor will try more hard to satisfy you. This trick might help you.

Originally Posted by djay99

Write an email to autocarindia and overdrive. Then see the response of these ford guys - they will come running behind you to solve the problem.

The magazines are known to help only those who are subscribers to them.

[condor]

krish3 : They still say what their technical person has to say "PERFORMANCE OF THE CAR IS NOT AFFECTED". .

It's like saying a putting a nice little cactus plant inside one's pocket will not cause any problems because the pant / coat /shirt the cactus is in is still meeting it's desired function - that one is able to wear it.

But then, the problems in this car are inside the car - not add-ons.

[Zahir]

Originally Posted by krish3

Hi,
My father took the car to the service centre (Kairali Ford) and as is usual with Service centres, they said "ITS NORMAL FOR ALL FIESTAS".

The Ford engineer stayed for 2 days and then called up my father and told him that the issue is with the steering, which is done by a supplier, who supplies to Hyundai as well" and not FORD and hence the issue is "NOT REALLY A CONCERN FOR FORD"

Dude, I feel your pain, I got my swift a month, 10 days ago and I've visited the Service Station atleast 6 times. First, on day one, the pressure plate was faulty so the car wouldn't pick up in the 1st gear without shuddering massively. Then when that got fixed, in a week, the BCM blew!. I got that done, the car stalled a few times in traffic and the ECU started throwing errors. That got fixed, my seat pins started breaking.

I got that fixed, the shockups and bush on the front gave way. And I'm a careful driver, its not like I took the car to the himalayas! Icing on the cake? the breaks would squeal like a cat in heat. Guess what maruti told me? Sir, all swifts are like this only!

Originally Posted by sameel

bad luck brother.

sorry to tell you. FORD rips their customers!!

I think most car manufacturers give a crap once the car is sold.

Originally Posted by condor

It's like saying a putting a nice little cactus plant inside one's pocket will not cause any problems because the pant / coat /shirt the cactus is in is still meeting it's desired function - that one is able to wear it.

But then, the problems in this car are inside the car - not add-ons.

Yep, brother, once u get the car, ur stuck with the car so just make a huge scene! No matter what, they have to fix it. Also come to terms with the fact that sometimes, you just get stuck with a lemon, I did!

[krish3]

Zahir.. you've gone through a lot for a 10 day old car. I can really feel the pain. Wish you all the best. I have a ZEN with me, and when we had issues that dealer would say as normal, I just mailed Maruti and it was taken care of. Wish you all the best.

I'm unable to sleep nowadays thinking of how we wasted 8 lakhs just like that. If the dealer was the only one to blame then it would have been OK. But FORD itself is behaving in a bad way.

I still feel the car is good if the issue is taken care of, and we would be happy if they show some dedication to work.

Now I know why FORD is in a mess that they are now. They know to make cars, but dont know anything else apart from that. It doesn't seem much of a problem in India, which explains their attitude, but elsewhere people will screw them left and right.