An old crisis creates new problem for Ford
Focus, Fiesta cars sit in shop for months, owners ‘ghosted’
Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley has said repeatedly his team is working to build loyalty, treat customers like family and compete in the rapidly developing all-electric race for domination. But bad experiences continue with Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta owners with defective cars who say the company ghosts customers while they wait weeks and months for repairs.
This is not about a supply chain disruption as much as ignoring customers left without transportation. Customers say it would be helpful if Ford could be proactive about managing expectations for people whose vehicles were purchased years ago with defective parts. If a vehicle is going to be in the shop for six months, let customers know rather than make them call or text or email constantly requesting updates.
After all, Ford created huge demand for these specific parts needed for defective Ford Focus and Fiesta cars and knew of the need to replace them long before the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed orders and delivery. The faulty transmission control module, or TCM, also is competing with every other product seeking chips, which are essential to making smartphones, appliances, medical equipment, computers and anything that depends on semiconductor technology.
“When you have ongoing problems not getting resolved, it matters. It takes years to build up a good reputation and very little time to tear it down,” said John McElroy, auto industry veteran and host of the “Autoline After Hours” podcast and webcast. “To rebuild a reputation is time-consuming and expensive.”
Longtime customers who support the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker find themselves buying competitors’ products.
Randy Blankinship of Midwest City, Oklahoma, waited as his 2014 Focus sat in the shop for four months for that critical part. He went and bought a Chevy Trailblazer while waiting.
Molly Augustin of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, paid $125 to have her 2012 Ford Focus towed to her dealership in July, then parked in a storage lot with similar vehicles awaiting a parts replacement, she said. And that’s not all.
“Battery was shot when I came to collect my vehicle; they hadn’t bothered to run it for the several months it was in their custody. I’ve since purchased and installed a new battery,” she said. “Counting down the days until my 2023 Subaru Forester is ready at the end of January.”
Griffin Shumway of White River Junction, Vermont, took his 2012 Focus to the shop repeatedly and was told it was fine. He then learned a week after the extended warranty expired in June that it was not fine. It has been at the dealership for repair since July. He is now waiting patiently.
“I’m hoping for April,” he said. These are just a few of more than two dozen experiences the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, has chronicled in recent weeks as a follow-up to its “Out of Gear” investigation on defective parts afflicting 2012-16 Focus and 2011-16 Fiesta compact cars and the class-action court settlement that followed. A number of Ford customers said dealerships declined to help them with repairs, a situation that was reported previously.
The investigation revealed for the first time internal company documents and emails showing the automaker knew the dual-clutch “Powershift” transmissions on the entry-level vehicles, built over the last decade, were defective from the start but the company continued building and selling them anyway as customers spent thousands on repairs.
Ford customers claimed in legal filings the vehicles were built with faulty transmissions prone to a host of problems, some potentially dangerous.
These hot-selling low-cost cars were marketed to entry-level buyers on a tight budget, often retirees and students.
‘Plagued by numerous problems’
Farley, who took the helm as CEO on Oct. 1, 2020, has said publicly and told investor analysts repeatedly that improving quality is a top priority. He recruited a quality czar in January and made changes in his executive team in November.
But warranty and recall costs drain Ford of billions annually and lawsuits related to quality are ongoing.
In June, four owners of the 2017-19 Fiesta and 2017-18 Focus sued Ford, alleging the vehicles have the same unfixable transmission defects as earlier models that led to hundreds of millions of dol
saw transactions double from customers using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) during the pandemic’s early days, said Chief Executive Rob Twyman.
But this year, along with ongoing strong SNAP transactions, “we’re seeing a broader spectrum of customers, in middle income, and a transaction uptick as inflation has increased,” he said.
He said the store never sells expired foods. It has a kitchen that uses edible items that are past their prime to make prepared foods for sale. For example, over-ripe bananas can be used to make banana bread that customers might buy. Nothing is wasted, Twyman said.
Are expired foods or nearly expired foods safe to eat?
Yes, though they may not taste as good as if you had eaten them earlier.
Consumers often mistakenly believe expired products are no longer consumable. About 80% of Americans prematurely discard food due to confusion over date labels, said Food Marketing Institute.
“If the date passes during home storage, a product should still be safe and wholesome if handled properly until the time spoilage is evident,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. “To reduce food waste, it is important that consumers understand that the dates applied to food are for quality and not for safety.”
Here’s a list of commonly used phrases and what they mean:
⬤ “Best if Used By/Before” date indicates when a product will be of the best flavor or quality. It’s not a purchase or safety date.
⬤ “Sell-By” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It’s not a safety date.
⬤ “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It’s not a safety date.
⬤ “Freeze-By” date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality. It’s not a purchase or safety date.
Are there any exceptions?
Yes, infant formula.
Federal regulations require a “useby” date on infant formula under inspection by the Food and Drug Administration. Since products can deteriorate over time, consumption by “use-by” date ensures the formula contains the quantity of each nutrient as described on the label. Infant formula also must maintain an acceptable quality to pass through an ordinary bottle nipple, the USDA says.