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Ford Focus Care & Maintenance

334 messages,  Last post on Nov 20, 2012 at 12:27 PM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Focus, Hatchback, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 34 of 34

#330 of 334 Re: 2005 Focus SES Alignment Problems [mrsdoni] by kelstar88

Nov 20, 2012 (11:51 am)

Replying to: mrsdoni (Jul 31, 2007 12:03 pm)
I have a 2011 Ford Focus with 45,000 miles on it. Had to replace the tires at 30,000 miles because of severe cupping. I had been rotating the tires every oil change (5Kmiles) and aligned the car every 4-6 months. Tires still went bad. Now, my tires are cupped again. I've only driven the car 10,000 miles since my last tires were put on.
 
I can't afford to keep replacing the tires. Someone told me it was my suspension that needed to be replaced ($2K), another told me it was my shocks in the back that needed to be replaced every 30Kmiles (twice as often as you normally should). Others told me I didn't rotate or align enough, but that's ridiculous. I do it more than I should have to.
 
Dealership won't help, they wouldn't help me the first time around. They told me they didn't cover tires and that was normal wear and tear. So I was stuck with the bill. Even though my car was still under warranty and the tires should have lasted longer.
 
No I don't know what to do, I have been reading all of these other forums and people are all having the same problems. I don't want to be stuck with this for the life of the car. Debating just to sell it and move on from Ford... since they are willing to put a car out that has a problem like this.
 
Ford just spins you in circles, tells you to call someone else until you break down and stop.
 
Someone help? Or have answers?

#331 of 334 Re: 2005 Focus SES Alignment Problems [kelstar88] by steveinarizona

Nov 20, 2012 (12:17 pm)

Replying to: kelstar88 (Nov 20, 2012 11:51 am)
to Kelstar
 
I have a 2009 Ford Focus and I had to replace all the tires at 20,000 miles and I am on my third set at 60,000 miles. It is a known problem by the Ford dealerships and major tire stores and also known by Ford. The problem is in the rear alignment that is a defect that can be corrected by having ford install some kit that runs about $400. I haven't done it just on the principal that I shouldn't have to on a new car and awaiting somebody with time to file a class action lawsuit against Ford to submit all my tire receipts to. You could try suing Ford in small claims court as a way of getting their attention. There was some lawyer who took on a car company that way and she won even though the car manufacture sent how the big gun lawyers to fight her small claims action. They do that as it is cheaper to pay big lawyers to squash the little guy so they don't have to pay big expensive recalls for defects. I am sure Ford monitors boards like this to monitor customer complaints to see if it is getting to the point they need to do some positive PR but losing a few customers is cheaper to them then millions of dollars in recall. It a simple business decsion and customer service/satisfaction isn't a part of that. Its the bottom line that they care about not you and me and others who bought a car from them. I have two ford focuses in my small business and after I use these up I am going back to Hyundai cars that I had no issues with before.

#332 of 334 Re: 2005 Focus SES Alignment Problems [kelstar88] by steveinarizona

Nov 20, 2012 (12:27 pm)

Replying to: kelstar88 (Nov 20, 2012 11:51 am)
Kelstar- another poster posed this info on the known tire issue and he is absolutely correct. What he wrote is what my dealer told me. I am posting his comments below.
 
Here is the deal. Ford manufactors the Focus with a 2 degree negative camber. This makes your rear tires go defective as fast as 10,000 miles especially if you don't rotate your tires very often. You can get an alignment every month and it will not fix the defect. I have 24,000 miles on my focus and I have my third set of tires on it. I've did the research. An alignment shop here in Warrensburg MO found the problem and fixes around 4-5 Ford Focus a month. They put in a kit that brings the camber within a fraction of a inch which will give you about 3 times the life span of the tires. The don't have the ability to zero the camber. If you don't get this done, you will be buying tires like I did every year. I did make a complaint to my dealer and the Ford Company itself with no help so I sent my complaint to the National Highway Safety department which investigates safety issues and forces auto companies to fix defects with a recall. Need folks like you to do the same. The last set of rear tires I took off scared me. It was so close of coming apart. Call 1-888-327-4236 and make you complaint today.

Messages Page 34 of 34

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