Ford Focus Gearbox & Transmission Problems

If only it was that easy. I assume that it’s not giving you any trouble now, but if it is you could get it repaired under the warranty. If it’s not I don’t see you have grounds for a full refund, even though that model has a poor reputation for its transmission troubles. If you had done your homework before buying it you would have found lots of reports on the troublesome transmission.

It’s likely the clutches need replacing; it is a common problem with your model. Take it to a Ford dealer and ask them to approach Ford about repairing it under warranty at no cost to you. You could also approach Ford’s customer service people directly. The problem you will have in getting them to fix it for you is that the car is now seven years old and you bought it secondhand.

I can only assume your car has the dual-clutch automatic transmission. If so the bearing problem could conceivably be related to the transmission issues.

The Focus is a good car with a serious flaw; it has a dual-clutch automatic transmission that gives trouble. I would happily have a 2012 Focus with a manual gearbox, but I wouldn't buy one with a dual-clutch auto. I'd be looking at a Japanese or Korean brand and going for something like a Mazda 3, Honda Civic or Accord, Hyundai Elantra with a good record of reliability.

It's probably easier to eliminate those that don't stack up, those being the VW Golf, Holden Cruze and Ford Focus.

All have transmission questions over them.

The best options would be the Mazda 3 and the Hyundai i30.

We'd like to think that our cars would last longer and not give us trouble, but the reality is quite different to that. The ZF 6-speed gearbox is a troublesome one that can fail, as yours appears to have done. But as Ford has pointed out to you your Territory is out of warranty, although that doesn't end Ford's responsibility to back the product. You could pursue a full payment for replacing the transmission from Ford, but I doubt you would have any success. Should you choose to do that contact your state Consumer Affairs people in Perth for advice and support. But in my view your best course of action would be to accept Ford's offer of part payment.

I would have an independent automatic transmission mechanic assess it and if that confirms that your fears are correct take it back to Ford. But if you do that you need to be prepared to argue because Ford will not roll over easily. You could also contact your state consumer affairs department and seek their advice. We have been told about a case of an owner taking Ford to VCAT in Victoria over a different issue, but similar to yours in that Ford was rejecting an owner’s claim and the owner won.

We asked Ford to confirm the claims of your Ford salesman, and while we were told they would get to us after checking with their technical people they haven't. It's a tricky situation given that there is an on-going class action suit over the transmission, so I'm not surprised we didn't get a response from Ford. I doubt the claims very much, I suspect there's no truth in them, and the salesman was spinning you a line hoping to land a sale.

Ford's offer is pathetic. The trade-in value for your 2014 Focus is $12,000-$14,000, not the pitiful $5000 you have been offered. That shows how much Ford values the cars they produced. Start by going to Consumer Affairs and enlisting their help to negotiate a better deal, also consider joining the class action against Ford being run on this issue.

I doubt that Ford would buy the car back from you outright, they would be more likely to offer you a trade-in deal on a new car. As a guide I would expect you would get $11,000 to $12,000 as a trade-in on your car. Talk to Ford and find out what they are offering; you can then consider your options. If you feel it's not enough you could go to the consumer affairs people, or join the class action that's being run on this problem.