Hi. Is anyone else having problems getting their Focus repaired in reasonable times. My ST170 had a failure of an actuator box that drives a valve in the inlet manifold back in early Dec 03. Ford ordered parts for the inlet manifold which took 4 weeks to arrive & then 3 weeks to get the car in to repair. The car was in the workshop for 2 days & they had to replace the inlet manifold as a pin that the valve moves on was broken. They have now had to order the actuator box which has motors inside & drives a drive shaft that is connected to the inlet manifold. It is now 3 weeks the part has still not arrived 15th Feb. I have phoned Ford each week to book the car a week ahead just incase the part arrives. The ETA for the part is late Feb & the car has been booked in on the 8th of March. The car has been a Pig to drive for 3 months now with this fault.
Does Ford keep any parts for this model in Australia. I import parts regularly & can easily get parts within a week from Europe. Have they not heard of FedEx. It bothers me that if something breaks that is required to drive the car that it could be off the road for weeks. A door trim was ordered for the car & took 4 weeks to arrive. I am seriously thinking of selling & going back to a reliable Jap car. I really like the car but its loosing me money as its used for Business.
Doesnt sound like you are having a good time of it there Mark, i so far havent had any major problems so cant say much about the parts, though i am still trying to track down the centre cap remover tool for the rims.... ford ppl all say they have no idea what this is, not even spare parts has heard of it, waiting for someone to chase something up tomorrow till then can only wait.
Might have to give them the British part number for the tool and see what they have to say about that.
This is fairly typical of short run and specialist models.
Parts for Mustangs, Cougars, Probes etc. are and always will be difficult to source.
I am reminded of a tyre failure on a Mustang that required warranty replacement - sadly BFG don't make that size anymore and there were no spares in Aus so one came off a press fleet car to replace it.
It's a situation that will only worsen with time - I'd hate to think how some of the 400 odd unique parts in an Aus Mustang will be found in 10 years time - or the Aus sourced bits in an ST170 for that matter.
Part of the price we pay for having a low volume model.
Chris the centre cap tool is a bit like a paint tin removal tool. My tool was in the glove box & has a T handle. It does not work too well & if not careful will damage the caps. The centre cap has a spring clip & is very tight & you need to just lift the cap slightly & use a long blade screwdriver & insert it under the cap & to the centre where the clip is. You will need to go all around the cap gradually as not to bend or damage the edges. Keep a screwdriver in the car you will need it for flats.
Well I'm still waiting for my new Focus. The first one had an ECU malfunction of some kind, so they ordered a new ECU, with an ETA of 2 weeks. I'm not impressed with that either, as other European manufacturers, such as Peugeot don't take that long. We'll have to wait and see if actually arrives in 2 weeks, it's due next Thursday.
As for my new car, they sourced one from ACT, I SHOULD have it by the end of the week, barring any other failures picked up in pre-delivery.
Mark, aye i ahve heard to use the screwdriver, which i am sure i will end up doing, but seen as the tool was never there in my glovebox i want it, just a matter of principle
How is your aircon going in this heat ? i dont think mine was as cool as it should have been last 2 days, mind you car was out in the sun for the entire day before i drove it tho... spose that would have some effeft on it
lincoln, damn sounds like they are having trouble getting that car for you :( hope they hurry up with it :)
I don't think the Mustang and ST170 are really that low volume. They are sold in high numbers overseas. Citroen sell less Xsara VTS' per year than the ST170 volumes, and you'd never see a problem there. It's a Ford Head Office issue, rather than any difficulty issues. There are regulations regarding the provision of spare parts for new vehicles in Australia. Hopefully I won't need to be reminding Ford of them with my new car.
When I get it, that is. My new Ford buying experience has been fair from smooth, thus far.
For Australia they are low volume tho, the dealer i got mine through just rang and said there isnt another one in the state at the moment... not a huge volume there... but agree that they need to have a decent parts service happening
Yes, but my point is that other manufacturers that sell less cars do not have an issue with parts. Just because Ford have a large dealer network, does not make it "ok" to be putting up with such delays. As Mark has said before "haven't they heard of FedEx?".
Chris, I'm getting a 3M tint on the ST when I get it. Full metal tint, should work well. It SHOULD be on the car when I meet up with you. If I get it with enough time...
I don't think the Mustang and ST170 are really that low volume. They are sold in high numbers overseas. Citroen sell less Xsara VTS' per year than the ST170 volumes, and you'd never see a problem there. It's a Ford Head Office issue, rather than any difficulty issues. There are regulations regarding the provision of spare parts for new vehicles in Australia. Hopefully I won't need to be reminding Ford of them with my new car.
If you read closely you would note that I was referring to the Australian modifications rather than the vehicles themselves and I do believe you will find that low volume vehicles are specifically excluded from the parts requirements legislated unless it has been amended since I last read it.
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Parts Problems with the ST170
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