kylake

Yes it was and very much appreciated and expected. Not sure why you think manufactures should not go above and beyond standard obligation in circumstances caused by defective parts as it happens all the time in recalls and should also happen when a clearly defective part was installed (through no fault of Ford) simply a defective part that failed miles and years before the normal expected failure time.

Regardless of these two comments above it does help to complain and in a nice way even if out of warranty but a clearly defective part. Ford sent me a check for 928.67 which basically covers the compressor, kits and other associated parts. Thank you Ford! End of story and hopefully end of snide comments like those above.

I did not know this forum is completely independent of Ford since I think I have seen Ford customer service chime in sometimes to help resolve an issue. Mistaken assumption on my part, at least in the past I remember seeing that. Interesting also that the new one installed only has a 2 year warranty and not the 3 year warranty of a new purchase. Funny you completely left out the GMC standard warranty 5/60 and I would assume as a single company they are Ford's main competitor?? Bottom line: Through no fault of Ford on or a line worker a CLEARLY DEFECTIVE part was installed on a top of the line Escape Titanium!! In that type of circumstance I would have expected Ford Corporation to go above and beyond the standard warranty regardless of whether I purchased the extended warranty and completely cover the corrective action needed for a DEFECTIVE PART they installed.

I don't consider purchasing a new top of the line Ford Escape Titanium MSRP of 31K and it failing at 24k miles free lunch and if you look at one of your largest rivals 3 years is not the standard. Therefore what you said to me (I assume) is far below the standard Ford would expect of a board moderator. I hope Ford customer service reads what you wrote!

First off thanks to all that took time to respond! Well it was repaired and between Ford and Beaman we got some assistance but the cost was still over the top ($2,181.68). Very disappointed and never expected buying a top of the line Escape Titanium there would be, this serious of a problem, with only 24K miles and only a few months over 36. Maybe this was a fluke but it really does make me question how reliable this purchase will be. As MWolf85 pointed out it was clearly a defective part considering the age and miles. I had expected Ford and Beaman Ford to do more because of the low miles and a clearly defective part installed on the line.

Well the process for repair has started. Ford and our dealership both are assisting. That said it is unbelievable how much this will cost even after assistance. I really have to rethink buying again a vehicle with such a short (year wise) factory warranty or adding even more cost to a new Ford vehicle by adding an extended warranty. It was the AC compressor lock up with my simple diagnosis and their $80 diagnosis confirmed.

Thank you YT90SC for the reply. We seem to have a good relationship with the dealer and have never asked for anything before. Your suggestion of ASK Kindly is well taken and it is not in our nature to be anything other. We have an appt. on Monday and will report back when I know more. Since it is on a separate belt I have just left it alone and so the dealer can see also the belt threw itself off when the compressor locked up.

My wife's Escape is a 2016 bought Oct 31st 2015. When she turned on the AC the other day with temps in the 80's and after a long winter rest there was no AC and she noticed a burnt rubber/wiring smell. Turns out the compressor locked up and burnt the belt. The vehicle only has 24K miles and I don't think that is normal and Ford should at the very least replace the compressor on their dime. What do you guys think and are there any service bulletins out on a problem of this nature for Ford Escapes. Thanks in advance for any replies or comments.

I totally agree "who knows" and as you said "live and learn" Ford will get it right it will just be a matter of time. Just to bad the bugs were not caught on staging before being moved to production. Of course there are deadlines and from my experience it is sometimes more important to "some" to hit a deadline that hold back for a better finished product. Take care akirby and good driving to you and the other members on the board.

Thanks for the reply akirby as you helped me a bunch when I was looking to by the Focus and as stated I still think it is a great design and I am sure a great car! Outsourcing can be a problem........you can fool yourself into thinking you (management) are saving money but in the long run I have not found that to be the case. We have excellent college graduates coming out of College every year in the IT field and we should utilize our resources and bring in house. So what if you have to pay them a little more or provide a pension or insurance. Is that not what we Americans need? Sorry to get political but I do understand the situation and I do see the mistakes made by management in my company as well as Ford. Outsourcing for IT overseas you are dealing with a language barrier and time zone barrier right off the top. You are also hire IT people that code with blinders on not ever looking at the bigger picture. I see outsourced code for my company failing all the time. The few in house people correct it "after" a failure that was released to production (because the outsourced people with "blinders on" tested as good). Outsourced IT mostly cannot think out of the box they were trained to be in. Example: I needed a change in the way a website worked. Outsourced answer would be to rewrite all the code. I could recognize it should not be that difficult and consulted in house. A stored proc running at 12pm every night could accomplish the same result with about 1 hour labor by one person (at a higher rate) other than 5 people working for a week (at a lower rate but not much lower) to accomplish the same result. I blame it all on management following the other "sheep". Sorry for the rant but this struck a nerve! Management has a problem thinking out of the box also! What they perceive as the bottom line is not always the true bottom line. The bottom line is I am sure Ford will fix the problem and other than and inconvenience to the first users of the new line it will be corrected with nothing more that a firmware update.

I ended up not buying the Focus but still like the car and design! I do work in IT and it sounds to me like Ford needs to improve the algorithm or code the computer is using for this cars fuel monitor. Computers only display what they are told to do with coding or the algorithm that speaks "to" the code for that warning. Using this board for a short while when trying to make a decision on what to buy it appears there have been several problems with radio volume, radio off, low fuel warning, etc. I feel like Ford will fix the bugs and is fixing the bugs but probably if they had done better testing of their applications some (not all) could have been prevented from going to production. BTW, Money is not the key to happiness, happiness is! Ben Franklin

First, I want to thank all that were so helpful on this board. Probably no one on the Blue Oval forum wants to hear this but I just could not get an honest trade in value from any Ford dealer and I am giving an honest review. I know it was pointed out I was trading and "abandoned" brand Pontiac Vibe (pointed out by a dealer on this board (grand master or something) that said he would rather have and STD than a Vibe on the lot). That being said, a trade is a trade, and, a sell in the auctions is a sale in the auctions, no matter what the brand or what dealer may be going to auction. I bought a bow tie instead! It was simply economics and I was "hot" for a Focus. I ended up with a Cruze. Because of the economic factor I gave up the rear view camera and hatchback, but gained remote start without a huge package increase. I still like the style of the Focus hatchback better than the Cruze RS sedan but that being said, because of "much" better offer for trade and reduction in price from MSRP by Chevy dealer and the fact that I could get a car that basically has the same fuel mileage and is also made in the USA (those were my two key factors) I got a Cruze RS. Averaging mileage of 39 to 40 on driver info center (DIC) and pencil to paper 36+ on the first tank. Still like the Focus and think it is also a great car but if the distributorships/dealers, will not deal, economics comes into play especially at this time in the economy. If I had bought the Ford the check would have been for about 16K (with X plan and $500 private offer) and "without" the tag/title/tax. With the Cruze I was out the door with a little over 12K "with" tag/title/tax (without any plan or rebate). Maybe next time Ford, but not this time and the sale all boiled down to mileage capable vehicle, an honest trade in value, to buy a car manufactured in the USA. And again thanks to all that were so helpful on this board............good driving!

I never said you "cheated" those are your words. Taking advantage of a situation/sale and cheating are totally different. A salesman does what a salesman does which is trying to get the best deal for himself and his company. I am glad you are a honest person and have never taken advantage of any customer for 35 years.

It may come to that as much as I like convenience I won't trade for the price offered. I will try another dealer and maybe their overhead won't be as great and they may offer more. Time will tell. BTW, since you are a dealer I assume you get reembursed by Ford for the private offer. I would certainly hope so and I know their are all sorts of holdbacks and other incentives Ford allows the dealers on a sales to make a difference on your bottom line since as you say "overhead"

GapBoyPCS, thanks for the correction. Ohio was the other car I looked at and off the top of my head I was wrong. I will try another dealer and see if they think it is as bad as "STD's" as carguy commented.

Carguy, Edmunds will not cut a check as you so facetiously pointed out. But even if I rated it as the lowest possible entry for the options it has the dealer was dogging me on the trade in value. They knew where I worked and knew I qualified for the X plan without me saying a thing. I think they adjusted their trade in offer down because of that fact. I know a good deal when I see it and I know a bad deal when that is being offered! They were offering a bad deal for me and a very good deal for themselves as it was also below a current Black Book!! In your 35 years I guess you have never taken advantage of a customer that was uninformed and would just sign without questioning? I have worked in sales also and yes people do "lie" but the evaluation the dealer gave and stuck to was dishonest on their part. Remember I mentioned the problem they reported on the passenger airbag. Factually it was a non-existing problem on the passenger air bag (Total BS) All, I am fairly old and have owned and traded for many cars over those years. There could be several factors for what they did but they will not get my business. Been down this road before and just simply found another dealer that offered a better deal either by upping the trade in value or lowering the retail value or a combination of both. I bought the Vibe because of the gas mileage (34 to 36 "real world" the way I drive) and the fact it was assembled in CA, USA even though it was in fact a Toyota/halfbreed. As stated I have owned many cars and trucks over the years (3 Fords) with the exception of one used Volvo in the early 70's every car or truck I have owned was assembled in the USA. It is important to me to know I am doing what I can to help workers that manufacture here at home over foreign workers. This has always been important to me not just now! Again gas mileage is important as I commute 90 mi round trip 5 days a week. Unless I am wrong the Focus is manufactured in Ohio and that is part of the reason I have settled on a Focus, plus the gas mileage, ride, soundproofing, etc. Checked a Cruze but "no" hatchback (Europe only) and didn't like the handling or sound proofing which pushed me to the Focus which I drove and liked much better. If manufacturing location wasn't important to me I would probably get a Prius but my heart will not let me :-) It is an old guy thing I guess. akirby, My brochure came in today and Focusing is correct if you read the bold print it is $750 but if you read the fine print it states $500 on Focus (above S model Focus and Fiesta). The way I look at it this is an incentive regardless of the price all I needed was that incentive. I have made a decision to buy and will just now need to find a dealer that is more reasonable/honest with their evaluation of my trade in. It will not take a dealer with a Edmunds evaluation but simply and "honest" trade in evaluation.

I went to the dealer were I took the test drive today so they could appraise my trade in. They totally low balled my trade (deal breaker). It was $2500 below Edmunds lowest (trade in) TMV figure on the vehicle as it is equipped and the mileage. They gave me one reason for the low evaluation because the passenger side air bag light didn't engage. That has never been a problem and when I got home I got my wife to sit in the car and when it started "guess what" no problem as described by dealer. I hope to do business with Ford and purchase the Focus but I don't think it could ever happen with the dealer in question. Thanks again for all the help. Totally disappointed!

Chibana, I am impressed! You're are a physicist who is (self described) a driving enthusiast who cares about performance and doesn't care about economy. Since I have a degree in sociology, philosophy, and business I wonder about the reasoning behind why you bought an economy Focus? Is it because you want to push the limits and see if you are better than the engineers that designed the car? Is it because you are on a budget and cannot afford a high performance car (there are cars for about the same price with less economy and more performance) or was it simply your were impressed by the "look" of the car or that the car was American made? Just curious as to the reasoning behind your purchase as I may be able to apply it in some of my classes. If this was to push the limits of the car I hope you are successful and can give us "all" advice in the future.

Thanks for all the help and info. I am just waiting on a brochure now as I have not ever received a email response even though I put in my email address with ordering the brochure via snail mail. Between the X plan and private offer (when it comes) I will make the purchase and look forward to it.

Thanks akirby! I ordered the brochure as suggested but haven't gotten an email and will just wait for the brochure to be delivered. I think it said about 10 days. Your tip about ordering another may be necessary as I am pretty sure I will have to order mine. I want the rear camera and looking at inventory within 100 mile range I am not seeing one unless the dealers are hiding inventory. I have the X plan and from reading other forums people have stated this (private offer) could be applied in combination with the X plan. Does anyone know if that information is correct as in someone that actually used both?

Thanks Uberjeff, I will try that method. I have researched a lot and was torn between several vehicles but it came down to 2 made in the US and then to the 1 (Focus SEL Hatchback) so if I get an offer from Ford that will "seal the deal" and I have a dealer I have already done a test drive with to do the deal. Thanks for the "heads up" about only having a limited time to redeem.

I currently drive a Vibe but need to upgrade before my mileage gets to great. I have looked at a Cruze and a Focus. I really want a hatchback like the Vibe and GM does not offer that option so I am leaning seriously towards the Focus hatchback 2012. I have driven one and it was a good test drive. I know there is a marketing incentive or private offer where Ford will offer $750 off the purchase price. Does anyone know how you meet the marketing criteria to obtain this offer. I am pretty much sold on the Focus but the extra incentive would put the deal over the top and I would order. Just a newbie here but have owned a full size Bronco and 2 Explorers in the past. Thanks in advance for advice on the private offer