mettech Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 That is completely inaccurate. I have never used the "S" mode on my dual clutch transmission. The car still shudders pretty regularly. It was somewhat improved for a couple of days when they applied the software update last week but the shudder is just as bad as it was before and from time to time the clutches still rattle. Additionally I have seen plenty of posts about the transmission on other forums that share the same problem as mine. They aren't using the "S" mode but the car still rattles and shudders. I'm glad you got one that runs well and I hope it stays that way because I wouldn't wish the experience I'm having with mine on anyone. You will not be happy until you dump that car. Save yourself some grief and do it soon. I had a 2010 Fusion that had trans issues and replaced it with a 2011 Fusion. Since we took ownership of the 2011 Fusion, the negative talk about Ford has disappeared in our conversations.:hyper: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 You will not be happy until you dump that car. Save yourself some grief and do it soon. I had a 2010 Fusion that had trans issues and replaced it with a 2011 Fusion. Since we took ownership of the 2011 Fusion, the negative talk about Ford has disappeared in our conversations.:hyper: I know. Its going to get replaced ASAP and almost surely it won't be replaced by a Ford product because aside from the Focus and the Mustang they just don't have anything that interests me and I don't need a Mustang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 (edited) I know. Its going to get replaced ASAP and almost surely it won't be replaced by a Ford product because aside from the Focus and the Mustang they just don't have anything that interests me and I don't need a Mustang. .. I hear what you are saying..... So you are telling me that Ford still has a chance.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA Edited November 11, 2011 by mettech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmnCA Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 (edited) My Focus was built in September (after the service software update was being put on all new cars) I have about 1500 miles on it now and I have not had a single problem with the transmission shifting inappropriately. In fact I love this transmission so far! I owned manual transmission cars previously but tired of shifting and want to enjoy my morning tea on my drive to work without needing both hands and both legs to drive (my Volvo didn't even have cup holders so drinking a beverage while driving was impossible!). I find this car way more responsive and intuitive than regular automatic transmissions. My advice is get the service update and drive the car for a while you may change your mind. Edited November 29, 2011 by tmnCA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Mettech I'm happy to report that my Focus has been traded for a Toyota and very likely I will never be back to Ford again after this experience. Especially in light of the fact that the very dealership that I bought the car from for 22K would only offer 13K for the car just six months later. That's a 40 percent depreciation. Ridiculous. To put that into perspective, the 17K Toyota that I just traded for has a higher resale value than the 22K Focus I bought six months ago. Thanks Ford. At any rate, they were cutting deals on the Corolla because the dealership here had a bunch of 2011's that they need to get rid of before the 2012's start arriving. So my payment only went up 10 bucks and all of the maintenance is 100% free for the first two years of ownership so I'm actually coming out ahead. The Corolla is not as stylish as the Focus but it runs exceptionally smooth and has a nice ride. I have no complaints about it. (knocking on wood) I'm just happy that I don't have to drive the spasmatic everyday now. Wish you guys the best of luck with your Focus cars because mine was a miserable experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Mettech I'm happy to report that my Focus has been traded for a Toyota and very likely I will never be back to Ford again after this experience. Especially in light of the fact that the very dealership that I bought the car from for 22K would only offer 13K for the car just six months later. That's a 40 percent depreciation. Ridiculous. To put that into perspective, the 17K Toyota that I just traded for has a higher resale value than the 22K Focus I bought six months ago. Thanks Ford. At any rate, they were cutting deals on the Corolla because the dealership here had a bunch of 2011's that they need to get rid of before the 2012's start arriving. So my payment only went up 10 bucks and all of the maintenance is 100% free for the first two years of ownership so I'm actually coming out ahead. The Corolla is not as stylish as the Focus but it runs exceptionally smooth and has a nice ride. I have no complaints about it. (knocking on wood) I'm just happy that I don't have to drive the spasmatic everyday now. Wish you guys the best of luck with your Focus cars because mine was a miserable experience. Blackhorse: I am surprised that you went with the Corolla... historically it's a solid car. And it sounds like the dealership is going to make a good profit on the resale of your car. I understand your disappointment with the Focus. My '05 F-350 had several pages of issues and I had to dump my '10 Fusion due to transmission issues. The one last chance that I gave Ford has so far turned out OK when I ordered my '11 Fusion. It now has 37K miles and runs great. I hope that you do look at Ford again before your next purchase. Best of luck... and keep posting. I would like to hear from you some of the differences you notice between the two products. ... to included the transmission... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Blackhorse: I am surprised that you went with the Corolla... historically it's a solid car. And it sounds like the dealership is going to make a good profit on the resale of your car. I understand your disappointment with the Focus. My '05 F-350 had several pages of issues and I had to dump my '10 Fusion due to transmission issues. The one last chance that I gave Ford has so far turned out OK when I ordered my '11 Fusion. It now has 37K miles and runs great. I hope that you do look at Ford again before your next purchase. Best of luck... and keep posting. I would like to hear from you some of the differences you notice between the two products. ... to included the transmission... The Toyota dealer didn't even keep the Focus. They wholesaled it as they had no interest in it. I was right there when the used car manager at the Toyota dealership was calling all over town trying to find some place that would buy it off of them. $12,500 to $13,000 was all that anyone would offer and several places wouldn't even make an offer. They wholesaled it out of state for $14,300. The Ford dealership here alreadly has an SE hatcback just like mine on the lot with 6K miles that they are asking 17K for so I doubt some dealership is about to make a killing. The resale value on the car just isn't there. As for comparisons between the two cars Corolla and Focus. The Corolla has an exceptionally smooth running powertrain under normal driving conditions. If you get on it a bit and the rpms run out around the 4K mark or so you can feel it get a little coarse but thats going to be the case with any modern car that's churning 4K rpm. Comparitively speaking it is a much smoother running mill than the Focus ever was. In the handling department the two are very similar and the cabin in the Corolla is pretty quiet even at highway speed. I'm happy with it and I expect it will stay in my garage for the next 10 years or so which was my original plan with the Focus until it went spastic on me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 In the handling department the two are very similar Seriously??? How can you say that with a straight face? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Seriously??? How can you say that with a straight face? Because I have driven them both and there is very little difference. Officially the skidpad numbers are at .86 for the Focus and .82 for the Corolla which means guess what? That's right they are very similiar. Sitting behind the wheel I gurantee you that 99.9% of your average work-a-day drivers can't feel any difference and the vast majority of them are never going to push either car to the limits of their handling anyway. Staright face and all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nkempf01 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Because I have driven them both and there is very little difference. Officially the skidpad numbers are at .86 for the Focus and .82 for the Corolla which means guess what? That's right they are very similiar. Sitting behind the wheel I gurantee you that 99.9% of your average work-a-day drivers can't feel any difference and the vast majority of them are never going to push either car to the limits of their handling anyway. Staright face and all. This might just be my biased opinion, but I test drove a Corola for kicks and giggles (knowing full well I likely wouldn't buy it), the steering feels overly electronic and handles like a full size sedan (aka like a boat). It certainly probably does okay for the every day humdrum, but IMHO is a boring drive. I preordered my focus and had an it fresh off the line within the first month. I have noticed a slight shutter starting off on occasion in the cooler days of a Wisconsin winter thus far, but nothing alarming or concerning. I do about 50/50 highway/city driving and have little/no lag on highway acceleration, and no shutter or high idle in the city as others reported. I'm near 6000 mi almost 6 mo or so in. I tend to think the transmission issues are more the exception not the rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 This might just be my biased opinion, but I test drove a Corola for kicks and giggles (knowing full well I likely wouldn't buy it), the steering feels overly electronic and handles like a full size sedan (aka like a boat). It certainly probably does okay for the every day humdrum, but IMHO is a boring drive. I preordered my focus and had an it fresh off the line within the first month. I have noticed a slight shutter starting off on occasion in the cooler days of a Wisconsin winter thus far, but nothing alarming or concerning. I do about 50/50 highway/city driving and have little/no lag on highway acceleration, and no shutter or high idle in the city as others reported. I'm near 6000 mi almost 6 mo or so in. I tend to think the transmission issues are more the exception not the rule. The Corolla certainly doesn't handle anything like a full size sedan. Not sure why you decided that but that's just not the case. It's handling and driving characteristics are much more in keeping with the Focus then any full size sedan I can think of. As for the transmission, excpetion to the rule or not, there were enough complaints that it was cited as one of the main reasons that Ford dropped from 10th place to 20th place in the Consumer Reports Survey this year. Doesn't sound like an exception to me. Ford even put out a software update for the transmission for all Focus' made before 8-12-11. I wouldn't call that a minor exception. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Because I have driven them both and there is very little difference. Officially the skidpad numbers are at .86 for the Focus and .82 for the Corolla which means guess what? That's right they are very similiar. Sitting behind the wheel I gurantee you that 99.9% of your average work-a-day drivers can't feel any difference and the vast majority of them are never going to push either car to the limits of their handling anyway. Staright face and all. .86 and .82 is not very similar and neither are the Focus and Corolla. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 .86 and .82 is not very similar and neither are the Focus and Corolla. You're free to claim whatever you want to of course but I've actually driven both and I'm not just making this stuff up. Your seat of the pants G-meter isn't going to be able to discern a noticeable difference in .04 g's of difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 You're free to claim whatever you want to of course but I've actually driven both and I'm not just making this stuff up. Your seat of the pants G-meter isn't going to be able to discern a noticeable difference in .04 g's of difference. It's not just that - it's also the steering, body roll, etc. Nkempf01 drove both just like you and has a totally different opinion - as does virtually every media review. But if it makes you feel better, keep believing whatever you want to believe. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHorse Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) It's not just that - it's also the steering, body roll, etc. Nkempf01 drove both just like you and has a totally different opinion - as does virtually every media review. But if it makes you feel better, keep believing whatever you want to believe. You guys are entitled to your opinion, even if it's inaccurate in this case. There's nothing wrong with the handling characteristics of the Corolla and the Focus is certainly not worlds better. Frankly this is a tempest in a teacup. The important thing for me is the Focus was a sub-standard car and I'm glad to be rid of it. Feel free to pat one another on the back, I'm done talking about it. Edited December 1, 2011 by BlackHorse 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyfocus Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 (edited) The Corolla does give a nice ride but overall the Focus drives and handles a little better.The Corolla is still a very nice compact car.... Edited December 2, 2011 by nyfocus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmnCA Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Mettech I'm happy to report that my Focus has been traded for a Toyota and very likely I will never be back to Ford again after this experience. Especially in light of the fact that the very dealership that I bought the car from for 22K would only offer 13K for the car just six months later. That's a 40 percent depreciation. Ridiculous. To put that into perspective, the 17K Toyota that I just traded for has a higher resale value than the 22K Focus I bought six months ago. Thanks Ford. At any rate, they were cutting deals on the Corolla because the dealership here had a bunch of 2011's that they need to get rid of before the 2012's start arriving. So my payment only went up 10 bucks and all of the maintenance is 100% free for the first two years of ownership so I'm actually coming out ahead. The Corolla is not as stylish as the Focus but it runs exceptionally smooth and has a nice ride. I have no complaints about it. (knocking on wood) I'm just happy that I don't have to drive the spasmatic everyday now. Wish you guys the best of luck with your Focus cars because mine was a miserable experience. Resale value is not the same as trade in value. You always get more for a private party sale, you can't compare resale value and trade in value. All new cars depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 You guys are entitled to your opinion, even if it's inaccurate in this case. There's nothing wrong with the handling characteristics of the Corolla and the Focus is certainly not worlds better. Frankly this is a tempest in a teacup. The important thing for me is the Focus was a sub-standard car and I'm glad to be rid of it. Feel free to pat one another on the back, I'm done talking about it. BlackHorse- good to hear the woes with your new Focus are finally jettisoned, literally. Congratulations on your new Corolla. I don't mean to brew the Ford Focus vs. Toyota Corolla tempest any further, but the Corolla has an indisputably better reliability record and you chose wisely in that regard for your replacement car. Best wishes for many enjoyable and trouble-free miles in your new vehicle! :shades: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chibana Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Gack. Sorry, but *every* enthusiast magazine disagrees with you Corolla fans. It's crap. When the current gen was released, it may have been competitive, but it certainly hasn't been for years, and it's handling and steering are not in the same league. I also find it funny how much weight so many people put into reliability surveys (especially those that don't look at any real data, but rely on owner feelings and impressions), when the fact is that the difference between most modern cars in the same price range isn't all that large. Most modern cars will not be all that different statistically speaking. Buying any brand new model will always tend to result in more problems. My wife and I bought a 2005 Honda Odyssey about a week after that completely redesigned vehicle hit the dealers. We had TONS of problems with that vehicle in the first several years. So while the ancient Corolla platform is probably more reliable than the completely redesigned Focus will be in its first year or two, it's driving characteristics are undeniably worse, and I would probably slit my wrists if I had to commute in that boring lemming-mobile every day. Then again, most American drivers aren't capable of recognizing a car that handles well and has good steering feel and feedback (or even know what those terms mean). The Corolla is one of the most boring appliance vehicles on the roads today. If that's all you want, more power to you, but some of us want more than getting from point A to point B. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Feel sorry for Blackhorse, going from a great looking, fun driving, well engineered car, that obviously missed the quality control checks to have to wake up every morning to see a Corolla replacement in the driveway. That is too sad to comprehend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Feel sorry for Blackhorse, going from a great looking, fun driving, well engineered car, that obviously missed the quality control checks to have to wake up every morning to see a Corolla replacement in the driveway. That is too sad to comprehend. I suppose the first three items you listed was why he bought the Focus at first. It is the last item you listed why he dumped it. For the average person, the QC is the most important reason when purchasing a car. Looks, engineering and fun is secondary.:reading: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I suppose the first three items you listed was why he bought the Focus at first. It is the last item you listed why he dumped it. For the average person, the QC is the most important reason when purchasing a car. Looks, engineering and fun is secondary.:reading: Agreed 100%, but I don't think the average or percentage of MAP built Focus missed the QC as Blachorse's most certainly did. For sure there are some out there which I have garnered from reading the North American Focus forums have had to deal with the same issues as Blackhorse. But some owners with issues have been dealt with by their dealerships and Ford area techs quickly and professionally and some like Blackhorse have been brushed off and left to suffer a less then satisfied owner experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transitman Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) What do you expect someone to say about their new car, in their mind it better be superior or at least equal to the one they got rid of, especially when they traded in what they thought was a lemon. The only way to get rid of a lemon is to trade it in, take the hit on depreciation and keep your mouth shut about the problems. If one tried to sell it to a private party and the potential buyer had any car buying sense, they would have to ask, what's wrong with this car and why is this guy selling it so soon after buying it new. My brother has a 2010 Corolla and he admits my Focus has a nicer interior, better features and after riding in his several times, I know mine has a smoother ride. I've never driven his so I can't speak to the handling, all I know is my Focus handles really well. If BlackHorse is happy with his decision, so be it, I just don't see how anyone can say the Corolla is better or even call the two equal. Edited December 3, 2011 by transitman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivytractors Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 .... Especially in light of the fact that the very dealership that I bought the car from for 22K would only offer 13K for the car just six months later. That's a 40 percent depreciation. Ridiculous. To put that into perspective, the 17K Toyota that I just traded for has a higher resale value than the 22K Focus I bought six months ago. Thanks Ford. At any rate, they were cutting deals on the Corolla because the dealership here had a bunch of 2011's that they need to get rid of before the 2012's start arriving. So my payment only went up 10 bucks and all of the maintenance is 100% free for the first two years of ownership so I'm actually coming out ahead. The Corolla is not as stylish as the Focus but it runs exceptionally smooth and has a nice ride. I have no complaints about it. (knocking on wood) I'm just happy that I don't have to drive the spasmatic everyday now. Wish you guys the best of luck with your Focus cars because mine was a miserable experience. 13k for a 22k vehicle after 6 month sounds a bit steep. Found this older but nice article "Confession of a car sales man" My link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivytractors Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 I've experienced this on test drives of both a new Mk3 Focus (not more than 20 mi. on the odometer) as well as a used Fiesta with 3k mi. You described it perfectly, Chibana. "Horrible" and "half baked" are very accurate descriptions of this transmission. IMHO this clutch may be better than it is made sound. GETRAG -the manufacturer- is a major player in this field. Many of the praised DCT's of higher end cars are made by GETRAG. For an overview of design rationale, current and future use, and features follow My link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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