This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while reversing, there was an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering gear failed but the vehicle was drivable. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred. In addition, the contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V246000 (latches/locks/linkages) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 31,800. VIN tool confirms parts not available. Update 01/15/16 MA updated 2/4/16 the consumer states the transmission will not go forward or reverse.
The passenger-side side mirror insert fell out of the mirror housing leaving me with no mirror for side viewing while driving. This happened while the car was parked on the street out side my house. There was no damage of any type to the external mirror housing. I have the mirror insert. It fell to the street undamaged. The plastic articulating ball that holds the mirror insert inside the mirror housing was what failed on its own inside the mirror housing, I have the failed mirror insert.
The front windshield wipers didn't work when the temperature was cold. My daughter was almost in an accident when the windshield iced up. We had to find a time when Ford service could see the problem and were told the Fiesta needed a new windshield wiper motor. $400 when I asked service how this could happen on such a new vehicle I was told the motor does wear out. I asked what we could do to prevent this from happening again and was told the motor should last 4 years, the same as this one. I've never had a windshield wiper motor go bad and I keep cars from 10-15 years.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while driving at night, there was a reflection on the rear view mirror while looking through the rear window. The failure occurred when the vehicle was driven at night. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they applied tint to the rear window however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000.
The rear head restraints in the 2011 Ford Fiesta create severe blind spots out from the rear of the car. These blind spots can only be managed by removing of both the left and right head restraints. This creates a safety hazard for passengers who do not know, or replace the head restraints in a rear collision. Ford has addressed this issue in their 2012 models, by using a head restraint that folds down when not in use by a passenger. Ford has failed to include this update to the 2011 year lineup. I live in a major urban area and have seen many of these cars driving around with either no head restraints present, or installed incorrectly. Ford is charging $300+ per headrest mechanism. The part number is <611A08 I humbly request that the NHTSA please look into this matter. I was unfortunately in a hard rear end collision last winter and will attest to how well the head restraints work in crash conditions. Thank you very much for your time.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Waterford, MI, USA