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.
Over the past 1 1/2 months my vehicle has stalled on the freeway 6 times. Each time the "wrench" light came on, the display read "engine malfunction" and "service now". when this would happen, the engine tachometer would first drop to 1000 RPM and the accelerator would become non-responsive. Soon after that the engine would just rev as if it were in neutral; then "bam" the transmission would engage abruptly and make a loud bang noise and lag when shifting. This has become a major concern as I have had people almost run into the rear of me because of my decline in speed. The only way to get the vehicle back to normal operation is to completely pull to the side of the road and turn the car off for a few seconds and restart it, unfortunately by doing this it resets the fault codes and does not retain the information for the dealership to be able to diagnose. I had brought the car to the dealership and left it for a week. They installed a "flight recorder" and drove for over 114 miles to try to reproduce the problem; but could not. I had pick ed up my car dissapointed that they could not reproduce the problem and as a result could not fix it. When I drove my vehicle that same day to work, it happened again at only 26 miles after their testing. I have seen on other web sites that this seems to be a common problem with other 2011 Ford Fiesta's, I only hope Ford comes up with a fix for this issue soon as it seems to me to be a program issue with the vehicles computer.
I bought the car new and have taken it to two separate dealerships to correct this issue and it continues. Initially, the transmission light came on and the car began having trouble shifting. After the first repair, the car began shaking uncontrollably. The second repair corrected the shaking, but now (at 15,755 miles) the car will (1) make grinding metallic noises when shifting, (2) fail to shift on any incline (instead it revs to approximately 2500 rpms and "sticks" there), (3) jolt forward when the brake is applied as if the accelerator was pressed down, and (4) roll backwards on hills as if it is a manual transmission. I understand that (4) can be common among newer automatics that attempt higher fuel economy. However, numerous times the speed at which the car rolls back has incurred a safety risk. This seems to be another indication of an issue with the transmission.
The positive battery cable completely sheared off preventing the car from starting. The circular lug used to connect the cable to the positive battery post is too thin for the size of the cable and extra safety fuses and circuitry. To make matters worse such a poorly designed part has a lead time from Ford's oem in Mexico of 4-6 weeks. The car has been at North central Ford in richardson, Texas, since 15 August. After missing the part delivery deadline three times the dealership finally provided a rental car. As of the writing of this issue the Ford Fiesta has been in the shop for 26 days, still waiting for the original part from the oem.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. The contact was driving 55 mph when he began to smell gasoline fumes. The odor was so overpowering that even after exiting the vehicle he could still taste and the smell gasoline in his hair and clothing. The failure recurred numerous times and would become stronger with every recurrence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis who referred the contact to a second dealer. The second dealer was able to locate an oil leak around the seal, which was repaired but the failure was not corrected. The manufacturer was notified of the issue but no assistance was provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 5,000 and the current mileage was 17,700. Updated 9/11/12 updated 9/26/12 the consumer stated the smell usually occurred after long 3-4 hour trips. Updated 10/04/2012.....updated 01/30/13 the consumer stated Ford service found a bad oil seal covering the entire bell housing. The cooling fan was inoperable. Ford replaced the sensor and advised the cooling fan may operate the same way. If this did occur the service tech stated he would not know what to do next. The engine would have to freeze up first. The fan continued to be inoperable. The consumer could smell hot steel under the hood. While going up a mountain, the motor timing went off then went back up. Also, when it rains for at least 3 days the motor picks up the moisture, then there is a gas smell. Burning in the nose and burning taste follows for one night. Updated 2/5/2013 consumer requested to have all information, regarding his vehicle deleted from out website. Updated 11/13/13
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- San Jose, CA, USA