I own an auto 2012 Ford Focus, which I have just learned has an ongoing problem with the Transmission Control Module (TCM), there have law suits all over the US about it and several recalls.

Over here in the UK it appears that the most Ford have done is to extend the warranty on the part to 5 years.

In the US the extension was initially to 7yrs/100,000 miles, and more recently the extension has been now extended to 10years/150,000. miles in the US. Yet it remains at 5 years here in the UK.

Our car has not been driving well; not shifting gears properly

about 2 weeks ago ended up going in to limp mode with the transmission light coming on.

(we had it service last year at Ford - they said it was fine and no lights ever came on prior to this occasion)

We took it to Ford (in London), they "fixed" it, telling us it was a recall issue which was a software issue.

we collected the car and within 5 miles it went in to limp mode again.

Ford now say the whole TCM needs replacing.

Charge, including labour, will be £635.20.

Luckily my partner, who was driving the car when he collected it the first time, got stuck in traffic, otherwise its very likely he would have been on the motorway doing 70miles and hour and the transmission would have failed and the car gone in to limp mode.

Ford acknowledge that it is a known problem with the TCM in these models which is why they gave the extension on the warranty to 5 years.

But my argument is why do UK customers get 5 year extension and the US customers get 10 years.

How can Ford treat their customers differently for the exact same problem?

Our car is about 5 months passed the 5 year warranty on the TCM.

I also understand that the software upgrade was to notify the driver earlier of problems with the TCM,

so if we had had the software upgrade earlier,

we might have discovered the problem when we within the 5 year UK warranty period.

I've called Ford UK and they just say I have to pay for the repair as I am not within the warranty period.

I don't want to accept this and want the same warranty as other costumers in other parts of the world get.

I've been sold the same faulty car as every other person out there with this problem, so why different treatment?

I feel like a UK customer is less important than a US customer.

NOTE: if anyone was looking at buying a Ford Focus or Fiesta - DON'T ,

do you research first as its a problem that still has not been solved,

even with the 2016 models.

Anyways, any help welcome.

DR

The vehicles are made differently over there and have different rules. They likely made it 10 years to stop lawsuits from happening. Pretty much giving in to customers demands since theyre a lawsuit happy country

Hi Debs,

First off and what a lot of regular posters need to know is that there are major differences between a recall as directed by VOSA and a service campaign. A vehicle re-call is nearly always driven by VOSA. A service campaign is driven by the manufacturer.

I think the so called recall is actually a service campaign and these have time limits and at times conditions attached.

In addition, just because there is a re call in another market does not necessarily mean it applies elsewhere. The gearbox fitted to US vehicles might well be different to that of Europe and that of middle east and Asia. However the forums people subscribe to don't recognise it.

Suggest you act as follows:

Confirm officially with Ford you have an affected car.

Write to MD of Ford UK and Europe (they are different) and the CEO of Ford in Detroit outlining the issue.

PM hammy who can tell you exactly what is required and what to do.

newbies cant pm.

I would suggest though you might well have a very good case under cra here.

no I don't think you should have to pay for it either.

I seem to remember under SOGA known and acknowledged manufacturer documented faults has no timescale as such

newbies cant pm.

 

 

I would suggest though you might well have a very good case under cra here.

no I don't think you should have to pay for it either.

 

 

I seem to remember under SOGA known and acknowledged manufacturer documented faults has no timescale as such

No not true at all!

Even DVSA derived re-calls have defined periods depending on the nature of the fault let alone manufacturer derived service campaigns. Once a manufacturer has achieved a pre negotiated level of fixing cars under a DVSA instigated re-call they can close it in conjunction with the DVSA. This means some cars will slip outside of the net but it's based on a very tight statistical analysis. Manufacturer derived campaigns can have a definitive time line and conditions.

For clarity here are some well known examples:

Manufacturers who fit Takata supplied air bags , this is a DVSA driven re-call and goes back to cars affected some 15 years old.This is even though the manufacturer recommends air bags are changed every 10 years.

VW and the diesel gate scandal, this is a manufacturer led and driven activity in Europe and whilst still not clear will probably have a defined limit unless the European equivalent to DVSA decides otherwise.

VW and the loss of compression/misfire on the little 3 cylinder valve seat and piston problem was again a manufacturer led campaign with clear cut offs and conditions applied.

So the statement "I seem to remember under SOGA known and acknowledged manufacturer documented faults has no timescale as such" is not strictly true.

What will be interesting in about 3 years time on this site will be the number of complaints related to DPF systems and blocks/breakdowns due to EU6 emissions standards and drivers not understanding what they need to do about it!!!

I saw a case of ad-blu being used as screen-wash.

Took some cleaning out but at least it wasn't he other way round.

H

Just wondering if there was any updates on this case as I am having a similar problem, only my focus is 8 days outside the 5 year warranty.

@Hammy - can you pm me with any advice (newbies can't DM/PM straightaway) as I am putting together an email to Ford as the original case was raised by the local dealer and got rejected.

no read our rules.

Just read the sticky rules - apologies, will start my own thread. its just that pm'ing Hammy was mentioned by someone in a previous post.