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jim.cooney · 04-18-2017, 03:52 PM

My Focus is towed behind a 2004 Adventurer. It is n the shop for the second time in the last year for transmission related issues. First time the transmission apparently seized coming down a hill just outside Branson MO. 3 months in the shop and a new trans and short block got me back on the road and now a rear main seal has begun leaking, which requires a teardown and almost three weeks in the shop, I hope.
Any comments from other Focus owners?

c_oneil · 04-19-2017, 09:08 AM

Was it covered under the 5 year drivetrain warranty? What did Ford say was the cause? The Focus and Fiesta automatic transmissions have well known and documented problems but the issues don't have anything to do with four wheels down towing from what I have read or heard or experienced.

jim.cooney · 04-20-2017, 09:43 PM

So far, repairs have been covered under the warranty, but they sure seemed to try and pin it on my towing it, bit when I showed them I followed the manual step by step the dealer backed off, but there is such a demand for the trannies it too 3 month, and now it is in for a rear seal leak and will take almost 3 weeks to get the seal!!!
They never did give me a reason for the tranny failure and engine damage.
Loooking at a Jeep Cherokee when the Focus is finally out of the shop.

vwamsganz · 08-22-2017, 08:57 AM

Thanks for the reply's. I know that their are other incidents out there, would love to hear from them. Appreciate it folks.

Rockwood27 · 08-22-2017, 10:44 AM

If you're still interested in a smaller sized car, the Chevy Sonic can be towed 4-down...auto or manual transmission. It comes in a 4 door sedan or 5 door hatchback. It's been around since 2012 and gets great reviews. Also, the new 2018 Chevy Equinox (FWD only) can be towed 4-down. It's much lighter (by 400 lbs) than the previous generation.

vwamsganz · 08-24-2017, 01:03 PM

The transmission and motor were totally destroyed. In the rear view mirror it looked like it was on fire, also the wheels locked up and ruined the tires. We are sure that it was properly hooked up and in neutral as required. Ford told us several different things, but the final outcome was non conclusive. Their stance is that we must have done some thing wrong. Hooking it up that morning we double checked everything and that the car was definitely in neutral because we had to push/roll the vehicle to get it in position to attach the tow bar. Ford wouldn't even acknowledge that their problematic clutch and poor performance could have possibly have anything to do with it. Even though we have found several instances on the net where in fact this also happened to other toads, and oddly enough in most of those cases ford did in fact cover it under warranty. We just found out that we have been flagged and ford will not discuss it further, because some where in our conversations an attorney was mentioned. So we never really talked to some one at a higher level. To bad because we now have new info disproving some of their earlier findings.