CR on the 2017

[Goopyguy56]

Has eveyones 2017 ffh been holding up? According to consumer reports the 17 has had alot of power equipment and interior electronic issues on the 2017. Although I think it recomenda the 18

[Cobra348]

I have a '17 that I got August '16. Only issue I had was a non-functioning number panel and that was fixed. No other issues at all.

 

BUT ... CR is ... IMO ... biased and I do not rely strictly on their viewpoints at all. In fact, I take anything they say with a very large amount of salt. More tan once it was obvious the writer had no clue as to how to properly drive or handle the car being tested. Example: The Powershift tranny in Fiesta and Focus. They consistently treated it and wrote of it as if it was a torque-converter type of transmission and not a computer-guided manual. The tranny had its issues but to pan a car when you don't understand it is ridiculous.

Edited April 21, 2018 by Cobra348

[Goopyguy56]

I try to use multiple sources when researching a car. I dont own an ffh just trying to do my due diligence with research before i get a car. I was interested in the ffh because its one of the few hybrids you can find for a good price used

[Texasota]

The Powershift tranny in Fiesta and Focus. They consistently treated it and wrote of it as if it was a torque-converter type of transmission and not a computer-guided manual. The tranny had its issues but to pan a car when you don't understand it is ridiculous.

I don't recall CR referring to it as a torque-converter type of transmission but they could have. They understand it is a DCT. I owned a 2012 Ford Focus and that transmission is a disaster and deserves all of the "panning" that CR heaped upon it. Absolutely awful DCT implementation. My 2012 Ford Focus was on its third set of clutches and needed a fourth set when I traded it in (at less than 50,000 miles) on my 2015 FFH. CR stated in their recent April issue that some companies do DCTs very well and others do not. Ford did not do it well.

 

CR's reliability data is derived from surveys sent out to the car owners. It is not subjective opinions.

[Goopyguy56]

The only thing I dont like about cr is that there reliabilty data doesnt seem to differentiate between a broken ashtray and a broken transmission. A car can be labeled unreliable because the car was in the shop a few times for minor issues like buttons or freezing touch screens. Another car can be labled unreliable for engine failure which actually makes sense. CR doesnt differentiate reliability based upon severity of the issues. It seems like the 2017 ffh has a few minor issues but otherwise a great car

[Texasota]

The only thing I dont like about cr is that there reliabilty data doesnt seem to differentiate between a broken ashtray and a broken transmission. A car can be labeled unreliable because the car was in the shop a few times for minor issues like buttons or freezing touch screens. Another car can be labled unreliable for engine failure which actually makes sense. CR doesnt differentiate reliability based upon severity of the issues. It seems like the 2017 ffh has a few minor issues but otherwise a great car

I agree. CR tagged cars as "not recommended" based on optional infotainment systems. They beat Ford up bad for the early version of the optional MFT. They should at least qualify that the "not recommended" rating applies to cars equipped with the troublesome optional equipment.

[Cobra348]

I don't recall CR referring to it as a torque-converter type of transmission but they could have. They understand it is a DCT. I owned a 2012 Ford Focus and that transmission is a disaster and deserves all of the "panning" that CR heaped upon it. Absolutely awful DCT implementation. My 2012 Ford Focus was on its third set of clutches and needed a fourth set when I traded it in (at less than 50,000 miles) on my 2015 FFH. CR stated in their recent April issue that some companies do DCTs very well and others do not. Ford did not do it well.

 

CR's reliability data is derived from surveys sent out to the car owners. It is not subjective opinions.

In more than 1 of their articles they remarked that the torque converter didn't seem to spin properly. That had several of us on the Fiesta forum all sorts of "WTH?"

 

I owned 4 Fiesta SE sedans - all powershift. An '11, a '12 and 2 '14s (son drove one and bought it from me). Only the '12 had clutch issues and the dealer got right on it and it was fixed very quickly - clutch module. I do know the module rev at that time was "F" which essentially is 6th version. Dunno about Focus, but it seemed that if someone had issues almost right off, the car was in essence a lemon. One fellow had a '11 manual and had so many problems he dumped it and went Kia or something ... within 50K miles. <shakes head> I know Focus had many of the same issues and if my car (any of them) had been the way you describe or worse, it would have been gone from the driveway.

 

The problem with surveys is they are highly subjective AND as noted, don't differentiate between severity of issues. There are 4 or 5 items on my FFH that I don't like but comparatively minor in nature and I would not report them in ANY survey except to Ford.

[My2cents]

Has eveyones 2017 ffh been holding up? According to consumer reports the 17 has had alot of power equipment and interior electronic issues on the 2017. Although I think it recomenda the 18

I’ved owned my FFH since Jan 2017.

 

I had a problem with the auto closure of the front windows. The window would close then immediately go partially down and eventually the passenger side window quit working. This required a replacement of the passenger window control module and a reset/reprogram of the window control module.

 

That’s the only problem I had and it’s been fixed.

 

Great car.....lifetime 45 MPG

[Texasota]

In more than 1 of their articles they remarked that the torque converter didn't seem to spin properly. That had several of us on the Fiesta forum all sorts of "WTH?"

Could you point me to the monthly issue/article that had this? I keep all the monthly issues back several years and would like to read that article. Thanks.

 

Also for got to mention that after I traded in my 2012 Focus Ford settled on a class action lawsuit against the Ford Focus/Fiesta Powershift transmission. It covered model years 2012-2016 for Focus and 2011-2016 for Fiestas. It offered the following actions from Ford:

 

• Repurchase of your vehicle through an arbitration process
• Cash payements up to $2325
• Discount certificates of up to $4650 toward a new car purchase

I still have the Settlement letter in front of me even though I had previously traded in my 2012 before it arrived.

 

My experience was that the clutch module lasted about 10,000 miles before it needed to be replaced again. That was also what the techs at my Ford dealer said they were seeing. They had replaced hundreds of units.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Texasota

[Cobra348]

... <large snio> ...

My experience was that the clutch module lasted about 10,000 miles before it needed to be replaced again. That was also what the techs at my Ford dealer said they were seeing. They had replaced hundreds of units.

Only 10K? Wow! The '12 that I had the issues with had the fix applied at around 30K miles. I'll look for the info.

[rdr]

I’ved owned my FFH since Jan 2017.

 

I had a problem with the auto closure of the front windows. The window would close then immediately go partially down and eventually the passenger side window quit working. This required a replacement of the passenger window control module and a reset/reprogram of the window control module.

 

That’s the only problem I had and it’s been fixed.

 

Great car.....lifetime 45 MPG

I had a similar problem with my 2017 FFH (purchased December 2016). Took the dealer a few times to fix the front windows until Ford finally came out with the correct software. Otherwise, its has only been in for routine maintenance, recall work and yes, floor mats which warped. We like our Fusions so much that I just put another kid in one.

[ElectricFan69]

I agree. CR tagged cars as "not recommended" based on optional infotainment systems. They beat Ford up bad for the early version of the optional MFT. They should at least qualify that the "not recommended" rating applies to cars equipped with the troublesome optional equipment.

 

A big issue was the fact that many key functions (e.g. climate control) were managed through the infotainment system - rendering them dysfunctional when it acted up. The early iterations of MFT were pretty awful - someone cheaped out on the processor / memory spec for the system resulting in a laggy experience in many use cases. Voice recognition was awful. If you got sucked in to the factory nav, entering street name is miserable - with multi-second lag between being able to enter characters as it tries to manage valid next list. MS is notoriously over-optimistic for their software optimization and user experience / functionality on marginal hardware. Try running windows on a 'minimal spec' laptop and you will readily see the misery. Add in buggy software that controls the car, and the user experience was pretty awful. CR does, in the descriptions of various categories, explain what subsystem they are referring to. And there is the fact that some of the faults Ford/MS never fixed - but simply deleted the feature in software updates. Kind of a lazy way to 'fix' a buggy feature - just remove it. Our 16 FFH with the MFT 2 has been relatively decent - but I didn't spec the nav function due to the lousy experience with our 15 Explorer. And with the 16, Ford went with more conventional switch arrangement from climate controls, making that experience a lot less frustrating (the 'haptic' buttons in 15 and earlier are bear to operate without taking your eyes off the road, and far too easy to 'double-press', toggling things back to where you didn't want them.

 

I do agree that there is a difference between 'stranded by the side of the road' failure and the frustration from poor ergonomics and controls. However, both can lead to a fair degree of frustration - particularly when the dealer can't fix the fault. We got rid of the Explorer due to the exhaust smell that 2 different dealers could not fix after 4 different tries. This on top of the niggling frustration with the infotainment system and secondary controls that looked far better than they worked. The vehicle was not terrible otherwise, and we traded several years before our normal vehicle replacement cycle due to the chronic feature - but getting gassed when climbing a hill or getting on the highway is not acceptable. All of these were reported as faults in the CR surveys.

Over the last 2 1/2 years, the FFH had a throttle body failure (warranty fix), the steering wheel recall (Short bolts - really?) and a 'sloppy' driver's seat that clunked back and forth on turns (likewise a warranty fix). Cant' complain about the overall driving experience - love the steering feel, chassis response, ride/handling compromise, 47.5 lifetime MPG with constant A/C use. Many delightful little things (the combo lock is a Ford feature I wish others had - miss it on our brand T vehicles.

[Texasota]

Many of the issues you described is why I ordered a FFH S. Far fewer things to go wrong. So far, at 50,000 miles, it is the most trouble free car I have ever owned. I hope that does not change.

[mwr]

My 2015 FFH SE (Tech package, no other tech) is also the most trouble free car I have ever owned.

[Cobra348]

My '17 FFH (current car) had a DOA lock keypad that got replaced and I just recently had the steering wheel recall done. Specs for it are in my sig. No other issues at all. Prior '15 HyTi was trouble-free.

 

SLIGHT DERAIL: That's why Fords decision on passenger cars frosts me so much. I have had an excellent experience with Ford as compared to other makes I've owned. And that's going all the way back to 1967 when I got my first car (1960 Pontiac Ventura).

Edited May 30, 2018 by Cobra348

[ethermion]

SLIGHT DERAIL: That's why Fords decision on passenger cars frosts me so much. I have had an excellent experience with Ford as compared to other makes I've owned. And that's going all the way back to 1967 when I got my first car (1960 Pontiac Ventura).

My first car was a 74 Chevy Impala. Did the Bluesmobile spontaneous self destruction at 75k miles. Really bad. No power, 15 mpg when it ran.

 

Our '13 FFH is awesome. Had the clicking front end, which was fixed for free. Otherwise, trouble free. 80k miles. Love it.

 

Bummed here too that they are abandoning the sedan market. Don't want an SUV, and definitely don't want a truck. Long time Ford man, but will be shopping other brands next time, it seems.

[Cobra348]

My first car was a 74 Chevy Impala. Did the Bluesmobile spontaneous self destruction at 75k miles. Really bad. No power, 15 mpg when it ran.

 

Our '13 FFH is awesome. Had the clicking front end, which was fixed for free. Otherwise, trouble free. 80k miles. Love it.

 

Bummed here too that they are abandoning the sedan market. Don't want an SUV, and definitely don't want a truck. Long time Ford man, but will be shopping other brands next time, it seems.

My brothers '13 FFH just hit 91K. He loves it and it's his first (and now last) Ford ever.

 

I've been scoping out some of the other hybrids and have found that ... Malibu hybrid is a bit cheaper, higher EPA MPG, larger trunk (15 cu ft), but only 1.5L Atkinson. And Honda is returning Insight into the fold for '19 ... est 50-55 MPG city, but styled like a smaller version of Accord. Waiting to find pricing and option data. Not impressed with the rest of the field so far.

[rdr]

My first car was a 1978Chevrolet Monday 2dr sedan. Had the nice interior package and otherwise was nothing more than a Chevrolet Vega. Best restaurant, the clutch cable ripped a hole in the fire wall. GM was more interested in how we fixed it so that the car would be road worthy.

 

Here, Ford knocked the ball out of the park on the Fusion. It sells better than Explorer and Ford’s answer is to cancel it. Fortunately, it will be around for at least another year, and my dealer will order me one before it goes away.

[seuadr]

late to the party here, but i've got a 2017 with 37k miles on it, i have only had it for a short time, but the dealership didn't check the glovebox because it had all of the service records in it when we test drove it.. no warranty work at all listed.

 

unfortunately, before purchase they did take it out (along with the window sticker)