All new focus Vignale; rattling and wind noise

[Viperishmilk91]

Hi, I am new to the forum as I have only just purchased my new 2018 Ford focus vignale.

Overall I do love the car, it is gorgeous. However, I am becoming increasingly irritated by unwanted noises..

The first is a wind/whistling noise that is coming through the drivers side window. Most noticeable at high speeds such as on the motorway.

The second is related to the B and O sound system. When there is bass heavy songs playing, there is a highly annoying rattle that comes from both the drivers door and the passenger door. This may seem minor, however when you pay for a car with high quality interior and a high end sound system, you do not expect the experience to be contaminated by cheap material rattling or what ever the issue may be. The same goes for the wind noise; when you are paying for a car which prides itself on comfort and luxury in a quite cabin.. it is not quite the case when you constantly have a wind noise blowing in your ear. 

I was wondering if any other Ford focus or vignale owners have experienced anything similar? And if so did they have any luck resolving the issue. I am yet to receive a reply from Ford themselves or the dealership I purchased the car.

Thanks!

[pistolpete1]

Comments about wind noise from side mirror at speed on this review (2.28)...looks like it comes standard to all Focus variants I'm afraid. 

[James]

My Focus let's in quite a bit of wind noise through the window sills over 60 mph.  It's to do with the poor quality rubber window sills Ford use unfortunately!

[James]

I was hoping the new Focus would be better in this regard!

[TomsFocus]

It's still 'just a Focus' albeit with a nice interior, you aren't going to lose the cheap build quality issues by buying a Vignale unfortunately.  Wind noise is standard across the range, very common complaint.

[DJ_Andy_M]

And the rattle from the bass is pretty normal too. Its bass, it rattles everything if you hit the resonant frequency of that particular object no matter how hard you try and prevent it.

[Oldster]

Even with a very posh variant such as the Vignale the designers are going to have to put up with what might be problems in the original. Large-ish wing mirrors will cause annoying wind noise but may save you moving into the path of an eighteen wheel truck on the M25.

I remember reading somewhere that the Edge uses acoustic glass and thus offers a very calm interior. I guess the Vignale doesn't run to that.

Over a long career of making some poor (and one or two very good) decisions in car buying, I've always found that you grow used to things that started out driving you nuts.

 

[Martyb1973]

Fords have always cut corners and penny pinched where possible. I’ve noticed more and more the longer I’ve had my Focus. Rattles is standard on Fords too. Thankfully the handling and seating position are spot on compared to some other makes. 

[FatHead1979]

4 hours ago, Oldster said:

Even with a very posh variant such as the Vignale the designers are going to have to put up with what might be problems in the original. Large-ish wing mirrors will cause annoying wind noise but may save you moving into the path of an eighteen wheel truck on the M25.

I remember reading somewhere that the Edge uses acoustic glass and thus offers a very calm interior. I guess the Vignale doesn't run to that.

Over a long career of making some poor (and one or two very good) decisions in car buying, I've always found that you grow used to things that started out driving you nuts.

 

The Mondy Vignale also uses the laminated glass and noise cancellation technology which makes it spookily quiet compared to a MK4.  Shame it doesn't drive like a MK4, it's rather more of a "land barge".

[steved99]

Hi, I am new to forum also.... i have just swapped my Titanium X 1.5 for a new Focus Vignale 1.0. I was a bit nervous about the 1 ltr 3 cylinder engine to be honest, but it seems to be an amazing little engine, though a bit  disappointed with the economy as advertised, even in 'economy mode'. I can't manage more than 36 mpg, though I am only doing short journeys. it will be interesting to see what it does on longer journeys.

At the moment i am having problems with Sync 3 where it freezes at least twice a day- luckily there is a reboot sequence (hold power button and seek right for 10 seconds). Its a bug and sure it will get sorted. But my biggest problem with it is that it seems there were a number of these models  manufactured with the standard Active Park Assist instead of Active Park Assist 2  as advertised- mine being one of them. Very disappointed at this and I am waiting to hear from Ford whether they can retrospectively load it after it leaves the factory. Anyone thinking of buying one make sure you get what is in the brochure!

No Rattles or wind noise at the moment seems a very quiet car. Its supposed to have double glazed windows (I read somewhere) and B&O Active Noise Reduction. Very pleased with it so far despite the above!

[FatHead1979]

1 hour ago, steved99 said:

Hi, I am new to forum also.... i have just swapped my Titanium X 1.5 for a new Focus Vignale 1.0. I was a bit nervous about the 1 ltr 3 cylinder engine to be honest, but it seems to be an amazing little engine, though a bit  disappointed with the economy as advertised, even in 'economy mode'. I can't manage more than 36 mpg, though I am only doing short journeys. it will be interesting to see what it does on longer journeys.

At the moment i am having problems with Sync 3 where it freezes at least twice a day- luckily there is a reboot sequence (hold power button and seek right for 10 seconds). Its a bug and sure it will get sorted. But my biggest problem with it is that it seems there were a number of these models  manufactured with the standard Active Park Assist instead of Active Park Assist 2  as advertised- mine being one of them. Very disappointed at this and I am waiting to hear from Ford whether they can retrospectively load it after it leaves the factory. Anyone thinking of buying one make sure you get what is in the brochure!

No Rattles or wind noise at the moment seems a very quiet car. Its supposed to have double glazed windows (I read somewhere) and B&O Active Noise Reduction. Very pleased with it so far despite the above!

In terms of the missing feature, do you have it specified anywhere within the paperwork for your deal as to which version was supposed to be supplied?  If so and it states the newer version I'd be digging my heels in big time with the dealer.

[steved99]

its clearly written in my brochure that Park Assist 2 is part of the Vignale package, so it would not be written on any invoices (unlike, say, the Drivers Assistance pack which was a paid for package). As far as I can see its just a software package as the 8 speed auto is already part of the car, so I cant see any reason why they cant just add it on, which I have asked them to look into. Probably not quite as straight forward as that, but sometimes its just a matter of buying a Software licence.  Apparently it should have been part of the Comfort package which i didn't buy but the brochure  is wrong. I'm waiting to see what they come back with. To be honest I would have lived with the old style parking assist (or even parking it myself!) if it wasn't included.

[Oldster]

How do you find the 8 speed torque converter auto marries up with the three cylinder 1.0l engine?

How seamless are the changes? Are the top two ratios just effectively what we used to call overdrive?

[steved99]

If you are trying to keep the speed down in traffic for instance, then the changes can be a bit jerky on some occasions, particularly if you take your foot of the accelerator when its about to change, but accelerating up through normal driving then you cannot feel or hear the changes at all. The tacho shows the rpm changing very quickly at each gear change. I had a 1.5 auto before and that was very smooth, lethargic even, where the changes were slower and tended to linger a bit to much for my liking.... but the 8 speed auto is extremely good. As far as I can tell all the gears are used most of the time, particularly in ECO mode where the revs are kept lower. But its difficult to tell because the gear you are in is not shown in auto mode , which is a shame as i like to know what gear I'm in.

[Ranxzy]

On 11/16/2018 at 5:41 PM, steved99 said:

If you are trying to keep the speed down in traffic for instance, then the changes can be a bit jerky on some occasions, particularly if you take your foot of the accelerator when its about to change, but accelerating up through normal driving then you cannot feel or hear the changes at all. The tacho shows the rpm changing very quickly at each gear change. I had a 1.5 auto before and that was very smooth, lethargic even, where the changes were slower and tended to linger a bit to much for my liking.... but the 8 speed auto is extremely good. As far as I can tell all the gears are used most of the time, particularly in ECO mode where the revs are kept lower. But its difficult to tell because the gear you are in is not shown in auto mode , which is a shame as i like to know what gear I'm in.

Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what bhp engine do you have and does the power feel adequate? Also how do you find the ride quality with the non-sporty ST-Line suspension on our bumpy and battered roads. 

Have the new Titanium on order through work with the 125bhp 8 speed Auto Petrol setup. Specced the Auto parking, so should get the Park Assist 2 or won't be impressed either.

 

[steved99]

My engine is 125bhp with 8 speed auto and yes the power is surprisingly good in my opinion- just sounds a little different than a 4 cylinder. Ride quality is not bad, fairly stiff I think because of the low profile tyres, no rattles so far. I enjoy driving it.

I suspect if you have paid for a specific package that has Parking Assist 2 then you will get it. I should have got it as part of the overall Vignale spec but the spec had changed before ordering, but was still in the brochure details (and still is!), the dealer didn't know until I asked him why it didn't work- I'm still in dispute... best check it out with your dealer. 

[EdLem]

I bought my Ford Focus Vignale 1.0L in March 2019. Delighted with a lot of the features it comes with I chose it over a BMW or Mercedes because of its Spec.

However, I noticed a few rattles. There seems to be a vibrating sound that comes from both does of the car and one within the central console. The car was taken back in and it was believed to be a loose wire behind the soft fixings in the roof etc. Only had the car back a day and it started again. Took it a road test with the mechanics and we believe it could be the seat belt tensioners that’s causing a metallic vibrate.

I have also had an issue with the warning “ESC service REQUIRED”. This then shuts down the auto break, hill start and pre-collision assist. This cause of this is yet to be identified. The issue last a few minutes then it all re-activates again.

Anyone else had any issues with rattles or the ESC?

[DaveT70]

I take it your Vignale is an automatic??

[Tinu12]

steved99 , your mpg proofs again automatics can't be economical.

I have Vignale 1.5 manual 182 ps,  never been in Eco mode,  not even for curiosity,  normal or sport. I'm always driving in a sport manner because I love it and suits the car. My current mpg is 37.2 without doing any effort to save fuel. 

Just to see what can be achieved I tried for two days to take it easy with acceleration but without using Eco mode,  it was in normal. The mpg went up to 39.8 the maximum,  don't know if it could go any higher because I got bored and started to push it again. 

No motorway driving,  town in my free time and A/B roads on my commute to work. Maybe motorway driving could result in even better mpg.

[south_bound]

I just picked up my 2019 2 ltr diesel and can't say I had any noticeable wind noise.  I did mainly motorway driving, 75 - 90 mph (and a bit more at times on the Autobahn:)) and found it really smooth tbh, but that is coming from having a 13 year old TDCi so maybe it is just comparative. 

 

Also I have the B&O sound system and did notice the bass was there but again, so real rattles.  I didn't try to adjust the balance or anything, and the car was pretty much empty of stuff so no contents to rub or rattle around.

[simps100]

On 11/15/2018 at 5:13 PM, steved99 said:

its clearly written in my brochure that Park Assist 2 is part of the Vignale package, so it would not be written on any invoices (unlike, say, the Drivers Assistance pack which was a paid for package). As far as I can see its just a software package as the 8 speed auto is already part of the car, so I cant see any reason why they cant just add it on, which I have asked them to look into. Probably not quite as straight forward as that, but sometimes its just a matter of buying a Software licence.  Apparently it should have been part of the Comfort package which i didn't buy but the brochure  is wrong. I'm waiting to see what they come back with. To be honest I would have lived with the old style parking assist (or even parking it myself!) if it wasn't included.

Out of interest what’s the difference between park assist and auto park assist 2? Is it that the car controls the accelerator/ braking for you in the auto?

[Guy Heaton]

PA2 is a terrifying work of the devil, the car becomes possessed and drives completely on its own.  Have they never seen Christine?  Maximum Overdrive???  😀 

I have it on mine.  Tried it once in work car park, all I could think of was the potential for massively expensive crashes and bottled it halfway through.  Never done it again in a year.

It moved the car too fast for my comfort.  I may just be a generation too old for it as well. 😀

[Alex.S]

On 7/12/2020 at 3:12 AM, Tinu12 said:

My current mpg is 37.2 without doing any effort to save fuel. 

I’ve got the same engine in a stx . Although automatic. How are you getting 37mpg without any effort?!? 
No motorway too! 

I got 29mpg for first 7500 miles (I don’t drive it like I stole it. As much as I’d like too) now at almost 9000 getting 31.5mpg.

im sure you don’t know why but anyway it’s costing me a fortune! 
 

if I reset the average mpg then do 20 miles on the motorway I get mid 40s

[Tinu12]

Alex , it's because of the automatic gearbox. 

They are just not capable to have a good fuel consumption. And its not just Ford. 

Attached a photo I took when I went to lockdown in March,  the mpg is actually 37.3 , during the week Coventry-Southam,  weekend's around Coventry with very few motorway miles. 

[Alex.S]

1 hour ago, Tinu12 said:

Alex , it's because of the automatic gearbox. 

They are just not capable to have a good fuel consumption. And its not just Ford. 

Attached a photo I took when I went to lockdown in March,  the mpg is actually 37.3 , during the week Coventry-Southam,  weekend's around Coventry with very few motorway miles. 

I was looking at honest John website and yes manuals get better mpg. The auto on the motorway is pretty good though.