Dropped the car off and they've already got a new part on order: 'Headlight Control Actuator Levelling Unit' should arrive at the showroom tomorrow. 

I asked at the desk to see the job card (I am very forward and don't tend to mess around) and this is the only part they've ordered, which is a start I suppose. The Tech reckons this part is the reason why the lights are waking up, switching on the DRL's and then going off again randomly when the car is off and locked. A replacement 'should' resolve the issue. (either that or Herbie has gone from a Bug to a Focus - either way its driving ME bananas).

You can even buy the part directly from Ford - https://shop.ford.co.uk/products/focus-headlight-headlamp-levelling-actuator

They will more than likely call me tomorrow with an update, will post on here when I hear back. 

25 minutes ago, LukeJQuinn said:

'Headlight Control Actuator Levelling Unit'

Well Luke you will be the first that I've come across if that is indeed the problem. I hope for your sake they have finally 'guessed' right (I don't believe they have scientifically arrived at that) and you finally get the car sorted. 🤞

I am not totally sold on that being the issue and I fully expect to be taking it back in a few days, after they've given me it back. But I suppose they are at least trying.

Thanks! I hope too I'll be able to enjoy the car soon 😄 

 

2 minutes ago, LukeJQuinn said:

I fully expect to be taking it back in a few days,

This is the problem when you get an Australian spec. Focus. It just keeps returning like a boomerang  😉

Just now, unofix said:

This is the problem when you get an Australian spec. Focus. It just keeps returning like a boomerang  😉

I'm confused haha! Is Australian spec a thing? (I'm being genuine and/or thick)

@LukeJQuinn Thanks for keeping us updated!

I am surprised your garage keeps having your car back so quickly. I am having to wait weeks just for mine to have its first look!!

Hopefully yours gets sorted asap as it's so annoying to not be able to use the car properly let alone constantly back and forthing with the garage. My nearest dealership is an 1.5 hrs away so not looking forward to the constant taking it back..

My air con does not blow out any cold air, its either none or its blasting out boiling air regardless of the temp i've set it to. This never used to happen when it didn't deep sleep. Patiently waited 9 months for this car and I share your frustration.

Hopefully some good news soon.

Actually yes, all manufactures of cars make slightly different versions depending which country they are for.

For example all cars in Australia have the indicator stalk on the right hand side of the steering wheel.

3 minutes ago, Gus T said:

@LukeJQuinn Thanks for keeping us updated!

I am surprised your garage keeps having your car back so quickly. I am having to wait weeks just for mine to have its first look!!

Hopefully yours gets sorted asap as it's so annoying to not be able to use the car properly let alone constantly back and forthing with the garage. My nearest dealership is an 1.5 hrs away so not looking forward to the constant taking it back..

My air con does not blow out any cold air, its either none or its blasting out boiling air regardless of the temp i've set it to. This never used to happen when it didn't deep sleep. Patiently waited 9 months for this car and I share your frustration.

Hopefully some good news soon.

@Gus TI hope so too but I am highly doubtful. I'm in Wirral so I think their service numbers are lower but they do have quite a few staff etc. I didn't get the car from them, the dealership I got it from is 4 hours away! But I also think its because Ford Customer Care are involved so they tend to put added pressure on them to sort it.

If you haven't contacted Ford Customer Care yet, I would. Their number is ‭020 3564 4444‬. Explain the issues so far, then they open a case then add the pressure onto your dealership. I know Ford have contacted the original showroom regarding the car too - to fully understand the issue etc.

I would definitely mention the Air-Con thing too - I suppose the only thing stopping me getting angry regarding all this, is: The car works (mostly) and I accept its a new model with new techy things so these things are expected. However it is all how they are dealt with, which you remember when buying a new model in the future. Even after all this, I would still buy another Ford - I am creature of habit, plus there is no such thing as a perfect car. (working battery and air-con are expected however ha)

13 minutes ago, unofix said:

Actually yes, all manufactures of cars make slightly different versions depending which country they are for.

For example all cars in Australia have the indicator stalk on the right hand side of the steering wheel.

Ah ok fair enough! Never knew that. Mine is most certainly the boomerang version. 

Latest update. M53 Ford has spoken to Ford. That part is on back order which could mean weeks. M53 and Ford are both in agreement it makes no sense to give me the car back, and run the risk of the battery being so low it fails to start. 

So they are arranging an official hire car from Ford UK and keeping the car until they can replace the part. I do agree with this as I'd rather just let them tinker with it until its finally fixed. 

I've asked Ford Customer Care to call me as I still have reservations about replacing a level actuator, and not addressing why the lights are coming on when the car is off. I am on the fence about waiting weeks for this part, only to find out.....surpirse surprise it doesn't fix the issue. No mention of the door handle either still. 

Will update you once I know more.

Try and look on the positive side, I know it's hard !

While you are driving around in the Ford loan car then you are saving the mileage and wear and tear on your car. Over my 44 years of car ownership, and many of them brand new, I have have had similar or worse problems than what you have at the moment. In all cases things eventually got sorted, and in one case Ford even replaced the whole car not once but twice.

Just stand your ground and don't be fobbed off. If they can't get it repaired then ask for a new replacement to the exact same specification rather than using your consumer rights to just outright reject it.

@unofixThanks, I'll try. I mean I don't want to sound like a brat about it all. I'm lucky to be able have such a car like that, just would like it it work. Work hard to be able to afford it so a little pay off would be good. I appreciate your kind words. 

Ford Customer Care rang me not long ago - they have agreed to issue me with a Focus instead of a Fiesta. They said normally they only offer a model down from the current car - so Mondeo > Focus > Fiesta > KA > bus pass? However due to the circumstances they will offer a Focus. I mean I won't break out the bunting but I appreciate the sentiment never the less.

So picking up the Loan Focus tomorrow, and Ford have said it will be at least 1 month before that part comes in. (hopefully sooner!)

I'll update the post when I know more, if things are quiet don't worry - I'll 100% let you know the outcome. 

p.s thanks for all the help and support through this entire process. I really appreciate it. 

Yeah, It's not all bad getting a medium term courtesy car.

When my Focus was only a few months old I was given the sporty version of a Fiesta Active for six weeks when my car was in for warranty work. Completely different from my Titanium so I made the most of it including a run from central Scotland to Staffordshire which included some fun country roads.

I was glad to get my car back in the end and appreciated the extra room and better refinement more than I would have had I not had the courtesy car.

Make sure you move all your personal things into the courtesy car because you may have it for longer than you think.

Still in the 1.1 Fiesta. Ford Rental promised a Focus, but then it turned out they didn't have one to offer. So refused to return the courtesy car until they can get me on.

Also spoke to Ford Customer Care today - asked they while they are waiting for the part (4 weeks I'm told) why can't the garage unplug the headlights from the car, charge the battery up and test it? To see if it is in fact the headlights - as it could turn out not to be and it saves waiting for a part that will make no difference. Better yet, unplug the door, charge the battery and test that? That would either rule in or rule out both errors the car is reporting. 

F.C.C agreed that this should be done while the car is just sitting there for weeks. She will pass that on to the garage. 

Finally, they are taking to the original dealership to get options about taking the car back and clearing any finance etc. Still reluctant to go down this route as:

* I love the car and spent years building up to getting such a car and spec

* They cannot be sure I would get the same 0% APR deal I have currently

* Build times are around 1.5 years and the price has increased. 

The main reason being is I love the car and would hate to give it up over something that surely is easy to fix.

Will see what tomorrow brings........

Been following the thread closely.

I really do hope you get it sorted.  I’ve just got my new Focus and I love it. But I did have to wait just over 12 months.
 

Good luck with you car though. 

On 11/28/2022 at 11:12 PM, Daz-UK said:

Been following the thread closely.

I really do hope you get it sorted.  I’ve just got my new Focus and I love it. But I did have to wait just over 12 months.
 

Good luck with you car though. 

Thanks @Daz-UK, appreciate it. I would still say now its worth the wait. the 4.5 is a lovely model.

Quick update on my saga:

I've been put in a Puma Hybrid 71 plate so its not all bad. Ford have been in touch via email every day giving me updates. The latest update is the required part is in Germany and they are waiting for an ETA on delivery. I think they are slightly embarrassed having that new bright green car sat in their car park covered in leaves and dust 😄 

Asked them about charging the battery up and removing the headlights - they are reluctant to do that because they run off their own ECU (in my model anyway) and all talk/sync with each other and with the radar module. This is something I sorta agree with as I needed to get the front grill replaced on my older 2019 ST, and it all needed resyncing (at a cost of £124!) 

So we will see, in the meantime they hope to have the part later this week or the next and then want to test the car for a few days before giving me it back.

Will keep you posted.

On 11/28/2022 at 11:12 PM, Daz-UK said:

Been following the thread closely.

I really do hope you get it sorted.  I’ve just got my new Focus and I love it. But I did have to wait just over 12 months.
 

Good luck with you car though. 

Crikey I thought I had a long wait at 9 months! Well worth it although I did get a sweet 0% interest deal. Then again this deep sleep issue is so damn annoying especially as it's now getting colder - windshield de-misting is taking forever when it should be very quick. Hopefully your focus doesn't have this issue 🤞

On 11/30/2022 at 9:05 AM, Gus T said:

Crikey I thought I had a long wait at 9 months! Well worth it although I did get a sweet 0% interest deal. Then again this deep sleep issue is so damn annoying especially as it's now getting colder - windshield de-misting is taking forever when it should be very quick. Hopefully your focus doesn't have this issue 🤞

I got 0% too.

My original order actually was built and had an accident in Ford plant in Germany.  It was that bad they wrote it of. Not sure what had happened. But the replacement I got was not the original. But I’m over the moon with the replacement.

On 11/30/2022 at 8:59 AM, LukeJQuinn said:

Thanks @Daz-UK, appreciate it. I would still say now its worth the wait. the 4.5 is a lovely model.

Quick update on my saga:

I've been put in a Puma Hybrid 71 plate so its not all bad. Ford have been in touch via email every day giving me updates. The latest update is the required part is in Germany and they are waiting for an ETA on delivery. I think they are slightly embarrassed having that new bright green car sat in their car park covered in leaves and dust 😄 

Asked them about charging the battery up and removing the headlights - they are reluctant to do that because they run off their own ECU (in my model anyway) and all talk/sync with each other and with the radar module. This is something I sorta agree with as I needed to get the front grill replaced on my older 2019 ST, and it all needed resyncing (at a cost of £124!) 

So we will see, in the meantime they hope to have the part later this week or the next and then want to test the car for a few days before giving me it back.

Will keep you posted.

It will be worth the wait. It also sounds like Ford are looking after you as well, which is positive news.

Many moons ago, I ordered a new Fiat Punto and 87 miles later engine went bang. Dealer had forgot the PDI check so didn’t check the fluids so didn’t notice the issue of no coolant.
I rejected the car and let’s say the journey wasn’t the best. I got my brand new replacement which had 7 steering colours, 2 gearboxes, 1 clutch, 2 airbags, 2 door trims, 1 sunroof which actually came detached going over a bump, gear linkage new headlight as the dealer scratched it with a screwdriver, oh and the reason for the airbags, the technician got the wrong job sheet and dismantled my airbags and couldn’t put them back on as he damaged one of them and broke cable on the other.

It’s a shame as Fiat do make cracking little cars and good engines normally. 
 

hope you get your Focus back soon though. 
 

how’s the Puma?

Rang up yesterday and the part apparently is ready for shipment but no ETA on delivery (so no really change). Drove past the garage the other day to get a KFC and the car looked very sorry for itself - the garage have said they will get it fully valeted as its rather dirty and covered in all sorts now. 

A note on the Puma EcoBoost Hybrid (I had the ST Puma) - Been using it for work and travelled to Birmingham last week, and it was ***** fantastic on fuel. I was very impressed and managed upwards of 59MPG in Eco Mode and sticking to the speed limits (never travelled there so don't know which speed cameras work 😉) The best my Puma ST managed was 44 and no ST comes with Eco Mode so rather impressive pressing a button gives an extra 15 or so miles per MPG)  There was only two of us in the car but had work bags etc. Either way, quite impressive unlike my Focus ST which can't manage more than 40! 🙂 (to be fair 40 MPG from a 2.3 isn't too bad I suppose) 

Ford Customer Care are due to call me again today - if there is any update I'll let ya'll know. 

36 minutes ago, LukeJQuinn said:

Rang up yesterday and the part apparently is ready for shipment but no ETA on delivery (so no really change). Drove past the garage the other day to get a KFC and the car looked very sorry for itself - the garage have said they will get it fully valeted as its rather dirty and covered in all sorts now. 

A note on the Puma EcoBoost Hybrid (I had the ST Puma) - Been using it for work and travelled to Birmingham last week, and it was ***** fantastic on fuel. I was very impressed and managed upwards of 59MPG in Eco Mode and sticking to the speed limits (never travelled there so don't know which speed cameras work 😉) The best my Puma ST managed was 44 and no ST comes with Eco Mode so rather impressive pressing a button gives an extra 15 or so miles per MPG)  There was only two of us in the car but had work bags etc. Either way, quite impressive unlike my Focus ST which can't manage more than 40! 🙂 (to be fair 40 MPG from a 2.3 isn't too bad I suppose) 

Ford Customer Care are due to call me again today - if there is any update I'll let ya'll know. 

Sounds good! I have an ST-Line which was advertised to average 52 MPG but I live in London and I've never seen it above 35 MPG due to being in 2nd gear most of the time 🙃. When I travel outside London the highest I've seen is 46 MPG. I only ever drive in normal mode so I may try Eco soon what with fuel prices currently. Hopefully your part arrives soon. My car due in on Monday for the first time to check out this deep sleep issue. Fingers crossed they can sort it soon

The 2.3 ecoboost will do about 40 mpg on the autobahn, it can also do 155 mph on the autobahn, just.... not at the same time 😛

28 minutes ago, Gus T said:

Sounds good! I have an ST-Line which was advertised to average 52 MPG but I live in London and I've never seen it above 35 MPG due to being in 2nd gear most of the time 🙃. When I travel outside London the highest I've seen is 46 MPG. I only ever drive in normal mode so I may try Eco soon what with fuel prices currently. Hopefully your part arrives soon. My car due in on Monday for the first time to check out this deep sleep issue. Fingers crossed they can sort it soon

Cheers! and it looks lovely - Here's hoping its the same issue as mine only so they know the fix and its not related to anything else. Highly recommend the Eco button on the motorway. When playing around with ForScan I found you can enable it on the ST but I didn't - as not sure the 2.3 is compatible with an Eco mode and didn't want to make things worse haha. 

Keeping things off topic, I'm not convinced that Eco mode does anything more for your Fuel consumption that your right foot can't do. And the logical part of my brain tells me that driving at a steady speed uses X amount of Fuel whether the car is in Eco, Normal or Sports Mode or with Cruise Control enabled or not, other than a car with Cylinder Deactivation, which does not work in Sports Mode.

If anyone has a technical explanation to the contrary then I would be glad to hear it.

My own car has averaged 43 mpg since new, that is mainly running about town. A few weekends ago I went up north which involved a bit of Motorway at normal Motorway speeds and the rest was mainly hilly and twisty country roads.

The whole weekend was done in Sports Mode and my average for the entire journey was 52 mpg. I'm sure that if I had been in Eco Mode, especially for the country roads my consumption would have been worse because my right foot would have been near the floor a lot of the time in the hilly parts instead of the instant response you get in Sports Mode.

On 12/6/2022 at 6:18 PM, Tizer said:

Keeping things off topic, I'm not convinced that Eco mode does anything more for your Fuel consumption that your right foot can't do. And the logical part of my brain tells me that driving at a steady speed uses X amount of Fuel whether the car is in Eco, Normal or Sports Mode or with Cruise Control enabled or not, other than a car with Cylinder Deactivation, which does not work in Sports Mode.

If anyone has a technical explanation to the contrary then I would be glad to hear it.

My own car has averaged 43 mpg since new, that is mainly running about town. A few weekends ago I went up north which involved a bit of Motorway at normal Motorway speeds and the rest was mainly hilly and twisty country roads.

The whole weekend was done in Sports Mode and my average for the entire journey was 52 mpg. I'm sure that if I had been in Eco Mode, especially for the country roads my consumption would have been worse because my right foot would have been near the floor a lot of the time in the hilly parts instead of the instant response you get in Sports Mode.

Fair enough but the car will shut down a cylinder when in Eco mode so it only runs on 2 when at a constant speed for over 1 min. So I’d argue you would save more but totally up to you. 

start a new post, it’s a good topic. Bringing things back to title of the post……see below