I want to buy a T - but mechanical problems?

[cdm]

tell me it aint as bad as it all seems from the threads here...........

It aint as bad as it all seems from the threads here...........

Seriously though. You will love it. If your buying second hand I would recommend looking for a post April 2003 build. I took delivery of my car new then because I did not want the first 6 months production. As it turned out, I may have been lucky but so far my only warranty claim has been the water pump o-ring.

If you were looking at buying new I would definately wait until the end of the year for series 2 or even see if you can pick up a series one cheap at a run out sale.

Chris

[Mondie]

But I need a reliable car to drive me 500kms a week just to get me to and from work Mon - Fri.  I had hoped a T would fit the bill with a massive dose of fun thrown in for good measure.  I can't be stuffed around with vehicular troubles.....

But it's not a cheap lottery to spend $50k and hope you get a good one.....

IMO the problems are quite common, if 5% of cars have a major problem then l consider that common. In reality l believe it would be much more than 5%. Redhawk (a member here) started a poll on the FPV forum asking "Overall are you happy or not?" and so far 5 out of 30 people have said they are not happy with their cars. That is way too high. Are you listening Ford?

Like you say do you want to enter a lottery with yur $50k? l have owned an XR6T and now a GT and my next car wont be a Ford.

What about a Subaru Liberty GT, that's great value l reckon?

[mercturbo]

Its seems also to be the case that people with problems continually post over and over and bag the hell out of FOMOCO because their problems arn't resolved properly, and they think its a way to hurt FORD so they will get their warranty issues properly fixed. It gets very emotional and personal and its understandable and the minority sounds very loud, its frustration venting, and if it were me with the problems I'd probably do it too, but alas, I've had an XR6T AUTO FOR 26,000k'S with a total off road time of less than 8 hrs, superb, just a couple of minor probs, now a GT auto with 7500k's and its just as superb, good luck whatever way you go.

[tab]

Let me share one now....

I had a absolute ball in my car the other night.  It was freezing cold, and the car was absolutely hammering.  I didnt want to go home. Loved every minute. When I did get home eventually, I just sat in it and listen to some CD's, just enjoying the atmosphere that is my T. And reminiscing of the night. This story is 100% true.

You never hear these stories, do you?

So I'm not alone in my so called insanity after all!

Like everything when the T doesn't function as expected you get a bit emotional - but then you get called into work in the middle of the night because the entire network has crashed and you realise it's not that bad afterall, worse things happen.

The hardest part I have found with owning a T is getting out of the drivers seat, like when you duck down to the shop to get the paper but end up coming home 2 hours later and actually forgetting about buying the paper anyway.

Go for it and you will not look back.

Trent.

[ms700]

What about a Subaru Liberty GT, that's great value l reckon?

Unfortunately Mondie, Subaru's have their fare share of problems too, trust me, Subaru is one of our other franchises!

[Mondie]

Its seems also to be the case that people with problems continually post over and over and bag the hell out of FOMOCO because their problems arn't resolved properly, and they think its a way to hurt FORD so they will get their warranty issues properly fixed. It gets very emotional and personal and its understandable and the minority sounds very loud, its frustration venting, and if it were me with the problems I'd probably do it too, but alas, I've had an XR6T AUTO FOR 26,000k'S with a total off road time of less than 8 hrs, superb, just a couple of minor probs, now a GT auto with 7500k's and its just as superb, good luck whatever way you go.

Are you reffering to me in this post merc?

l have long given up on the notion that posting my tale of woe here is going to have any bearing on the chances of my car being repaired. There are really only a couple of ways l can express my disatisfaction with Fords customer care. One is to respond to threads like this and make people aware of others experiences so they can be better nformed. The other is to make sure my next car isnt a Ford as much as l hate to say it.

[Honest Gaza]

Ah what the hell. I was going to let this thread slide through but sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own.

Let me start by saying that I have had absolutely no problems with my XR6-Turbo up until now, so this post can in no way be misconstrued as sour grapes.

But given the problems that have been documented on this site, I realise that this could change overnight.

It seems that the two main problems that have been discussed on this site are :

1). Brake shudder

2). Diff Whine

Regardless of the percentage of vehicles produced, versus vehicles experiencing the problems, the fact that there does not seem to be an acceptable solution to either, is in itself justification for some owners to express dissatisfaction.

FACT - People who have had their diffs replaced should expect marked improvement from the replacement units but this is often not the case.

FACT - People who experience brake shudder have had repairs done with the knowledge that this same problem may occur again and again in the future.

I find it incomprehensible ( I have always wanted to use that word ), that people try to justify these problems on some threads by saying it is only a $50,000 car. These problems should not happen on a $20,000 car.

Recurring problems that are known problems ( and Ford must be aware of them by now ), are unacceptable and should be resolved. Look at the recent problem that Expensive Daewoo identified with the Commodores. They have been recalled and there will be no further discussions on the issue. PROBLEM IDENTIFIED....PROBLEM FIXED....PROBLEM GONE !

Yes, the percentage of people that are experiencing problems are no doubt in the minority....but their "gripes" are understandable.

As to whether or not I enjoy driving my Turbo.....damn right !

Would I buy another....damn right !

As I stated up front....I have had no problems up until this time. Accept that my answer is as biased as the answer of someone who has had problems.

Honest Gaza

[Zeke]

Gaza, I agree with you except that the diff whine (which my car has) is tolerable, but the driveline shunt affecting a high % of manual cars isn't. Look at what it's done to Mondie's attitude towards Ford.

[mercturbo]

I would like to think that your tale of woe WILL have an impact on future Ford customer care and it should. As I said, IN YOUR SHOES I WOULD DO THE SAME. I was just saying that people with negative experiences might tend to speak out more in the hope Ford will take notice/learn and do better in the future. Take no offence to this Mondie as none was intended. I still cant believe they cant just give you another diff or whatever, its just unbelievable. Ford need a sledgehammer to the head for acting like this with you, they made $155m profit, they could fix a lot of peoples issues with $10m, and yours with a grand or two, just dosent make sense.

Cheers Rob

[ZAP]

I think this is what it is all about.

It is about the FoMoCo Care factor after they have sold the car to us.

They have 2 ways to fob off people with obvious problems

1) its a normal noise. shudder, clunk

2) We know there is a problem, we are working on a fix...insert 12 months later....see answer 1

If Ford told us what was the cause and fix for the driveline shunt whine and shudder we would feel loved and wait from our cars to be fixed. But getting the royal run around I have read people have had really annoys me. I run a Computer Service company and the most important thing is COMMUNICATIONS. If the client is told about the problem with honesty it would be less of a problem as they feel Ford is looking at the problem. We do not expect a perfect car just something that does not clunk "n shudder.

What Ford need to realise is that this site would probably turn more potential buyers off than get sales. This because many people would read the comments and say no way.

If Ford would show us some SERVICE we would not b!tch so much. My car got diff clunk after 60km, it happened driving from the dealership. This is just pathetic, I had paid $65k for this and Ford know the problem exists yet they still send the cars out the door with the problem. My diff now clunks on almost EVERY gear change.