Any steering rack a problem for USA & Europe Fiesta ?

[Surya-P]

I see, that explains it.

I remember a long time ago my family had an Audi 100CD in the 80s.
5 cylinder engine with decently big body car.

I think in USA its called Audi 200 or something. Even small details in their TSB, they call us the owners and request us to bring the car for exchange of those parts. I can't remember what parts but I know its nothing important.

Well I am glad Ford of Indonesia is actually getting 202% sales increase due to Fiesta for up to Nov 2012 compared to up to Nov 2010. I pity their car sales. Their pick-up ( 4WD) is OK, many mines use it.

Later,
SP

[aspitaletto]

Originally Posted by RobDV

TSB 11-10-28 was issued for this problem for Fiesta's built before 8/15/11. They just replaced my steering column shaft the other day. Working good as new now...

any more info on this??

[kabukiman]

I have a thai built, from june or july

I have noticed a crunching feeling in the steering once or twice, and a lumpy feeling going from lock to lock occasionally. Seems to work fine though.

[Surya-P]

Originally Posted by kabukiman

I have a thai built, from june or july

I have noticed a crunching feeling in the steering once or twice, and a lumpy feeling going from lock to lock occasionally. Seems to work fine though.

It doesn't really effect performance I think, neither I heard any breaking apart. Its like loose joint or sort of worn out kind of feeling. No freeplay on mine too but the noise it generated sure sound "cheapo".

[kabukiman]

any little abnormal niggle I get in the steering makes me wonder.

But then i remember my old car, where the power steering was intermittent, like and added bonus if it worked mid corner or not

And how the pump shrieked

And how the fluid which I changed weekly had metal bits in it

And I think to myself, the fiesta's actually pretty awesome

[Surya-P]

One over month and Ford of Indonesia still can't deliver the steering rack.

Excuse of Thailand flooding is already stale news.

Now they said too many claims and not enough parts.......
What a prick, import the steering rack based on cars sold with known defective steering rack linked to VIN number and less 60% = safe inventory amount.

I think they imported only 50-100 steering rack units at one go, where as the car sold is like a 1,000 a month for the past 12 months or so.

Dang, I am sad

[GapBoyPCS]

Originally Posted by Surya-P

One over month and Ford of Indonesia still can't deliver the steering rack.

Excuse of Thailand flooding is already stale news.

Now they said too many claims and not enough parts.......
What a prick, import the steering rack based on cars sold with known defective steering rack linked to VIN number and less 60% = safe inventory amount.

I think they imported only 50-100 steering rack units at one go, where as the car sold is like a 1,000 a month for the past 12 months or so.

Dang, I am sad

It happens, especially these days. A lot of companies are still operating on just-in-time inventory. The days of stockpiling parts are over, considering how expensive that activity can become. Plus, most car companies are using only a handful of suppliers. And, it's hard for companies to simply switch to a different manufacturer. If that supplier is actually slow due to damage or shipment backups suffered the flooding in Thailand, then it is plausible.

If there is a contact number for Ford of Indonesia, I'd contact them and express your frustration.

[Surya-P]

Thanks PC, I guess give Ford some breathing room yah.

I know some people at the Indonesian Ford Forum have waited for 4 months during Thailand severe flooding.

Its just my thinking that Fiesta is now Ford Indo bread and butter, golden child so to speak. They have to take the advantage and show great support.

Ford been loosing money in Indonesia, or make near nothing. The last sedan they ever sold and decently known/popular was a Mazda 323 variant called the Ford Laser ( 1.3L ) and it was later made into a taxi and personal user usually won't buy when a car is made to a taxi. Models hard to sell, many become taxis, Malaysian Proton brand for example.

Only their 4WD pick up and SUV can sell but not in any great numbers. Focus can't sell, Lynx never did well and this Fiesta represents more than 65% of their annual sales. Their sales up by 140% for September 2011, due mainly to Fiesta. They have no more sedan to offer, only Fiesta and Focus, that's it.
Ford books 140 percent up on sales | The Jakarta Post

12,300 cars sold between Jan to Sep 2011 by USA standard is micro dust and peanuts by UK standard which in Nov 2011 alone sold 6,915 Fiestas
Top 10 Best Selling Cars - November 2011


So Indonesia is 1,366 mix Ford's a month and I know Fiesta is 1,000 of them, the more a reason for Ford Indo to make some sacrifice to keep making Fiesta hot cakes while it is still hot.


If I were Ford Indo CEO, this kind of opportunity to regain back Ford glory, must be utilized to the fullest. They been sleeping like 10+ years, I mean bad sales due to no winning model. Kiss customers azz asap and gain Fiesta customers faith.

I have told at least 6 friends who wanted to buy Fiesta with Powershift.......not to buy it, and they understood when I took them on Jakarta's bad traffic jam and tight car-parks to show in real time why a Powershift is not suitable if one has common auto gearbox behaviour in mind.
I told them to wait for Ford Indo offer manual gearbox ( not yet available ) or normal auto transmission ( maybe will never happen for 1.6L ). There goes 6 sales lost.

Ford seems to believe that a buyer must understand how to operate a Powershift properly because it is not a real full auto transmission. Ford seems to forget, the buyer is the money man and wants what they want and not what Ford wants. The only time a buyer is willing to accept such differences is when the car offer something else very much superior to other cars, say 180HP from a 1.6 L engine without turbo charging or skid pad value of 1.2g.

Economy ? There is no economy gain from a Powershift for bad traffic.
I am getting 7.5KM to a liter or 17.9 miles per US gallon for city driving, which one of my previous 1.6L manual transmission car will yield 8 km/Liter for same home-to-office route at same traffic, and a Nissan Liviana 1.5L can get 9 KM/L. My previous day to day car was a Toyota 1.5L and I raised its capacity to 1.6L. 0-140 KM/H it will smoke the Fiesta. 0-80 KM/H, the Fiesta won't be able to read the Toyota registration plate as the Powershift is so slow from zero speed to initial actual movement or zero to 40 km/h. 0-80 KM/H is the most important speed region for Jakarta bad traffic, if one wants to zig-zag in and out in a hurry.

0-100 KM/H, Fiesta is the slowest 1.6L in my country for an engine pumping 120HP. Mazda 2 at 1.5L, manual trans with 103HP is faster and a Fiesta twin in chassis and suspension, OK lighter by a 100kg or so.

I honestly really enjoy driving and cornering in a Fiesta, however, a car is only as good as it can roll on the road without defects. A not so reliable car with great after sales support and ready stock parts is a better choice than a more reliable car but with no ready stock spare parts to buy or to claim ,where the car has potential to get stuck at owner's garage for long period of time.

I am in the marine business. I seen Mercury outboard golden days in Indonesia only to get wiped out to under 10 engines sales a year maximum within 3-4 years by Suzuki outboards. The reason being , the Mercury Indo distributor does not stock parts, all are indent basis. Put reliability aside, people owning boats has extra money and the rather pay extra for parts and repair bill than to see their boats with a shiny Mercury tied to the dock.


Ford pick up and SUV is doing well the past 2-3 years simply because of the coal mine boom. As personal city car, it has no appeal.

My Mom actually worked for the 1st Ford Indonesian distributor in the 60s.
It was golden days for Ford in Indonesia as Japanese cars were considered garbage.

There was an offer last year or so, buy a Focus for 50% off but one must do track racing with it for a minimum of "X" races for two years or so. Its N class or totally standard car race. They wanted sports exposure for the daily use customers. Focus is never on anyone's wish list. Fiesta changed all that negativity, there is actually a waiting list for Fiesta...my my, good for Ford.

If you have a direct link to Ford Indonesia, best tell them to appreciate that Ford Europe has a global hot seller and Fiesta will pull Ford Indonesia out of financial misery.......when done right. Never I seen Ford in Indonesia need a buyers to be in a waiting list for any model for the past 10+ years.

I really would like to see more models from more brands locally available.
Its nice to have competition. Used to be 1 year and 20,000 km warranty before the Korean cars giving 3 years 100,000KM warranty. Competition is a good thing for us end users.

Nissan case was similar to Ford. Its X-Trail and later Liviana revived Nissan Indonesia to decently profitable status. Nissan Indonesia too was hibernating 10+ years or for as long as I can remember, before X-Trail came to the market.

So much write up from me PC, sorry.

Thanks very much.
.

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by Surya-P

One over month and Ford of Indonesia still can't deliver the steering rack.
Excuse of Thailand flooding is already stale news.
Now they said too many claims and not enough parts.......

Hey Surya-P,

Sorry to learn of your frustration. Have you contacted Ford of Indonesia Customer Relationship Center? Give them a call at +62-21-27588314. They'll document and assist you with the issue.
+62-21-27588314
Keep me posted on the reuslts.

Originally Posted by GapBoyPCS

.......
If there is a contact number for Ford of Indonesia, I'd contact them and express your frustration.

Afternoon GapBoyPCS,

Thanks for the advice. I've provided Surya-P with the info.

Have a good day!

Noemi