I bought a '97 Fiesta 1.25 Zetec Auto with c.12,000m in April 01 with one owner and a one year warranty.
Only 4,000m - and 11 months - later a problem developed which proved to be gear box failure. Warranty accepted it as being covered but said it strictly wasnt as the car had not "broken down" i.e. come to a halt, but would repair strictly as a good will gesture - oh yeah !
Warranty engineer said it was a known inherant fault with the Fiesta which was recognised by Ford.
The specialised auto box repairer confirmed that Fiesta boxes last on average 17,000m. "Would it happen again ?" I asked. Most certainly was the reply !
How come this is not publicised ? More importantly why is it not in Honest John's Car-by-Car Breakdown - Breakdown ! - which I always check before buying any car. Not blaming John but I did a lot of research before buying but never got a hint anywhere.
Anyone have a similar problem ?
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Recent Ford auto boxes aren't renown for their reliability.
Initially I wanted an auto Ford Focus, but after reading about many tails of woe relating to premature failure of the Mondeo auto gearbox, decided to get a manual instead.
Steve
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Doesn't help you but I've said before on here that I've had two company Fords with CVT gearboxes without any problems whatsoever whereas others do seem to have difficulties.
First was a Ford Escort which I took to 73K or thereabouts. Chap who collected it on replacement said he'd heard of them having problems at his dealership.
Second was a Fiesta 1.25 Ghia X because they'd stopped building the Escort auto. I had this for around 45K and it was a superb little car. When I changed jobs, my successor took it over and as far as I know took it to the 70-80K replacement mark with no problems.
All I can say is that I did a lot motorway miles, including the M25 Heathrow section stop-start, and not so many short, in-town journeys where the gearbox or engine don't warm up properly. I had Fiesta RS1800 before these two so wasn't inclined to hang about on the m-way but always take things easy round town.
Maybe I was just lucky but I do wonder if driving usage and style has something to do with the Ford CVT problems. Frankly, I love the CVT boxes and am quite convinced a derivative will play a major role in the future of motoring.
David
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