The vehicle is a 2012 and suffers a chronic problem which at this point cannot be figured out. I’d look at this as enough is enough and consider it a good candidate for the Lemon Law.
There will likely be balking and BS involved which will only drag the matter out until a Lemon Law is not applicable anymore. I’d send FOMOCO a registered letter telling them to buy it back and put you behind the wheel of another one.
If any response is generic then I’d spend a 100 bucks or so at a lawyer and have the attorney send them a letter. A legal letterhead will get attention for sure and before all is said and done I’d tell Ford that I want that 100 bucks back too for allowing it to go that far in the first place.
I’d keep any contact polite but firm. The people you deal with had no part in engineering or assembling that car so they’re pulling their hair out too. Now and then a car exits the assembly line that is just a problem child and this may be one of them.
I recommended going the Lemon Law route, back on 9/25. At that point, the OP informed me that only two repair attempts had taken place, and thus it was not yet possible to take action under the terms of the Lemon Law.
However, it appears that there have been at least 4 repair attempts by this time, and it appears that Ford Corporate has been involved. As a result, I am truly mystified as to why the OP is tolerating this situation and has apparently not yet filed a Lemon Law claim.
If I could prevail (on behalf of a friend) in a Lemon Law situation with Toyota, I think that the OP can likely do so also, without the help of an attorney. All that is necessary is to follow the exact procedure for filing the claim. The NJ Attorney General’s website has a good explanation, as well as sample forms, and I would imagine that other states likely provide the same type of help.
Thanks for the speedy feedback to the status I posted, and the pushes to move forward.
I just want to note that I am very appreciative of the service hours dedicated in attempts to troubleshoot: from the tech, manager, and dealership team that assisted at the ground level, to remote consults provided by fomoco engineers, case workers, and those who may have been consulted as interested professional employees. My ultimate hope was this could be resolved as a diagnosable repair, but it seems a clean and clear solution is one that will be elusive.
Lemon law is the last resort, but it also a resort the invests continuation of time (3-4 month process) where the vehicle serves as primary transportation.
Should I invest in a portable battery pack to jump start the car when it does not start again instead of loosing more days to waiting for roadside assist?
I can’t in good faith recommend that you buy a booster pack for several reasons. One is that this is a new car and you should not in any way have to resort to a backyard method of starting the car and two is that a booster pack could possibly (and quite likely) be used against you in a case of push comes to shove, even if the booster did not create or exacerbate any current or future problem.
Let me ask a question or two.
Is it known for a dead sure, 100% fact that the battery is actually being drained?
Are the headslights, dash warning lights, etc. dim when this occurs?
Has the battery actually been tested? (Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s good.)
What are the exact symptoms when the car will not start? (No noises or clicks at all, chattering sound, engine turns over very slowly, etc, etc.)
I have Ford Sync and have specifically asked if sync use / bluetooth audio with a device would have an effect or be a component “not shutting down” and therefore causing a battery drain, but as far as it has been divulged, this is not the cause per dealership tests.
ok4450:
Per the battery pack: I am testing the patience of a new employer and this incident has compromised a number of working days. This vehicle was intended to be a dependable source of transportation. However, each compounding incident has now monopolized weeks of time.
Battery has failed and been twice. I do not have the equipment to assess how ‘good’ they were or might currently be. My understanding is that they were all new at placement and the dealership has said that the batteries, when charged, passed all their tests. It does seem, however, really really far to for me to fetch the concept that I could potentially have had several “bad” batteries in a row.
As far as I have been informed, the battery is being drained by ‘something’ but it cannot be determined.
An incident typically follows as such:
• The sun will rise (it’s a “next day” thing: vehicle will be parked between 8:00-11:30 p.m. the evening before and the incidents will occur on the first attempt to start the vehicle between 8:00 a.m.-7:30 p.m. the following day)
• I approach the vehicle, attempting to unlock with the remote keyless entry.
• Keyless entry does not work, signaling the no-start state.
• Vehicle does not present any active lights / screens / etc.
• Open door with key, vehicle still does not present any active lights / screens / etc.
• Check headlight settings (incident 1 was on auto, incident 2 was on off, incidents 3—9 were on auto).
• At this point, the most incident will present with A or B:
• A. Attempt to start results in silence: no clicking, no lights, no sounds, nothing)
• B. First attempt to start results in a click click click click click and may launch the digital screen behind the steering wheel (at which time I make a futile plea with the dash to “please start”). If the screen launches, it will turn off or time-out to black (drained out of power, does not load any settings). Any further attempt to start will progressively decrease the vehicle response in total duration until there is no response at all it is silent.
• C. Incident 8: After first attempt to start the vehicle, presented with a different ongoing echoing click from under the hood which I did video tape for considerations (the clicking continued after key was removed), but I was told at the dealership that they did not need this and it would not be useful. By the time roadside arrived, the battery had be drained enough that everything was silent and unresponsive.
I agree, keep after it and don’t fall for dealer explanations until you are completely satisfied. I’ve never known a dealer who didn’t claim the latest new model of any car they sold wasn’ t better then sliced bread.
I wonder if Tommy and kbellis88 also have nSync. When a new option becomes available, and a new problem surfaces, I tend to suspect the option. The next question would be if other Ford vehicles with nSync are having the same problem.
It sounds like the battery is being run down by a parasitic draw and throwing batteries at it is not the answer. That’s wild guessing and trying to pacify the customer. It would be interesting to know who is paying for those batteries (assuming they were actually changed) because I have a hard time seeing warranty doing this repeatedly.
A battery booster may be in the cards now but let me add some advice. Do NOT tell the dealer or FOMOCO about this booster and do NOT leave it in the car while the vehicle is at the dealership. The booster could provide fodder for assigning blame even if the booster has done nothing to harm the car.
Go to the FOMOCO website and follow the prompts for customer service. They’re usually pretty quick about getting back to you. What they will do is send an obligatory mail acknowledging your complaint and then they will contact the dealer. After that they will be back in touch with you and advise you of the next steps to take.
Keep all documentation and save all emails to and from FOMOCO; just in case.
You need to get them to throw a volt meter onto the main battery cable. see the amperage being drawn from the battery.
Then they need to then pull each fuse and test to see the power draw (amperage) from each fuse.
Power draw from battery should be equal to = (fuse 1 power draw) + (fuse 2 power draw) + (fuse 3 power draw) + (fuse 4 power draw) + (fuse N power draw) untill all fuses are done.
I suspect one fuse will show high power draw.
The cars computer will be able to tell them little of vampire power draw from a faulty component.
This test will at least give them an idea.
If power draw from battery is not high - then something wierd is going on.
I suspect it will be high.
This is where the individual fuse test would show something. Whatever is connected to that fuse is most likely your problem.
If none of the fuses are high - test the power draws of the relays as well as check for stuck relays.
If nothing is causing the high power draw from the battery, its going to be something connected to the battery - although not through the fuse box.
Heck, a bad diode in the alternator could be wasting your power. (this bad diode working like resistor - just sitting there heating up a little and wasting power)
Our 4 week old 2012 Ford Focus failed to start, thought it was battery, but wouldn’t jump start. Towed to dealer and after 2 days told the Body Control Module was faulty.
I have a 2012 Ford Focus that the battery has died completely six times. It occurs every three weeks. We bought the car in late August 2011 and this has been happening since Nov 3, 2011. The most recent incident happened on 1.19.12. What can we do? Any help out there?
Document Everything (dates of no start, dates of of service, dates out of service, etc), and get started with a claim (you don’t need a lawyer for lemon law or BBB arbitration claims): http://www.bbb.org/us/auto-line-lemon-law/
Am terrified to get in my car for fear that it won’t start. Very stressful.
I’m sorry to hear that they were unable to resolve your problem, which means they will be unable to resolve mine. My Focus was just towed away tonight and I will be calling the dealer tomorrow. I have everything documented on the Ford site “my service history”. You can sign up for this. every dealer you took the car to will have your service history listed here. It may help with a lemon law fight. I’m not sure what my dealer will do this time. I am calling tomorrow to find out. I hope things turn out for the best for you…and me.
After getting my 2012 Focus back on Jan 26 they said the CM (command module) was bad and replaced it. On February 11th the battery went dead again and Ford towed back to the dealership. I asked the general manager if they would take the car back and give me a comparable car or give me a refund. He said that once we sell a car it is used and we don’t take used cars back. I wanted to avoid a lemon law hearing, but I think that is the only option. Cut my losses and file.