When buying a new car what should we expect the dealership to tell us

I hope so, but with 5 year/60,000 miles coverage at least I won’t have any out of pocket costs, if something should happen. I have to wonder had Ford addressed this issue when it first came to light and changed to a different transmission, would it have been overall cheaper then what they are having to pay out in the Class action suit.

There is a reasonable chance that Ford fixed this issue with its previous model when designing the model you bought, and informing you of the now resolved issue would prejudice you about the new model.

The dealership is under no obligation to talk themselves out of a sale in this way.

That raises another issue.

I don’t normally recommend extended warranties, but if you’re going to consider adding one, now would be a good time to shop for one that would pay for a new transmission if this one fails.

And, if the OP is thinking of buying an extended warranty, he/she should be looking only at one offered by the vehicle manufacturer.

As thousands of people have learned to their dismay, “aftermarket” extended warranties contain so many weasel clauses that they almost always manage to deny claims that are submitted, and if they do agree to payment of a claim, it is sure to be a very paltry sum, rather than full coverage. Many of these aftermarket warranty companies disappear after a couple of years, along with the hard-earned money that people paid to them.
:thinking:

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…and the OP should make sure the total cost of the extended warranty is less than the cost of a new transmission.

Particularly, I’d make sure the warranty covers the cost of a new transmission, and not just a used or rebuilt one.

My understanding is that the warranty for Fiesta trans on 2014-2015 and some 2016 models has been extended . A change for 2017 supposedly was made to solve this problem .

Dealerships often have a duty to disclose damage or defects that are known to be in that vehicle.

So, for instance, if the car they’re selling you had a malfunction that made ABS go crazy, and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong and just took out the ABS fuse before they sold it to you, they’re supposed to tell you.

But in this case, they do not (legally) know that the transmission is bad. Just because it was bad in last year’s model doesn’t mean it’s bad in this year’s, and even if it did, your specific car might not have the problem and so they don’t know about it.

It’s kinda like selling a house. If I know my basement floods every spring because of a crack in the foundation, I’m supposed to disclose that if I sell the house. If my neighbors’ water heaters all sprung a leak when they were 10 years old, and I have the same water heater which is 9 years old, I do not know that it will spring a leak next year and therefore I don’t have to tell you.

(fun trivia - in some places when you sell a house you have a duty to disclose any ghosts that might be haunting it, and if you don’t that’s grounds for the buyer to back out of the contract).

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I’m okay with the 5 year 60,000 miles I was given by Ford and with my history of never owning a car more then say 4-5 years by the time the warrenty is up I will owe little to nothing on it and will probably trade out of it.

From what I have found out, that in the agreement from the Class Action suit, Ford has extended the warrenty on the early models of both the Focus and Fiesta to now be up to 100,000 miles, but what I am also seeing is that many of the owners who went through this issue don’t want a warrenty, they want out of the car and there are some things Ford offered them to get out.

If you can afford a new car every 4-5 years, I don’t see a reason to fret over the cost of a new transmission. The point when a car is paid off is when car ownership really starts saving you money that could be spent on other things, like retirement savings or a luxury vacation.

I’m not doing bad, and I’m driving a 20-year-old car, so you must be doing pretty well.

This is my very first “new” car. I have always gone used and traded out of them after 4-5 years. I guess I would do the same this time if I can get doable payments. this new car purchase came after I didn’t like the 2011 Cadillac I bought back in February of 2018, so traded out for the Fiesta.