I babied that thing, changed the oil every 4,000 miles like clockwork and never missed a coolant flush since I bought it in 2012 in Portland. The dealer told me it was a known issue with the EJ25 engine but they never recalled it or offered to help with the $2,800 repair. Has anyone else had a car where a major part just gave out way too early for no good reason?
I spent almost 5 hours trying to figure out why my buddy's Explorer wouldn't start last weekend. Checked fuses, swapped relays under the hood, even crawled underneath looking for a cutoff switch. Turned out Ford hid a secondary fuel pump relay behind the right kick panel inside the cab, buried under the carpet and a plastic trim piece that needs a Torx bit. No mention of it in the owner's manual either. Has anyone else run into a car part that was just straight up hidden like the engineers were playing a prank on us?
I was sitting at the McDonald's in Tupelo waiting on a McFlurry when my radio started cutting out. Then the dash lights dimmed and that battery warning came on. I knew it was the alternator because I'd read about this exact issue on a forum before. The check engine light blinked two times then the car just shut off completely. I had to push it out of the line with two strangers helping while the guy behind me honked. Turns out Ford used a cheap regulator on these 2012 models that fries itself around 80,000 miles. Has anyone else had a car die in a stupid spot like a drive-thru or a tunnel?
Stopped by my buddy's garage in Cleveland last Saturday and he had a gold Odyssey on the lift. The owner had been driving it for 15 years and never changed the timing belt. My buddy showed me the service records and sure enough, original belt from the factory. Honda put a 105k mile interval on those belts but they still snap around 120k if you're lucky. Has anyone else run into owners who just ignore major maintenance like that?
I've been driving a 2012 Ford Focus for about 3 years now and always thought the rough idle was just how it was built. Last week my buddy who works at a shop in Portland finally looked at it and said the plug gaps were WAY out of spec because the factory ones are garbage. Anyone else find that newer cars use cheaper parts that just don't last compared to 90s stuff?
I used to think people were just being dramatic about those dual clutch units. Then I borrowed my buddy's 2014 Focus for a week while my truck was in the shop and that thing couldn't decide what gear it wanted to be in around 25 mph in town. The shuddering was so bad I thought the engine was going to fall out on Main Street near the Walmart. After three days I looked up the class action lawsuits online and found out Ford knew about the dry clutch issues from day one. Dealers were just reflashing the software instead of replacing the whole transmission. Idk how Ford got away with selling those for so long without a real fix. Has anyone here actually had one of those transmissions last past 80k miles without a rebuild?
I used to think all timing belts were pretty much the same, just a piece of rubber you replace every 100K miles or so. Then I bought a 2012 Ford Focus from a used lot in Phoenix, and the belt gave out at exactly 60,000 miles with zero warning. The shop said it was a known flaw where the belt material degrades faster in the heat, and it cost me $2,400 for a new engine. Has anyone else dealt with a car that just wasn't built for the weather where you live?
I bought this car used back in 2019 thinking it would be a cheap commuter. Last month on the highway it started misfiring hard and nearly left me stranded. Turns out Ford designed the cylinder head so the spark plug threads are super shallow and they just strip out over time. My mechanic showed me one plug that literally blew out of the head and took the coil pack with it. Three of four plugs were loose and two had damaged threads. Has anyone else dealt with the whole thread repair kit route or did you just swap the head?
My sister had one. 45k miles on the dot. Coolant reservoir cracked right in half. Caused the engine to overheat on the way to work in Austin. Dealer said it was a known issue. How do they get away with selling that for 10 years?
Last summer I was driving from Richmond to visit my sister in Philly. The car started shuddering around exit 98, then just lost all power. Turned out to be the dual clutch actuator. Ford knew about this but didn't call it a recall. I ended up paying $1,200 at a shop near Fredericksburg to get it patched up enough to make it home. Has anyone else dealt with those PowerShift transmissions or found a permanent fix?
Everyone in my life keeps saying I should get a new car. They call mine a pile of rust and a safety hazard. But here's the thing, I just crossed 250,000 miles last Tuesday and the only real issue I've had was a failing alternator at 210k. The AC still blows cold. The engine doesn't burn oil. My buddy spent $35,000 on a brand new SUV that's been in the shop 3 times this year for electrical gremlins. Who's really got the bad car here? Anyone else get crap for running an old car way past what people think is normal?
I drove my Soul down to Savannah last weekend for a quick trip, about 4 hours each way. Somewhere around the Georgia line I grabbed my coffee thermos from the passenger seat and tried to set it in the center console cupholder. Problem is the cupholders are right behind the shifter and angled weird, so every time I reached for the gear stick my elbow would knock the coffee over. I spilled a third of it on the passenger seat before I even made it to Macon. Never had this issue in my old Civic or even my buddy's Focus. The car has 120k miles and the engine is fine, but this stupid layout makes daily driving annoying. Has anyone else with a boxy car run into cupholder placement that just seems like nobody tested it?
I spent three days pulling apart my dash to replace a $45 part that GM designed to fail right behind the radio. The plastic housing cracked at 78k miles and dumped coolant all over the passenger floor. Dealer quoted me $1,200. Did it myself with YouTube and a socket set, but whoever thought routing that hose through the center console needs their head examined. Anyone else run into this on their GMT800?
The car just stopped shifting in the turning lane of a busy intersection near the restaurant, and the tow truck driver said he sees at least one of these a month because Ford put a terrible dual-clutch transmission in them that was destined to fail.
I was driving her 2017 Honda Odyssey last week and spilled coffee all over the center console because the cup holders are tucked way back near the armrest, not where you'd actually reach. My buddy at the shop pointed out that it's like the engineers never actually sat in the driver's seat and tried to grab a drink while driving. Anyone else find a car where something so simple was just totally backwards?
For years I thought tire pressure monitoring was just another thing to break and cost money. Then my coworker's tire went flat on the highway doing 65 and his TPMS light came on a full 3 minutes before he felt anything. I had a blowout on my old 2003 Civic back in 2016 with no warning at all and it almost put me into a guardrail. Now I tell every customer who grumbles about the $45 sensor replacement cost that it's basically cheap insurance. Has anyone else had a sensor actually save them from a bad situation?