Fiesta ST makes C&D "Important cars of the last decade" list

[jeff]

See here now, we have one of the 26 most awesome cars on the road, according to somebody...

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g30432214/favorite-cars-of-the-decade/?slide=7

2017 Ford Fiesta ST
"The Ford Fiesta ST was like an overeager puppy bounding out of the house for a walk. I relished any chance to get behind the wheel of one, and I can't think of another car I drove this decade that provided me with so much enjoyment. Its exciting power delivery, responsive steering, and diminutive size made it joyfully responsive and playful. The sport-compact segment lost its MVP when Ford decided to drop its entire passenger-car lineup, and the fact that a new Fiesta ST is available in Europe just makes that loss even more painful for us Yanks."

 

[SteveS]

Interesting to see its company on the list:
1. M3
2. LaFerrari
3. CTS-V Wagon
4. Fiesta ST
5. 2017 F150 Raptor
6. Mustang Shelby GT350

and so on..

 

[Capri to ST]

Interesting to see its company on the list:
1. M3
2. LaFerrari
3. CTS-V Wagon
4. Fiesta ST
5. 2017 F150 Raptor
6. Mustang Shelby GT350


and so on..

I thought that was interesting too. I had the E90 M3 from the list before I had this car, and was somewhat surprised to find that I like the Fiesta ST more.
I have not owned a LaFerrari, because last time I checked my bank account, there was not an extra two million dollars in there.

 

[Sam4]

Yet we appear as the worst cars to purchase give our tranny issues.....

 

[SteveS]

Yet we appear as the worst cars to purchase give our tranny issues.....

That is the base Fiesta with automatic. All the articles that I've seen about that say "except the ST version".

 

[Sam4]

Just got mine back after 13 weeks (!!) waiting for warranty tranny parts/repair. Our trannys are mechanically very similar to the automatics. All the special ravenol or motul juice in the world won't fix bad bearings. The repair produced a much quieter, smoother operating trans. But still junk.

 

[Akumu]

I've been around here over a year and this is the first time I've heard our transmissions referred to as junk.

Oh well. Learn something new every day.

 

[Ford ST]

They are not junk.
The issue with the automatic transmission, or DCT is the clutch packs, and transmission control module.
The Fiesta ST transmission has bearing issues in some of the transmission. It seems to be hit-and-miss. Not junk seems like a bad batch of bearings.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[jmrtsus]

Just got mine back after 13 weeks (!!) waiting for warranty tranny parts/repair. Our trannys are mechanically very similar to the automatics. All the special ravenol or motul juice in the world won't fix bad bearings. The repair produced a much quieter, smoother operating trans. But still junk.

Why 13 weeks? Don't you have a lemon law?

 

[Dpro]

I've been around here over a year and this is the first time I've heard our transmissions referred to as junk.

Oh well. Learn something new every day.

Ya our trannys are far from Junk person saying that does not understand the process of manufacturing and there is never 100% perfect that is what warranties are for.

I also owned one of the DCT trannies in a 12 Focus as well and it worked fine if you understood how to drive it believe it or not.

Not saying they did not have problems but sometimes part of the problem is the operator. Lol

 

[pixelzombie]

That's good to hear. It was a C&D review of the ST that really had me interested in the vehicle. They test drove a stock 2015 model and they pulled .92 on the skidpad which is damn impressive.

 

[Sam4]

13 weeks because the internal bearings went on a quality hold and unavailable. 13 weeks because what am I going to replace the ST with from Ford, an Ecosport? 13 weeks because it was the 1st attempt at Ford fixing the problem - Lemon Law would not take effect until it couldn't be repaired following a 3rd attempt. 13 weeks, 2 pages of repair parts (to be fair - every bolt they cracked, they replaced, washers, nuts, etc). Read all the tranny-related posts; start with the recommended fill level discussion. This is a cheap car with a great engine, lots of add-ons, fun and not hard to work on, but the tranny? She is junk. Find a ford engineer to discuss this with, they'll agree.

 

[Sam4]

By the way - https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-fiesta-st-today.1441/post-393481

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Why haven't they just replaced the Whole unit? I would demand a completely new unit.... its what they did with mine at 26k

 

[jmrtsus]

13 weeks because the internal bearings went on a quality hold and unavailable. 13 weeks because what am I going to replace the ST with from Ford, an Ecosport? 13 weeks because it was the 1st attempt at Ford fixing the problem - Lemon Law would not take effect until it couldn't be repaired following a 3rd attempt. 13 weeks, 2 pages of repair parts (to be fair - every bolt they cracked, they replaced, washers, nuts, etc). Read all the tranny-related posts; start with the recommended fill level discussion. This is a cheap car with a great engine, lots of add-ons, fun and not hard to work on, but the tranny? She is junk. Find a ford engineer to discuss this with, they'll agree.

Sorry for your problems again. However, Ford did not make nor design the transmission, all a Ford Engineer can tell you is why they used one of the most popular transmissions in the world. The IB6 /IB5 are used in many millions of cars worldwide by many different car companies. Keep in mind Ford nor Magna PT made the defective bearings, they are dealing with a failure at a third party company.

To my knowledge there is no outcry of high failures rates on this forum, just endless debates on interpreting fluid levels (1 inch =25 mm or 20 mm, pick one!) and which "magic" juice to feed it. I hope you get yours straightened out, the FiST is such a fun car to drive. I agree Ford has zero to replace our cars without doubling the size and cost with a Mustang GT for performance and giving up the hatch, 2 doors and 10-15 MPG! I think I'll keep my FiST until me or the car is worn out!

PS, I looked up my TN Lemon laws, as I thought here you could have been driving a new one. If it is out of service more than 30 days it is subject to our Lemon law. I wish all states were the same, maybe a fed Lemon law?

 

[Sam4]

Sorry for your problems again. However, Ford did not make nor design the transmission, all a Ford Engineer can tell you is why they used one of the most popular transmissions in the world. The IB6 /IB5 are used in many millions of cars worldwide by many different car companies. Keep in mind Ford nor Magna PT made the defective bearings, they are dealing with a failure at a third party company.

To my knowledge there is no outcry of high failures rates on this forum, just endless debates on interpreting fluid levels (1 inch =25 mm or 20 mm, pick one!) and which "magic" juice to feed it. I hope you get yours straightened out, the FiST is such a fun car to drive. I agree Ford has zero to replace our cars without doubling the size and cost with a Mustang GT for performance and giving up the hatch, 2 doors and 10-15 MPG! I think I'll keep my FiST until me or the car is worn out!

PS, I looked up my TN Lemon laws, as I thought here you could have been driving a new one. If it is out of service more than 30 days it is subject to our Lemon law. I wish all states were the same, maybe a fed Lemon law?

I am amazed at your thoughtful response! I'm back in the saddle again - thanks for asking! I fully realize that Ford didn't make the bearings, but are responsible for vendor quality. Did I mention 2 dealerships turning me away for a Woosh intake hose (RMM, JBR catch can, painted engine cover!!)? "It's modified!" "Its got a chip -the transmission can't handle that much power!" - that guy I told to go f^ck himself. I too love this car, but my point, I guess, is that it's an economy shitbox with great attytood, not a race car, and decisions were made on where to skimp and cut cost. I get this, and am grateful to this sit and community for all the valuable information given. BTW - Magna (Getrag) and Ford are corporate partners and own the assembly line where these are made, they can therefore have a completely different fail rate as another car mfgr. What's an acceptable bearing failure rate, 1%?, 10%?

 

[jmrtsus]

I am amazed at your thoughtful response! I'm back in the saddle again - thanks for asking! I fully realize that Ford didn't make the bearings, but are responsible for vendor quality. Did I mention 2 dealerships turning me away for a Woosh intake hose (RMM, JBR catch can, painted engine cover!!)? "It's modified!" "Its got a chip -the transmission can't handle that much power!" - that guy I told to go f^ck himself. I too love this car, but my point, I guess, is that it's an economy shitbox with great attytood, not a race car, and decisions were made on where to skimp and cut cost. I get this, and am grateful to this sit and community for all the valuable information given. BTW - Magna (Getrag) and Ford are corporate partners and own the assembly line where these are made, they can therefore have a completely different fail rate as another car mfgr. What's an acceptable bearing failure rate, 1%?, 10%?

 

[SlowDunny]

I am amazed at your thoughtful response! I'm back in the saddle again - thanks for asking! I fully realize that Ford didn't make the bearings, but are responsible for vendor quality. Did I mention 2 dealerships turning me away for a Woosh intake hose (RMM, JBR catch can, painted engine cover!!)? "It's modified!" "Its got a chip -the transmission can't handle that much power!" - that guy I told to go f^ck himself. I too love this car, but my point, I guess, is that it's an economy shitbox with great attytood, not a race car, and decisions were made on where to skimp and cut cost. I get this, and am grateful to this sit and community for all the valuable information given. BTW - Magna (Getrag) and Ford are corporate partners and own the assembly line where these are made, they can therefore have a completely different fail rate as another car mfgr. What's an acceptable bearing failure rate, 1%?, 10%?

I didn't realize this thread was about transmission failures...

 

[Sam4]

Well, it's not about Tim Hortons, the Looney, or the (ex-)Royals.....LOL! I think I had too much coffee yesterday morning - sorry eh?

 

[SlowDunny]

Well, it's not about Tim Hortons, the Looney, or the (ex-)Royals.....LOL! I think I had too much coffee yesterday morning - sorry eh?

You forgot Maple Syrup, Hawaiian pizza and ketchup chips!