I really need advice about a bad used car deal. (1 Viewer)

staphory

Staff member
Super Moderator
VIP Subscribing Member
VIP Contributor
Gold VIP Contributor
Joined
Aug 21, 1998
Messages
12,142
Reaction score
4,934
Location
Stonewall , MS
Offline
Here’s the situation.
My wife’s niece has a 2014 Ford Focus with the crappy dual clutch transmission. She got the car six months ago at a used car dealer in her town. The transmission broke soon after she got it and now it’s slipping again. The dealer repaired it once but refused to do it again and she still owes $8000 on it. The niece and her mom really got taken for a ride on this one. They are left paying for a car that isn’t worth nearly what they are paying for it and really isn’t repairable as this transmission is poorly designed and Ford was sued over it.
Any advice at all is appreciated.
 
Here’s the situation.
My wife’s niece has a 2014 Ford Focus with the crappy dual clutch transmission. She got the car six months ago at a used car dealer in her town. The transmission broke soon after she got it and now it’s slipping again. The dealer repaired it once but refused to do it again and she still owes $8000 on it. The niece and her mom really got taken for a ride on this one. They are left paying for a car that isn’t worth nearly what they are paying for it and really isn’t repairable as this transmission is poorly designed and Ford was sued over it.
Any advice at all is appreciated.

Review your state’s lemon law.
 
Dang that bites. Is the car high on mileage?
Yeah, 166500. She’s a college student and needs a car for school.
I can buy her a cheap used car but she would still be stuck with payments and insurance on this one.
What’s interesting is that it is apparently not possible to buy a new or remanufactured transmission for this car.
 
Sorry to hear that. What a frustrating thing to go through. Unfortunately with used cars you're limited on what you can do. I see 3 options. Sell as is and take the hit on it, fix trans/ buy used trans and take less of a hit, or fix trans and keep driving it. None of them are ideal but being that upside down the only realistic option is to fix it and drive it for a year then try to get some of your money back.
 
My 2007 Hyundai Sonata has been running pretty good. I bought it at 66k miles in 2015 for $8k put about 30k miles on it since then. It did need a $1500 brake job and I did have to change out the battery.

Next time go private sales. I used Craigslist.
 
My 2007 Hyundai Sonata has been running pretty good. I bought it at 66k miles in 2015 for $8k put about 30k miles on it since then. It did need a $1500 brake job and I did have to change out the battery.

Next time go private sales. I used Craigslist.
$1500 for brakes? You need a new shop. Calipers, rotors, and pads are ~$350 on eBay
 
Thanks for the advice.
Just wanted to reiterate, Ford built aDCT that isn’t really really repairable. They never got it right. Any repairs are temporary repairs.
 
$1500 for brakes? You need a new shop. Calipers, rotors, and pads are ~$350 on eBay

I was stupid and didn't take it to the shop immediately when I heard noise. Then I heard a pop when backing up. And the brakes weren't working well after that and made horrible noise. I actually had it towed because I wasn't comfortable driving it. They said they had to replace the entire assembly or something. These guys never seemed to take me for a ride so I just said fix it.
 
Car problems and college not a good combo. Hopefully your niece not too stressed out.

If she needs another vehicle Toyota is the way to go. I've almost driven exclusively Toyota for the last 24 year's. Never had any problems. For a few years I drove a couple brands and had several problems.
 
Thanks for the advice.
Just wanted to reiterate, Ford built aDCT that isn’t really really repairable. They never got it right. Any repairs are temporary repairs.
Wasn't that tranny recalled? Did you try taking it to a different dealership?
 
Even for used?
ETA I looked up the MS Lemon Law and it does not seem to apply here.

Yeah it depends on the state but many states have some lemon law coverage for used cars if bought from used car dealer.
 
My 2007 Hyundai Sonata has been running pretty good. I bought it at 66k miles in 2015 for $8k put about 30k miles on it since then. It did need a $1500 brake job and I did have to change out the battery.

Next time go private sales. I used Craigslist.

My family been doing Hyundai since about 2003. My wife and I have owned a 2003 Sonata, 2004 Elantra, 2004 Santa Fe, 2015 Sonata, two 2016 Genesis G80s, and a 2018 Santa Fe

I miss my G80 :bigcry:
 
Wasn't that tranny recalled? Did you try taking it to a different dealership?
It looks like Ford extended warranty coverage out to 150000 miles. She had it repaired once but if she gets it repaired again she will be out of pocket due to mileage.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom