Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL | |||
| 01/24/2013 | 67000 | ||
| Vehicle: 2011 ford fiesta, manual trans., fwd. road conditions: snow covered 1-2, no ice underneath, no slush buildup. incident: at stop sign waiting to turn left onto road. oncoming traffic in either direction is thru, no stop. no oncoming traffic. accelerating across two lanes to turn left- divided 4 lane municipal road 40mph speed limit. midway across road, front wheels began to slip, traction control activated and removed power. car stopped in middle of road. was unable to move vehicle in 1st/2nd/3rd gear without traction control removing power. in first instance, oncoming traffic had to stop while i exited vehicle and pushed vehicle into median where traction was found. this happened twice. after second occurance, determination was made to only turn right to not place self at risk of accident. follow-up research: early production ford fiesta are incapable of deactivating traction control. later models do and in the 3rd printing of the owners manual it is recommended to turn off traction control in snow or mud. this action would allow wheels to spin to pavement and generate sufficient traction to maintain or begin vehicle motion. additional information: above research was obtained by discussion with ford technical support/engineering. they also advised that it was not possible to retrofit my vehicle with the capability to deactivate traction control. i have had vehicles in the past of similar weight/powertrain/profile which were equipped with one-touch buttons to disable traction control when in the appropriate situations. these cars were very capable in 1-2 of snow with the traction control disabled. i have advised ford that i intended to provide this report to nhtsa and they likewise said they intend to self-report it as well. recommendation: i believe this to be a safety issue that needs to be addressed by whatever means nhtsa has available. | |||
| 01/14/2012 | 15200 | ||
| Early year 2011 models of ford fiesta do not have the ability to disable the elec. stability control known as advanctrac for driving in icy conditions. while driving up a hill with snow and/or ice cover the front drive tires started to spin slightly. the engine automatically reduced power immediately to both wheels until all forward momentum ceased. at this point the vehicle started sliding backward down the hill with no control since there was no power to the wheels. this was extremely dangerous as the hill had a steep drop-off on one side and trees on the other. i was able to drive our 2010 ford focus and our 2001 chevrolet blazer up the same hill at that time with no issues or hesitation. a similar event has occurred on a level road where the snow is deep and the vehicle has come to a stop. if both tires start to spin, power is reduced to the drive wheels and the vehicle is effectively stuck. this is especially dangerous at slippery intersections. if the vehicle had a disable function for the advanctrac, the car could easily be driven out of icy conditions such as these. there is no information in my owner's manual (1st printing) on this condition. in later manuals (3rd printing which can be downloaded) ford has provided a manual shut-off through the multifunction display. this option does not exist on my vehicle's multifunction display. early 2011my ford fiestas should be recalled and updated to fix this dangerous condition. | |||
| 12/13/2010 | 1000 | ||
| Early model 2011 ford fiesta are not equipped with defeat-able traction control. late model 2011 and all 2012 models have a menu to disable the feature. moderate snowfall. approximately 4-6 inches. if vehicle is stopped because of traffic, or a stop sign or becomes stuck in the snow it is not possible to turn off the traction control feature on the vehicle to get moving again or to get un-stuck. the traction control is so aggressive that the wheels will literally not turn if any slip is detected. this forces the driver to exit their vehicle and push the vehicle or shovel down to the pavement, or wait for a tow truck. either way the driver is exposed to traffic in in-climate weather. you can sit in the car and hope no one hits you while you wait for the tow truck. or you can get out and shovel or push and hope that no one hits you. i have attempted to contact ford customer service, whose answer is that it is defeat-able and they cite a page in the owners manual that doesn't exist in the early model year fiesta's. the dealership also attempted to give me the same answer. i had to show them that the page of the book they were citing was a later printing. exiting your vehicle in a snowstorm or just after a snowfall is a very serious situation. even staying in your car blocking traffic in a snowstorm or after snowfall is a serious and dangerous situation to the general public. ford needs to correct this problem for all early model year 2011 fiesta's. ford has already acknowledged an oversight without saying it by putting the feature in latter built 2011's and all 2012's. as the snowy season approaches i am faced with the same dangerous situations that i thought ford may fix on their own. i need your help. | |||