Since buying a brand new 2010 Ford Focus for his grandson, Les Shawley says there’s been quite a bit of trouble with the car – namely, getting people in and out of it. He claims that over the past two years, there have been 11 instances of a doors having to either be fixed or replaced.
And still, only one of the four doors is currently working properly. Of the remaining three, one is locked tight and won’t open, while the other two won’t lock – not with the remote, and not even manually.
“$22,000 dollars for a car and this is how the doors are going to work? Give me a break.” he says. “That’s a safety feature. What will you do when you have to get out? You’re in an accident, you’re in a fire? How do you get out of the car?”
“My daughter was riding today in here and… you don’t know when it’s going to happen, how would she get out? And she’s disabled, she’s had a stroke..we’d thought we’d fold the back seat and get through the trunk” Shawley says.
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Shawley is not the first person who’s had this issue. Debbie Choboter contacted Global News last year after the doors on her Ford Focus got stuck for the third time, forcing her to load her grandchildren’s car-seats through the trunk.
Ford then told Global news and is now telling Shawley that the problem is dust, which gets into the locks when the vehicle is travelling on gravel roads.
“We told Ford – don’t sell it to country people that drive on a gravel road, this is a city car,” Shawley says.
He adds, “I’m 75 years old, I’ve had other vehicles. One that’s 12 years old, and certainly gets dust in it, but it still works.”
While the dealership has been repairing Shawley’s vehicle, his 60,000 kilometre warranty is about to expire. And before that happens, Shawley says he should be able to trade in the car, which he believes is a lemon.
A Ford dealership Global News spoke on Thursday says lubricating the locks does help. Staff say newer Ford Focus models, which have a slightly different body design, don’t seem to be experiencing the same problem, which many others have been complaining about online.
To search for recalls on Ford Focus or any vehicle check out the Road Safety Recalls Database.
With files from Julie Matthews, Global News
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