DETROIT: Ford Motor Co said today it was extending warranty on clutch and related hardware in 560,000 Focus and Fiesta (pic) cars that were reported to have had problems with their six-speed automatic transmission.
The company said it would reimburse any repair charges to customers of its cars built between 2014 and 2016, and offer other owners another chance to get a software update to fix the issue.
The clutch warranty would be extended from five years/60,000 miles to seven years/100,000 miles. The warranty on the transmission control computer is extended to 10 years or 150,000 miles.
The announcement means warranty coverage for these vehicles is the same as those that has been in place since July 2014 for older Focus and Fiesta cars.
The problems with the cars’ automatic transmission DPS6 - made to improve the vehicle’s fuel economy - include a degree of vibration when the transmission is operated at low speed, and a potential for the transmission to default to neutral.
“Ford understands and regrets that many customers have been inconvenienced and frustrated by the performance of the DPS6 transmission,” said Dave Filipe, vice president of powertrain engineering at Ford.
The company declined to reveal how much it would cost to offer the extended warranties.
