Dadhawk's FR-S (6AT Firestorm)

[Lantanafrs2]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Well, for all intents and purposes, I've turned the FRS over to my son today and am driving our Suburban.

Short version of the story, his 2014 Ford Focus (as I've reported before) has a transmission issue. It has now been in the shop four times, and most of six weeks. The first two times were the AT controller. Original failed, then the replacement failed. The 2nd replacement threw a code and went into limp mode. After some electrical troubleshooting, the code cleared, they test drove it for two days, returned it, and it threw the same code within 100 miles.

So, since I have the extra car, I've given him my FRS until this get straightened out. Going to the shop on Tuesday and insist it be escalated to a factory rep (it's a warranty service because the transmission in these cars suck that bad) and see what we can get done.

I recently replaced a transmission in a fiesta. They're garbage imo. The dual clutch units have a complete wiring harness to deal with and finding a good used replacement is a shot in the dark

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the benefits of having an extra car laying around!

We needed multiple extra cars in the last six weeks. Of the 5 cars the local members of the family has, at one point we were down to 2.

My middle son finally ended up replacing his 2002 Honda Accord (we bought for him when he was 16 in 2011) that had over 250,000 miles on it after it broke down for the second time in two months.

The Focus was in the shop as described above and still isn't working.

The Suburban decided to need a new transfer case. The good news is I picked it up last night and it drives like a new vehicle.

So we were down to MomHawk's Mustang and the FRS.

[Dadhawk]

Oh, and to top this all, most of this is happening while we are 100's of miles away at the beach. Then, on the way back home in MomHawk's Mustang the headunit (an aftermarket Kenwood) froze up, and when we restarted the car is now dead.

I checked fuses and it isn't that, so it looks like I'll be replacing the headunit in her car as well.

[soundman98]

when it rains, it pours

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by soundman98

when it rains, it pours

This has been more like a hurricane.

[Dadhawk]

Vehicle update:

Ford Focus is still in the shop. Repair has been escalated to Ford Engineering. They are recommending a new (not rebuilt) TCU. Waiting for that to come in.

On the Mustang, replacing the headunit with a Kenwood that provides Apple Carplay/Android Auto only. She uses her phone pretty much for everything anyway, so saves a good bit of money since only very high end headunits now have CD and/or Nav.

On the Suburban, got the transfer case replaced, and it ran much better. Well, until it didn't. Two days ago I was driving home when the engine got quiet. No bucking, no nothing. Drifted to the side of the road (never try to drive a Suburban without power steering). It didn't even click when hitting the ignition but everything else was fine. Turns out the fuel pump shorted out, popping the main fuse. New fuel pump, new fuse, now running better than ever.

On the FRS, well the photo below says it all. SonHawk thought it got hit at the school where he is doing his internship. Good news, they had a camera. Bad news, it shows the damage wasn't done there. So, that means someone in his apartment complex did it. Useless police report filed, then we'll deal with it after the above Focus is fixed.

[Sapphireho]

Isn't the paint back there still fresh?

Bummer.

[soundman98]

that damage might total it out!

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Isn't the paint back there still fresh?Bummer.

Pretty much, less than a year old

Originally Posted by soundman98

that damage might total it out!

If the last damage didn't I doubt this would. I thought for sure when I got rearended they were going to total it out.

[Lantanafrs2]

^I heard there was a shit ton of those tcu's on back order. The last one
i did came from the yard with no controller on it. Had to swap the old one and hope for the best.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

^I heard there was a shit ton of those tcu's on back order. The last one i did came from the yard with no controller on it. Had to swap the old one and hope for the best.

Yep, that's the basic problem. Ford was authorizing a 3rd party rebuilt one for that exact reason. The dealer we are working with has used 30 of them since they started using the rebuilt ones. Of those 3 have failed, 2 of them being ours.

Apparently the factory is catching up and now we are waiting for a new factory unit to ship.

[Dadhawk]

Posting this a little late because so far this year I've only had the car in my possession about 6 weeks thanks to the Hawk Family Cardemic. All seem to be fixed now (still holding our breath on the Focus, but it does have about 1,000 miles on the fixed transmission after the 4th repair.

I'm in the beginning processes of deciding if I'll keep the twin as long as I thought. Frankly, if we get a different vehicle (right now, likely an EV and likely a Cadillac LYRIQ) we don't have room for a fourth car. With the miles on it, it has no real value even with being an early VIN, and one of the First 86. I had planned to give it to one of my sons, but they have just recently all bought new (at least to them) cars, or have cars that are lower mileage and better suit their needs.

It will be interesting to see what the next year brings!

[alex87f]

Don't know your use case, but isn't the Lyriq a replacement for an SUV like your burb?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by alex87f

Don't know your use case, but isn't the Lyriq a replacement for an SUV like your burb?

Not completely.

Short term, it will be my new DD and for trips of 400 miles or less (one recharge stop).

We use the Suburban for longer trips, and for load carrying, as well as the occasion where we need to haul more than 4 people a longer distance. All these things we do relatively frequently. The LYRIQ will seat 5 for short trips, and has a decent load capacity but it's no Suburban.

Ultimately, as the Suburban ages out, we likely won't replace it at all and the LYRIQ will take over that role. It also can tow, but we all know how that goes with EVs.

The other factor is we plan to retire as early as 2025, so we would want to reduce the insurance load by not having multiple vehicles that are being used minimally.