Brand new cars with stupid problems

Comments

1. 
   Flip! Hope the driver and passengers made it out alive from that charred Nissan Patrol.

2. 
   Never had any major problems with my armada or 2005 camry. But recently I have been noticing in my friend’s camry which is a 2009 model which comes with 5 speed automatic. When he is accelerating it makes a noise as if its gonna break. He does every service with Al futtaim. I feel its the transmission thats making this noise.

3. 
   ^Mash..
   Why did u put Audi in the opening PIC… or r u saying that Nissan 350Z has actually out beaten Audi that it is better to keep Audi hidden in garage??? lol…

4. 
   ^ I found out that Audi is actually more reliable than BMW and Mercedes.

   They have beaten Mercedes by their better build quality, and BMW with their more solid electronics installation. Correct me if I am wrong.

• 
  The usual hype is the opposite of what you say..

  But i once stumbled to see several brand new BMWs a couple of 3 series and a 7 series parked at a garage other than the dealer having small electronic and mechanical faults being fixed.. Many people are complaining that the dealers are careless aswell… I got a friend that replaced the gearbox on his new 7 series and sold it right away.. exchanged it for a lexus LS saloon which is almost 50% less in price..

  These cars should be robust and super tough for such a hefty price tag.. Aside from the costy maintenance and parts.. Which makes you think twice about getting one..

  Heck, even my frined’s porsche cayenne turbo got its carbon fiber panels coming off the doors cuz the sun’s heat.. I mean these issues should be the last thing an owner of such brand worry about..

  We got a brand new opel astra.. And opels are known to be rigid cars in the past, people that owned omegas and older astras here speak of how good they are.. Well the new generation is quite troublesome.. Premature front suspension wear (fixed by the dealer), starter engine fails occasionally, premature bearing worn out (dealer replaced), immobilizer sucks the battery dry on occasions and A/c circulation vent stopped working… Thank God, it doesnt have much electronics…

  Cost cutting is the only explanation and yet ironically we pay alot for today’s cars..

5. 
   never buy mercedes in abu dhabi or al ain. the workshop team is corrupted. once your mercedes is out of the worranty the problem arrises.i had an experience.

6. 
   Hey Mash,
   In the beginning para its written “It’s only the Japanese that have maintained their standards for the last couple of decades.” But the next pic shows is a toasted New Patrol.

7. 
   I first thought it might be the quality that they have used that made a piece crack in my 2011 VolksWagen Golf GTI before I hit the 1,000kms mark – Running through at 3,000kms I got a warning that my oil is low – Checked it myself and it only had a bit of oil – I think the cars are amazing, but manufacturers are cutting costs.

   What if I ignored the warning and kept going for another two/three days, would the dealer in Dubai fix the car for free, or would replace my car if it blew up?

   Back to the cracked piece on my center console – I took it to the Dealer and the first question they asked was ”Sir, did you try taking it off yourself?” – Why on earth would someone buy a brand new car and try to take off something from the center console?

   And they also asked me to keep the car with them 3 days to check IF it can be covered under warranty.

   I think manufacturers should start monitoring their dealers,and concentrate less on cutting costs.

8. 
   All this actually goes to say one thing, brand new vehicles need to be hot and cold weather tested for a long time, have all the bugs eliminated before its put into action on our roads. Look at the Mercedes-Benz for instance, they manufacture a brand new vehicle, extreme test it all around the world for over a year and then officially launch the model 99% bug free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIA5IxpkQ-s
   This healthy procedure eventually equates to high reliability.

9. 
   Same Exact Problem happend With My Mustang GT 2006 .. Refueses To Fill Up And Has Random Reading , Plus The CD System Was Defected When It First Came And Was Change With The Same Defect , Eventually The Car Started Becoming Really Loose From Under To The Extent Where I Can Hear The Bumping Sound Of Axes On The Floor Of My Car .. American Cars Suck

10. 
    oh, I see this Prado in our building car parking lot, that lean is very funny. Looks like a handicaped car, haha. buy the txl, dont embarass yourself.

11. 
    I dont know why people are still buying prados, I know they are supposed to be reliable but not to the degree that makes me pay 210k for vxl model, for God sake, the new Porsche cayyene costs 230k, which means the difference of installments will be like 200-300 dhs a month !!!!!!! dont tell me resale value, this is a thing that we create as consumers and not controlled by dealers. according to numbers, 95 % of 4*4 cars drivers are not going off road, so why would I pay 200k + for a car while I can go for the Explorer, Pathfinder, Pajero, Veracruze, or even a Tahoe with 140K or less???? all cars come with warranty at least for the first 60k kms and I should not worry about failures, frankly, the prado is stupidly overpriced

12. 
    I think I have problem in my 2011 mustang with the fuel tank too, most of times it stop felling the fuel with only 90% of the tank capacity.
    Also few times, the automatic engine starter fails to turn on the engine and makes weird sounds instead.

• 
  @ assassin: Hello, my name is Sue and I work with Ford ME. Regarding your concern about the tank not filling in full, this may be due to the Fuel Pump Module not drawing fuel from the fuel pick up located in the Right Hand Side of the fuel tank, which may be caused by an internal restriction in the FPM. We have a fix for this. Just contact your nearest Ford dealer.

• Author
  Thanks for the update, Sue.

13. 
    We buy these cars for their looks and performance. They are mechanically reliable actually. I am using a 2008 BMW X5. Nothing went wrong with the mechanics, but the electronics malfunction a lot, and the screen sometimes tells you not to drive the car!

    One day, the computer told me that the DTC is not enabled, drive with care. When I went to the dealer, he told me that the DTC is actually enabled, and working perfectly, but the electronics are acting weird so that they are not detecting the DTC.

    One more incident, the automatic parking system failed. The parking switch was not disengaging the breaks. It was an electonic issue not mechanical at all. All I did, called the dealer, they told me to manually release the parking breaks using a handle in the rear end of the car, and drive it to them. They have fixed it within 30 minutes. But really this overkills!

    So, mechanics are top notch I have to say. I drive it fast everyday. This X5 is forcing me not to be gentle to it!

14. 
    Thanks SueN,
    I will check with the dealer in the next service.

• 
  You’re welcome!

15. 
    I’ve been driving a Toyota Previa (minivan) for 14 years now. Only two problems that ever showed up? The A/C went bust but I had it fixed and the car needed a new paintjob. Last year, I bought a Suzuki Grand Vitara V6. Two months ago, I try and turn on the car but it wont start. Battery was dead. No idea how. I’m not the type of person who tends to forget the headlights on or the doors unlocked, but the electronics failed. Don’t get me wrong, I mean I love the car, onroad and offroad, it’s just that I wish it was more mechanical than perhaps relying on computers so much.

16. 
    Sincerely appreciate the immediate action taken up by Ford Middle East representatives to address the problems. It would also be nice to see Toyota-UAE taking action like wise on the Prado lean and not simply wait for Toyota-USA to give the go ahead.

17. 
    I have a 2008 Mercedes C200K since new. No fault in the pat 3 years so far. I guess the now older M271 Kompressor engine is far more reliable than the newer CGI or Blue-efficency engines from Mercedes.

    Same for older M272 V6 in my C350 too.

• 
  What problems are you exactly facing??

18. 
    I drive a 2003 mercedes C32. Over the time I have learned that this car hsant got any major mechanical problems. Only issues are with the OBD systems that can be programmed. I guess the new ones with more sophisticated electronics face more problems.

19. 
    So theres a possible solution for the LEANING PRADO mentioned by an owner on the forums but it involves a lot of dealership backside kicking

20. 
    It is true that the last couple years the world has seen car recalls like never before. Maybe the reliability issues always existed but cars back then visited garages ever 3K kms for an oil change and service. Today machines are very sophisticated, servicing length have been increased to every 20K which means that the quality controls and measures to pass are much more stringent. Also the players and competition has increased with the likes of Korean and Chinese auto manufactures.

21. 
    Seriously with all the new electronics and cheapo interior finishes and complex electronic engine systems and gearboxes… Heck, i doubt a car will reliably last more than 8 years in our weather conditions..

    Mainstream cars shouldnt copy flagship models this is dumb..

    I’d rather pay for quality over funky gadgetry..

22. 
    @Sue
    If i were you, i wouldn’y show myself sround here. of all people You ford people ate the most annoyngly incompetent and rude people. i Also have problems with filling my 2008 Mustang GT and i also have all sorts of problem with my 2008 Fivehundred. How come i never had any issue with my 2008 Peugeot 308, nor my 2007 Honda city neither 2007 Kia sorento?? Yet again u dare to post here and say is a faulty furl pump?
    Please DO NOT censor my message as i really want to receive a response from Sue or her incompetent gready colleagues

• 
  but what exactly are the problems you are facing with your Ford 500?

• 
  And Ciprian, if I were you, I wouldn’t try in any manner to shoe away one of the very few people from the dealer lot who are willing to hear our problems and help us! 🙂

• 
  I am not covering Al Tayer or their negatives here..but please, if you are talking about incompetency and rudeness, then you haven’t had much experience with many other well-known dealers around. If I have to take names, then Al Habtoor and Al Futtaim for Toyota tops them all. Al Tayer is far ahead of both of ’em in all aspects. Surprisingly enough, had no issues with Futtaim’s sister concern Trading Ent. (Honda), other than them trying to overcharge. Comparitively good are the Nissan-Renault dealers – but lately they have been known to over-recommend stuff to innocent people and make money (such as doing an engine flush every 5000 – 10000 kms). Friend, I understand your frustrations, but trust me, no one’s perfect!

• 
  I totally agree with Vivek. Ford is trying to show up and are ready to answer your problem. From my experience Al Tayer is the only one dealer who is ready to fulfill the customer’s needs.
  Al Futtaim or Trading Enterprises doesn’t react untill you make a scene at the service center.
  Arabian Automobiles not just recommend engine flushing, they just keep calling and every 10,000KMs service you brakes are creating vibration at speeds above 80KM/hr and you need to polish it. I have wasted 1000s of DHS just for polishing the brakes and rotors. Its much cheaper to replace it.

• 
  It all depends on which bunch of people you meet up in a service centre.

  When i took my Focus to Sheik Zayed road, the attiude was horrible, so was service. When i took to Al Tayer Garhoud, they way far better, i actually bought a used Focus, so spent a huge amount above 9k to refurbish the vehicle. When i was taking my vehicle back, the rear view mirror came in my hand, inspit of spending such huge amount, Ford guys said fixing rear view mirror requires special technology and they can do it at Sheik Zayed road. I went to carefoure and bought rear view mirror adhesive for 6.50 dhs, cleaned the windshield and fixed it, its almost 2 years since i did this and mirror hook never broke. That shows the attitude of Al Tayer.

  Nissan is way way better, they give vehicle tip top and before mentioned time, though i have also noted they give suggestions for engine flushing, which i promptly refuse.

  Honda was better but they were also lazy, they take a major service charge of 750dhs for city, and while delivering the vehicle they forgot to car wash, the white car, had marks of greased finger prints all over the door, i gave a good dose to service advisor, he offered me free car wash, which again i denied, its not about free car wash, do your work properly when you charge money. I don’t want anything free from anyone.

23. 
    Sue diserves my appologies. It was just a stroke of anger and actually i showed how immature I AM having such behaviour towards somebody i don’t know. Partly Vivek is right and again i appologise for my off-road behaviour. Though none of this will change my afore mentioned opinions. My issues with the car? way too many to explain here on the blog and much more insignifiant for the Ford people. Last time i went there they had the nerve to smile at me while explaining the problems and yet did nothing. My car is 54K km now and after 60K i amsure they will find all my problems extremely solvable now that i will have to pay.
    This is an petrolheads blog not a complaining site. I appologise to all readers and Mash & Co., Sue and rest assure that this will be my last ice skating.
    Peace!

• Author
  You can complain all you want, dude. Sue is not from Al-Tayer, she is part of the Ford Middle East office.

• 
  Ciprian mate, sorry your going thru all that mess. If your car has manufacturing faults and you are carrying out your required periodic maintenance with them, then all your problems should be addressed under warranty and make sure they are done before the end of your warranty period. Dont accept the vehicle back with-out the problems being solved.

• 
  No hard feelings bro. I have seen people go insanely pissed when they find out their new car have issues which even an old car may have not got. Example is my mom. My dad bought Chevrolet Malibu for my mom 1998 model. It started showing problems when we got like none of the brake lights were working. Interior light was not working, the boot lid got stuck during the rust proofing. That was the beginning and later after 5,000KMs when my mom was driving me back home from school the car started whistling later making a weird noise it stopped in the exit of a U-turn which created a lot of traffic and made a policeman help push the car to the side of the road. Roadside assistance came pick the car up, next day my mom went to enquire they were not responding to what we ask and they were like its a machine we cannot say when can it get problems my mom got pissed and shouted at them. That made them do a better job.

  I believe is there are only fewer models out there that you trust and buy. The ride I would love to buy is the Qatari or some call it the Safari model Land Cruiser.

• 
  I love you… You got no Ego..

24. 
    ^^ thats ok dude..come on, frustrations do happen..and trust me, if you wanna learn what patience is, buy a Mitsubishi 😀 :D..no, the cars are great; really great; its the dealers and their attitude! any problem with the car will remain there as such until your or the car’s lifetime – if you opt not to go to Emarat & Eppco service stations or some outside garage. Its not a complaint blog for sure – but you can definitely enlighten us about the problems you face with the car and dealer woes so that we know and probably Sue can even help.

25. 
    In reply to ROJ

    What problems are you exactly facing??
    VA:F [1.9.3_1094]

    I have no problem so far related to engine and mechanical in my 2 cars both 2008 C200 Kompressor and C350. But there is some niggling problems like rattles and noises from seekers’ surroundings and trims while driving. Not very well fitted. Quality should be much better.

• 
  Sounds disappointing! I dont know what to tell you..

26. 
    We all know that these cars are not made to live. They are made to be enjoyed, then they will breakdown. By then the facelifted model will come out, and you will get it. After this, in few years, the all-new model will come out, and you will end up getting it as well, because you will be in love with the performance, and the looks.

    This is what these cars are made for. The quality is high, but some how the engineers managed to make the car breakdown and face major issues after a specific period of time, so that you get the newer model. How are they gonna make money then?

    In the past, when cars were made to live, manufacturers found that their sales curve is going down. All the cars that they make live for very long. They don’t even need major maintenance. People are not getting the new models. This is how they made the curve go up – force the car, after the warranty period, to start giving the owner a pain in the rear. He will then change it, or pay for warranty extension. Or suffer with the expensive spare parts.

    End of story … Thank you …

• 
  Sad but true.. Will you think carmakers will let go this capitalist greed one day?

• 
  Nope, they won’t. Now they’ve made sure their customers are in love with their cars. They will keep getting the new models, or maybe another model from the same manufacturer. This is the case with me, I am in love. I never had mechanical problems with the X5, and I am enjoying the driving and the super wide tires and the large 21″ rims. Acceleration is awesome. I have fallen into the trap of BMW.

  When my warranty expires, I will extend it for two years, and then will give the car to them and get the new 6 Series. I am just in love …

  Or shall I get out of the trap? … I think Infiniti is making great M’s, and Cadillac is making great CTS-V Coupes … hmmm … But then where is the driving pleaure? !!!

• 
  What about potential classics like Porsches, Maseratis and Bentleys? Its a shame that the capitalist swine causes these cars to end in a scrap yard cuz of their complex and expensive electronics??

27. 
    regarding the patrol..it was moded..with headers …and caused the fire…
    from a trusted source…

    thanks mash

• Author
  Another victim of ghetto roadside-garage modding, eh.

28. 
    I have the VXL Prado and Alfuttaim Toyota isnt fixing the tilting problem for me. Would anyone be kind enough to guide me as I read here in the comments that there is a fix.

29. 
    I feel cheated for paying so much money on a Prado and having to deal with this tilting problem that alfuttaim is not acknowledging. If i can see it and so can others why cant alfuttaim engineers see it?? the tilt is not negligible. Mr. Mashfique, please guide me to a solution or looks like i will have to put dark tints to hide my face

• 
  Make a scene at the dealer workshop. Park at the entrance / exit and tell them you are not going to move the car until they make a resolution or until the cops come. Shout at them (don’t abuse :)), and then they shall definitely do something about it. Bring the manager into the scene. Tell them you are going to publish this in all printed and web publications. That should help….

  Or if you want a calm resolution, then you have a much easier way of driving into Sharjah auto market and selling the vehicle off – trust me, you will get insane value and if you are lucky you might even end up making a profit; just make sure that “Toyota” badge is in tact 😀 :D..and then either walk back to the nearest Al Futtaim showroom and buy a TX-L at your own risk or look around for much better vehicles for the price like a Tahoe or something which is bigger and costs more or less the same. 🙂

• 
  Go for a Hyundai Veracruz,or a VW toaureg much much better cars for lesser or same money. U’ve already seen what listening to the steriotypical people has done for you. Im sure you would have listened to ‘Goo far a thoyota, resale resale resale resale …’ OR maybe ‘Lena hai to bas toyota lene ka, mushkil nai’, dont know why those particular accents came to mind 😉

• 
  Thanks for the suggestion Vivek, I will try again and see what comes out of it.

  Aditya, I havent gone by others recommendations. I upgraded from my old 2004 Prado which Ive had no problems at all. It isnt about resale only, this particular vxl model came with both central and rear differential locks which you dont see in many suvs these days. I love offroading and the vxl serves the purpose as well as being a spacious family vehicle. But this ugly tilt is the only thing wrong about it.

  If nothing comes out of next meeting with alfuttaim garage , im going to sell this off and am going to recommend to all my friends against buying it in future or as vivek said, only buy the TXL model.

  Does anyone know if there a recall announced for this suspension problem earlier as ive been told that there was one announced last year.

• Author
  No recall for suspension, although recalls are usually for safety-related problems only. The lean isn’t dangerous by any means, as far as anyone knows.

• 
  If its not a safety related issue, then I suppose this tilt problem will never be resolved.

  Thanks Toyota and Alfuttaim.

• 
  Samir, Good to hear you bought it from personal experience. Let me tell you, I have high respect for jap cars and their build quality. I know the prado is a good car, and many in the Japs line-up are very good sensible cars. My point being, are they good value today? With quality of koreans rivalling the japs, offering you 5 yrs warranty, and with germans lowering their prices steadily. You probably paid more than 160K for your Prado. Compare the features and specs with similarly priced cars and u’ll see wat I mean. What you get for 160K or more, is a comfortable,reliable offroad worthy 120-130K SUV with a toyota badge. Just my 2 cents.

30. 
    Resale value is such an overrated and over-hyped thing in this country.. As long as you will sell your car within 1-6 years from the day you bought it from the showroom will will lose alot of your money whatsoever whether its a Toyota or a Peugeot.. A wise investment would be buying a car and keeping it for 10 years and then selling it at that phase the depreciation value of the car will become constant..

31. 
    Heck, I was about to put a downpayment on the Toyota Prado full options. Thanks for the warning all! I am super glad I googled and reached here.

32. 
    I read many articles about this leaning issues, kept quiet , thought that i will comment after looking at several vxl on road. Whenever going to market or office, especially when i am in Focus, and i am able to spot a Prado vxl, i will follow it, i couldn’t really find out any tilt, so i thought may be i failed to notice from driver seat, so i asked the person in passenger to seat to carefully observe the Prados, even he/she couldn’t notice any lean… this issue seems to be a surprise to me…ofcourse i see in the comments above, even one of the owners have complained…but frankly speaking till now i must have seen around 8-9 vxl’s in different roads and timings, not one of them leaning.

• 
  ironically, i have not seen any VX-L Prados that do not lean..including the two new VX-L’s in my building parking, everything I have seen leans – but I did notice that the angle of lean slightly varied from car to car.

• 
  Since the time I read this article I noticed only one VX-L and it had a slight lean.

• 
  @royer
  nope, all VXL prados have the lean, minor or major!

33. 
    Hi everybody,

    I am an Off-Road enthusiast from Iran.
    I had the impression that you guys in the UAE were provided with excellent services from the dealerships.
    I was surprised to hear about all the complaints mentioned in this page!

    But reading all this just made me be more happy with my 1978 Chevrolet Blazer!

• 
  Hey buddy…..
  You know you car the required service and the right workshop to do it that’s much better. And if it has lesser electronic. THANK GOD!!!!!!
  Have fun…..

34. 
    Hey all of u, my name is javed, earlier i was having ford escape 2008 model ( New), i sold that car right now i m looking for a better car something sporty look and powerful, can u make any suggestion for me for which car i should go for…like Nissan 350z, ford Mustang or else….pls advise me…my budget is not more than 60000 aed. whts d main diff btwen us spec vehicle and gcc spec can anyone advise…… plssssss thanks..

35. 
    Guys any reviews on the new Mercedes E250, I heard its better then BMW 5series, as it has got more power the basic 3.0 5series,