This week I spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with a mysterious issue: the transmission in my 2014 Ford Focus.
My week began with the phrase “everyone knows that the Ford Focus is notorious for transmission failures” and ended with “there’s an 8-month back order on the TCM.” For those who, like me, were blissfully ignorant of a TCM, it’s a transmission control module, which is under extended warrantee but can’t get fixed because of said backorder.
Let’s “focus” on how I learned this, the phrases used, and the sequence of events that led nowhere. On Monday, I took my car in for a new battery & oil change. This is when I first heard about the transmission issue.
Whether my transmission was going to fail didn’t seem to be under question. When was completely up in the air.
I asked how the car would act if the transmission was starting to fail. The check engine light might come on or it might not. If it did, it could be for that reason or for another. The car might shudder when it goes into drive or that might be from something else. It might not show any signs at all but just stop.
The advice was to get it to a dealership right away because there was an extended warrantee on this “known problem.” So I started calling around to see when I could get in. The timeline went in this order: 2-3 months, 3 weeks, could get in today.
In every case, we talked about the TCM replacement as the sole reason for the appointment. I was told that it would take a few days to diagnose and then replace it. I chose the location that promised I could get in quickly, and who could maybe squeeze the car in early.
I brought my car in, and had a conversation with the mechanic. After another roundabout conversation about how the car was acting, who said there was a problem, how did they diagnose it, etc, I asked how long it would take to replace it.
That was the first time I heard that there was an 8-month backorder on the TCM. That there was no fix. At least not in the timeframe that had not only been discussed, but scheduled.
I’m disappointed but not surprised. Cars are gray areas and people who fix them don’t like what-ifs, even when they bring them up.
My big lesson going forward: always ask whether they have the parts.