Hi everyone,
I have just joined this forum and am sure many of you are unfortunately over-familiar with the problem know as 'veering steering' that the Mk 3 RS is prone to?
Having found many other owners complaining about it on the Mk 3 Focus RS Club forum, which I joined a couple of weeks ago, I posted my views on there and wrote to Ford.
Not surprisingly, they made no acknowledgement of the defect - despite it being common knowledge across the whole dealership network, so I wrote to managing director, Andy Barratt.
Again, not surprisingly, he referred it down to customer services and they duly fobbed me off for eight weeks before denying it was an issue (they were aware of) and referring me back to my local dealer.
That was enough for me.
Their attempt to dismiss, divide and conquer by refusing to admit the scale of the veering steering problem is not good enough.
So, if there is the same depth of feeling on here as there is on the Mk 3 Focus RS Club forum, will you join me in trying to get this sorted?
It is evident that we have to force Ford to admit the scale of the problem - and it seems the only way that will happen is by as many of you as possible writing to them.
Here's what to do:
I cannot stress the importance of as many of you as possible getting behind this, as it is clear that Ford are intent on playing it down and denying the problem. They are clearly determined not to acknowledge that there is an issue and pass the buck back down to dealership level.
It is only by making a concerted, high-impact effort like this that we can begin to get them to take it seriously.
So please get behind this and rid them of the shallow, patronising excuse that this is nothing they have heard of. We know it is a prevalent and dangerous problem!
Here's the e-mail text:
I am writing to you about a potentially very dangerous flaw with my Focus RS Mk 3 (insert registration number here).
Under hard acceleration it exhibits a consistently erratic steering trait, with unwanted corrective changes in direction, resulting in a frightening high-speed loss of control.
The car arbitrarily removes driver input at the most vital point and it - rather than me - seems to decide the direction of travel. Driver control is delegated elsewhere and the car instantaneously begins switching the direction of travel from one side to the other.
On further investigation, this is commonly referred to as 'veering steering' and is causing major concern among RS owners.
In short, the car decides where it wants to go and not where I intend it to be. The steering seems to overrule my instructions. That, in turn, has forced me to make wholly unnecessary adjustments during routine overtaking manoeuvres or under acceleration.
On more than one occasion I thought my car was going to go off the road or collide with another vehicle.
After speaking to many fellow RS owners and viewing numerous forums at home and overseas, it is clear that this 'veering steering' is a very common occurrence.
Many have already taken their vehicles back to dealerships and reported that technicians all over the country are extremely familiar with the symptoms.
However, there is no sign of any official acknowledgement by Ford UK, even though each time a vehicle undergoes this sort of diagnostic analysis, the results will be communicated and logged centrally. Indeed, the feedback I have received is that it is being dismissed as one or two isolated examples.
I can assure you it is not. I am therefore asking you to investigate the problem at a higher level, instead of trying to diffuse it sporadically around your dealer network.
Put very simply, it is akin to driving on ice or through a water trap, giving me no confidence in the car whatsoever due to its unpredictability and instability.
It seems that Ford are refusing - in public at least - to acknowledge the problem and provide a solution. There is no doubt that one is very urgently needed.
This is a fundamental flaw that is in urgent need of identification and elimination before it results in a serious accident or fatality. It really is the most alarming, irrational sensation and one which makes me acutely nervous behind the wheel.
I await your response with great interest.
Kind regards
(insert your name and contact details)
I have just joined this forum and am sure many of you are unfortunately over-familiar with the problem know as 'veering steering' that the Mk 3 RS is prone to?
Having found many other owners complaining about it on the Mk 3 Focus RS Club forum, which I joined a couple of weeks ago, I posted my views on there and wrote to Ford.
Not surprisingly, they made no acknowledgement of the defect - despite it being common knowledge across the whole dealership network, so I wrote to managing director, Andy Barratt.
Again, not surprisingly, he referred it down to customer services and they duly fobbed me off for eight weeks before denying it was an issue (they were aware of) and referring me back to my local dealer.
That was enough for me.
Their attempt to dismiss, divide and conquer by refusing to admit the scale of the veering steering problem is not good enough.
So, if there is the same depth of feeling on here as there is on the Mk 3 Focus RS Club forum, will you join me in trying to get this sorted?
It is evident that we have to force Ford to admit the scale of the problem - and it seems the only way that will happen is by as many of you as possible writing to them.
Here's what to do:
- Address your e-mail to crcmgr@ford.com - marked for the attention of Amy Birtles - and cc it to UKCRC1@ford.com plus warleyeo@ford.com and managing director, Andy Barratt abarratt@ford.com
- Cut and paste my suggested text from below and insert your registration number where indicated
- Use it as it is, or amend in any way you wish to personalise to add new points of your own
- Insert your name and contact details at the end
- Get it sent off to Ford UK as fast as possible (let's finally get some momentum going that they cannot ignore)
- Let me know when you have sent it, so I can co-ordinate our efforts
- Report back to me with any response you receive and what Ford propose to do - again so I can monitor our effectiveness
I cannot stress the importance of as many of you as possible getting behind this, as it is clear that Ford are intent on playing it down and denying the problem. They are clearly determined not to acknowledge that there is an issue and pass the buck back down to dealership level.
It is only by making a concerted, high-impact effort like this that we can begin to get them to take it seriously.
So please get behind this and rid them of the shallow, patronising excuse that this is nothing they have heard of. We know it is a prevalent and dangerous problem!
Here's the e-mail text:
I am writing to you about a potentially very dangerous flaw with my Focus RS Mk 3 (insert registration number here).
Under hard acceleration it exhibits a consistently erratic steering trait, with unwanted corrective changes in direction, resulting in a frightening high-speed loss of control.
The car arbitrarily removes driver input at the most vital point and it - rather than me - seems to decide the direction of travel. Driver control is delegated elsewhere and the car instantaneously begins switching the direction of travel from one side to the other.
On further investigation, this is commonly referred to as 'veering steering' and is causing major concern among RS owners.
In short, the car decides where it wants to go and not where I intend it to be. The steering seems to overrule my instructions. That, in turn, has forced me to make wholly unnecessary adjustments during routine overtaking manoeuvres or under acceleration.
On more than one occasion I thought my car was going to go off the road or collide with another vehicle.
After speaking to many fellow RS owners and viewing numerous forums at home and overseas, it is clear that this 'veering steering' is a very common occurrence.
Many have already taken their vehicles back to dealerships and reported that technicians all over the country are extremely familiar with the symptoms.
However, there is no sign of any official acknowledgement by Ford UK, even though each time a vehicle undergoes this sort of diagnostic analysis, the results will be communicated and logged centrally. Indeed, the feedback I have received is that it is being dismissed as one or two isolated examples.
I can assure you it is not. I am therefore asking you to investigate the problem at a higher level, instead of trying to diffuse it sporadically around your dealer network.
Put very simply, it is akin to driving on ice or through a water trap, giving me no confidence in the car whatsoever due to its unpredictability and instability.
It seems that Ford are refusing - in public at least - to acknowledge the problem and provide a solution. There is no doubt that one is very urgently needed.
This is a fundamental flaw that is in urgent need of identification and elimination before it results in a serious accident or fatality. It really is the most alarming, irrational sensation and one which makes me acutely nervous behind the wheel.
I await your response with great interest.
Kind regards
(insert your name and contact details)
