These are black plastic strips on the outside between the front and back door of the 2004 Ford Fiesta. What happens is they are glued on, and the glue is of the cheap sort that loses its adhesion over time and in the elements.
Twice, a plastic strip has come loose and vibrate at high speed, threatening to fall off. I have personally glued the strips back down with contact adhesive and test them from time to time to check if they are coming loose again.
It is a consistent manufacturing defect: the wrong choice of glue, and a design defect by not securing the strips properly.
Also, the plastic grills on the left and right of the Fiesta bumper come out easily when pressed and could easily come off if bumped.
All plastic trimmings cost a lot - R100 for radiator caps, R400 for plastic grill-bit for a bumper, probably R300-400 for the plastic bit for the door.
IOL article about it: http://www.iol.co.za/index.
in reference to:
Twice, a plastic strip has come loose and vibrate at high speed, threatening to fall off. I have personally glued the strips back down with contact adhesive and test them from time to time to check if they are coming loose again.
It is a consistent manufacturing defect: the wrong choice of glue, and a design defect by not securing the strips properly.
Also, the plastic grills on the left and right of the Fiesta bumper come out easily when pressed and could easily come off if bumped.
All plastic trimmings cost a lot - R100 for radiator caps, R400 for plastic grill-bit for a bumper, probably R300-400 for the plastic bit for the door.
IOL article about it: http://www.iol.co.za/index.
in reference to:
"FMCSA"
- IOL: Wendy Knowler's Consumer Alert (view on Google Sidewiki)
2 comments:
I think they're horrible cars. I drove one that was about 2 years old when I did lessons for my drivers license and it was already falling apart and leaking. I think people should avoid the low-end Fords if at all possible.
In years gone by, FORD was said to stand for "Fabrikant Onbekend, Reparasies Daagliks", also "Fix Or Repair Daily". Had hoped they'd upped their quality since then. Urgent need + available car + available funds = the Ford Fiesta!
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