First off- I love my car. But it's had a couple of annoying problems. 1 month after I got my car last October, I started hearing an odd noise that appeared to be a creaking sound- it was coming from the left rear wheel well area. Caruso Ford in Long Beach determined it was actually a loose antenna (!) - so that was fixed! Then, the problems with creaky doors began in earnest. I took the car in 5 times over 3 months. First attempt- the lubricated the seal around the door. It didn't make a difference. And the problem continued. Finally- the problem was found - after 19 days total in the shop (and I'll give the dealership credit- I got a free rental car) - they had to completely take apart the front doors - and the problem was with the window glass mechanism and all the parts inside the door. Wow. I was told the standard line- gosh, no one's had this problem before (sure) - no one at Ford Technical knew how to fix the problem (true) - my car was a "unique case" no one had experience with - which I certainly had problems believing. It's not that unique. It's not unknown. But the problem is - for the vast part - is now fixed completely. I've got 49,000 km / 28,000 miles on the car - all other parts of the car have been great - and it makes a great vacation car. Except for the fact that it really could use just a little bit more luggage space - but i knew that going in (!). So - was it build quality? Or an engineering issue? I suspect a bit of both. The antenna was build quality - the creaky doors? Not so sure. But I love the car. But one comment - American car companies have had 30 yrs of warnings on the need to improve quality. Why the heck can't this lesson be fully learned? I really do want to support the home team - I do. But to have these problems is - well- a concern. But the good news? The Energi powertrain is absolutely fantastic. .
