Hood & hatch alignment

[Hybrid dude]

Has anyone noticed issues with the hood or hatch alignment?

 

On mine, if you were standing in front of the car and looked down where the front of the hood meets the part of the bumper that is between the inner edge of each headlight and the outer edge of the grill (the top-most grill with the Ford emblem), I was able to see more of the flat part of that piece on one side vs. the other side. I had my dealer body shop adjust the hood as best they could but they said there is no adjustment in the bumper. After this adjustment, the gaps between the hood and the A-pillar are really tight but within acceptable tolerances according to the shop.

 

As to the rear hatch, if you run your finger in the gap between the bottom lip of the hatch and the rear bumper, from one side to the other, the gap is not even. There was nothing they could do about that issue.

 

Again, this is my first Ford, so I am unfamiliar with acceptable tolerances. The interesting part of that five-hour day spent at the dealer was that towards the end, a different service advisor said "I shouldn't expect the tolerances, fit, etc. to be as tight as, for example, on a Mercedes or Lincoln, since mine is a less expensive car (but not as cheap as a Hyundai)." I was a bit shocked at this statement for many reasons but the most important one was that the folks assembling this vehicle at the Michigan plant are proud enough to put their sticker on the window, and I think they'd want every vehicle that left the plant to be put together and fit well, no?

[dtorres]

There have been similar complaints on the 2013 Escape forums particularly involving the rear hatch. It seems like Ford needs to put a little more effort in checking the fit and finish of their vehicles before they leave the factory. While I don't disagree with the service advisor that American cars has never placed as high a value on fit and finish as say German manufacturers it's sad that the advisor would use that as an excuse not to repair the vehicle to your satisfaction. I've been a long time Ford owner and in my experience the service centers at dealerships can be night and day in how they treat their customers. You might want to try another dealership since they'll all honor your bumper to bumper warranty. I go out of my way to the neighboring city's Ford dealership because of multiple experiences I've had with my local dealer and the low attention to detail by their repair guys.

Edited October 29, 2012 by dtorres

[C-MaxJaxon]

After taking possession of my C-Max, I looked more closely at the consistency of gaps and trim alignment. There are a number of places on the car that are inconsistent between the driver and passenger side. Gap widths are different and trim doesn't line up exactly. It's a bit disappointing that Ford hasn't made a better effort on fit and finish. Hopefully they are fine tuning the assembly process as they go.

[Hybrid dude]

Thanks for the comments and advice. I am going to check out another dealer or two with these and other issues.

[redEV]

Can't comment on the alignment issues as, at least the model I test drove as well as the few that I saw on the dealer's lot didn't have anything that stood out BUT, (unless this has been covered already elsewhere -- ties into quality issues) have you ever felt a heavier door??? I mean they must have added some heft for noise deadening over anything else in this category; that with the white noise generator inside the car translates to a very solid, very quite ride unlike the Focus its based on. The doors also close with a very reassuring 'thunk' that for me anyways gives me more confidence on the overall build quality of the C-Max. I'm still waiting on the C-Max Energi that this dealer has on order but will pay a bit more attention to panel fits on my next visit.

[darrelld]

This could explain some of the problems we early adobters are seeing with our C-Max. Looks like there are a lot of inexperienced workers at the plant now. Still Ford QA teams should catch something like misaligned body panels as its fairly obvious. Unfortunately for Ford I regularly give reviews to TrueDelta, Consumer Reports, and JD Power. The fit and finsh issues will go in my review.

 

http://www.freep.com...ssey=nav%7Chead

Edited November 8, 2012 by darrelld

[Hybrid dude]

Thanks for article link. I just came across it via a search engine and created a new post under Articles, News & Reviews.

[kc1174]

Just found this and am comforted to hear others have the same issue with panel alignment. Bought mine 6 weeks ago, 1000 on the clock, built in August. Noticed just over a week ago the hatch is not aligned properly - drops from the passenger side to the driver side by about 1/2" up top, but the gap between the bumper and the bottom of the hatch is consistent. The hatch is also about 1/2" closer to the passenger side than the drivers side. I only noticed this when I saw the hatch was rubbing against the body on the passenger side, with paint down to the metal in a small spot. Body shop took photos to send to Ford to see what to do, but that was a week ago and calls to the body shop manager's VM go un-returned. Since then I've noticed the hood on the pass side is lower than the drivers side and is so flush, you close the hood and it's metal against metal just like the hatch. What were the outcomes of those who had these issues here? My initial reaction was a twisted frame. It has pulled a bit to the right, particularly on acceleration at lower speeds but assumed this was the new tires breaking in. I'm all for the US auto workers, but given my past Fords were built in Mexico without problems like this, I'm beginning to wonder if Mexican QA is better than in MI.

Edited March 21, 2013 by kc1174

[Hybrid dude]

kc1174, sorry about your alignment issues. I never had metal to metal rubbing, so after the body shop adjusted the hood and said no adjustment was possible on the hatch, I just let it go.

 

I find it interesting that even though you purchased it in February, it was built in last August, as was mine, purchased Oct. 1st. I assume you bought it from dealer inventory? I don't know the average length of time a C-Max would sit on a dealer's lot, though.

[Bill-N]

"... the hatch was rubbing against the body ..."

You would have to mention this.  Had a look at mine and I found rubbing too, but at the bottom corners.  Bummer.

[kc1174]

Thanks both. Yeah I have no clue how long it was on the lot, but it had 230 miles on it when I drove it away, so may have been at a different dealer. August 19 it came off the line. Aside from it coming with a Focus owner manual, no tire mobility kit and 2 pieces of trim behind the rear passenger seats popped out, it's not been too bad. Checking the doors/hood/trunk are aligned wasn't something I thought I'd have to check though if I'm being honest! Just wondering though if others are driving round with the same issues without them noticing. I finally got a call back though and it's in next Tuesday, so I'll post back how it goes. I have a list of rattles for them to look at too and a horn that today started to sound weird so it may be in a few days. They said they'll check the alignment before the fix just in case it's the frame, but I'll get that checked independently afterwards.

[zhackwyatt]

Thanks both. Yeah I have no clue how long it was on the lot, but it had 230 miles on it when I drove it away, so may have been at a different dealer. August 19 it came off the line. Aside from it coming with a Focus owner manual, no tire mobility kit and 2 pieces of trim behind the rear passenger seats popped out, it's not been too bad. Checking the doors/hood/trunk are aligned wasn't something I thought I'd have to check though if I'm being honest! Just wondering though if others are driving round with the same issues without them noticing. I finally got a call back though and it's in next Tuesday, so I'll post back how it goes. I have a list of rattles for them to look at too and a horn that today started to sound weird so it may be in a few days. They said they'll check the alignment before the fix just in case it's the frame, but I'll get that checked independently afterwards.

They were having problems with inexperienced employees at the factory, and as far as i know, Ford has never assembled two different cars right on the same line before (explaining your Focus manaul).  August is early for C-Max Builds.  However, I don't understand why dealers don't check anything.  A dealer should have caught all that.

[kc1174]

So the hatch is now fixed and in the right place - one of the hinges was out of alignment. Fortunately the car alignment isn't out, so it doesn't appear to be the frame. As for the fix to the paint damage - a very, very poor touch up job and I said the same to the body shop assistant manager. He said he could get it taken care of if I left it with him for another 4 days, but I decided against it as it would likely end up with some other problem for complaining - plus the rental they gave me - 4 door F-150 - cost me more in gas in the 4 days I had it than the C-Max did for all of March. The hood they never looked at either and with grubby marks all over the car (fortunately just the exterior), I won't be back to Bill Currie Ford in Tampa again. The trust is gone to the point I decided to check the bolts were tight on the hatch just now. I'll take it to another dealer to look at the hood and pay them to do a good job on the paint damage in return for my future servicing. I'm so looking forward to the viewpoint email... Rant over.

[locot]

My hatch is higher on the driver side than on the passenger.  I tried adjusting the little black rubber adjustment stoppers on the hatch but it doesn't seem like the its making much difference. 

 

It can either be the hatch door is misaligned, the car body frame is misaligned, or the hinges or even the hydraulic mechanism.

 

Do you have some details on what the dealer did to make the adjustment??

[kc1174]

Unfortunately I don't sorry. The only information I got was that the hinge on the passenger side (was too high) was out of alignment. Looking at it though, I see the hinge is a little lower down the body than it was when I took the photo posted above. It took a couple of days, but I'd recommend taking it to the dealer. If your dealer wants to, have them call Joe the body shop assistant manager at Bill Currie Ford Tampa to see what they did. Took a few days before I took it in to get Ford to decide what to do, but if your dealer contacts my old dealer, they should have some info. Only fixed last week so it should be fresh in their memory. The body shop # here is 813-870-0441. Let us know how you get on.