Faults:

It the first year was fantastic. It ran wonderfully. Other than routine care, all was well. Then the summer of 2003 happened.

In a matter of one month, I have four massive blow outs, the kind that the tire peels away from the rim. Maybe that may have been my fault, but they should have more than one donut for this car.

Then the battery died three times (ford issued and approved batteries), once in the middle of Atlanta traffic, in the morning commute.

The steering can't make up it's mind if it wants to be tight or loose.

The back passenger side window will not stay on track and I have to push the down button and then move the glass by hand.

The engine sounds like a diesel, despite the up keep on the oil change schedule.

Yesterday it stalled while idling in the parking lot for a minute. The check engine light came on. It went off upon restart.

Today, while I was on my way to work, it came on again and will not go off.

General Comments:

I used to be in love with my car, but now I wish I rode the bus. There are too many little and big things that cause me big grief.

Faults:

Well first of all, let's start at the dealer, who told me it had 4 wheel steering...

After 2 days of ownership, the cooling fan off while traveling to work. They are not bolted and I managed to snap it back in place; that's quality there folks, "no bolts required"... lucky it didn't break.

4 weeks later, it rained and flooded the passenger side of the car. I was told it was the windshield and it was replaced... 2 days later it rained again and flooded just the same, although the windshield was leaking and the headliner was water damaged. Ford refused to replace it. So the second time I came back, my sunroof was apparently causing the flooding; I mean flooding 5 inches in the passenger side! They said they got it cleaned out... LOL not... it hadn't rained in a long time.

So next October (this month 2003) about 3 months later, it was time for servicing; again they replaced the 9th tail lamp and license place light, along with the shifter base, which is plastic and breaks easily. They replaced the radio which even died! They did the repairs on Saturday, and on Monday when I went to go for to work, my car was once again flooded and badly.

OK, by this time I'm beyond angry, and I took it to the dealer, where I was told the cowl was not seamed sealed at the factory. "Well isn't that nice" I told the manager. Ford can't even get a machine to build their crappy cars right... The entire dash, heater, stereo system, rug, seats, console and electrical system had to be taken out. I informed the manager that the car is getting a new rug and that Ford is paying for it. I was informed they had no courtesy cars. Well I work an hour and a half away in a remote community, what the hell am I supposed to do? Walk 120kms one way?

I also forgot to mention the wheel bearings and wiring had been recalled, along with my brakes, which had wore out very quickly, considering all the car sees is highway km's, and the rear tires wore out faster than the front tire's!

Gosh, when I think about all the problems I've had, I'd love to tell the Focus engineering to go back to Hyundai, which is making an attractive buy considering the Ford has more problems! Ford lick me!

General Comments:

It handles good and looks good to me. The seats are comfortable, which is why I bought the car in the first place. Too bad Ford messed it up and made it a sour lemon.