I do know the tie rods and the exhaust a ways goes out.

Oh goodness, tie-rod ends went out? You people need to understand that Tempo's are getting old. Any Tempo bought today, unless kept in a sealed vault, will tend to need some work. I have had 4 Tempo's now and I have had good luck with everyone. All of them have gotten 200,000+ miles on them. They are very very cheap cars and very reliable.

These cars were based on 1970 - early 80's technology, so don't expect dual airbags, crumple zone's etc... Basically any car built at this time had similar safety features. In fact Tempo's and other Ford cars were some of the first cars to offer airbags as an option (take that Honda and Toyota). They were very expensive, so most opted not get one. The ones that did get them are very very rare.

You can always tell if your Tempo got an air bag just by looking at the steering wheel. The standard Tempo steering wheel is color coded to the interior of the car, and has the spongy-mushy-grips that flake off and get nasty unless you clean it regularly. The ones with airbags got the solid black hard plastic steering wheel. The horn is also funky on the airbagged ones, it is located on the turn signal. The technology back then did not allow the placement of horn and airbag in the same zone -- so they separated them.

All and all, most of the complaints I've read on here come from those who don't understand what wear and tear mean versus a truly unreliable car.

Also, most of the foreign cars came with timing belts that will never go 200,000 miles. Tempo's came with timing CHAINS! Making them much more sturdy.