Subject:  My "Blue Oval" Seal of Disapproval
Date:     12/27/2002

In spring of 2000 I totaled my 1997 Ford Escort. It was the best car I
have ever owned; it had 84,000 miles on it, and had only been in the shop
once.  When I received money from the insurance company, I rushed out to
put a down payment on another Escort, only to discover that a new
four-door Escort sedan did not exist unless I wanted to buy through a
rental company.  After speaking to a salesman and being assured that a
Focus was "just an Escort with a different body", I test drove the car,
sought the color I preferred and made sure I had my manual transmission.
Months into my search for my "perfect car" I chose a silver, four-door
2000 Ford Focus with manual transmission.
 
For about a month I was thrilled with my car. The gas mileage was great,
the ride was smooth, the gears shifted swiftly..it seemed perfect.  THEN
came my first recall. No big deal, all cars have recalls, right? Shortly
after getting my first recall fixed, I had clients in the car with me, in
the back seat.  They asked that I play a cassette tape for them, so when I
put the tape in, the buttons on the stereo popped off and hit a child in
the backseat. The mother of the child politely handed me back my button,
and I placed it in the appropriate spot, only to lose it several more times.
The last straw over the stereo was when I was cleaning out my car and
searching for the missing "rocket" of a stereo control button, when I
discovered that my driver's seat had a hole in it and the threads were
pulling apart at the seams; my carpet in the back, near the console, had
pulled apart from the floor and was gaped about an inch, leaving room for
my stereo control to fall down under the carpet.  The paint on my trunk
lid was peeling off.  Someone had done a terrible job painting this car...
one thin layer of silver is all that seemed to be on it, and the paint
chipped away easily.  The men tried to tell me that it was "bird poop",
not paint chipping--I may be a woman, but I am NOT a completer moron.
Since the car was still under warranty, i took it to have the NEW problems
repaired.
 
I drive about 1500 miles per week, transporting children for my job.  On
my Escort, I was able to run on one set of tires for about 25-30,000 miles
before ANY wear showed on them at all.  In my Focus, at 8,000 miles, my
tires were wearing out and the mechanic warned me that my car might be out
of allignment. At 12,000 miles I had to purchase new tires.  I had the car
alligned, thinking it would help the wear on the new tires.  At 23,000 I
had to purchase new tires again.  I spoke to the tire salesman, telling him
to give me the best tires he could because i was tired of having to buy
tires every few thousand miles.  The next set came at 38,000 miles.  The
next set at 56,000. Finally, I told him to bump up the size, to make sure
I had more tread.  I now have 74,000 miles and am in need of a new set of
tires again. My car has been "alligned" several times, each time they say
the car is not out of allignment.
 
My car kept grinding going around turns, so naturally I checked the power
steering fluid. Empty--so I filled it. The next day, the same thing.  After
three days, I took the car into the garage again, only to find that the
power steering system had gone bad and had to be replaced.  As I was pulling
out of the lot from having the power steering system replaced, I turned on
the windshield wipers...NOTHING HAPPENED.  I turned them on again.  Nothing.
I turned around and went back to the garage.  They fixed the wipers, saying
they had received notification of a recall on them.  As I tried the wipers
again, they moved, but formed a cross on the windshield of the car.  They
had forgotten to tighten the wipers, making them cross and destroy my blades.
They fixed that.
 
A few months later, driving down the road, I went to switch gears, only to
find that the gear shift came off in my hand! Of course, I was scared, so I
did all i could think to do--I stuck it back down in the hole.  I rushed it
to the mechanic who checked it out and assured me that there was no signs of
it being messed up and asked me if i was "SURE" that it had been out or had
it just felt loose, because "it'll loosen as it gets broken in".

Driving down the road with a client in the car, I had a flat tire.  No big
deal, I've changed plenty of flats.  I got out of the car, opened the trunk,
found the donut, and the jack....but half of the jack (the lug bolt wrench)
was missing. My NEW car...not purchased second hand, bought brand new off the
lot with the plastic still on the seats...and I couldn't even change the tires
because I didn't have all of the PARTS that I needed.  When I finally got to a
garage and the mechanic changed the tire, he accidentally cracked the hubcap--
made of an obviously cheap material. I was so upset I cried.
 
I recieved several more recalls, and had each fixed in a timely manner.  One
of which was the rear wheel axles--or something having to do with them. I
asked the mechanic what would happen if I was driving the car (while waiting
for the parts to be ordered) and the "problem" occured that was supposed to
be remedied by the recall.  He laughed and said "Oh, your back end will pass
you up, no big deal." Driving OTHER PEOPLE'S children around, a comment like
that IS a big deal to me...it's their safety, their livelihood.
 
I went about 4 months with no problems. I thought that all of the bugs had
finally been worked out of the car.  Then, my key would not fit into my
ignition.  So, the mechanic drove to my office, used a rubber mallet, and
pounded my key into the switch, telling me that it would be best if i didn't
remove the key again.  GREAT.  Just what I needed.  I left the key in the
switch, waiting for my appointment for about two weeks.  When I finally had
my car looked at, I was informed that I had to have my ignition replaced.
Lovely.  BUT, the mechanic added, new cars have a computer chip in the key
to match the ignition and the locks.  So I had to have the locks AND the
ignition replaced and get entirely different keys "custom" made to fit the
new parts.
 
After getting the car back AGAIN, I was happy to see that everything seemed
to be working fine.  I had just dropped off a child to her father when all of
a sudden my car gave itself gas.  The gauges on the dash went wild.  It said
i was going 140 mph, then 10 mph, then 130 mph.  I had a full tank of gas,
then no gas, then half of a tank...it was overheating, then cold, then...well,
you get the picture...all of my gauges were crazy.  It kept dying on me, and
of course, when it dies, everything locks up.  There I was, going 65 mph on
the highway and all of a sudden EVERYTHING shut down..I couldn't even steer.
I got it to run long enough to coast into the garage at the bottom of the hill.
The problem? They said my speed sensor had gone out.  After two weeks, my car
was fixed and driveable.
 
When I picked up the car from the garage, I went to pick up a child.  I had
driven all of 2 miles when my car completely shut down again..on the four-lane,
with the 7 month old child with me.  Luckily, a state trooper was at the stop
light and I waved him over to the car.  The wrecker had to pick up the car
and take it back to the garage.  The officer drove me and the child to the
garage as well. Ford said they could not pay for me a rental again because I
had just brought it back that day (or some stupid reason). So I took the
child, sat in the middle of the floor of the garage with carseat and all and
demanded a vehichle.  I sat there for about an hour before they decided to
charge the dealership (not Ford) for a rental and get me as far away as
possible.  The problem ended up being the alternator.  The fixed it and I was
on my way----2 weeks later.
 
My headlight went out..no problem, I was just going to run down to the auto
parts store and pick one up...but wait! I needed a special tool to change the
light in a Focus...so I had to take it BACK to the garage to simply get the
headlight changed!! It's the small stuff that is the most aggravating.  Like
those stupid wiper settings....slow, fast and warp speed. No in-between, no
medium...either slow or fast...that's it.
 
The last time I went to the garage was this morning....my car has killed over
yet again.  So I am VERY frustrated.  They asked me (again) if I would like to
trade it in on a new one.  Sure, why not?  BUT there seems to be a problem....
no dealership wants to give me any more than $4000 for my car.  I only owe
$1500--which means that I will have only $2500 going down on a new car.  My
current payments (because of my HUGE down payment) are only $97 per month.....
going from $97 per month to a possible $240 per month payment will be torture.
So I'm stuck...no running vehicle today, no way out of owning it.  There are
so many other problems I have had with my car, but I know that I've taken too
much space already, so I'm going to leave my email address for ANYONE who
wants to talk or ask about my "BLUE OVAL" SEAL OF DISAPPROVAL.
 
By the way, the lemon law is not in effect...the same problem has NOT occured
three times, it's been different problems each time.  And with my car being
over 2 years old and the warranty shot all to heck, the lemon law won't work
for me because the warranty has been gone for over a year.  I called the Better
Business Bureau and (surprise surprise) they don't deal with the Ford Company
because the Ford Company handles their own disputes.
 
Thank you for your time,
ONE PERSON THAT WILL NEVER BUY FORD AGAIN.