Subject: 
2004 Ford Focus


Sat, 21 Jan 2006 13:50:19 -0500
Date:    





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Hey man - I just found your website while trying to do some research for
possible legal action I may be pursuing relating to my 2004 Ford Focus.
Here's my story.

In the Fall of 2004, we bought a 2004 Ford Focus simply because we'd heard
that it did well in safety tests, and it was a relatively cheap car that I
would only be using for my commute to/from work.  About a year later, with
only 8,000 miles on the car all the sudden the car wouldn't start.  We ended
up having it towed to the dealer on 10/31/05.  About a week later we heard
back from the dealership that the engine had hydro-locked.  I was getting
asked some very strange questions from the mechanic, since apparently the
air filter has to be submerged in water in order for this to happen!  I
hadn't driven the car into a lake or into a 2 foot puddle, so I have no idea
how this could have happened.  Obviously with only 8,000 miles on the car, I
was expecting that this would be covered by warranty and wasn't too
concerned.  The dealer probably called back about 2/3 days later and
informed me that this wouldn't be covered by warranty since it wasn't an
engine malfunction and could only have happened based on something that I
must have done.  I was livid and called the Ford Headquarters and asked how
I could appeal this decision.  I was then told that there was no point in
appealing since Ford uses the dealerships as their eyes and ears.  (Only
about a month later did I find out that there is a 3rd party process to
appeal these decisions.) 

Anyway, I went through my insurance company and luckily they covered this,
and I was only responsible for the deductible.  As the insurance appraiser
was reviewing my problem he mentioned that this was a design defect as
opposed to an engine defect.  Unfortunately he didn't have any documentation
of this, so lately I've been searching around the internet looking for any
information on this design defect. 

I'm hoping you can point me in the right direction to find either other
people that have had this problem, or somewhere where I can find
documentation of this problem.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Keith