2002 Ford Focus

I BOUGHT THE CAR ON OCT 29, 2002. SINCE DAY ONE THE CAR HAS CONSUMED WAY TOO MUCH GAS. IT IS OUTRAGEOUS! IT HAS BECOME A MORTGAGE PMT! MY CAR PMT IS $344 A MONTH I PAY THE SAME IN GAS A MONTH. I USE TO OWN A 1993 FORD ESCORT,STICK,4 CYC AND NEVER DID I EVER SPEND SO MUCH GAS. I AM 49 YRS OLD, DON?T SPEED, AND KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. I HAVE ALSO OWNED MANY STICK,4 CYL CARS AND NONE HAVE EVER SPEND SO MUCH GAS. THERE HAS GOT TO BE A PROBLEM WITH THE CAR IN THAT RESPECT. SECOND: A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME ON, EVER SINCE THEN, MY CAR WON'T START IN THE MORNINGS, AND WHEN IT HAS BEEN SITTING FOR A AWHILE. I HAVE BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE DEALER 4 TIMES ALREADY, THEY HAVE CHANGED THE FUEL PUMP 3 TIMES, STILL HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM, THIS LAST TIME IN WHICH I PICKED UP THE CAR YESTERDAY, NOV. 11, NOTHING WAS DONE! I ASK QUESTIONS BUT ALL I GET IS THERE IS NOTHING WRONG! BUT SOMETHING IS HAPPENING...NOWADAYS, EVERYTHING IS COMPUTERIZED, ONE THING GOES BAD AND IT AFFECTS THE ENTIRE CAR. SOMETHING IS NOT BEING CHECK, BUT I AM INFORMED, EVERYTHING IS BEING CHECKED! I HAVE HAD IT WITH THE CAR! WITH THE AMOUNT OF GAS THAT IS BEING CONSUMED & THE NOT STARTING JUST DON?T KNOW WHAT TO DO! THERE IS SOMETHING MAJORLY WRONG WITH THIS CAR! I CAN'T STAY THIS WAY, IT IS NOT FAIR, IT?S SO EXPENSIVE TO OWN A CAR NOWADAYS. THE STRESS OF BEING LEFT ANYWHERE, BEING LATE FOR WORK MOST OF THE TIME DUE TO THE CAR NOT STARTING. WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY? I WORK, LIVING PAY CHECK TO PAY CHECK, I AM HAVING WAY TOO MUCH STRESS & NOW I AM @ A POINT WHERE IT HAS EFFECTED MY WORK, POSSIBLY I WILL LOOSE MY JOB.

THERE IS A LINE THAT WENT STRAIGHT INTO THE ENGINE'S INTAKE THAT HAS BEEN LEAKING FLUID SINCE 2,000 MILES AND WAS INSPECTED BY DELER WHO TOLD TO ME THAT IT WAS NOTHING. BUT THE ENGINE CASE SHOULD NOT HAVE A LARGE LEAK OF FLUID THAT SOON. FINALLY NOW, THEY HAVE DONE SOMETHING ON THIS AND REPLACED THE HOSE, AS IT WAS SEEN ONCE MORE AND KNOWS OF ALL THE TIMES REPORTED. I HOPE THIS IS JUST NOT A EASY FIX OR THIS NOW HASN'T CAUSED ANY DAMANGE TO THE INSIDE OF THE ENGINE ITSELF, AS THE ENGINE HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP FOR RIDING ROUGH. THEY TOLD ME LAST TIME THAT THE PART OF THE TRANSMISSION THAT WAS FIXED WOULD FIX THIS. I THINK IT IS DUE TO THE OIL LEAK ON THE TOP OF THE ENGINE CASE SINCE IT WAS NEW. A NEW CAR SHOULD NEVER HAVE A OIL LEAK ON A ENGINE CASE.

PROBLEM I'M STILL HAVING AND WAS REPORTED TO DEALERSHIP IS CAR PULLS TO LEFT, ( NOT CORRECTED) BACK END OF CAR OR TIRES BOUNCE ON ROAD AND ESPECIALLY WHEN HITTING A BUMP, CANNOT STAY ON ROAD IN SLUSH OR SNOW, BACK END IS ALL OVER ROAD, ( NOTHING DONE) TIRES ARE COMPLETELY GROVED IN MANY SPOTS ON THE TIRES, CAUSED BY REAR END BOUNCING ON ROAD, FIRESTONE WON'T REPLACE THEY SAY IT IS FOCAS'S REAR END AND IT WEARS OUT THE TIRES, DEALER OR FORD WON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT REAR END OR TIRES, CAR VIBRATES BADLY, REAR DOORS BARLEY OPEN ARE SO STIFF, LOOKS LIKE DOOR LOCKS ARE COROADED NOTHING WAS DONE BY DEALERSHIP EVEN THOUGH THEY SAID THEY LUBRICATED, NOTHING IS ON THE LOCKS TO SHOW LUBRICATION OF LOCKS.

THE CAR IS A 2002 SVT FOCUS. THE ENGINE HAS A SEVERE MISS/SURGE UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. THE LAST TICKET ON THE VEHICLE STATES THAT THERE IS NO FIX AT THIS TIME. OCTOBER 27, 2003 UPDATE: THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP ON THIS MATTER. FORD PURCHASED THE VEHICLE BACK, REFUNDED ALL OF THE PAYMENTS MADE, AND COMPENSATED ME FOR ANY AFTERMARKET PARTS I HAD THE RECEIPT FOR. FORD WENT OUT OF ITS WAY TO MAKE ME HAPPY. THANK YOU.

ON NOVEMBER 9, 2002 WHILE DOING ERRANDS I NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM THE ENGINE AREA OF 2002 FORD FOCUS (5 MONTHS OLD). IT WAS A WET AND RAINY DAY AND THE WINDOWS WERE FOGGING-UP. I HAD TO ROLL THE WINDOWS DOWN TO DEFROST THE LIGHT MIST ON THE WINDOWS, AS THE DEFROST BUTTON WOULD NOT WORK. THE SMOKE BECAME SO THICK I DECIDED TO PULLED OVER AND CALL FOR FORD ROAD SERVICE. BY THE TIME I WAS GIVING THE REP. MY LOCATION PEOPLE WERE RUNNING FROM THIER HOMES TO MOVE THIER CARS. I TOLD THE REP. THE CAR IS ON FIRE. I HUNG-UP AND CALLED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED IN LESS THAN A MINUTE. I RAN BACK TO MY NEW CAR AND WATCHED AS IT BURNED. THE FIRE DEPARTEMENT SAID THE ENGINE FIRE WAS CAUSED BY AN ELECTRICAL SHORT. I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT I PULLED OVER JUST IN TIME. MY INSURANCE COMPANY HAS NOT BEEN HELPFUL. FORD ASSURED ME THAT THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING. I AM WAITING FOR FORD MOTOR TO TAKE CAR OF EVERYTHING. I TOLD THEM IN A FAX I SENT LAST WEEK THAT I WANT THAT "BLUE OVAL" SERVICE THEY CONSTANTLY TALK ABOUT - MAYBE SOMEDAY. THANKS, DENISE KEYES

HEATING/VENT PRODUCES A DISGUSTING SMELL. REPAIRS INDICATED OIL LEAK NEAR HEATER - UNKNOWN ORIGIN. SMELL ABATED BUT STILL IT PRODUCES ANNOYING SMELLS THAT REQUIRES WINDOWS TO BE KEPT OPEN. WILL HAVE TO GO BACK TO SELLING DEALERSHIP 4TH TIME FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. IS THERE A BETTER WAY AND ANOTHER SHOP IN CLEVELAND, OH THAT CAN MAKE AN INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE PROBLEM? THANKS.

I BOUGHT MY FORD FOCUS ZX5 ON OCTOBER OF 2002. A MONTH AFTER I HAD IT I TOOK IT THROUGH THE CAR WASH AND IT STALLED. EVER SINCE THEN I HAD HAVE PROBLEMS STARTING IT. I BROUGHT IT IN AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. ON JULY 21, 2003 CAR STALLED GOING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION WITH ON-COMING TRAFFIC, I GOT THE CAR TO START AND I BROUGHT IT IN TO THE DEALERSHIP AND AGAIN THEY CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. THEY REFERRED ME TO THE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BOARD. I FILLED OUT ALL THE INFORMATION AND SUBMITTED IT. ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2003 THE BOARD DECIDED THAT THEY DID NOT FIND A PROBLEM SO I HAD A FORD ENGINEER COME OUT. HE FINALLY CAME OUT IN OCTOBER AND SAID THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE IN THIS VEHICLE. I TRIED TO GET RID OF THIS VEHICLE BUT I OWE $10,000.00 MORE THAN IT IS WORTH. PLEASE HELP. I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.*AK

ENGINE STALLED AFTER I HAD DRIVEN TWO MILES WITH NO WARNING. I HAD JUST DOWN-SHIFTED INTO 2ND GEAR AS I WAS SLOWING TO MAKE A TURN AND THE CAR STALLED ACROSS TWO TRAFFIC LANES AND WOULD NOT RESTART. THE OIL LIGHT, BATTERY LIGHT, AND ONE OTHER LIGHT CAME ON (ALTERNATOR I THINK). THE CAR WAS MANUALLY PUSHED OUT OF TRAFFIC LANES IN NEUTRAL GEAR BY TWO MOTORISTS WHO STOPPED TO HELP. THEY WERE ALSO UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES THE ENGINE STARTED. I HAD THE CAR TOWED AND AFTER 5 DAYS THE DEALERSHIP STILL CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. APPARENTLY THE ONBOARD COMPUTER DID NOT CAPTURE THE PROBLEM. I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED BECAUSE THE CAR STALLED WITHOUT WARNING AT APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES AN HOUR. HAD I BEEN ON THE INTERSTATE AS SCHEDULED (I WAS RUNNING LATE AND HAD TO DROP MY DAUGHTER OFF BEFORE GOING HOME TO PICK UP MY LAPTOP) I WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE I HAD NO TIME TO MANEUVER OUT OF TRAFFIC AFTER THE ENGINE STALLED. IT WAS 75 DEGREE DAY (MONDAY 11/3/03) SO OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN A FACTOR. *LA