While driving in heavy traffic on a hot day engine stalled. Would not start. After about 10 minutes on the side of the road, it started and would only rough idle. After a couple of hours came back and car started and ran fine. Did this once a couple years ago with wife driving.

- Roanoke, VA, USA

A/C: compressor clutch came apart exhaust: Due to heat and corrosion cat converter flange became so thin it was impossible to seal exhaust. Act converter replaced under 8/80 emmissions warranty. Paint: Cracks in paint developed above rear wheel (sheet metal flexing?) allowing moisture in causing corrosion and paint to lift. Front springs: Both front springs broke nearly puncturing the right front tire. No help from Ford. Seems they have a history of bad spring problems. 93 Taurus recall #98V-094, Windstar recall 01V-199, Contour recall 01V-255. They have extended the warranty on front springs for the 2000 Ford Focus for 10 years or 150,000 miles because of this problem. I didn't even know the springs were broken. Dealer brought it to my attention while in for A/C repair. Had the spring punctured the tire at highway speed the result could have been catastropic. I contacted Ford customer service and they offered no assistance other than to say if there was a future recall or satisfaction program I would be eligible for reimbursment. The cost of the repair is relativly inexpensive. It's the fact that they know there is a problem and are unwilling to address it that bothers me. Springs are not a maintance item. I have seen them lose tension and sag on older high mileage cars, but not brake. This is a safety issue.

- S. Glens Falls, NY, USA

The car has had problems starting from the day it was delivered. The problems began with flaking paint, misaligned hood, door and bumper due to poor quality control. These problems were fixed by dealer w/O charge, as was the head gasket failure. Repairs for muffler failure, sway bar linkage failure, air conditioner failure and starter motor failure were not covered by the manufacturer under any sort of recall. The most recent problem with the air conditioner and starter motor cost over $1200 to fix. The problem with the ignition system was intermittent. Some times the car would start and other times the starter would not engage at all. One time the engine simply died while driving down the road. Starter motor would not engage until engine cooled down and had been sitting for an hour or two. Then starter motor would work. Mechanic at dealership said the starter motor probably had "dead" areas in starter motor that may be causing intermittent failure. Air conditioner failure attributed to failure of "motor mounts" that caused rupture of multiple hoses in air conditioning unit. I've never had a vehicle with so many equipment failures with this type of mileage.

- Acton, MA, USA

The car has had problems starting from the day it was delivered. The problems began with flaking paint, misaligned hood, door and bumper due to poor quality control. These problems were fixed by dealer w/O charge, as was the head gasket failure. Repairs for muffler failure, sway bar linkage failure, air conditioner failure and starter motor failure were not covered by the manufacturer under any sort of recall. The most recent problem with the air conditioner and starter motor cost over $1200 to fix. The problem with the ignition system was intermittent. Some times the car would start and other times the starter would not engage at all. One time the engine simply died while driving down the road. Starter motor would not engage until engine cooled down and had been sitting for an hour or two. Then starter motor would work. Mechanic at dealership said the starter motor probably had "dead" areas in starter motor that may be causing intermittent failure. Air conditioner failure attributed to failure of "motor mounts" that caused rupture of multiple hoses in air conditioning unit. I've never had a vehicle with so many equipment failures with this type of mileage.

- Acton, MA, USA

Consumer stated the door panels and molding strip on all 4 doors of vehicle are coming off, this is the second reoccurrence, and the dealer has been notified. The problem is causing the doors not to shut properly.. also there was water coming out of the exhaust, which caused the muffler to rust.

- Mesa, AZ, USA

Car died in parking lot. After about 7 attempts, car started on its own. Car idled rough and was emitting white exhaust and on way home. Put car into park at each stop light to keep it from dying. Noticed a smell when got home. Thought at first a battery or alternator problem. Drove to dealer next day and they said that it was a faulty headgasket which blew the entire engine. Doing research on your website noticed quite a few of same complaints. A car this young with under 80,000 miles should not need entire engine replacement. Would appreciate so much if an investigation was conducted. We bought car 1 1/2 year ago for 10,000 and can't afford this hefty of a repair, and it should not have had this problem. But others have had it too so I think it is investigation worthy. On a few of the complaints there was an invest #1E98080 and recall #98M01kaa listed....can you tell me what this means. There are only 4 recalls under the model and type and this # was not listed. If an invest. Was done in '98 I think they need to do another now because a lot of complaints came from this year or last year. Manufacturer or dealer has not been very helpful and this is a very expensive repair for our new car. Can you tell me where to find info on that recall # a few of the complaints said Ford was aware of this, but no one has been helpful...thank you

- Wauwatosa, WI, USA

There was a very strong smell of gas fumes inside the car while driving. This is second or third time this has happened. Conditions under which this happened was speed 35-45, temp gauge on M in normal, outside temp approx 90, ac on max cooling, fan on hi, fuel warning light on, less than 1/8 tank of gas. Fumes were so strong I started getting dizzy and had to pull off road to air out vehicle.

- Lake Lure, NC, USA

No summary

- Hemet, CA, USA