NHTSA Complaint #10020634 — 2002 FORD FOCUS

AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK MY CAR TAKES 2-5 TRIES TO START. AFTER IT STARTS, IT RUNS VERY ROUGH AND FEELS LIKE IT'S GOING TO STALL...SOMETIMES IT DOES IF I'M AT A LIGHT. I HAVE A STICK SHIFT AND THERE'S NO INDICATION ON THE IDLE THAT IT'S RUNNING LOW. MY CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP MORE THAN I'VE HAD IT FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS. FORD TELLS ME THEY HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANY COMPLAINTS LIKE THIS AND THE DEALERSHIP HAS TOLD FORD THEY CAN'T REPLICATE THE PROBLEM...EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE TOLD ME ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS THAT THEY HAVE. USUALLY THEY DON'T REPLACE ANYTHING BUT SO FAR THEY'VE REPLACED MY EGR VALVE, FUEL PUMP, AND GAS TANK. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN INCONSISTENT ON HOW THEY DOCUMENT THE TIME MY CAR'S BEEN IN THE SHOP AND WITH A ONE YEAR OLD AND A FOUR YEAR OLD...I CAN NO LONGER TAKE TIME TO GO TO THE SHOP...NOT TO MENTION LOSSED TIME AT WORK. I ACTUALLY LIKE MY CAR BUT I NEED IT TO START AND THEY OBVIOUSLY CAN'T FIX IT. THIS HAS BEEN A FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE AND WE WILL NO LONGER PURCHASE FORD VEHICLES BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF COOPERATION FROM BOTH THE DEALERSHIP AND FORD. WE'VE BOUGHT AN F-150, EXPLORER, AND THE FOCUS FROM THE SAME DEALERSHIP...I GUESS OUR MONEY WAS JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET FOR THEM AND IN THE LONG RUN CUSTOMER DON'T REALLY MATTER. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE CAR EXCEPT TO TRY FOR THE LEMON LAW...BUT SINCE THE DEALERSHIP HAS CHOSEN TO LIE AND SAY THEY CAN'T REPLICATE THE PROBLEM, WHO KNOWS HOW THAT WILL TURN OUT.