NHTSA Complaint #10059912 — 2000 FORD FOCUS

TOOK MY 2000 FORD FOCUS TO DEALER FOR 30,000 MILE SERVICE, AND TO HAVE THEM FIX WHATEVER WAS CAUSING THE ENGINE LIGHT TO BLINK AND THE CAR TO IDLE ROUGHLY, AND TO FIX THE PROBLEM WITH THE CAR ENGINE TURNING OFF WHILE DRIVING. THE SERVICE WAS DONE AND THE FUEL FILTER "RECALL" WOULD FIX THE ENGINE PROBLEM. WAS TOLD THE COMPUTER DID NOT REGISTER AN ERROR CODE AND THAT THE ROUGH IDLEENGINE LIGHT PROBLEM WAS LIKELY FIXED AS A RESULT OF THE FUEL FILTER REPLACEMENT. THE NEXT MORNING, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON AND THE CAR WAS STILL IDLING ROUGH. DROVE STRAIGHT TO THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT MY CAR HAD EXCESSIVE CARBON IN THE CYLINDER HEAD AND THAT THE CYLINDER HEAD MIGHT NEED TO BE REPLACED. THEY WOULD TRY TO CLEAN THE CARBON, WHICH THEY DID AND BILLED ME $205. DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY SUCH A PROBLEM WASN'T NOTICED THE DAY BEFORE WHEN I SPENT OVER $500. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THIS CAR HAS LESS THAN 30,000 MILES ON IT AND IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT NOT ONLY DO I POSSIBLY FACE HAVING AN EXPENSIVE CYLINDER HEAD REPAIR, BUT I HAVE ALREADY REPLACED THE FRONT PADS AND ROTORS (AT 25,000 MILES) AND HAVE HAD NUMEROUS RECALLS. I HAVE CONSISTENTLY FOLLOWED THE SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE PLAN AND AM CONCERNED THAT NOT ONLY IS THIS CAR DEFECTIVE, BUT THAT IT IS UNSAFE. WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ENSURE FOCUS OWNERS THAT THE CAR IS SAFE? IS THERE SOME WAY TO MAKE THIS CAR RELIABLE? IT HAS SOME REALLY GREAT FEATURES (LIKE THE INTERIOR ROOMINESS), BUT IT IS PROVING TO BE A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT.*AK