In 2004, prior to moving back to the U.S. from our assignment in Japan, we bought a 2005 Ford Focus ZX5 SE through the Overseas Car Sales program.  They had one sitting out in front of the base exchange, and we really liked it.  So, we pulled the trigger and made the purchase.  This car has literally been all over the country.  We’ve driven it from Nebraska to Kansas, Nebraska to Colorado, Nebraska to Wyoming, Nebraska to Florida (twice!), and it’s been from Florida to Tennessee and back.  The car gets GREAT gas mileage and has been extremely reliable for the almost six years we’ve owned it.  The only problem we’ve had with it began just over two years ago with the front suspension, when the car had around 55,000 miles on it.  Incidentally, that is where my issue is with Ford.

I took the car into the dealership in July of 2008 for my regular maintenance.  I’ve followed Ford’s guide to servicing my car from the very beginning.  However, this time, I spoke to the technicians about a creaking and popping noise I had coming from the front end.  They assured me they’d check it out and let me know what they found.  It turns out, they couldn’t replicate the issue.  Then, in October of 2008, we went to the races at Kansas Speedway.  When coming out of the parking lot, the front end was creaking like crazy when going over the uneven ground in the unpaved parking lot.  So, when I took the car in for the next checkup in December of that year, I again asked the guys to check the front end and explained to them what we had experienced.  Again, they told me they were unable to find anything wrong.  I managed to put up with it until September of 2009, reminding them each time that the front end was making noises, when I found information that led me to believe that either my struts were going bad or my sway bar end links needed replaced.  I then took a look at my ExtraCARE Extended Service Plan I had purchased when we bought the car and discovered everything was covered.  I went back into the dealership specifically to have them give it a thorough check, especially since I was nearing the end of my warranty.  They came back and said they couldn’t find anything wrong, but put some plastic shims in the struts to alleviate the issue.  I returned in February of 2010, prior to moving to Florida, for regular service and again asked them to check out the front end.  Again, nothing wrong.

Upon arriving in Florida, I called the local dealership and explained my problem.  The technician said it sounded a lot like the sway bar end links.  I told him that my warranty had since expired, but the dealership in Iowa could never find anything wrong with the car, nor could they ever seem to hear the creaking and popping.  He told me to gather the paperwork and he would try getting Ford to cover it under warranty, since I’d been having the issue for about 25,000 miles and it began while I was still in warranty.  Their diagnosis of my car was the end links were fine, but the struts definitely needed replaced.  Unfortunately, Ford would not honor warranty service, since I was out of warranty now, but the dealership would, as an act of good faith, cover 50% of the cost.  This would leave me with a bill of $446.  At first, I told them to go ahead with the repairs, but went back the next morning and picked up my car.  I just simply can’t afford that much right now.  I also began to question why I should be paying for this!  So, I wrote some letters.

I wrote a letter to Ford explaining all of this in the same detail I have here.  I also provided them with copies of my service records from 55,000, 60,000, and 65,000 miles to show them that this was a constant problem that was NEVER resolved prior to the expiration of my 75,000 mile warranty.  I also sent copies to the Federal Trade Commission, the Iowa Attorney General, and the Florida Attorney General.  I had sent Ford an email prior to sending the letters, providing them the issues on my matter.  I have since heard from them and they want more information.   This could be a good sign, but I don’t really know for sure.  The one thing I do know is that this while issue started nearly 30,000 miles ago while I had an extended warranty and NO technicians felt obligated to resolve it for me.  Now I either want Ford to fix it under warranty or refund me the $899 I paid for my warranty, since their technicians felt no obligation to allow me to use it in the first place!