Faults:

When I bought it the dash light did not work, but the dealer fixed it for free.

The original battery lasted until I hit 134000km.

Great on gas.

Cheap on insurance.

Automatic seat-belts took some time to get used to.

The locks freeze up pretty quick on a cold day.

General Comments:

My mom has a 1997 LX and she loves it too. Never a problem.

Faults:

Everything. When I bought the car from a Ford Dealer (Laidlaw in Bexley, who are losers), it had:

Broken steering rack.

Dashboard lights did not work.

Paint was a different colour where it was involved in a rear end shunt (I later got accused by Ford of parking the car in direct sunlight, how poor can you get!)

The rear windscreen wiper never worked.

Rear heater didn't work.

Speedo needle rattled as I accelerated.

The biggest scratch across the bonnet (after it had been resprayed by them) and much more of which I can't remember.

I got all the parts fixed by Ford, but it took a total of two years before everything was fixed.

In May this year, I noticed rust around the rear offside wheel arch and where the spoiler meets the tailgate, Swales in Sittingbourne fixed this under the warranty, but it took them three weeks to fix (and no courtesy car in the meantime). It had to go back to them again because water was leaking where they had welded on a new quarter panel.

Every service I have had done by Ford (I wanted to keep the Full Ford Service History), each service has cost me over £250.

Laidlaw said that I had a serious oil leak, of which they would charge me £200 to investigate (no work, just to look). I left it because I could not afford to pay that. The next service, there was no sign of a major oil leak.

I had a service carried out last Monday, which cost me £285 (parts £50, labour £215, rest VAT), it needed new driveshaft rubbers and something done to the power steering pump. I was informed that the rest of the car was OK. Took the car for an MOT later, and it failed on the back brakes. Ford had not even bothered to examine the brakes when the car was in for a service. I took it back to them, where they tightened up one side, because one drum was not braking at all. Went back to the MOT centre, who stripped the brakes and have done it properly for me.

General Comments:

If it wasn't for the fact I bought this car on finance over 4 years, I wish that I could just sell it and start again. The amount the car is worth does not even cover what I owe on it (negative equity). This has put me off Fords completely. My old car was a 1988 Escort 1.6 LX, and the only problem I had was that it was rusty. Ford main dealers are the most unhelpful, sarcastic people I have ever met. I think my next vehicle should be a motorbike!