The very first time I saw the brand new Focus sedan at the local autoshow a while ago I was very surprised and impressed by tightness of the body (very small and uniform body panel gaps). However my hatchback has very obvious faults in this department. For example the driver door fits not as flush as the passenger one. And there is an abnormally big gap between the front fender and the passenger door. This sloppiness is specific to my car only. At the same time I noticed that about every Focus ZX3 has huge gaps between the the back door (hatch) and surrounding panels. In comparison all of the Hyundai or Daewoo hatches have very small gaps in that area, not mentioning the Civic hatch. Comments?
silver bullet is correct on his report of the rear wheel assembly. i saw the dealers paperwork on recall from ford,.there is an exploded-view print of the assembly and mod t hey are going to install a redundant nut as a safety proceedure . there was a design change to the assembly. i still maintain,as i have for many months that most of these problems are related to outsourcing. hey vadp- you know some get it and most dont. im with you,man.
I've looked at lots of ZX3s, and have noticed quite a range of variation on panel fit. My car (built in 12/99) has very good panel fit, and all doors, hatch, and hood open, close, and fit properly. In contrast, my fiancee's ZX3 (built in 03/00) is a mishmash of uneven fits. It's hatch and hood don't latch on the first try, either. Whether by design, or because of inconsistent assembly quality at Hermosillo, Ford has a lot to learn in this department - maybe it's because they would REALLY rather be a truck builder!
Which is basicaly they are. And building the Focus in the U.S. for them = just earning CAFE credit in order to be able to build even more of profitable gas guzzlers? Truly, follow the money.
zgrrl - the article i read does not state what build dates are affected. it says that ford is voluntarily recalling 351,102 model yr.2000. owners are asked to upgrade their vehicles to meet new federal standards for protecting passengers against head injuries.dealers will install new a- pillar trim panels with new energy-absorbing material.owners of 33,225 cars are being asked to return than to inspect the cruise control cable. ford has received 12 reports of accelerators sticking to the floor. owners of 260,390 vehicles will have rear assemblies inspected.ford has received reports of brake drum assemblies separating when the hub retaining nut that secures the rear wheel bearings became loose. in the article,theres this so called industry analyst who states"as long as ford handles the recall properly with owners,by the end of the week it will be completely forgotten.think again!
i also was originally told by ford rep via a phone call that my vehicle was not affected.i didnt be- lieve him so i e-mailed ford at the owners connection site. sure enough 3 days later i get an e-mail confirming the recall. i then called ford again after e-mail not mentioning that i just received it and asked to have my vin checked for a recall.within a minute they confirm what e-mail had stated.i brought this up to rep,they said when i originally called that there was a glitch in their system,there fore i was given the wrong info.who are you going to believe, your own ears or eyes?
feelings are neither right or wrong they just are. i support everyones right to express their views . if you have been following this forum,those who have been critical lately,including myself have also poured praise on the focus as well.in fact, the civic vs. focus forum was shut down because of the heated exchanges defending each others choice of vehicle.the honda guys did forewarn us about ford build quality.i have to concede that point at this time.you cant argue the facts.that was their main beef and they were right.personally,i was glad to see that former import buyers were won over by the z.i truly thought that ford had turned the corner in building a first-class,affordable,reliable vehicle.ive owned numerous ford vehicles,i always believed ford offered a lot of vehicle in a given price point.most of my experiences with thier products have been pleasant.however, i am sorely disappointed about the current situation involving the focus.i had serious reservations about it being built in mexico,and i still do.i took a chance and my previous doubts have borne out.my initial reaction and gut feeling is to trade it when the recall work is completed.although i have soured on ford, i am still fond of the z.its that old feelings thing again.
Fit and finish is fine on my Dec built ZX3. Made appointment for recall on wheel bearings (ten days).
I don't plan on trading mine in the near future. (At least for as long as the extended warranty). I'm sorry to hear about the problems some of you other guys are having. It's good to hear all sides, though. And the posts are for the most part intelligently expressed. That's why I've been coming back.
How long has the focus beenon sale in the US. we ahve had the focus in the UK for 2 years now and although there have been some recalls we have not had as many as you guys in the US. the build quality of the car is also very good, much better than previous fords. our car is built in germany and that may have a lot to do with the good build quality. But remember that all manufacturers have recalls. Mercedes Benz make some of the finest engineered cars availabe yet their A class was recalled due to a fundemental flaw, it fell over when it went round a corner!!! So they all get it wrong at some point.
Just out of interest are ford going to recall the Excursion?... to give it a hot wash and make it smaller?
An update: I went to my first ford dealer yesterday to negotiate a new focus. Saleperson told me that Holdback was "non-negotiable". Hmmmm.... I walked. Will try another dealer today. In defense of dealer, tho, I figured out price based on 3% over invoice vs. splitting invoice/msrp and came out only a few hundred bucks difference. will keep you all posted.
In 99% of the cases the fact that the car is being ordered from the factory doesn't affect the holdback negotiations. Cobie, don't try to complicate your life. Just shoot for invoice or $100 over which is still a great deal. Bring the holdback information to the table only in case when the dealer is trying to convince you that he doesn't make any money with your offer. And again it's next to impossible to make the dealer to share the holdback unless the situation is super special and the dealer is just dying to make a sell.
Exactly my point. Focus is not a problem - the overall attitude towards smaller cars in the USA still IS A PROBLEM. Production quality is worse than in Europe and in the States to make a small car a success (with all this prejudice) it would need to be perfect. And it is not which is pretty normal. My bet would be than , say the new version of MINI would also be heavily ridiculed in the USA. Anyway, I still love my Mexico built Zx3 although I should have probably bought a European made 5 door hatch before I came here.
"Ford Motor Co.is asking suppliers to boost 2001 cost-cutting targets 50% above the 2000 targets. The request came in a letter to suppliers. The total percentage of the cost reductions varies by supplier, but 2000 targets ranged from 3% to 6% This means the requirement jumps as high as 9% for some. Suppliers were to submit their plans to Ford on Friday, Oct.6. "What they're asking is unreasonable," said a sales executive for one supplier who asked not to be identified. "Unless someone blinks, I don't think they'll get it from (segments of the supplier community). It's a ruthless industry." At the heart of the issue for many suppliers is Ford's recent financial performance. "What makes me so mad is that they're making record profits," said another supplier who asked not to be named. "How can they come to us and claim that we're partners and do this?" Ford earned $7.23 billion in 1999 on revenue of $163 billion. Third-quarter earnings will be reported Wednesday, Oct. 18. Ford said this is the second year it has sent out a letter asking for reductions. "This is just the start of the process," said Frank Sopata, Ford spokesman. "We're going to work with these suppliers. This is all part of doing business and remaining competitive." Some suppliers are resolute about not capitulating, while others already have started seeking ways to spread the pain. Budd Co. asked its suppliers for cost reductions of about 3%. "Your cooperation positions our respective companies to continue to do business in future years," the letter from Budd states. "Another rejection absolutely places our long-term relationship at risk. We await your response." "It's classic hardball right now," said David Cole, director of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan. "It's not and enduring kind of thing. This kind of process can't last. It will get to a point, and we have a lot of people (that are close), where they will go out of business.""
I wonder if Ford is asking them to improve quality at the same time. I don't think that quality will be the first priority for the supplying company desperately struggling to stay afloat.
anyway, does anyone know if the fog light housing is removable. My bulb shattered in the lens and the glass is at the bottom I would like to remove the shards but am not sure if the lens is removable. Any insight? I suppose I'll have the service reps fix it when they fix the recall. Oh by the way a friend bought a 2000 neon at the begining of this year and it's been in the shop quite frequently. Neons have been on the market for years, yet he is having problems with his brand new one. I think there is a problem with the whole automobile industry that needs to be addressed. Engineers can make ships to send people into outer space yet can't make a car that is free of problems. It's a consperiency I tell ya. I have my share of problems but am thankful that I have a car to take me where I want to go every day. I wonder if I had never had the accident would I have had the problems I have had?
The following article states that the Focus sedans and wagons have much better aerodynamics than the ZX3. Which is very strange. I always thought that the hatchback body style is supposed to be the slickest of them. Any thoughts?
It is easy to see what might happen on the left side of the car if this nut was not torqued properly - normal forward wheel rotation would have the effect of "unscrewing" [...]
So why don't they use a reverse thread on the left side? Even a garden-variety bicycle does this. (I know, I know - it saves a part duplication. Much better to have the wheel come off
Cars with "knock off" style, center lock wire wheels (like the classic British sportscars of my younger days) do exactly this - they use right-hand thread on the left side of the car, and left-hand thread on the right side of the car for the wheel retainers. That way, forward motion has the effect of tightening, rather than loosening them. For once, the Brits did something smart ;-)
Who knows - maybe Ford doesn't trust their service departments to check for thread type before cranking away... either that, or they wanted to save a few cents by making all the nuts the same.
My moderately uniformed guess is that the ZX3 is too "chopped off" at the rear, relative to its height to garner a better coefficient - I recall several concept designs from 15-20 years ago that improved their coefficient by gradually sloping and extending the last third of the vehicle.
Thanks for the link - I had heard the ZX3 had a worse drag coefficient than the sedan - but had never seen any actual numbers - I'm surprised by the differential.
It seems that Ford decided to unload a bunch of recalls all at once since it's already in a deep s***. By doing this FoMoCo is trying not to spread them over time and reinvent itself in the near future as a Quality oriented company once again. (ye, right).
The Cd for the ZX3 still doesn't look right to me. Especially when the author calls the ZX3 "the 3-door sedan". What was he According the folowing article a hatchback (fastback) should have better air flow than a sedan.
The other night I was watching "Building Big" on PBS here in the US. The episode was on the design and construction of skyscrapers.
One segment of the show involved the 59 story Citicorp Center in New York City. This building has an unusual design due to the fact that it shares it's lot with another building. Citicorp center is built on four legs that are in the center of the tower's four walls. It looks really strange, like it could fall down.
After it was built the architect had a call from a high school student asking just why it didn't fall. The answer was that the building has cross supports that actually transfer the building's weight to the four legs.
But the call got the architect thinking. It seems that during construction a cost cutting decision was made to bolt those cross supports together rather then welding them as the original design called for. A few calculations revealed that a good storm, of the type that New York sees perhaps every 16 years, would (not could - would) cause the 915 foot tall building to fall down! It would take out entire city blocks and kill thousands if this happened. And it was very likely to happen.
An emergency plan was put in place to reinforce the building. Welders were called in from all over the northeast. Lot of money was spent to fix this cost cutting.
There was a mad race as a hurricane approached. The project couldn't have been done in time. Fortunately the storm went out to sea and the city was saved.
It took 20 years for the public to be notified of this near disaster.
So my point? S*** happens. Be glad it's only a wheel nut.
it sure is relevant.its been 24yrs.since the ex- ploding ford pinto.be glad its only a fuel tank. are you kidding?ive never forgotten the firestone 500 tires from the late 70's.be glad its only a nut,sounds a little screwy!the consumer gets the shaft once again.
Unlike the retaining nut on the wheel bearing/hub assembly, conventional lug nuts holding the wheel to the hub aren't subjected to the same type of rotational force - they aren't mounted axially to the force of rotation.
Quick question, has anyone applied the 3M Stoneguard film to the front of their car? I will be moving to FL in feb. and was wondering if it will yellow up in the heat after a while. Also is it safe to assume that ventvisors for the 2000 will also fit the 2001, since they are the same car? Final question of the day, has anyone applied the Scotchguard uphlostery protector, bought some last night at Super Trak and am hoping that this stuff will really work? Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.
zgrrrl, in the US the governor doesn't allow to go faster than 106-108 mph.(cuts fuel) At those speeds the car feels as stable and sure tracking as at 70 mph.
I now it's not safe but I've driven my baby as fast as 85. Very smooth. I think the car has good handling and pick up at higher speeds. That's just me. I drive everyday on the Garden State Parkway in NJ and to go any less than 70 is a crime to other motorists.
A while ago you reported lots of problems with your brakes. How are the things going now? My front brakes are holding up quite well. (no warping or strange noises after 9000 miles). The rear ones started to squeal after I hit the 6000 mile mark. The dealer changed the brake shoes. It helped, but just for 1000 miles. Now it squeals even worse than the original set.
Unfortunately Ford decided not to bring it to the US shores. But anything is possible. European design school produces truly outstanding looking cars. Too bad that reliability is still trailing the Japanese standards.
It seems that Honda uses this grade for its '01 Civic too. With the high volume models like the Focus and the Civic the 5w20 grade should become wildly available pretty soon.
Well, they seem to be fine for now. The front brakes rarely squeak but I fully expect warped rotors in the next 3,000 miles ( which is about the next month/month and a half for me)...We'll see.
Not much noise from the rear brakes, altho I parallel park almost every nite and when I back up I notice a CLUNK noise when I brake...is this a bearing issue?
No, unless it's really loose and the wheel is ready to come off. Which is easy to check by rocking the wheels side to side. The drivetrain in general is notorious for making clunking noises.
From what I have found on the web about the 3-M stuff, it isn't suppose to. Should be real good for the "love bugs" down there. But watch it closely as their acid does a job on even good paints. I posted a address for it quite a while back on the focus aftermarket/accessories town hall conference. Sounds like a real good product, but very pricey.
i have now had my focus in 7 times for a problem i have been having- the allignment. the car has not held the steering wheel centered.... in the state of WI after 4 tries you can try the "lemon law" route.
Here are my ?s-
1.) do i claim it a lemon and have it replaced...
2.) has anyone else had to deal with Ford's "Dispute Settlement Board"? what was the outcome? experience? etc... it is worth it basically?
i would love to hear some info from other who have had problems. feel free to e-mail me or for benefit of all post here. i LOVE my car and i do believe this is the best car in this price range feature for feature.... but this gets frustrating.between this and 3 of the 4 recalls i have seen enough of the service dept.
Sorry about all the woes you Focii owners are going through. Maybe just an aberation, but I doubt it. Ford has been manufacturing crap for a long time. Sometimes they come out with a good product, but the majority of times, NOT. Had a 90 Sable with just 70k miles, 3.8l engine and guess what, blown head gasket. Just lucky the POS transmission they put in those cars didn't go first.
I would suggest you to e-mail Kevin Kulig at Kkulig@aol.com with the request of his Lemon Law article.(He will want to know what version of the word processor you're using). He had some experiences using the Wisconsin Lemon Law against Chrysler. He will e-mail you back the copy of that article. Good Luck and please keep us posted.
Wow, must be conservitives in here... 80mph is the average speed in the fast lane, and sometimes 85. I got up to 80 when I test drove the ZX3! (when I test drive, I TEST the drive!) and it was very nice and smooth, felt like you were going 65.
Find some 1 lane straight road somewhere and break 100 people!
I'm not sure where I heard it but it surprised me. But I'm not sure if it is true, please help me his up. Okay, I heard that the front seats of the ZX3 can't be folded down for easy entrance to the back seats. Is that true? If it is, is hard to get in and out from the back seats. I've driven the 4-door SE but I would rather have a ZX3 but I haven't tried it yet. Please help. This may make or break my decision. Oh, and I wasn't if you could get power windows.
Not true. You slide front seat forward and fold seat back forward. Lots of room.
The thing is that Ford had a one step EZ in/out seat available on the Escort and Festiva a couple of years back and they did not adapt it to the Focus. Must be they forgot about it, or the pencil pushers said it was cheaper for us to do it ourselves.
thanks pcleveland2, but thats both seats right? not just one side correct? I don't know I'm getting really confused. I just read a review form carpoint.com and it said it didn't do that.
I drove to Orlando from West Palm Beach once with my Z on Florida's Turnpike and I caught myself doing 100mph. I normaly do about 75-80 mph on the turnpike the limit it 70mph. My Z felt so smooth that I didn't notice that I was doing 100, once I realized it, I quickly dropped my speed. The only thing that I found was that the plastic "box", behind the grill near the fog lights that channels the air to the engine, came apart, it is basicly four flaps that tab together ("tab A into slot B") and the air pressure forced it apart. Someone a while back suggested that i drill small holes and screw them together with some hardware. It is a good idea but I haven't done it.
I have a question that will require inspection of your car if someone will please answer for me. It is in regard to the "felt" lining in the rear wheel wells. I notice that the "felt" in the passenger side well of my Z is pulling away from the fender. Now when my car was being repaired from the accident, the body shop removed the plastic skirts from the side panels. I noticed on the other side of my car that the "felt" attaches to the plastic skirt on the sides. Follow me so far? Now there are these holes in the plastic piece attached to the "felt" and there is a similar hole at the end of the side skirts. My question is, on your car, is there a screw or something threaded through these holes that attach the "felt" piece to the skirt? I believe the "felt" piece is coming out on my car because the body shop never reattached it to the skirt. Upon inspection of the drivers side, it looks like it is attached better and looks like there is a small mud flap looking piece of plastic that isn't present on the passenger side. Sorry to be so elaborate, thanks for any help.
Like any two door car. Seat backs has release to flip it forward, both drivers and passengers seat(there are two releases for seat backs, one to adjust angle and one for flipping it forward). Plus you use the seat slider release to slide seat forward giving you more room. There is no automatic memory return as in the EZ in/out system. Not having the EZ in/out system is the big complaint. Haven't read carpoint's review, but I think that is probably their complaint. Will have to read it as I hate to put words in their mouth.
Read the review and I don't get it. He complains that the doors don't open far enough. If they opened any farther you could not reach them while sitting in the seat. They may not be long enough, like the two door car doors were long in the '60s. I think they are fine, and comparable to any car in the class. If you want a car that is easy to get into rear seats buy a car with rear passenger doors, a four door. It's all a matter of how often you plan on hauling people around and how old are the people. Older people would have a hard time getting into the back seats of a ZX3. I really would like to see the 4 door hatch, but don't know if I would like it.
Comments
However my hatchback has very obvious faults in this department. For example the driver door fits not as flush as the passenger one. And there is an abnormally big gap between the front fender and the passenger door. This sloppiness is specific to my car only.
At the same time I noticed that about every Focus ZX3 has huge gaps between the the back door (hatch) and surrounding panels. In comparison all of the Hyundai or Daewoo hatches have very small gaps in that area, not mentioning the Civic hatch.
Comments?
wheel assembly. i saw the dealers paperwork
on recall from ford,.there is an exploded-view
print of the assembly and mod t
hey are going to install a redundant nut as a safety proceedure . there was a design change to the assembly.
i still maintain,as i have for many months that
most of these problems are related to outsourcing.
hey vadp- you know some get it and most dont. im with you,man.
And building the Focus in the U.S. for them = just
earning CAFE credit in order to be able to build even more of profitable gas guzzlers? Truly, follow the money.
build dates are affected. it says that ford is
voluntarily recalling 351,102 model yr.2000.
owners are asked to upgrade their vehicles to meet
new federal standards for protecting passengers against head injuries.dealers will install new a-
pillar trim panels with new energy-absorbing material.owners of 33,225 cars are being asked to return than to inspect the cruise control cable.
ford has received 12 reports of accelerators sticking to the floor. owners of 260,390 vehicles
will have rear assemblies inspected.ford has received reports of brake drum assemblies separating when the hub retaining nut that secures
the rear wheel bearings became loose.
in the article,theres this so called industry analyst who states"as long as ford handles the recall properly with owners,by the end of the week it will be completely forgotten.think again!
lieve him so i e-mailed ford at the owners connection site. sure enough 3 days later i get an e-mail confirming the recall. i then called ford again after e-mail not mentioning that i just received it and asked to have my vin checked for a recall.within a minute they confirm what e-mail
had stated.i brought this up to rep,they said when i originally called that there was a glitch in their system,there fore i was given the wrong info.who are you going to believe, your own ears or eyes?
i support everyones right to express their views .
if you have been following this forum,those who have been critical lately,including myself have also poured praise on the focus as well.in fact,
the civic vs. focus forum was shut down because of
the heated exchanges defending each others choice
of vehicle.the honda guys did forewarn us about ford build quality.i have to concede that point at this
time.you cant argue the facts.that was their main beef and they were right.personally,i was glad to
see that former import buyers were won over by the z.i truly thought that ford had turned the corner
in building a first-class,affordable,reliable vehicle.ive owned numerous ford vehicles,i always believed ford offered a lot of vehicle in a given price point.most of my experiences with thier products have been pleasant.however, i am sorely disappointed about the current situation involving
the focus.i had serious reservations about it being built in mexico,and i still do.i took a chance and my previous doubts have borne out.my initial reaction and gut feeling is to trade it when the recall work is completed.although i have soured on ford, i am still fond of the z.its that old feelings thing again.
I don't plan on trading mine in the near future. (At least for as long as the extended warranty). I'm sorry to hear about the problems some of you other guys are having. It's good to hear all sides, though. And the posts are for the most part intelligently expressed. That's why I've been coming back.
Charlie
Just out of interest are ford going to recall the Excursion?... to give it a hot wash and make it smaller?
I went to my first ford dealer yesterday to negotiate a new focus. Saleperson told me that Holdback was "non-negotiable". Hmmmm.... I walked. Will try another dealer today.
In defense of dealer, tho, I figured out price based on 3% over invoice vs. splitting invoice/msrp and came out only a few hundred bucks difference. will keep you all posted.
Cobie, don't try to complicate your life.
Just shoot for invoice or $100 over which is still a great deal. Bring the holdback information to the table only in case when the dealer is trying to convince you that he doesn't make any money
with your offer.
And again it's next to impossible to make the dealer to share the holdback unless the situation is super special and the dealer is just dying to make a sell.
Anyway, I still love my Mexico built Zx3 although I should have probably bought a European made 5 door hatch before I came here.
The request came in a letter to suppliers.
The total percentage of the cost reductions varies by supplier, but 2000 targets ranged from 3% to 6%
This means the requirement jumps as high as 9% for some. Suppliers were to submit their plans to Ford on Friday, Oct.6.
"What they're asking is unreasonable," said a sales executive for one supplier who asked not to be identified. "Unless someone blinks, I don't think they'll get it from (segments of the supplier community). It's a ruthless industry."
At the heart of the issue for many suppliers is Ford's recent financial performance. "What makes me so mad is that they're making record profits," said another supplier who asked not to be named. "How can they come to us and claim that we're partners and do this?"
Ford earned $7.23 billion in 1999 on revenue of $163 billion. Third-quarter earnings will be reported Wednesday, Oct. 18.
Ford said this is the second year it has sent out a letter asking for reductions. "This is just the start of the process," said Frank Sopata, Ford spokesman. "We're going to work with these suppliers. This is all part of doing business and remaining competitive."
Some suppliers are resolute about not capitulating, while others already have started seeking ways to spread the pain. Budd Co. asked its suppliers for cost reductions of about 3%.
"Your cooperation positions our respective companies to continue to do business in future years," the letter from Budd states. "Another rejection absolutely places our long-term relationship at risk. We await your response."
"It's classic hardball right now," said David Cole, director of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan. "It's not and enduring kind of thing. This kind of process can't last. It will get to a point, and we have a lot of people (that are close), where they will go out of business.""
I wonder if Ford is asking them to improve quality at the same time. I don't think that quality will be the first priority for the supplying company desperately struggling to stay afloat.
and wagons have much better aerodynamics than the ZX3. Which is very strange. I always thought that the hatchback body style is supposed to be the slickest of them. Any thoughts?
http://carpoint.msn.com/vip/Heraud/Ford/Focus/2000O.asp
So why don't they use a reverse thread on the left side? Even a garden-variety bicycle does this. (I know, I know - it saves a part duplication. Much better to have the wheel come off
Who knows - maybe Ford doesn't trust their service departments to check for thread type before cranking away... either that, or they wanted to save a few cents by making all the nuts the same.
My moderately uniformed guess is that the ZX3 is too "chopped off" at the rear, relative to its height to garner a better coefficient - I recall several concept designs from 15-20 years ago that improved their coefficient by gradually sloping and extending the last third of the vehicle.
Thanks for the link - I had heard the ZX3 had a worse drag coefficient than the sedan - but had never seen any actual numbers - I'm surprised by the differential.
I think it's a matter of a couple not being torqued to specs, and Ford isn't taking any chances due to other in house problems. i.e. tires.
s***. By doing this FoMoCo is trying not to spread them over time and reinvent itself in the near future as a Quality oriented company once again. (ye, right).
Especially when the author calls the ZX3 "the 3-door sedan". What was he
According the folowing article a hatchback (fastback) should have better air flow than a sedan.
http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/lancia/58/technical_school/aero/tech_aero.htm
One segment of the show involved the 59 story Citicorp Center in New York City. This building has an unusual design due to the fact that it shares it's lot with another building. Citicorp center is built on four legs that are in the center of the tower's four walls. It looks really strange, like it could fall down.
After it was built the architect had a call from a high school student asking just why it didn't fall. The answer was that the building has cross supports that actually transfer the building's weight to the four legs.
But the call got the architect thinking. It seems that during construction a cost cutting decision was made to bolt those cross supports together rather then welding them as the original design called for. A few calculations revealed that a good storm, of the type that New York sees perhaps every 16 years, would (not could - would) cause the 915 foot tall building to fall down! It would take out entire city blocks and kill thousands if this happened. And it was very likely to happen.
An emergency plan was put in place to reinforce the building. Welders were called in from all over the northeast. Lot of money was spent to fix this cost cutting.
There was a mad race as a hurricane approached. The project couldn't have been done in time. Fortunately the storm went out to sea and the city was saved.
It took 20 years for the public to be notified of this near disaster.
So my point? S*** happens. Be glad it's only a wheel nut.
See the PBS story on the web;
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/citicorp.html
ploding ford pinto.be glad its only a fuel tank.
are you kidding?ive never forgotten the firestone 500 tires from the late 70's.be glad its only a nut,sounds a little screwy!the consumer gets the shaft once again.
What's the fastest y'all have driven in your Z? How's the ride at top speed, eh?
http://www.fordracing.net/focusrs/focusrs.html
zgrrrl,
in the US the governor doesn't allow to go faster than 106-108 mph.(cuts fuel)
At those speeds the car feels as stable and sure tracking as at 70 mph.
You're just a ray of sunshine.
How are the things going now?
My front brakes are holding up quite well. (no warping or strange noises after 9000 miles).
The rear ones started to squeal after I hit the 6000 mile mark. The dealer changed the brake shoes.
It helped, but just for 1000 miles. Now it squeals even worse than the original set.
http://www.days.co.uk/mondeo.zip
It does look very sexy
http://www.days.co.uk/newveh/newmondeo.htm
Unfortunately Ford decided not to bring it to the US shores. But anything is possible.
European design school produces truly outstanding looking cars. Too bad that reliability is still trailing the Japanese standards.
Civic too.
With the high volume models like the Focus and the
Civic the 5w20 grade should become wildly available pretty soon.
Not much noise from the rear brakes, altho I parallel park almost every nite and when I back up I notice a CLUNK noise when I brake...is this a bearing issue?
Which is easy to check by rocking the wheels side to side.
The drivetrain in general is notorious for making clunking noises.
They don't have anything on the front windshild/door pillar fix yet. The only thing they know is what they read in paper. Oh well.
Silver bullet: got it.
Drebe73: did you find what you needed.
Pat
Pat
Here are my ?s-
1.) do i claim it a lemon and have it replaced...
2.) has anyone else had to deal with Ford's "Dispute Settlement Board"? what was the outcome? experience? etc... it is worth it basically?
i would love to hear some info from other who have had problems. feel free to e-mail me or for benefit of all post here. i LOVE my car and i do believe this is the best car in this price range feature for feature.... but this gets frustrating.between this and 3 of the 4 recalls i have seen enough of the service dept.
at Kkulig@aol.com with the request of his Lemon Law article.(He will want to know what version of the word processor you're using).
He had some experiences using the Wisconsin Lemon Law against Chrysler.
He will e-mail you back the copy of that article.
Good Luck and please keep us posted.
Find some 1 lane straight road somewhere and break 100 people!
THANKS
The thing is that Ford had a one step EZ in/out seat available on the Escort and Festiva a couple of years back and they did not adapt it to the Focus. Must be they forgot about it, or the pencil pushers said it was cheaper for us to do it ourselves.
Pat
I have a question that will require inspection of your car if someone will please answer for me. It is in regard to the "felt" lining in the rear wheel wells. I notice that the "felt" in the passenger side well of my Z is pulling away from the fender. Now when my car was being repaired from the accident, the body shop removed the plastic skirts from the side panels. I noticed on the other side of my car that the "felt" attaches to the plastic skirt on the sides. Follow me so far? Now there are these holes in the plastic piece attached to the "felt" and there is a similar hole at the end of the side skirts. My question is, on your car, is there a screw or something threaded through these holes that attach the "felt" piece to the skirt? I believe the "felt" piece is coming out on my car because the body shop never reattached it to the skirt. Upon inspection of the drivers side, it looks like it is attached better and looks like there is a small mud flap looking piece of plastic that isn't present on the passenger side. Sorry to be so elaborate, thanks for any help.
Pat
Pat