[dburrast]

I got a call from ford on thursday. my new focus was labouring at low speeds because the transmission was in too high a gear. when the engine got hot there was a loud rattle(chatter) comming from the gearbox. i finally got the service manager to drive one for few days and he rang me agreeing that there was a problem and would take it up witht the ford reps. ford rang and said that the issues were a characteristic of the transmission when driven un der certain conditions and any part changes would have no effect. they are therefore not going to do anything about it. i told them to stick their cars up their buma nd everybody i speek to i will advise not to buy the heap of **** focus or any other ford. this is the third time ford have done this to me over the years. i am going to contact as many car mags as i can and tell them about what has been going on with this car and fords arrogance in not doing anything fix it by saying it is a characteristic.
i am also going to see what trade in i can get on the new cruze hatch.
i also asked whether ford australia read the forums and was told no they do not. there is also no way to get to management at ford you can only go through the customer relations dept. the dealers also have no power whats so ever.
ford have lost me for ever