Ford Problems

Follow the placard on the car, the pressure shown on the tyre sidewall is the maximum inflation pressure it can withstand, it's got nothing to do with the pressure you should run on your car.

Your first port of call is to the mechanic who did the roadworthy. Show him the report from K-Mart and suggest that he should have observed these issues when he did the roadworthy check and they should have been fixed at that time. If he objects tell him you will report him to Vicroads, and follow through and report him if he refuses to help. If he has breached the law he could have his RWC licence revoked.

Check the warranty document first, then ask the insurance company to show the provision that states it only covers "common" failures. Sounds like BS to me.

You could contact Ford's customer assistance service and ask for their help, but I suspect the only way is the get the serial number from the DVD unit and give that to them as the dealer has suggested.

Keep the pressure on the dealer and Ford to come to a resolution. The company is responsible to ensure the car they have sold you is fit for purpose, and it sounds, on the surface at least, suggests that yours might not be. If you feel you have reached the end of your tether go to the consumer affairs people and seek their advice on taking action against Ford.

Getting 103,000 km out of a set of pads is quite remarkable, and probably due to the car being used in the bush without the stop-start traffic. It's quite normal today to be replacing pads every 50,000 km or so and replacing discs every second pad change. Country cars can be good buys because of the less stressful life they tend to lead. There is no replacement time set down for cat converters, when they go they tend to collapse internally, and when it happened to a car of mine a while back it
blocked the exhaust and brought the car to a halt.

It could be that the brakes are holding on, which was a known fault of the BA. Check the brake master cylinder and the power booster; it's most likely the booster that's causing the problem.

You should drive according to the conditions. If the going is flat it's ok to leave it in Drive, but pull it back into a lower gear in hilly terrain. If in doubt consult the owner's manual.

I'd say the transmission cooler failed in the old radiator and allowed coolant into the transmission. Replacing the radiator has fixed the coolant leak, but it sounds like it's too late for the transmission. Try a transmission service, you might be lucky, if that doesn't do the trick you could be up for a transmission rebuild.

It's not my experience that the brakes on European cars, or Fords, grab as you say yours does. Take it to an independent and reputable brake service outlet and have then assess it for you, and if they agree with you, take it back to the dealer and request it be fixed.