Ford Problems

Good to hear you're happy with the system and the people who did the work. Fitting LPG to you car can be an adventure if you get the wrong system or have the wrong people do it, you experience is further proof that you should do your homework before you jump in.

For starters the dealer has failed to complete the repair he'd agreed to do so you shouldn't have paid any money at all until the job was done to your satisfaction. I would also have left the car there and refused to take delivery of it. The dealer has given you a loan car, so he hasn't left you completely in the lurch. Have him tow the car back to his dealership and have him give you an estimate of the time and cost of the repair and tell him that you will not take the car back until it is fixed.

Anyone having the same problem should check the operation of the light on the seat module and make sure it goes out. If it doesn't have your dealer check it and correct it if necessary. It could be the answer to your woes.

Your mechanic is correct, but so are you. The mechanic's suggestion of a Corolla is a safe bet, one that won't come back to bite him in the long run, but the other cars you mention are also worth considering. All are solid, generally reliable cars, although I would be cautious about recommending the Astra to you. Stick to the well-known Japanese brands and she won't go too far wrong.

I can recall when driving XR8 utes around the Winton race track a few years ago that it only took a couple of laps of hard driving for the diff to start whining. The answer than was to change the oil. It's a good tip for anyone whose car has a noisy diff.

It could be leaking from the heater core, which could be corroded or cracked, it could be from a water connection, but also check that it’s not from the windscreen seal, which can also happen.

Your experience is not unusual; it's quite common on European cars. Brake wear isn't normally covered by the warranty; it is lumped in with other things under the banner of 'wear and tear', which is why your claim has been rejected. However, if you apply a 'fair wear and tear' test it can hardly been said to be fair and I believe brake wear should be reconsidered and a 'fair and reasonable' wear rate should be applied to cars today.

I would tend to agree with the panel beater, that you’re likely to be throwing away money by attempting to repair the rust you can see. There is a good chance there is more rust under the surface that you can’t see, so any repairs you might do are not likely to get all of it, unless you do as he says and fit a new quarter panel. If it was a classic car I would say, go for it, but an ED XR-6 isn’t in that league yet.

The diff bushes are a problem with the Territory, but at six years old and 90,000 km you might be hard pressed to ask Ford to cover the cost of replacing them. But to have to take a car back to a dealer 15 times in 90,000 km is way too much and, yes, I think Ford should be more forthcoming with compensation for problem cars. While the Territory was a great concept its execution wasn’t and it does have a number of problems that regularly crop up.

It's most unusual to wear out the rear brakes before the fronts as it's the fronts that do most of the work, but having to replace pads and discs at low kays is not so unusual with European cars.