[oldeguy]

As a former Ford basher, I once said I wouldn't buy another one, Most of Ford's problems, in my oh so humble opinion, is perception. After driving a 95 Escort into the ground, ( over 400,000 kms), I tried another manufacturer's homegrown product. After two years, I bought a used Focus. Honestly, I seriously wasn't going to buy it, but, after some research, and a small test drive, I bought it. Why wasn't I going to buy it, because I had heard that the Focus had all sorts of recalls and maintenace problems. Granted, in 2000 there were quite a few recalls, but, it was the first year of the NA vehicle, so, there are bound to be some problems. There wasn't anything about the Focus breaking down, or blowing engines or transmissions, like some other domestics. Although I don't like some of Ford's decisions, the Five hundred, the 2nd generation Focus still missing in action, the loss of real exciting vehicles, Mustang excluded, but, I wouldn't hesitate to tell someone to buy Ford. Every car company goes through a downturn in fortunes, I just hope that Ford can rediscover their focus on building affordable, relevant vehicles for all of us.