So I had just purchased this car in 2014 from my 80 year old grandmother who purchased the car brand new in 2007. I thought it would be a perfect car since it belonged to a family member and it only had 48,000 original miles! But this car is as basic as you can get: manual locks, mirrors, crank windows, no cruise control... Bland and boring, but it's a great looking car for its age and it got me where I needed it to take me for only about 3 months!!! This car was my grandma's baby, she always kept it in the garage, had it serviced on time, never missed an oil change, etc. In 2012 she was told she could no longer drive and she didn't want to sell the car to anyone she didn't know, so she waited till I was old enough to buy it, thus the car sat in a garage for 2 years.... This may have been a contribution to the problems.
But anyhow, before the title was transferred, a mechanic looked it over. Everything looked fine, and a new battery was added. Things were fine for about 3 months, no problems, but then I began to notice major changes with the car. It began to have trouble starting, and when it would start, the thing would rumble like a motorcycle, the steering wheel would even shake. Thought nothing of it and left it alone.
Another month passed and as I was driving through my small hometown in Ohio on a cool spring day, the windows were down and the radio was on.... As I came to a stop sign, the car stalled, once I got it going it went for about a mile down the road when all of a sudden the radio began to cut out and simply just died. I tried turning it back on and it flashed "LOW BATTERY" and reset itself. Later that evening, got home, charged the battery overnight, the next day, used the car again. After 15 minutes of driving, the radio died once again and wouldn't turn back on, also got the low battery message again. I then thought we purchased a faulty battery, took it back to the store, received a new one thinking that was the end of the problems. Got out of the store and the car wouldn't even start. I didn't have the time or money to have someone from the Auto Zone look at it, so I just had to get a jump from somebody!!! On the drive home I kept getting the low battery message, eventually, my headlights went out, my speedometer and tachometer went out, my turn signals wouldn't work, and all of my warning lights came on. I was so scared the car would die in the middle of the road so I drove slowly with the hazards on just in case the car would break down or something else would happen. 10 miles from home the car did break down at a park.
AAA towed the car home, and it hasn't been right since. Only about 20 miles has been put on the car since the incidents over 3 months ago. It's only been used for very quick trips into town after charging when no other cars were available.
Many people think it's the alternator (which I hope it is since it's an easy fix). Never had trouble with a Ford until now.... Very disappointed!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
So I had just purchased this car in 2014 from my 80 year old grandmother who purchased the car brand new in 2007. I thought it would be a perfect car since it belonged to a family member and it only had 48,000 original miles! But this car is as basic as you can get: manual locks, mirrors, crank windows, no cruise control... Bland and boring, but it's a great looking car for its age and it got me where I needed it to take me for only about 3 months!!! This car was my grandma's baby, she always kept it in the garage, had it serviced on time, never missed an oil change, etc. In 2012 she was told she could no longer drive and she didn't want to sell the car to anyone she didn't know, so she waited till I was old enough to buy it, thus the car sat in a garage for 2 years.... This may have been a contribution to the problems.
But anyhow, before the title was transferred, a mechanic looked it over. Everything looked fine, and a new battery was added. Things were fine for about 3 months, no problems, but then I began to notice major changes with the car. It began to have trouble starting, and when it would start, the thing would rumble like a motorcycle, the steering wheel would even shake. Thought nothing of it and left it alone.
Another month passed and as I was driving through my small hometown in Ohio on a cool spring day, the windows were down and the radio was on.... As I came to a stop sign, the car stalled, once I got it going it went for about a mile down the road when all of a sudden the radio began to cut out and simply just died. I tried turning it back on and it flashed "LOW BATTERY" and reset itself. Later that evening, got home, charged the battery overnight, the next day, used the car again. After 15 minutes of driving, the radio died once again and wouldn't turn back on, also got the low battery message again. I then thought we purchased a faulty battery, took it back to the store, received a new one thinking that was the end of the problems. Got out of the store and the car wouldn't even start. I didn't have the time or money to have someone from the Auto Zone look at it, so I just had to get a jump from somebody!!! On the drive home I kept getting the low battery message, eventually, my headlights went out, my speedometer and tachometer went out, my turn signals wouldn't work, and all of my warning lights came on. I was so scared the car would die in the middle of the road so I drove slowly with the hazards on just in case the car would break down or something else would happen. 10 miles from home the car did break down at a park.
AAA towed the car home, and it hasn't been right since. Only about 20 miles has been put on the car since the incidents over 3 months ago. It's only been used for very quick trips into town after charging when no other cars were available.
Many people think it's the alternator (which I hope it is since it's an easy fix). Never had trouble with a Ford until now.... Very disappointed!
- Brad C., Rittman, OH, US