Coming home from PA last weekend my car just stalled and luckily I was able to pull over to the shoulder of the road to turn off the car and then turned it back on. It was fine for about two hours and then the engine light and wrench light came on and the same thing happened. It continued periodically to happen through New York and back to Long Island. The bridges that have no shoulder were the most difficult so I would have to turn the engine off and coast and then turn it back on and continue.. I took the car to my mechanic and he drove it and of course it didn't act up.. It happened to me several times and now my mechanic has it again.. If anyone knows what causes this please let me know as it is very dangerous to be driving with this problem definitely should be a recall.

I purchased a brand new 2009 Tonic Ford Focus TDCi on October 29, 2009 here in the Philippines for about 25,500 us Dollars. During my inspection of the unit when I was picking it up, I noticed a smudge on the chrome plate in front of the hood of the car. I asked them to fix the smudge, they tried to use rubbing compound and polishing but it couldn't be removed, so they opted to exchange the chrome plate with another one attached to another vehicle. Upon leaving the dealer with the new car, I noticed that the steering wheel wasn't centered and it was veering to the right by about 15 degrees. I immediately called the agent who sold me the car who promptly told me that they will also fix this problem right away. As I was already on the highway on the way home at the time, I told him that I'll just bring back the car the following week. They did fix the steering problem the following week as they had to rotate the tires, do wheel balancing and wheel alignment which took about a day to complete.

Then on November 8, 2009, I noticed that the driver side power windows wasn't working anymore as it would go halfway up then go back down when closing it. It would take several presses on the power window button to finally get the window back up. Again I called the dealer regarding this and would have it repaired on my 1000 kilometres preventive maintenance call which I had scheduled with the dealer for November 13, 2009.

But on November 11, 2009, at around 5 PM as I was cruising at around 70 to 80 kph on a Highway, the cars engine suddenly and without warning abruptly died on me, the 'engine malfunction' indicator came up, the oil pressure, battery warning, ESP lights came on. The steering wheel of the car started to freeze up making controlling the vehicle very hard, and the brakes became non-responsive. I was almost hit from behind by an SUV and several other vehicles blew their horns at me. I was just barely able to force the steering wheel to point at the shoulder and park there. On the shoulder, I turned the car keys to the off position and then tried to restart the engine. Upon putting the keys back to the ON position, Engine Malfunction indicator already on, on start up, the engine cranks up but wouldn't start.

I called up Ford's Emergency Roadside Assistance who sent a tow-truck to pick up the vehicle. I waited 3 hours for their tow-truck to arrive. I was left in shock with the incident but thankful that I was apparently not hit during that engine failure and I had no one waiting for me when I was stranded on the highway for 3 hours. I rode with the tow truck back to the and didn't accompany them back to the dealer for delivery of the defective car.

I overlooked the initial problems with the vehicle as I thought these inconvenient but minor problems with the car. I had gotten their 5 year warranty and a comprehensive insurance with Act of God coverage for peace of mind. I reasonably felt safe about my purchase. But when the November 11, 2009 incident happened, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was almost hurt during that incident, I NO LONGER FEEL SAFE driving that car. I'm not the only one using that car; I don't want to place the lives of my family who rides with me in danger.

Ford Group Philippines said that the culprit was a faulty 'PCM', basically the computer module which controls the engine's power. They said they had replaced the faulty PCM unit and the car is now in good running condition. But even if they have changed the faulty part, what caused that part to break down in the first place? The car was running fine before it happened and it just suddenly dies. I don't think there is really a way to reassure me that what happened on November 11, 2009 wouldn't happen again with that particular car. As prior to that major incident, there were at least 3 other faults with this supposedly brand new vehicle.

I am requesting the dealer/Ford Philippines that the unit I bought from them be replaced with another unit entirely and to make sure that this type of thing never occurs again as it appears they have poor quality control upon releasing so called brand new units.

It's really been frustrating as the Philippines has poor consumer rights but I expected more from a Global company. The vehicle was assembled here in the Philippines in Ford's local plant. I have talked to the consumer officer at ford and the manager of the dealer and they just told me the unit was now repaired and in good "running conditon". I don't want that car anymore. It's dangerous.