Re: When is your car a lemon?

I used a recycled cluster. My Focus is an 2000 SPI, the cluster came out of a 2003 ZTS (the really nice upscale cluster), cost $135 Canadian. Since the new cluster was wired for ABS, I had to borrow a factory electrical manual from a dealer and locate and cut off a microchip on the back of the cluster to prevent the brake warning light from staying on. Works fine.

Since according to my dealer there's no way to get the odometer altered (for obvious reasons) I had to register an altered mileage with the Ontario Department of Transportation. A bit of a nuisance, but all legal.

Rotors and brakes are not the kind of thing that they have to "work the bugs out of" on a new model. The changes and adjustments they have to make to adapt the design from a successful and similar model to the "new" model are minor and straight-forward. There is zero excuse why the brakes on a "new" model should be any less durable than the "old" ones. They tried to make them cheap.

The tires look like an odd choice also. I went and called around 10 different places. 7 of them didnt even have tires that fit. Some were places that just sold tires. One place said they could special order them. The ones who had them said how the tires were an odd choice for the car. Most of the ones that fit had a very low winter traction score. I guess its my fault for not noticing them when I bought the car but other then checking the tread on a new car its not something I researched in the past.