Wow, kind of strange to be getting responses four years later! I ended up with a 2012 Ford Edge, which I absolutely love. I bought it in August 2012, and have had no problems whatsoever, except for a couple of flat tires - no fault of the vehicle! Alas, it only seats 5 and there is no 3rd row seating. I got only the base model, FWD only. Thinking about buying another one, this time I'll look at AWD and more options. Replacing my wife's 2005 Taurus, which has also been a very reliable car. All I've replaced on that is one ball joint and of course tires, battery, belt, etc. Ford quality has really improved, IMO. I had a 1986 Bronco, which I bought new. I loved the vehicle because it was my first NEW vehicle, but in retrospect it was a turd. In the 8 years I owned it, aside from normal maintenance, there were constant carburetor problems, vacuum leaks, a cracked exhaust manifold, broken rear drive shaft, the gas tank and tailgate rotted out, several alternators and the ignition computer failed, the windshield cracked several times for no apparent reason (but those were covered by insurance,) replaced rear end pinion bearings twice, and the air pump failed. There were also chronic problems with chassis components and the alignment seemed to be always off. Gee, I think a shorter list would be what DIDN'T go wrong: The transmission worked perfectly! Ultimately, the engine threw a rod in 1994 at 112K miles, less than 8 years after I bought it. I'm pretty sure I spent more on unexpected repairs than the vehicle cost. I sold it to a friend who replaced the engine. Less than a year later, the Bronco caught fire in his driveway and was destroyed.

**Frankly IMO until a car company offers these behemoths with a hybrid engine offering close to 30 mpg , I don't think anything has changed at all . A big truck is a big truck** Ditto. I'm not so easilly impressed. Whoever invented the current engine management systems around 1980 that did away with the carburetor and precisely maintains the air fuel ratio through all conditions earns a phrase like 'changing it all'. Overhead cam has been around forever. More holes cast in the head for more valves ranks up there with drilling more holes or installing more lengths of metering rods in a carburetor to meter fuel, zzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzz. The first company that comes up with the vehicle that has the same capacity as the 'push rod' engine, while getting significantly higher mpg, or better yet, doesn't use gas or diesel at all, will get my vote for 'the truck that's changing it all' title. I won't care who builds it first. Till then, we're just talking about more stuff as important as electric butt warming seats and headlights that come on and dim automatically, ect. Big deal.

We had a similar symptom on a Audi (aka oversize VW). We downloaded the error codes, and had a mechanic look them up in the service manaul. The error code said it was the "Ignition". Further reading suggested that there's a "Hall effect" sensor in the distributor - for all modern vehicles. This solid state device frequently becomes temperature sensitive when it gets old. It will quit working when the car is running. On some vehicles (VW/Audi, anyway) the engine keeps running, using a backup system of some sort, but then won't start if you stop it. I guess it's OK to drive yourself to an unsafe place, and then get stranded. On other cars, when the Hall Effect sensor quits, the engine stops. On our VW, I bought a rebuilt distributor for $125 (the sensor was not available separately) and spent ten minutes installing it. I've had the intermittent start problem also on a Chevrolet Chevette (1979) and it was also a Hall Effect sensor problem. In that case, the sensor was also not available separately; the rebuilt distributor was $600. But, before spending big bucks, definitely download the computer diagnostics. By Federal Law, this is something you can do on your own without any test equipment. Every car does it differently. In the case of the VW/Audi, you short together two wires (different location per vehicle), then turn on the ignition, without starting the car. After 4-10 seconds, remove the short circuit. Then watch the "check engine" light. It starts blinking, you count the blinks. I don't know the procedure for your Ford, but there must be one. If it's an electronic problem, this is the surest way to check into it. Ask the Ford dealer how to "get the diagnostic codes" for it. Again, by law, they are required to provide this information. When GM first put computers in cars in the 1970s, they attempted to "force" you into using the dealership for maintenance, and the Feds declared that to be illegal, which is why now it is possible, for all cars, to get the diagnostic codes without needing a piece of test equipment. In the case of our VW, I had to wait for the "no start" condition to appear, then run the diagnostics, because the system would not remember error codes after ignition shut-off. WCB

It's tough to keep plated parts shiny when exposed to road salt. But, one cause of failing plating is shoddy plating. Chrome plating requires a multi-step plating procees to make it durable, that is, last at least 3 years. Chrome plate, although can be polished to a high shine, is porous and chemicals can penetrate it to the layer below. This is its achillies heel. One plating formula calls for plating with copper, nickel, and finally chrome. Nickel has good corrosion resistance, but requires a base of copper to stay on steel. If either the copper or nickel plate is missing, chrome plating will fail within a couple of years. It fails from underneath itself. The first notice is blistering. Once this is visable, the plating has already failed. Its just a matter of time before the remainder peels off. As you can see, there are places to cut cost in the formulation for chrome plating, and it will be at the cost of durability. And yes, thickness of each layer counts too. A scratch through the top two layers of plating will open the plate to faster deterioration; cut a scratch all the way to the base metal and add moisture, corrosion is assured in a short time. At one time, it was rumored that Ford designed their coatings to last 5 years for the climate of Cincinnatti, OH. For the rest of us living in a climate zone north of Cincinnatti, we're out of luck. However, my information is very much dated and the present day situation may be different.