About 8 months ago I bought a small Ford Focus to use it as a commuter car and to run errands when needed. The car has pretty good gas mileage ratings and seemed to be a good choice - especially with the gas prices soaring towards/past the $3.00 barrier. I have to say I am not extremely satisfied with the car. In October the windshield got a crack without any visible reason. In January the car suddenly had this burning smell coming from the engine compartment. Ford service could find a reason at all and suggested it might have been a rodent or critter. After a few weeks the smell went away (finally). Yesterday something with the transmission or clutch broke. I could no longer switch gears with the engine running (it has a manual transmission). The funny thing (or maybe not) - turning off the engine and I was able to switch gears. But the moment I started the engine this stopped working. Lucky for me was that this happened right around the corner where I live.

As this was a brand-new car when I bought it, it is still under factory warranty including roadside assistance. As much as I hate having my vehicle in the shop for repair - the roadside assistance service worked excellent. Very friendly staff on the phone took care of everything for me. About 35 minutes later a tow truck showed up and got the car to my dealership of choice. I followed the tow truck in my other car (Ford F-150 SuperCrew). I “checked in” with the service department while the tow truck dropped of my car and within 5 minutes I was able to leave.

Called the dealership today and was relieved to hear that the repair is indeed covered by the bumper to bumper warranty (3 years or 36,000 miles). Just have to wait now for the repair to be completed.