We are retired and have a 95 Ford Escort station wagon, garage kept. In August of 2003 we noticed a very strong odor of gasoline in our garage, which is part of the basement. It was so strong at times I did not use the electric door opener. I checked many times and could not find the cause. About this time I also noticed I was not getting as good as gas mileage as I used to. On thankgiving day, I went to my local gas station, and filled the tank as I always do. I then went inside to get a news paper. When I came out I noticed a large wet spot under the middle of the car, maybe about 3 ft in dia. I thought someone spilled something there. I went home and I started to think about it. I went back down to the garage, started to check the tank, and found the fuel filler pipe rusted out near the top. 1.5 inch by about 8 inch. So when I filled the tank, the fuel nozzle was also putting fuel out the rotted out area, which then ran down a plastic shield and ran on the ground, where you would not see it if you just fueled the car. I took it to a Ford dealer and told him I would like to have a Ford district rep. Look at it. The service rep hardly looked up and said the car is out of warranty. I told him there is something wrong when the car has the orginal exhaust system, but the filler pipe rusted out. I had them replace it. They charged me for two hours of labor, when they only had the car for one hour, and only spent 45 minutes working on the job. When I got home I checked the job and found they only put two of the three fastners to hold the shield on. We Transport twin grandchildren to school and other places in this car, and one of them is handycapped. The car could have caught on fire, or our home blow up. I have the removed pipe, and I told them it was defective in the welding prosses. No one cared. I checked the new pipe on 3-6-04, three months after it was installed, and the new pipe is starting to rust on each side of the weld seam.

- Gibsonia, PA, USA