I felt intermittent "squeaking" and occasional friction in the clutch from day one and deeply regret not taking it to the dealer the moment I noticed it. Obviously something was defective from the start and now I'm bumming rides from friends to work and borrowing my ex's car to get my kids to and from their summer camps.

The car's been dead in the none-too-helpful dealer's repair shop for three weeks. Service department doesn't return calls, no written estimate, little help from Ford corporate in spite of opening an official case with them. They don't care.

Pretty frightening episode, too, since the car stopped dead on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago with heavy 60 MPH traffic and no shoulder. Called 911 who dispatched a tow truck but it was a tense fifteen minutes of desperately waving unsuspecting drivers around my dead Ford.

I've logged probably 150,000 miles in various cars with manual gearboxes without a single malfunction. No way, no how did the clutch fail due to user error but Ford is not playing ball in terms of the warranty. It's a "wear" item and I'm on the hook for a $2,000 repair.

My advice: buy a Honda, Subaru, or Mazda. They don't break after a year and when I've had minor problems the manufacturer and the dealer rolled out the red carpet. Ford has made my life miserable for the past month.