Cruise Control problems of the 2001 Ford Focus

2001 Ford Focus. Consumer writes in regards to electrical system failure. The consumer stated the vehicle was a lemon. Over the past 2 years alone, he has spent $2,000 in non-routine repairs. Every time there was an issue, the vehicle was taken to the repair shop for the problem, but was never fully fixed. On one occasion, the vehicle started smoking and the wiring caught on fire. . The consumer was informed, the vehicle needed all new wiring, after the dash lights and tail lights went out 3 times. Also, the cruise control and all the lights inside the vehicle stopped working.

While driving down the montauk highway 27, I reached the speed of 50 mph. Approximately 5 minutes after reaching 50 and placing my car in cruise control, the car unexpectedly began to rapidly accelerate. I could not slow the car down, had to turn the ignition key off and stopped in the middle of the highway.

I was traveling northbound on GA hwy 400 at 7:30 a. M. Traffic was lighter than normal, so I decided to use my cruise control. I set the cruise at 70 mph & drove it for approx 5 miles. When I approached my exit, I pressed on the brake to disengage the cruise. The cruise light went off, but the cruise did not disengage. I fought it all the way up the ramp. I was very fortunate that the light was green & there were no cars ahead of me (normally extremely busy intersection). I exited at a high rate of speed as I continued to pump the brake. I got the car off to the side of the road, put it in neutral & once it was almost stopped, put it in park & turned it off. Every time I turned it back on, the engine revved back up like it was trying to reach the 70 mph speed in park. I had it towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed as a bad servo. This could have been potentially fatal to me & others, had the normal traffic backup been at the off ramp. I could have slammed into one or more other cars trying to get mine stopped. I understand there are recalls on the 2000 Focus cars, due to defective cruise controls, but have seen nothing on the 2001 vehicles. Needless to say, although I paid extra for cruise control, I will never be able to trust it enough to use it again.