While all of the individual failures named in the list were big problems for Ford, the Focus and,to a lesser extent, the Taurus managed to retain customer confidence. Not that many people know about the SHO V-6 longevity issue because they were a niche car and the Tempo and Mystique sold O.K. with many still around. I think the wide-ranging publicity about the Pinto - with the eruping gas tank, seen exploding in flames by millions in living color on TV in the 1980's, really hurt Ford's image for some time, but obviously not in a fatal way. We still buy Mustangs.
I have a '93 Mercury Topaz 2.3 and it's O.K. for what it is (a beater). It was a 'gift' from a friend who didn't want to fix it but wanted to give it to someone who would be able to use it. One new distributor later it ran fine and has for well over a year, with 95k on the clock and a total of over 12,000 miles put on the car by myself and family members. Not bad for a 'free' car. It's clean, too, and while not a head-turner, it's 'reliable transportation' - as they say in the classified ads.
