Aftermarket mounts are trash, no question. As for the stat housing, super common issue and I do have a solution. Years ago I discovered that there was an early 2000 Focus stat housing that's made from a much heavier, stronger material and it has thicker castings in areas such as the lip that retains the o-ring at the head. The coolant crossovers seem to be hit or miss. I've owned six of these cars with either standard Zetec or the SVT version over the last 18 years and have only had two of those tubes crack in all that time and hundreds of thousands of miles. Any of you guys that need help with Ford parts can get in touch with me at spowell@tasca.com. I've got 25 years in Ford parts. Hope this isn't an issue with the forum owners, if so feel free to delete this line.
My kids have shared a 2001 wagon for the last few years, just recently cracked 200k miles. Still runs like a top although a few weeks ago the transmission did decide to stop shifting. Thankfully it's been relegated to spare car status recently. My son is going to pick up a good used one for $100 and install it in the spring at school where he's going to be a technician. After the trans is installed I'll decide if I want to keep it around or sell it, for an inexpensive little economy car they really can't be beat for comfort, reliability and safety as well as being easy to work on.
I owned 3 Ford Escort's, all station wagons with 5-speeds. A 93 and a 99 bought new, and another 99 bought used. Combined I drove them over 500,000 miles. They were the most reliable vehicles I've ever owned with unbelievably low cost/mile. No evidence of planned obsolecence here! I think Ford brought out the Focus and dropped the Escort only so they could gracefully raise their small car prices quickly. My current daily driver, an 02 LeSabre, was designed to keep the parts and service departments busy. It's gone thru all 4 power window regulators, 2 ABS control modules, all 4 hub and bearing assemblies, rusted out air shocks/fuel lines/brake lines and more. All designed not to last IMO.
Maybe I am spoiled with our V-8 motor mounts lasting well over 100K miles and decades (as long as we are not racing) and tie rod ends and links lasting just as long. I like the car a lot, I am just surprised that theses parts are toast already. I have replaced them and the car feels like new again but unfortunately I did use aftermarket mounts so it looks like I will be doing at least the upper hydraulic mount again soon.
My 2003 Focus with 94k has needed everything. I changed all 3 mounts this summer. But I have a check engine light that won't go away. It really just needs a gallon of gas and a match.
At the other end I believe its planned into the Vehicle. I have a 2000 Silverado 2500 that has just for the first time turned on the Check Engine light at 130,000 miles. Bank 1 Sensor 2 voltage high . I have erased it and will see if it comes back before I throw a O2 sensor at it. Over its life it has had 1 inner tie rod . Of course I have had to change the Brake lines , Fuel Lines and the Transmission lines . All due to rust . This truck has plowed snow and pulled trailers its entire life . Oh yes it did need a Torque Converter and a fuel pump too . Pretty good service from a work truck I believe that the factory sees that people will buy another truck of the same brand if the customer has had good service from their original vehicle . So with that in mind they make it a durable vehicle . There are really only 3-4 choices in Trucks , Where there is over 50 for passenger cars and they see no need to make the passenger cars bulletproof for the public.
Traded in our 2012 Chrysler Town and Country minivan at 94,500 miles. Total out-of-pocket repair expenses were about $50. It was traded with the original brakes and tires. No complaints from here. Bought a new Pacifica.
Did I mention my daily is a 2004 SVT Focus? I think I did but I didn't mention that is has 175k miles on it and for 130k of those miles it's had a Ford Racing supercharger kit on it, still runs like a new car, uses no oil and the blower kit makes between 10-12psi depending on weather conditions. All original motor mounts and the original clutch.
It seems that no one builds stabilizer links that last. I've heard of them wearing out prematurely on a variety of vehicles. My wife's former vehicle, a Saturn Redline Vue, 3.5 liter Honda, needed them every 30,000 miles. On her current ride, a 2014 Dodge Blacktop Journey, 3.6 liter, the oil pressure sender needed to be replaced at only 22,000 miles. Check Engine light came on. I pulled over, listened to the engine, quiet. Then, I scrolled the gauges. The temps of the engine and trans were perfect. What wasn't was the oil pressure. It read 41psi at idle. At 2,000 rpm it read 96. Easy diagnosis anyway. Changing it involved removing the plastic intake manifold which called for an hour and a half labor. 4 years old, so no warranty.
