Wow never heard this before from you
John, As Chris' mate has said they are pretty solid cars but no manufacturer has a 100% success rate and because Ford are the No1 brand in the UK, more cars on the road equals more faults being reported. They cant be all bad if people constantly buy them time and time again especially in the current market where there are many deals and competition about. I would have thought after the Mk3 issues the Mk4 would have been a bit more robust in the bushes department though. Engine wise I assume its a 2.0 or 2.2 in which case it will be a PSA engine but they do seem better than the 1.4 and 1.6 units they produce.
Personally I always preferred the Mk3 over the 4 but the current Mk5 is stunning