10.0
really awful- Typical Repair Cost:
- $1,100
- Average Mileage:
- 135,000 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 2 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (2 reports)
Doing 45 mph ran over a small piece of rubber and driver side air bag deployed from the seat, and tire deflated. There was no impact. Body shop mechanic could find no reason for airbag to deploy, there was no damage to the side or under carriage of the car.
- Miranda S., Louisville, KY, US
My daughter was driving the car on a road that's busy enough that you have to drive fairly slowly (never over 30 mph). she hit a small bump, and the driver's side (door) air bag deployed, filling the car with smoke and powder. (She thought at first that she'd been shot, or at least, shot AT.) The impact was so powerful that it split the seam on the side of the driver's seat, so now there's a gaping hole there.
A friend advised her to call the local Ford dealership to see about having it repaired (at Ford's expense), but they insisted that there were no open recalls for that model/year/problem ... so she was out of luck. They also said it would be very expensive to repair the damage and replace the air bag.
A quick Google shows that this was a big problem with 2000 and 2001 Ford Focus models ... so unless they did something different with the air bag assembly for the 2002 model year, they're likely to have the same problem.
- ekerrigan, Oreland, PA, US