10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
11,834 miles

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problem #28

Apr 292014

Focus 4-cyl

  • 142,000 miles
I have owned this car since December of 2003 and it has been a very large money pit. This time the car just stopped running. I had taken it to autozone and they told me it need an egr sensor or hosing for it. When I was turning at a light the car just stopped running when I had just turned onto a main highway. There has been major electrical problems with it since day one. This car has had 5 clutches in it and I have complained about that all in itself because a car should never need that many clutches within 100,000 miles. That is ridiculous and very expensive and I have gotten no where with that even though there are other 2000 Ford Focus's with the same issue. My one head light is not right it never has been there is corrosion on the inside of the headlamp. The rear door latch does not work on the passenger side of the vehicle. The passenger side front door also does not latch correctly and no longer locks at all. The trunk latch is not right either. It will not always unlatch and then close again. It often requires several more times of pushing the trunk release and it will finally unlock after several attempts. I have put thousands of dollars into this lemon. I have all the repair paperwork, it has a brand new breaking system, brand new transmission, brand new engine, brand new clutch, battery. We have replaced everything in this car and here we go again....this car has sat more than it has been driven!!! I honestly feel that we should be reimbursed for the money we spent on buying the car because it was and is still a lemon since day one......

- Pennsburg, PA, USA

problem #27

Jul 142006

Focus 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 87,000 miles
My husband was driving our 2000 Ford Focus zts and the clutch pedal fell completely off. After doing research I see that there was a limited time recall for this item, however we are 2nd owners of this vehicle I am assuming the original owners did not have this fixed. However, we purchased the vehicle from a Ford dealership in 2001 before the recall expired and they also did not have the faulty clutch replaced. Called Ford today and they offered no assistance. Fortunately my husband was not injured and no one else was injured either. However, this could have led to a very serious accident. We are now having to pay to have the pedal assembly replaced as well as the clutch master cylinder. Total $650.

- Newport News, VA, USA

problem #26

May 182005

Focus 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 37,340 miles
Needed to have the clutch replaced with only 37,340 miles on the car. Noticed burning smell coming from car especially in the summer when stopping on hills. It seemed that having the air conditioner on, stopping on a hill, and then driving out of 1st gear for some reason burns out the clutch. So the clutch wore out and I had it replaced at a cost of $924.96. Was told by dealership that it was probably due to the way I drive. I've been driving cars for 34 years and have never needed to replace a clutch. Seems to me there is some kind of defect; clutches should not need to be replaced so soon. How do I prevent the same thing from happening in the future?

- Danbury, CT, USA

problem #25

Dec 262003

Focus

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
We purchased our 2000 Ford Focus in August of 2003 it had low miles and we figured I was a good car. In October it broke down on us and it was a clutch disk that went out. We said ok and they fixed it under warranty. The day after we got it back from the shop it started making a weird noise so we took it back and they said they need to make a adjustment. Then less than 3 weeks later we ended up having it break down on us once again they had to replace the transmission. Well here we are once again. About a month after the transmission. Going through a stop light one day the car started to have engine hesitation and loss of power and then would stall out. Now they are telling us that water got in our fuel tank and ruined the fuel pump. I just found out by doing some of my own research that the fuel system was recalled in Nov of 2003 for cars exhibiting the similar symptoms. The dealership where we purchased the vehicle has not informed us of this recall and states that the water was the cause of our problems.

- Petaluma, CA, USA

problem #24

Aug 012003

Focus 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 20,000 miles
Has been to shop for 26 days in the past 4 months. Repeated failure of clutch (manual transmission), failure of brake pads, resulting in minor crash. Have had to had ball joints replaced. Cruise control was disconnected from accerator/brake. Key would not go into ignition and resulted in key ignition switch having to be replaced. Numerous recalls and trips to shop since bought brand new in August 2003

- Redmond, WA, USA

problem #23

Aug 012003

Focus 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
2002 Focus with with 5-speed manual transmission and less than 33,000 has a failed clutch. We believe this failure is due to defective equipment, wonder if it could be related to either service bulletin #00B59 or #14204. Vehicle has not been driven in a manner to abuse the clutch. Only two drivers are mature adults and bought the vehicle to replace a 1990 escort with similare 5-speed manual transmission and approximately 100,000 miles. Escort never had clutch problem and was driven, since new by same two drivers.

- Lynnwood, WA, USA

problem #22

Nov 182002

Focus 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 45,000 miles
When the car had 15000 miles on it and still under warranty the third gear was making a grinding sound. I took it in to the dealer and they repaired it. 30,000 miles later( mostly highway miles) third gear started making the same sound again.the dealer said it would cost me 900 dollars to fix it since it was not under warranty anymore. I can not believe that the transmission, and only third gear in a manual five speed is only good for 30,000 miles, most of which is on the highway when third gear is not used much.I believe that is a defect with the car itself.

- Akron, OH, USA

problem #21

Nov 272002

Focus

  • miles
Consumer stated that while driving and without warning the clutch failed causing a distraction to the consumer. Dealer notified

- Medical Lake, WA, USA

problem #20

Oct 262002

Focus

  • miles
The car intermittently will not allow you to change gears once you leave a gear and go into neutral (manual transmissions). Twice I had the car stopped traffic, causing many disruptions and a dangerous situation. Even if you turn the car off, you can not change gears. No matter how many times I tried, I could not engage any gear (1-5 or reverse). If I wait about a half hour, then it will engage again. I had the problem checked out by Ford twice. They replaced the clutch master cylinder, but that has not fixed it. They say they can't reproduce the problem. I did a search on various Ford Focus websites and discovered that many other Focus owners are having problems with their cars as well.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

problem #19

Feb 182002

Focus

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
Clutch spring broke, dealer replaced defective clutch spring. Nlm

- Wentzville, MO, USA

problem #18

Feb 012000

Focus

  • miles
Engine stalling - may be same as NHTSA action # PE02040 (vehicle has base 2.0 liter engine and 5-manual), vehicle stalled at highway speed when clutch was in, restarted when clutch released.

- Troy, MI, USA

problem #17

Jun 152002

(reported on)

Focus

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
I complained about the brakes at 3000 miles - told no problems the brakes just do that - at 11993 miles brakes inspected 50 - 60 % left - at 15561 brakes inspected 65 - 75 % left - now some how only 4000 miles later only 10% of brakes left and need to be replaced with a total of 19,992 miles - also took car in several times for dying while driving and told no problem - then there was a recall on the clutch cylinder and they said that was probably the problem so they replaced that - still had the problem - they hinted that it was me because they were unable to duplicate the problem - then finally when my radio would go on and off in their presnce they inspected further and discovered my entire dashboard wireing was melted and it is a wonder my car didn't catch on fire. They re-wired the entire car and replaced my radio and had my car for over a week - within a month the radio wasn't working again and they replaced it for the second time - then 3 months later my electric door locks stopped working and needed to be replaced - and by the way my radio has gone out 2 times since the last replacement and they said it was probably just loose or something and not too concerned and now the brakes all this at 19,000 miles.

- Mission Viejo, CA, USA

problem #16

Jun 152002

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
I complained about the brakes at 3000 miles - told no problems the brakes just do that - at 11993 miles brakes inspected 50 - 60 % left - at 15561 brakes inspected 65 - 75 % left - now some how only 4000 miles later only 10% of brakes left and need to be replaced with a total of 19,992 miles - also took car in several times for dying while driving and told no problem - then there was a recall on the clutch cylinder and they said that was probably the problem so they replaced that - still had the problem - they hinted that it was me because they were unable to duplicate the problem - then finally when my radio would go on and off in their presnce they inspected further and discovered my entire dashboard wireing was melted and it is a wonder my car didn't catch on fire. They re-wired the entire car and replaced my radio and had my car for over a week - within a month the radio wasn't working again and they replaced it for the second time - then 3 months later my electric door locks stopped working and needed to be replaced - and by the way my radio has gone out 2 times since the last replacement and they said it was probably just loose or something and not too concerned and now the brakes all this at 19,000 miles.

- Mission Viejo, CA, USA

problem #15

Jun 072002

Focus

  • miles
No summary listed for above vehicle.

- Kent, WA, USA

problem #14

Jul 122001

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
Consumer received recalls, 00V303, 00V218, 00V418, recall regarding injector pressure switch, and clutch pedal return spring and clutch master cylinder, however has not had any of them completed, dealer states they are waiting for parts and it has been over 6 months since consumer has heard from the dealer.

- Ecru, MS, USA

problem #13

Jul 122001

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
Consumer received recalls, 00V303, 00V218, 00V418, recall regarding injector pressure switch, and clutch pedal return spring and clutch master cylinder, however has not had any of them completed, dealer states they are waiting for parts and it has been over 6 months since consumer has heard from the dealer.

- Ecru, MS, USA

problem #12

Jul 122001

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
Consumer received recalls, 00V303, 00V218, 00V418, recall regarding injector pressure switch, and clutch pedal return spring and clutch master cylinder, however has not had any of them completed, dealer states they are waiting for parts and it has been over 6 months since consumer has heard from the dealer.

- Ecru, MS, USA

problem #11

Jul 122001

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
Consumer received recalls, 00V303, 00V218, 00V418, recall regarding injector pressure switch, and clutch pedal return spring and clutch master cylinder, however has not had any of them completed, dealer states they are waiting for parts and it has been over 6 months since consumer has heard from the dealer.

- Ecru, MS, USA

problem #10

Jul 122001

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
Consumer received recalls, 00V303, 00V218, 00V418, recall regarding injector pressure switch, and clutch pedal return spring and clutch master cylinder, however has not had any of them completed, dealer states they are waiting for parts and it has been over 6 months since consumer has heard from the dealer.

- Ecru, MS, USA

problem #9

Jul 142000

Focus

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
I have had transmission replaced on this car previously but again the clutch is getting very hard to move. Dealers claim this is due to a recalled part but when appointments have been made to replace this part, no parts are available!

- Grand Rapids, MI, USA

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