While coming home from a house warming in tucson, AZ on 06/21/03 me, my 2 nieces, and my daughter were on the fast lane of the freeway coming out of tucson when the engine started losing power, the car started slowing down to about 25 mph we had to cross 3 lanes to get off the freeway with other cars coming at 65 to 70 mph we almost got hit on the last lane before exiting the freeway. The car then sputtered the rest of the way off the freeway. After sitting for a while we were able to start it again. And continue home but we used frontage rd all the way. I am afraid to take it on the freeway anymore. Sometimes it does want to start at all. The door on passanger side also doesn't unlock with power button. Service engine light comes on with battery light and oil light. I feel someone will eventually be seriouly injured unless they find out what is wrong here.

- Casa Grande, AZ, USA

The complaint deals with the right side door lock.I took it into mccotter Ford where I bought the car from.they wanted to charge me over $300 to fix it and this is with the expensive warranty package. We could not aford this, so my wife and kids are driving around in a car that the passenger side door that cannot be opened. This cannot be safe, what can we do.the car had between 50 and 60 thousand miles on it, the dealership that we bought the car from is in titusville Florida. This occured in 2002

- Titusville, FL, USA

This is a copy of the letter I sent to Ford prestige Ford garland tx attn: [xxx] dear [xxx] re: Ford Focus 2000 vehicle id# [xxx] I became a customer of prestige Ford 5 years ago when I first bought my 98 escort. I was pleased with the car, never had any problems within the 2 years I had it only the scheduled maintenance. Feb 28th 2000 I made the stupidest decision in my life to trade it for a brand new Focus 2000 -I was impressed of the reviews of being the european car of the year in 1999. Well during this 3 years I had nothing but trouble and I just received another safety recall. I don't even remember how many times I've taken my car back to Ford for safety recalls during the last 3 years. In 3 years I had to replace brakes 3 times (that's actually once a year) replace rotors twice something got messed up last August with the electrical system and the starter I had to have that fixed. There's always noise with the brakes, I asked several times and all your staff or the one on 75 can tell me is a "known problem" first it was "metal brakes" no problem that's normal after a couple of years you changed it to a "known problem""?? I just wanted to let you know my disappointment about this stupid car, I sure did made a big mistake when I decided to buy it. Also I bought extended warranty and that really seems not to be a big benefit since it hasn't helped a bit, I still had to pay for all this repairs. As far as I know this are the known problems with the car, so tell me am I supposed to be a happy camper?" I'm a single mother, I make my payments on time, I don't have the time and the money to keep spending in a car that will be paid off in a couple of years and then I will be left with a big peace of junk. Please let me know when I can take my car to get fixed again. Very unhappy customer [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Dallas, TX, USA

Since at least April 2003 the back right passagner side window will not rise or lower nor will the lock on the door lock from that seating position. The driver only can do it. While in nm driving from ky to AZ, my 2000 SE began to lose engine power. As I drove at 70 mph the engine began to stall, as if no gas was getting through the engine and the car began to die. I was able to safely pull to the side of the road; turned the car off for upwards of 2 hours, start the car again and drive. This happened 5 times from nm to AZ; over and over again. I called the 1800 Ford roadside assistance number and was told since my car was out of warranty they would not send a tow for me. A commercial trucker was nice enough to follow me to the next town to a Ford dealer. The service advisor at the dealership offered to look at my car the next day around noon, as he had 6 other Focus owners in his shop with the same complaint and he had no idea what the problem is. I decided to press on to AZ while driving under 55 mph on I-10. The car sat in my garage for 3 weeks before I drove it again. It is still doing it's drive and die and I am concerned now more than ever with the number of recalls on this vehicle what the deal is.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

Engine starts to stalls when comming to a stop. They claim it needs a new cylinder head.

- Doylestown, PA, USA

I have had problems with my wife's Ford focous windows the windows fall off track or just fall down and will not roll up for no reason. Out of 4 windows right now the drivers side is down into the door will not roll up and the passenger rear is also the same. The drivers rear window we are afraid to touch it because we have had to catch it from falling and now we have been using tape. That is 3 windows out of 4 giving us problems. We do not want to try the passenger side door window. We are having a though time and it seems abnormal for the windows to give us problems

- Manteca, CA, USA

The main concern I have is that I have had this car in 4 times now for rear wheel bearings. My other issue is that when the actuator in the rear drivers door went out that all the locks and windows freeze up in the locked position it that is where they were at when it dies. Not the key, manually or remote will wor. This to me is a saftey issue, you could potentially be locked into your vehicle with no way out.

- Elizabeth City, NC, USA

My 2000 Ford Focus has had problems starting 2 months after I purchased it. It's been in 6 times for excessive brake noise and or squealing. The door hinges were squeeking and had to be replaced due to misalignment..it took 5 times to determine this. Weather strip molding has been replaced due to falling apart around the headlights. The cd player/stereo was replaced with a new factory model when cd player would not work properly. The "new" model was replaced yet again due to coding seen and no numbers in the window digital area. The fuel pump was replaced after stalling more than 50 miles from home...still does not run up to performance. Fuel area reworked again. Would not start due to battery cable. Ford needs to discontinue this model until they can fix the problems it has with it. They also need to get all Focus models off the road, they are safety hazzards.

- Milford, DE, USA

Current malfunction is hesitation and engine stall and brake failure. My car is almost 2 years old and within that time period I have experienced the following malfunctions: Windshield wiper, air condition, electric window, brakes, struts, rusted rotor, ignition switch, electrical shorts(flashing dash), engine hesitation/stall, blown fuses where car would not start.

- Desoto, TX, USA

In January of this year, my power locks stoped working so I brought my car to the Ford shop where they replaced the latch assembly, handle, cable, and fuse in the back driver side door. $350 all together. The locks worked fine for about 2 months when they suddenly went out again. At that time I couldn't open the back door at all. Not even manually. I lived with it for a while but then the front passenger side door did the same thing so with only two doors opening, I brought it back to the Ford shop. They fixed the back door again for free since the previous work was still under warranty. The front door however needed the same as the back and the trunk button also needed to be replaced. The quote was for $475. I couldn't afford that at the time and decided to wait a little longer. In the meantime, the window on the same back door suddenly fell into the door and had to be held up with some folded paper until I could bring it in. The quote for the front door as well as the window was over $700! they said the regulator broke so the window wouldn't stay up. Apparently that is in some other part of the door because they said it was nothing they did even though they had taken that door apart 2 previous times. Needless to say, I got the front door fixed and the window is still being held up with paper! I have had nothing but problems with my Focus and am anxious to trade it in. I am worried however, that something else will happen before I get the chance! the dealership even offered to let me trade in the car without fixing it- not for the payoff amount- if I got another Ford. At this point I am hessitant about purchasing another car from Ford. If anyone else is having similar problems with their Ford Focus, I encourage them to write a complaint.

- Killeen, TX, USA

Takes off real hard like it wants to die but won't, then stops. When car is ran for a while it starts doing. We are not the only Focus with this problem. There are others along with their reverse going out or first gear. Every one who takes it in doesn't get it fixed

- Witchita, KS, USA

I bought the car in June of 2000 since this time the car has had a number of recalls on the car. I feel that the people that bought the 2000 model of this car should not be liable to pay the amount the contact was signed. Due to the fact that at the time the car was bought, the people that bought the car didn't know that most of the car's life would be in the shop being fixed. Also Ford knew that the Focus was prone to this happening.

- Shawnee, KS, USA

There was no power in the locks or the trunk release.after alot of diagnosses they replaced the right rear door actuator.

- Manchester, CT, USA

Hi, I own a 2000 Ford Focus and it has been nothing but trouble. I purchased the car brand new in 2000 and have had it in the shop so many times. I have had my rear passenger side window mechanism replaced by Ford, then personally replaced the driver front window mechanism and the driver back mechanism due to cable breaks. I have had it in with the radio 3 times and it still does not work correctly. I have had to have the brakes replaced, the ignition block replaced, the struts and shocks. The trunk release has never worked. Now it keeps breaking down on me if I drive for more than 1 hour non stop. This weekend I went to san antonio from corpus, it died on the highway 3 times going to sa and coming home 4 times & how safe is that! Ford said they cannot do anything for me unless it is messing up when I bring it in while it is acting up, however it always happens when I am away from town. They told me that if they hook it up to the machine it will not tell them anything. Also, on several occasions my accelerator has stuck and I cannot brake, I have to put the car in neutral and press on the brake hard while the RPM's are still revving and pull the emergency brake, the first time this happened I was pulling into a parking spot and went over the yellow divider. Is there anything I can do?

- Corpus Christi, TX, USA

Power windows on 2000 Ford Focus fail often. I have heard of this problem on many other foci via the internet; but I have personally had 3 power windows fail (which is a safety concern, as windows fall down violent when they fail and remain down, cannot be rolled up and will not stay up if moved by hand leaving vehicle exposed to theft and the elements) in less than 3 years... two of which have failed out of warranty. (warranty is up in one month time frame; but have driven vehicle 45,000 miles.) consumers are seriously getting bitten by the cost of replacing Ford's faulty designed power window assemblies. Date of most recent incident given.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

Driver's side power window would stick in the up or down position, causing a distraction to the consumer. Dealer had been notified.

- Miramar, FL, USA

3 of 4 window regulators are broken in my 2000 Ford Focus - 2 rear windows and drivers window no longer go up and down. The windows fall into the door. First failure occured 8/02, second 6/03, third 8/03. Windows are currently taped up, which is a safety hazard as the tape obscures my vision.

- Rockwall, TX, USA

The key could not be inserted into the ignition. The dealer stated the ignition switch needed to be replaced. The switch was not covered under the extended warranty. In addition to not being able to start the vehicle, the power windows could not be rolled down.

- Rosemead, CA, USA

Intermittent stalling. Also, the brakes, power locks and windows failed.

- New London, CT, USA

Electric system wiring causing lights/ windows, and door locks to go out. Dealer notified.

- Dover, DE, USA