10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
68,425 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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problem #16

May 192011

Focus

  • 160,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Focus. The contact stated both front coil springs broke. During routine tire maintenance the mechanic stated the coil springs were broken. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 160,000.

- Gap, PA, USA

problem #15

Feb 072011

Focus 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 135,000 miles
The contact owns a 2002 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the passenger side coil spring fractured while driving 5 mph. The vehicle was still drivable and was driven to a dealer. The dealer advised that the sway bar, strut mounts and the links had also fractured as a result of the failure. The coil springs were covered under a voluntary recall that was issued, but they declined to repair the other components. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000. The VIN was not available. Updated 06/29/11 updated 2/07/2012

- Johnson City, TN, USA

problem #14

Jan 042011

Focus 4-cyl

  • 260,000 miles
Corrosion of the front coil spring, the spring failed at the point of the corrosion, damage to the fender resulted. Partial loss of steering control, crash averted.

- Lapeer, MI, USA

problem #13

Sep 122009

Focus

  • 31,682 miles
Front passenger side coil spring had to be replaced because of breakage. Loss control of car over bump at less than 20 mph speed!

- Port Chester, NY, USA

problem #12

Apr 162009

Focus

  • miles
Driving home from the store and I heard a snapping sound in the front of the car I took the car to the service station they looked under the car and said it is a broken spring and it was dangerous to drive.

- Goshen, NY, USA

problem #11

Mar 162009

Focus

  • 50,000 miles
2002 Ford Focus ZX3 front passenger side coil spring failure...top 7" of spring snapped off making the car dangerous to drive. Incident occurred 1 block from house but not immediately investigated until I found broken spring piece in the road after work. Highway travel to and from work could have resulted in a bad crash due to loss of control. I purchased replacement parts (Ford svt suspension kit 397-M-3000-ZX3) at considerable expense because I do not trust the remaining unbroken suspension parts. Car has only about 50000 miles and is not abused. Failure appears to be due to extended fatigue crack propagation instead of an isolated catastrophic event. There is old rust on the spring break point surface along with fatigue crack styrations indicating a long failure time. Possible cause would be sub-standard material or heat treatment. This is unacceptable in a vehicle of this age and mileage. Ford would have had a huge lawsuit if this failure resulted in my injury or death.

- Stevensville, MI, USA

problem #10

Mar 032009

Focus

  • 95,000 miles
Loud snap from under hood, followed by rumbling sound when turned right or left. Car will pull in different directions, relating to the last direction steered. The car does set lower now but is not rubbing. The cause is a broken right front coil spring, and possibly other damage.

- Lafayette, IN, USA

problem #9

May 122008

Focus

  • 69,390 miles
Ford Focus 2002 ZX3 had to have the coil/spring assembly replaced due to the spring resting on the front right tire. From all the research that I have done on the web, this is a safety issue that needs to be investigated by the NHTSA. I found the information for the 2000 Ford Focus on the following website just to reference how many problems there are with these coil/spring assemblies. Before Ford has any other problems with deaths occurring with faulty problems, I would like to have it investigated. And to my dissatisfaction Ford did not send any warning out nor contact me via their customer satisfaction program that was offered to the dealerships. Furthermore, I did not even know that I had to take it to a dealership.

- Mason, OH, USA

problem #8

Aug 182008

Focus

  • 87,021 miles
The right front coil spring failed. The bottom of the upper piece of the coil came down and rested on the top of the right front tire. This caused the car to pull to the side and destroyed the tire. This happened at low speed and there was no incident. But even at low speed, the tire was destroyed in only a few feet. Had this happened at highway speed, the near simultaneous pull, suspension sag, and tire destruction could easily caused a wreck. Ford has acknowledged a problem with these springs in early my foci and extends the warranty on these springs. What they don't acknowledge is the potential hazard from such a spring failure.

- Newton, NJ, USA

problem #7

Jul 112008

Focus

  • 88,000 miles
The front springs on the 2002 Ford Focus are faulty. The front passenger side spring was cracked, and took the car to Goodyear to get repaired, since it's out of warranty (including the extended warranty I purchased). I then lettered Ford, and they said in November 2004 they mailed a notice to customers ( which I never received) notifying them of F the problem with the springs. They said there is no recall, but they are repairing under a customer satisfaction program. They said I should have brought my car to the dealer and it would have been repaired for free. They would not reimburse me. I even tried to negotiate and asked them to at least reimburse me what they would have paid their dealer but they refused. This car also has defective brakes and rotors. When the car was under the original 3 yr 36,000 mile warranty, the front and rear brakes and rotors needed to be replaced. Ford said they could not repair the rotors or cut them, and brakes and rotors are excluded from the warranty. It cost me over $ 500 for brakes and rotors on a less than 2 year old car. A few yrs later, same thing, front brakes and rotors, and again, I was told the rotors can't be cut, they always have to be replaced.

- Monmouth Junction, NJ, USA

problem #6

Jun 012008

Focus 4-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
While my wife was driving on I-95 the right front coil spring suddenly fractured and in the process wedged into the tire destroying it and the strut. Luckily she was able to get to the side of the highway. The vehicle is a 2002 Ford Focus. Ford knows about this problem and it has happened to many Focus'.

- Richboro, PA, USA

problem #5

May 122006

Focus 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 35,000 miles
: the contact stated, while driving over a bump in the road, at 45 mph, the suspension failed, causing the wheel to bend on impact with the road. The bent wheel and all shocks were replaced. The dealer informed the contact of a service bulletin concerning the suspension directing the dealer to replace springs only if broken. When the manufacture was contacted, replacement springs were offered at cost.

- Coleman, WI, USA

problem #4

Feb 242004

Focus

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
2002 Ford Focus, 48,000 miles and I am now on my third set of tires on the front. Car suspension in front is very loose, expecially during highway driving, through small puddles of water car seems to hydro-plane, and on ice or snow. The car at times seems to be all over the road and I feel it is unsafe to drive. I have had new brakes, tires, and aliagnment, and the struts checks, and the rpoblem still exists and seems to be getting worse. Please advise.

- Lancaster, OH, USA

problem #3

Nov 062003

Focus 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 19,700 miles
Front end made a very loud clanging noise lasted about 10 minutes, pulled off highway looked under vehicle could not see anything wrong, on several occasions while driving between 55-65 mph car would jerk very bad, dealer could not solve or find a problem, vehicle at repair shop now.

- Stratton, OH, USA

problem #2

Nov 122003

Focus 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 14,000 miles
While driving I lost all power to the car. It completely shut down and I could not start it. It has been towed to dealership to be fixed twice. I do not feel safe driving this car with my kids in it. I don't think the problem is fixed and I'm waiting for this to happen again. Now I need to take it back to the dealership again because there is a bad vibration in the front end. I had it there previously for this also, and they said it needed the tires rotated and balanced. Even though it is still under warranty, they charged me $36....the vibration is worse now so obviously that wasn't the problem. Oh I forgot to mention that the trunk won't latch properly and the windshield wipers won't go the whole way down when you turn them off. This car is not safe to drive. The dealership acts like they haven't had any complaints with this car!

- Martinsburg, WV, USA

problem #1

Feb 242003

(reported on)

Focus

  • miles
The vehicle violently pulled to the left which caused an accident and injuries.

- Hempstead, NY, USA