Attempted to let the back seat drivers side window down to see traffic on a foggy morning. Heard a loud pop. Window was one half way down would not go up. I was in traffic and to find somewhere to stop and check the window and try to close it. Put hand on each side and pulled it up. It stayed a while but fell back down.in traffic. It will stay up if car sits. Window will not go up or down. I believe this to be the second time the window has been lowered since I bought the car new. IT WORKED ONE TIME, I GUESS IT WILL COST ME $300 PER USE.

My car is a 2002 Focus SE 4-door with electric windows. My left rear window regulator failed to raise and keep up my window. After disassembly, I found that the plastic clip (carriage) that the window rests in, and the cables that raise and lower the window are attached to, had broken. All the other parts of the regulator including the rail, motor, gears, cables, etc. were fine. The carriage is a molded plastic part and failed due to developing a stress crack at a sharp inside corner of the molded plastic part. It is well known that stress cracks always start at stress raisers (stress concentrations). Sharp corners cause stress concentration. Had the corner been designed with a slight curvature to it, the stress would have been much less and failure much less likely. To summarize: The part failed because it was designed wrong (not following well known design practices). After not being able to buy the carriage at my local Ford dealer, I corresponded directly with Ford. Ford confirmed that Ford does not sell the carriage (the part needed to fix the window problem) alone. They only provide it as part of the complete regulator. So to fix the window you have to buy the complete regulator (rail, motor, gears, cables, carriage, etc.) for about $170. The carriage is the only part that is needed and is about an estimated $5 to $10 part, but Ford won't sell it to you.

So my complaint is two part. The part (carriage)fails because of poor design. Ford won't sell the part unless you buy it along with many parts you don't need.

Inducing someone to buy something they otherwise would not is commonly referred to a coercion or extortion. In other words Ford is acting criminally by forcing you to buy parts you don't need.

okay so i see a lot of people have had the same problem as me...in July the rear drivers side window fell down into the door and i could not get it to stay up again. I had a friend of mine prop it up with pieces of wood so it would stay up...since i rarely have more than one other person in my car it was not that big of a deal. But then around a week ago the front passenger side window fell into the door as well. I took the door panel off and saw that one of the plastic sliders had shattered...so i called the dealership and they told me that to look at it to diagnose the problem would be 60 bucks...and if it turned out to be the regulator it would be $120...i bought the car second hand in December...i as i need a cheap, good, easy fix as im kinda strapped for cash at the moment because i also just had to replace the brakes...HELP!

Ridiculous and this is just the first time it happened. Never had any mechanical problems with this car, but this. Window rolls down and a loud cracking noise ensues. The window must be held up by some exterior force such as tape or cardboard. Problem was broken window regulator, more than $500 to fix at the dealership. I like this car, but this is unacceptable. Now just yesterday a few days more than a year later the same window regulator failed again! Parents were pissed and blamed it on me and not the poor mechanical quality of the part as they should have. I have never been in an accident an am a good driver the part just sucked. Beware 2002 focus owners, ford may be stepping it up on their new products, but their older ones still haunt them with their inconviences.

So, my window is being rolled down, and it just keeps going all by itself. Right, so, my window is broken, life sucks whatever I will fix it.. so I did; it was about 150 because the regulator didn't work anymore. Then, the other back window goes out (driver's side)! WHAT? Ok, it's getting ridiculous, whatever I fixed it, and it ended up being the same problem. SO NATURALLY the same window breaks 2 months later, and there is not warranty or anything so I am not giving anymore of my money to Ford they can go bankrupt for all I care, so I stuck a piece of cardboard in it to keep it up, or it will just fall on its own.. I have to push it up occaisonally and it sucks.

So whatever it's ghetto. NOW THE FRONT ONE BREAKS. WTF FORD? This one will roll down, but it has to be rolled up using the driver's buttons. I am living with this, but now the drivers side is making a weird noise.

I am so sick of hearing these car companies whine to the government. Sorry, you guys suck, and when things like this break, things that the owners can not prevent (it's one thing when your not changing your oil, but windows?), then your product sucks. Sorry. I will never buy your product ever again, and I will recommend to others to stay as far away from the Ford company as possible. (I have also had electrical, emissions, coolant, and A/C problems.)

Found. On. Road. Dead.

Okay. I have a 2002 ford focus zx5. i have been thru a total of 6 window regulators!!!!! the first 2 broke when it was still under warranty, but the last four have all broken in the past year!!!!! i have called Ford Motor Company and they said that there was nothing that they can do. They said that it is not an important enough problem to fix. but yet fixing the hatches on the hatchbacks are??!?!?!?!! that is just stupid!!!! i think that if you are driving down the road and your window falls down that would be a driving hazard. i will never drive another ford ever ever again. it is the worst company that i have ever gotten a car from. you think if they want return customers they would help you fix you problems. Well i think that if enough people tell them about the window regulator problems we could maybe get a recall out of them. Just a thought.

The first passenger side rear window went out a few years ago.. just jammed it with some cardboard to stay up.. when it would come out put more in it no big deal... that was in 05 some time.. nov 07 the rear driver side went out.. went to roll it up and all i heard was cracking sounds.. so would have to push the window up and stick more cardboard/paper/anything that would hold it up.. THEN a few months later... my driver side has gone down now this one i cant push up every time i close my door i hear it moving around.. i have asked a parts store how much it cost to replace the motor.. i really don't think it is the motor it still makes noise so its not out but its over 100 bucks for the front door.. now the rear doors you cant buy the part at all.. so pretty much it HAS TO be taken to someone to have fixed,, So Im looking at paying out close to 1000 bucks for windows that STRANGELY all messed up.. I really dont understand why this is not on a recall list.. I think that there is no reason for a car thats not but 5 years old to have all the 3/4 of the windows not working.. and it sat for around 2 years out of those 5 years so WTF... its bullshit.. thats what it is..

A Bloody Nuisance (literally!)

Our window motor stopped working and the window began to slip on a trip to Oklahoma. My Okie father-in-law helped me to "fix" the window with some scientific application of duct tape. This solution made our ride back to Wyoming much quieter, but the tape only held for about a month. Once the window started slipping again, I routinely had to pull it back up and try to re-tape it into place. As it turned out, this wasn't a good idea.

One evening as I was pulling up the window, it exploded in my hands. I felt the glass hitting my eyelids, my cheeks, my chest, but the pain was in my hands: I knew I'd been cut. I rushed into the house so I could rinse my cuts immediately. My wife, who had been talking with a neighbor, followed my blood trail into the house.

As it turns out, I was lucky. I only had seven stitches on one hand, but most of the people I spoke with were shocked that the glass would explode like that.

Naturally, we had to buy a new window, but the cost of the window motor was just too steep. I asked the window installer to block the window so it wouldn't slip again. If your windows are slipping, blocks may be a good middling solution -- not as expensive as a new motor and better than duct tape. But if you have to pull up the window with your hands, I'd recommend a good pair of gloves.