When running the ac on the car, there is an extremely bad odor which can be smelled both inside the car and out. It appears to be some kind of burning or chemical odor. It will actually affect the body by making your eyes burn and making you feel sick. It can not be driven. We have taken it to the dealership three times with the problem unresolved. The third time, we were told that the car was fixed; however, upon testing at the dealership, it was clear that the problem was unresolved. We have been told that Ford's engineers are coming in to assess the problem, as the service manager pulled three new cars off the lot and found the same problem.

- Travelers Rest, SC, USA

After leaving my auto, I returned to find the rear window shattered, but in tact/in place. There no signs of any impact or attempted entry. The police were called and they said they could not find any evidence of anything striking the window and appeared it might be a faulty window. Upon bringing it to the dealer's sevice shop, the manager said he would notify his Ford rep of this problem. He said normally they would not do anything but since the auto was so new, he would try to see what he could do. Upon investigating if there was a Ford recall or similar regarding this problem, I came accross at least one other occassion where the window just shattered and was replaced by Ford under warranty. The individual said Ford claimed it was due to welding irregularities and such. When I was speaking to the service manager at Ford, he claimed that the 2003 Ford Focus rear defroster was changed and they had given it a higher amp to make it hotter. Since it has been about 6 dgrees outside, it could have been hot and shattered when cooling quickly - he did not know and was just searching for answers. Regardless, the auto had 440 miles on it and was only about 10 days old when this occurred. It could have been serious if this windowed shattered and blew out while driving, possibly causing harm to any passengers in the back - or anywhere for that matter. I believe this needs to be checked out to prevent any possible harm to anyone. The auto is a 2003 Ford Focus SE sedan. Thank you, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Westmont, IL, USA

My husband and I bought our Ford Focus in may of 2003. In Sept. Of 2003 we paid it off. We have been having problems with an odor coming out of the cooling/heating system. It smells like mold/mildew. We have taken it to bob bell Ford in glen burnie, Maryland on three separate occasions but to no avail. They only put some kind of deoderizer in the system that lasts a few days, and then the odor comes back again. The last time we took it there, my husband was insulted by one of the service managers. They still haven't fixed the problem. We got our car back on Saturday, 5 days after taking it to them, only to be told that the 'service manager' had it detailed, and suggested that the odor was due to the car being dirty. Granted, the car needed a good washing on the outside, but come on now, please, that won't cause an odor on the inside. It is either a condensation problem or an improper water draining problem that we are experiencing and they won't correct the problem properly. For some reason, after it rains, we smell this horrible odor when we use our cooling/heating system. It doesn't matter how many times they deodorize the system the odor comes back. It is a "health hazard" breathing this horrible odor. Hopefully filing this complaint may help our situation before we are forced to go any further. If they don't soon correct the problem, we will be calling the BBB and contacting our lawyer.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

My husband and I bought our Ford Focus in may of 2003. In Sept. Of 2003 we paid it off. We have been having problems with an odor coming out of the cooling/heating system. It smells like mold/mildew. We have taken it to bob bell Ford in glen burnie, Maryland on three separate occasions but to no avail. They only put some kind of deodorizer in the system that lasts a few days, and then the odor comes back again. The last time we took it there, my husband was insulted by one of the service managers. They still haven't fixed the problem. We got our car back on Saturday, 5 days after taking it to them, only to be told that the 'service manager' had it detailed, and suggested that the odor was due to the car being dirty. Granted, the car needed a good washing on the outside, but come on now, please, that won't cause an odor on the inside. It is either a condensation problem or an improper water draining problem that we are experiencing and they won't correct the problem properly. For some reason, after it rains, we smell this horrible odor when we use our cooling/heating system. It doesn't matter how many times they deodorize the system the odor comes back. It is a "health hazard" breathing this horrible odor. Hopefully filing this complaint may help our situation before we are forced to go any further. If they don't soon correct the problem, we will be calling the BBB and contacting our lawyer.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

My 2003 Focus station wagon will violently shake (the entire car) at speeds above 55 - 60 mph when both rear windows are open all the way and all other windows shut, causing the driver to become alarmed at high speeds. This seems to be a design flaw w/air flow, which causes the entire car to resonate.

- Sterling, VA, USA