My 2007 ford focus has the have the alternator replaced along with the battery. The car completely stopped on me with out any warning what so ever. Thankfully, my children and I were in a shopping center and not on the freeway. I took the car to the dealership and they told me what the problem was and of course I thought they would fix it even thought the warrant had ran out because I'm thinking this has to be a manufactors problem but no that was not going to happen. They told me that I would have to pay for it and there was nothing they could do about it because the warranty was out and of course I stated my point of view and it did not matter. I had no other choice but to pay the 700.00 to get it fixed. Three weeks later the motor on my passanger door locke went out and of course that isn't there problem either so now I have to pay 400.00 to get that fixed. So, now I'm $1,100.00 out of pocket on a practically new car with less than 20,000 miles. I plan to contact ford customer relations about my situation and see what happens and them I'm going to report it to the better business bureau.

Update from Jan 4, 2011: Up date to my complaint:

After 3 months of dealing with Ford customer service, I finally got something done. I called Ford Customer Service and got the total run around. I stated my case and told them that they should have recall on the model year according to the many complaints that I have read about on different web sights. They asked me about my warranty and I told them that it had expired about three months early and no I did not buy an extended warranty, because I feel that a brand new car with nine miles on it at purchase dose not need a extended warranty. Of course, FCS said there isn't any thing they could do about it because my warranty had expired and I did not buy the extended. So, I told them that I did not expect to have to replace parts on a brand new car and that I could see if it was a used car and that the person that I was talking to or even the president of Ford Company would not expect to have major car problems on a brand new car. After that, I was to they would see what they could do.

Basically, I think they were going to try and wait me out and maybe I would forget about it because they would not call me back and I would have to call them to see what was going on. Tired to the run around, I reported them to the BBB. Then someone finally called me from FCS and reopen my case. Make a long story short we came to a settlement and resloved the issue. They ended up reimbursting me half the cost of the alternator, battery, and labor. Ford dealership worked with me on the door lock acutator or someting like that and I had to pay only a deductable of a hundred dollars the amount I would have had to pay if I had an extended warranty. They felt sorry for me because the repairs was back to back. So, my advice is to contact FCS and if they are not willing to do anything about it call BBB.

I have a 2007 Ford Focus. It has 58,000 miles on it and is only three years old. The electrical system in the car crashed and then the car came to a stop on the highway. Autozone tested the alternator and found it was dead. The alternator was replaced and one month later it died again. The battery is still very strong, so I am not sure what the problem is with the electrical system. I plan on contacting Ford this week and will update this post, but if they will not fix it for free, then this will be the last Ford I but too.

I started leasing my 2007 Ford Focus new with only 13000 miles. Some change caused my alternator to go out and left me stranded on the interstate!!!! Remember 13000 miles ONLY!!! What the???!!!!

Just before this happened, the car would have intermittent start problems. I thought it was the battery, because I had added a new stereo system. I took the car to the Ford Dealership where I was leasing the vehicle twice, and they could not find the problem. They said the battery was fine and everything checked out. Well, as you already know it wasn't, for the car broke down and would start leaving me stranded on the highway. The car had to be towed to the shop (in which the tow company did damage/severely scratched up front bumper.....they never paid.)

The Ford Dealer this time found the problem. A bad alternator!!!!!!!!! They swiftly replace the alternator under standard warranty, which I greatly appreciated, but the damage from the tow truck had been done, and was never remedied by the tow company, another big pain in the butt. And remember all this happened at only 13000 miles. A brand new car!!!!!!!!!

OK, now I feel better I've ranted, and let others know what happened. Now, remind yourself in the end the Ford Dealership did fix my problem free of charge under warranty, but in my instance the front of my car was damaged and I was never compensated. The car now has almost 20,000 miles on it, and it runs great! Strong and reliable since then. I decided to keep this car, and I now love the car, and have had no further problems. I almost bought another car because of this experience, but I like the ford focus Zx3 a lot, it's strong little 4 cylinder gives one plenty of power/ pickup and it's great on gas!!!! 38 miles to the gallon on the highway!!!! 27 miles / gallon around town. All at a very low price for this car when compared to others in it's class. So, overall, I love the car. But the alternator issue must be a factory issue from the get go, so any of you having this problem, show the Ford Dealership this website and all the people who have had this same problem!!! Now, an alternator can go bad on any car after a few years........but at ONLY 13 thousand miles!!!!! Once again, this happened to my brand new ford 2007 ZX3 with only 13K miles on it!!!!

My story is very similar to all the complaints. I have a 2007 Ford Focus with 38,000 miles. I went on a short trip for a concert and the battery light came on. Days later my car would not start and the battery would not hold the charge. I called Ford to see if my warranty covered the alternator and of course, Ford said NO!!. However, the Ford representative did advise to have the vehicle go through a full inspection to confirm that was the only problem. I asked Ford if they would pay for the full inspection... and of course they said NO!... so... I bought a new car to avoid headaches...and this is what I GET!!! UGH!!!!!!

I have brought 2 alternators in 2 years on a 2007 ford focus that is only 3 years old. The altenator keeps going out. After buying a second alternator in 2008 my car went completely dead and would not crank up on July 26th 2010!

Ford Motor Company should NOT treat their customers like this and should recall this car! I will never purchase a Ford car again ever! This is a total dis respect to me and other people as consumers and Ford's corporate board members need to be more professional and honest and recall this car.

Ok so I'm driving down the interstate, its 2 in the morning, and all of a sudden my radio goes off on its own. Then I start to notice everything slowly shutting down, eventually I'm driving down I-65 with no headlights, my car is sputtering, and I have no clue what's going on. So I go to autozone, buy a new battery, it dies. I take it back hoping that maybe i just got a bad battery. But on my way to work my newest battery dies. This has really been a pain, not to mention me and my daughter having to be on the side of the road. I think if there has been so many problems with this issue, maybe ford should be responsible for fixing it. Just seems funny that so many people are having the same problem. And being a single mom, I don't know if ill be able to fix the problem. I knew I should have gotten a honda!!!

I purchased a 2007 Ford Focus in the year 2007 for my daughter to go back and forth to college. In March of 2008 her car went dead after experiencing low voltage, dim head lights, dim interior lights, brake lights, difficultly starting to the point that it went dead while she was driving it down the highway, when she had to coast til she could pull over at a safe place. My husband and I had to tow the car to our house about 10 miles at 11pm, which was very unsafe for her and us. Come to find out it was the alternator, which in turn caused us to have to replace the battery as well. Do you know how much this hurt our pocket book, especially with her going to college. The expense of college alone is enough to kill your funds not to mention additional problems such as this. Ford needs to step up to the plate and correct this problem.

Update from Sep 3, 2010: AS OF 09/03/2010 THE ALTERNATOR WENT OUT AGAIN TODAY. HAD TO PURCHASE ANOTHER ALTERNATOR AT THE PRICE OF $190.00. THE CAR DID THE SAME THING AGAIN. I AM VERY VERY UPSET. CALLED THE DEALERSHIP, THEY ACTED LIKE IT WAS NOTHING AND WOULD DO NOTHING. I AM HIGHLY DISSATISFIED WITH FORD MOTOR COMPANY.

Step-Daughters took a loan for the low mileage economy car to commute to college and part-time job. Starting having problems with the battery. Replaced it. Wife tried to take it to the market at dusk while her daugter was away just to keep the car from sitting. Four miles down the two lane the electrics started failing. Car died and would not crank. She was able to coast part way onto a side road. As it got dark she sat and waited exposed to traffic on a 50 MPH road with no shoulders on a curve. Luckily she was out of the cell phone dead spot. I blocked the side road with my truck so I could hook up cables. Started car. Checked with meter. Only battery voltage. Sat for 15 minutes with cables connected to charge up the battery. Sent wife home in the dark running fashers and hoped for no deer crossing. Pulled alternator which is just about as hard to get out is it could be able to be ( I work on equipment for a living). Took alternator to test machine. It failed. Rebuilt alternator is over $200 and I would rather not put a rebuilt in a low mileage late model, expecially since its so hard to get in and out. Then again maybe they are finding the fault during the rebuild and upgrading the failed component. Ford and the others build cars with components that they purchase. Sometimes there is a problem with a batch of components. In order to maintain their reputation and be able to represent that they are doing everything they can to protect the customer they isuue a letter and fix the problem. If there are 20 people who took the time to complain here there are hundreds more and enough of these have happened under warranty that Ford is fully aware of the problem. The best of the big three is not living up to its standing in this case and that this is happening in a low end car brings up recollections of the exploding Pintos. Probably not a lot of folks with access to expensive legal assistance driving the Focus.

I have a 2007 Ford Focus SE with low millage. I take it to the ford dealer for all maintenance required according to the manufactures manual that came with the car. I brought the car in today for an oil change and 30,000 mile inspection (car has less than 28,000). Ford tested the battery, changed the oil, rotated the tires and said they did all require of the inspection. The car was done within an hour around 1PM. I drove home, then later went out and drove about 40 miles round trip. The car drove fine and seemed normal. I stopped at the library and when I returned to my vehicle it would not turn on. The key would turn, but it wouldn't start or try to start. All that happened was the oil light came on when the key was turned for the car to be on. The engine wouldn't even try to start. I called the dealer and was told the car needed to be towed in. I called AAA had the car towed and found out an hour later that the alternator and battery are both dead. The night manager said it would be $645 to repair. I asked how this can happen when the car was just in the shop this morning and he said they don't check the alternator during an inspection. The cars warranty was up in April and they will not offer a discount on the repair. The car seems too young and under millage for something this large to have gone wrong. I also find it strange that there was absolutely NO WARNING! I asked the manager about this and he said that there isn't a warning and that the car could have stopped working at any time. He told me that the alternator died but the car still ran on 12V of power from the battery and that has drained all the juice from the battery and it cannot be recharged. He said that yes, this does happen without warning.

I feel Ford should step-up and fix this issue with their cars. A 3 year old car with 27,000 miles should not need major repair. It also in interesting how this happens just after the original warranty has expired!

Update from Jul 20, 2010: I called Ford Motor Company 800-392-FORD (3673) and they talked to my dealter. They worked it out so that I paid $100 to get the alternator and battery replaced. This is the price it would have cost if it happend a month earlier when the car was still under warranty.

Add another bad alternator to the list. Not much warning either. Had a battery light 2 nights ago, went out after 20 seconds or so. Everything operated normally after that. Now today the wife reported that it came on again briefly. Car didn't make it home, similar complaints as every one here all the gauges died and radio went dead...no battery light. At 3 years old I opted to replace the battery, here in south Florida anything past 2 years on a battery is luck. The battery got the car going again. Checked the alternator out put when arrived home.11.45 volts. The car is running fine but for how long? Don't dare drive it. Will be replacing the alternator today. Very concerned from reading the other posts about a"computer" controlling the voltage out put...$$$$ 2 months out of warranty.....very disappointed.

I was driving down the road and noticed that my battery light came on... then everything started freakin out. the inside light kept coming on, all the dash lights went off, the speedometer and gas gauges were stuck, and my head lights would go from low to high beams, as well as the blinkers would not work, also found out that my brake lights wouldnt work. my mileage is almost 45,000 miles. took my car to my dad and as soon as we opened the hood, we saw that the battery was overboiling, my dad said that it was probably the alternator was over charging and over powered the battery. took the alternator in to be checked and thats exactly what was going on. when they tested it, it started off at 8, then went to 12, then it jumped to 20. a normal alternator starts and stays at 14. so now not only do I have to replace the alternator but I also have to replace the battery. this is a pain in the ass and the company needs to consider this a manufacturer defect and fix it.

so i was driving down the road after 10 pm july 3rd...scared me to death. my cab light came one, my blinkers quit working, my speedometer quit working i turned my high lights on and my lights turned blue, and all this happened after I noticed that my battery light was on. every so often all of the dash lights would go off and thats when the speedometer would get stuck. after it decided to come back on the speedometer would fall all the way down to 0 then come back to the speed. then looking at all the complaints here im really bothered by this. im a single mother and a full time student, and starting a part time job soon. this is really crazy and I was sure that this car was going to be reliable for my daughter and me. im highly disappointed and Ford does need to look at the is a manufacturer's defect and resolve the problem.

I have had my 2007 ford focus for 3 years now. It has 51,000 miles on it which is not bad. But let me tell you, I will NOT be purchasing another Ford--EVER.

I have replaced the alternator in this car THREE TIMES in the last year. Yes, 3 times. The alternator should not even have died in the first place. Even my mechanic said "That car is a piece of sh*t!"

I have a 16 month old daughter and I live in Phoenix, where it gets very hot and it seems that the break downs happen frequently in the heat of summer.

First what happens is the battery light comes on. Well, actually, this only happened the first 2 times I had a dead alternator. This last time I had NO warning except a horrible exhaust smell in my cabin-the car died on the way to the mechanics and he told me that the smell was from the alternator smoking! Then the radio goes off. I have just enough time to pull off the road before the car just decides to kick the bucket.

This is such a 'wonderful' thing to experience when it's well over 100 degrees outside and you have a baby to take care of! I have just had it with this vehicle! I am paying it off next year with taxes and getting a different vehicle and it will definitely NOT be a Ford of any kind--EVER.

I also have a friend who had a 2003 Ford Focus with the exact same problems and she finally had to put her car down at 80,000 miles due to the expense of having to change out the alternator at LEAST once per year. I should have known Ford would never fix this problem in later models.

I was driving home from work and the battery light came on. I checked the manual when I got home and saw that it meant that my battery was not charging. I took another drive that evening and the light came on and went off a couple of times. This morning, I drove to the gym and on the way back the radio shut off with "low battery". It was early so I was using my headlights and I could tell they were dim. Took it to Autozone to have them test the battery and the alternator. Under load the battery was in the 4 to 5 volt range. When he checked the alternator, it was negative. After the test, I could not start the car. I was debating taking it to the shop down the road or one where I had some coupons. In the shopping center where the shop is located the car died. I was able to coast into the shop. I thank God that I decided to try and deal with it instead of just going to work and getting stuck on the way. I wish I could fix this stuff myself, but it's not easy, on the other hand I am out $600 bucks (I think about $250 in parts and $350 in labor).