Loud metal to metal bang when going over a slight imperfection in the road. After many hours of inspecting the r/f area with the car on the 2 post lift and with the r/f tire removed, I found slight scuff marks to the sway bar and ding on the brace that's welded to the top of the bolted on undercarriage. The base of the brace also appears to be cracked at the weld. I don't have any problem with alignment, vibration or tire wear. The clearance between the two is minimal, about 3/16" . I believe that by increasing the clearance between the two would solve the banging noise, but what is causing the flexing for these metal parts coming in contact with each other??????? Also I believe the pitted noisy r/f wheel bearing was also caused by the tire not being able to move up to the shock and absorbing the shock straight back at the bearing.

So I've got rear clunking noise that feels like that the car was going loose, also handling was more and more horrible, so I took it to a Ford dealer. So the verdict was bad bushings on the 2 control arms and on the rear trailing arm sway bar . So I ask about a quote to fix that : 945$ in parts, the bushing for those part aren't available from Ford so you need to change the whole control arm . So I did some research on the internet than I found PROTANE urethane bushings they said fit's 00-06 but 00-11 have all the same suspension.

So instead of having an 2000$ bill to make it fixed by the dealer it cost me about 300$ that I did by myself. But since recycling and environmental question are hot topics in these days why did Ford don't make those bushing? I find it to be unfriendly for environment to put 50 pounds of steel in the garbage when you could change those bushing for less money and save the planet ...

This car was my FIRST new car. We loved the Focus when we had a rental in 2005. However this POS is just that. The dealership I went to first told me "the focus is a loud vehicle" the next dealership actually replaced the stabilizer links. The car still, after I don't know how many trips to the dealership, sounds like it will just fall into a million pieces while driving it. I contacted Ford Motor Company of Canada and they told me not to drive on gravel and that there is not a problem or flaw in the car. Well, surprise Ford. CAMVAP is now my best friend. And soon, perhaps a small claims court file as you don't know how to build cars anymore.

ok my Dad is a Ford fanatic so I ended up with another Ford in which I should have known better, but anyone has an off day once in a while. I purchased the 2008 Ford Focus S cheapo made to say the least, but big price at the dealership in June 2008. No one told me they don't line the car up. So ok you get a brand new car and lets get this straight, the first stop after the dealer shaft you need to get the car aligned which I would think that maybe the dealership might could have let someone know this. So needless to say not long after a little driving I see the car is eating my tires. So I have an alignment and then new tires at 20,0000 miles. The main reason for the tires other than the alignment problem was a shimmy in the front end. New tires same problem. Everyone said its your tires. 11,000 miles later new tires again because the front ones are badly out of balance and mostly slick so Ford balances them for 50 dollars Next day we buy new tires and still same problem. Again everyone says it is your tires. So now that I'm in the Ford I can only use the expensive tires from Ford that you can barely get 11,000 miles out of it. The next day I go back to the dealership they do a road test and one tire doesn't pass but the road test but they are not sure which tire. 75 dollars and same problem. I give up I plan to sale and cut my losses and NEVER EVER BUY A FORD AGAIN WORST NEW CAR EXPERIENCE EVER. It has 32,000 on it now and this is the 3rd set of tires. My suggestion is if you have a problem with your car is to stay away from Ford because warranty means nothing. What comes around go around so good bye FORD.

3/26/09 OK, back to Randall Reed Prestige Ford in Garland TX. we go with our 2008 Ford Focus. This is the 3rd time now. We paid for 2 front tires and an alignment-$245.66. That DID NOT take care of the problem. 3/16/09 Then they said it a problem with the rear trailing arm. So they adjusted and re-torqued the bolts; they added a metal lubricant to the sleeves and bushings. This supposedly took care of the problem; no noise, no vibration. NOT SO LUCKY!!!!! It went back on Thursday. Still hearing and feeling vibration and clucking on the passengers side floor board. We were told they checked the alignment and the toe is perfect. The problem now is the 2 rear tires. I admit they did suffer some wear from the alignment being out before. I still believe there is a front end suspension problem, like a broken front coil spring, that CAUSED the toe out to start with. Anyway my last ditch effort to work with these guys is to put the rear tires on. I have informed Rick, the service tech, that if this doesn't take care of the problem completely ALL HELL IS GOING TO BREAK LOOSE! I have had it with this car and with this dealer ship. I will post my complaints on every site I can find and will announce every time that Randall Reed Prestige Ford in Garland TX has the WORST service dept of ANY dealership I have ever dealt with. You bet I'm PISSED!!!!

I bought this Focus, for my niece, at Randal Reeds Prestige Ford in Garland TX. in July 08. Almost from the start we had noise. Took it back and they said it was just the independent suspension noise. Finally the front tire were almost bald; the front end shimmied like a dash board hula girl; and if you let go of the steering wheel you'd be in the ditch! Took it in and of course we needed 2 new tires and alignment. The tow in was out bad; the steering wheel was adjusted, etc.. none of this is covered under warranty. She drives the car off and it still vibrates. Take it back! That was almost a week ago. They first said it needed a motor mount(or transmission mount) and new struts. Now they said the rear trailing arm has been adjusted and the bolts torqued, the bushings and sleeves had been coated with a metal lubricant. He said it stopped the noise. We will see.

From the day I purchased this car it makes a terrible clunking noise on the passenger side somewhere around the lower ball joint or stabilizer bar area. I don't know what it is and the dealer gives me the same tired old line of "can't reproduce the noise" The car does not need to bottom out but only needs to load the suspension to make the noise.

Ex. If I go over a dip in the road, somewhat hard, where the road and entry to a parking lot meet, the clunking noise occurs. This is not a normal sound and is very disappointing that the dealer would not look into it deeper.