I'm interested to find out what percentage of members here have had problems with their Focus. It seems like all I read are stories of these vehicles breaking down and being really unreliable!
I think we all tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive, so I thought a poll might give a better idea as to what sorts of issues people are having.
Well, my '00 ZTS was problematic, relatively speaking. Bought it with 4k miles on it, sold it with 12k. The passenger side mirror fell off simply while I was washing the car, and the brakes had a squeak that three dealerships never could chase down (though it didn't help that the dealers where I used to live were rather rude to begin with). Considering I didn't have it long...
My '04 SVT hasn't given me problems so far, though I haven't had it for very long yet. The only issues I've noted are that the sun visors fall out of their mounting hole easily, and I also had one of the cables that releases the hatchback's seatback come out of its mounting hole. Both are fixable in about 6 seconds, so no biggie.
I've has a few annoying problems, but the car is 5 yrs old, and had almost 67k on it when I bought it. I've spent money on an alternator, vr plug, and catching up the maintainence (was obviously neglected a little), and my 3 month used car warranty took care of the other stuff. Now its running just fine.
i had my focus for almost five years(it was a 2000). it had its fair share of problems(some of them rather irritating/dangerous) but i think if ford were to ever come out with another desirable car, then i might be tempted to buy. then again, i dont see ford making any headway in the desirable car market so i really dont have to worry about any future purchases(no, i do not find the mustang remotely appealing).
Funny, I feel the same way about most car companies. Hardly any of them make anything truly appealing. I do like the look of the new mustangs though. 94-04 didn't cut it for me though.
Biggest problem so far was having the shifter linkage snap inside the transmission, I guess it was a design flaw in 2000-2002 where all the stress of shifting was put on a tiny 3/32" pin in the shaft, and after 60,000 miles worth of shifting it finally popped. I was able to move the shifter in circles. Since I was out of town at the time and about 100 miles from home I was forced to take it to a dealer and have them fix it to the tune of $850 (and I had just driven out of my extended warranty a few weeks before that happened...should've gone with the 100,000 mile option.)
Other than that, I've had a handful of other small problems, some caused by me, some were a result of Ford being stupid and some a result of general wear and tear. While I was still in warranty, my car was in and out of the dealer because of the shifter popping out of gear in 5th, wiring issues, a dead IAC valve and the infamous fuel pump issue. I also had to replace a bearing and passenger side driveshaft after my clutch install because we mushroomed the end of the shaft while driving it out of the bearing, and the retention nut didn't fit over it and got stripped out while being driven back on, the result of which was a shot bearing shortly thereafter. Overall my Focus has been fairly reliable, no real complaints thus far [thumb]
the main thing so far is the flywheel, it destroyed itself and in turn destroyed the tranny, running total? 2500 bucks...but thats with aftermarket goodies goin in to replace factory crap[] good thing i got a good job. other than this problem, i love the car
2004 SVT, owned since July 2005, from 24,4xx miles - 59,6xx current:
Intermittent wiper relay cooked;
Fuel pump relay cooked (100% operator error, not the car's fault..)
Failed downstream o2 sensor;
Typical premature clutch wear;
An exhaust rattle I CANNOT track down...;
and I think my IAC is on its way out, but that's a guess.
My car only has 560 miles so I probably shouldn't even be responding but I sure hope Ford built this auto tranny well because it seems like it could be a weak link.It seems to hunt for a gear when you step on it from say 2nd gear.The only real little things I've noticed so far is the hatch makes noises when I accelerate from a stoplight (probably needs a little adjustment),idle jumps a little when first started,and lots of loose trim pieces in the cabin.I've had to re-attach seat track trim more than once...things I never even had to consider with my previous Honda's.
If that's the worst of it I'll be very happy indeed...
I'm pleased with my 2004 focus so far. Have 47000 miles on it. The only thing is i had to change brake rotors not too long ago. $100 for brembo oe replacement rotors.
I've had the fuel pump replaced under warranty which is a common issue with the early model foci. That's it so far, although I may need to replace the Idle Air Control Valve, torque mount and my clutch (original from factory) soon, but my car has nearly 120k on the clock so it's to be expected.
Chances are the "problems" you're hearing about for these cars are either from the first 2 or 3 models years (those had the most problems) or if you stick around a forum dedicated to a specific car like this one, will make any car sound like it's got all kinds of quality control issues.
At 9000 miles fuel pump,shifter cable,shifter mount,passanger front seat backrest releace broke off,front rotors,relay for fuel pump,radio,That was for my 01 which I still own.Now Im rebuilding car after accident after wife said go buy a new one instead.I kept it and am making improvements on a already decent car.
I had some electrical problems that I couldn't figure out and got sick of dealing with. The car went to a lot who sends their problem cars to a shop that belongs to me friend's dad, they couldn't get the thing to live either.
My brother's Focus has been pretty good though, no problems out of the ordinary.
If I had the opportunity I'd snag another Focus as a project car.
the coil wires broke. fixed it myself and may find another engine bay harness to replace mine. stealth style. had 4 tires go bad at once (i rotated them properly and they shook like a demon so i git new tires) cd player ate my cd's
repalced under warranty. replacement unit failed to operate anymore so i went aftermarket. clips to hold rear side panels on in interior busted sounds bad with the bass up (might make my own panels that velcro in place) and my idle went insane for a bit but i fixed that too. (i adjusted it too far and the computer got mad) all in all i'd get 20 billoin more focuses. i love them (my next one might be an 08 if i can pay mine off fast and make her a collector car of sorts. it's a hard to find advance trac model)
114,500 miles all ive done is general maint,, and replaced the fuel pump,, which it didnt really need replacing once i got it out of the tank,, the sock and screen on the pump were gunked over.
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