Ford Focus reliability

[mkaresh]

We've updated the results for the Focus to include owner experiences through June 2009. In terms of successful repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008: 69, about average

2007: 60, about average

2006: 9, better than average

2005: 46, better than average

2003: 115, about average

2002: 188, worse than average; based on results for other model years, the actual repair rate is probably a bit better than this

2001: 143, about average

2000: 131, about average

We had sufficient sample sizes for the 2003, 2005, and 2007. The other results are asterisked and only visible to members on the site itself.

Everyone who has been helping, thanks, I certainly appreciate it. We'll have further updates in November and February. With more participants, we could provide more precise information and fully cover all model years.

Ford Focus reliability comparisons

[Robotaz]

I am reporting to Truedelta. That said, out of four Fords that I have owned, I have put over 450,000 miles on them and the only significant repair that was not a maintenance item was the Mazda manual tranny on my '93 F150, at 255,000 miles. That is freakin' reliable people. I don't care what anyone says. Now, moving to my '08 Civic Si and '09 Accord Coupe V6, don't even get me started. The cars are junk, period. Leaking diff on the civic by 2,000 miles. Bad torque converter on the Accord right off the lot. This "reliability" stuff is all in your head if you think Honda, as of today, is more reliable than Ford. It's just not true, and I've seen JD Power and all of that stuff. Public perception will change as more and more actually live with the experiences like I have had with my Fords and my Hondas. Hondas are for people who do whatever everyone does, and they also have no clue what a good car is or isn't.

[LongDucDong]

Originally Posted by Robotaz

I am reporting to Truedelta. That said, out of four Fords that I have owned, I have put over 450,000 miles on them and the only significant repair that was not a maintenance item was the Mazda manual tranny on my '93 F150, at 255,000 miles. That is freakin' reliable people. I don't care what anyone says. Now, moving to my '08 Civic Si and '09 Accord Coupe V6, don't even get me started. The cars are junk, period. Leaking diff on the civic by 2,000 miles. Bad torque converter on the Accord right off the lot. This "reliability" stuff is all in your head if you think Honda, as of today, is more reliable than Ford. It's just not true, and I've seen JD Power and all of that stuff. Public perception will change as more and more actually live with the experiences like I have had with my Fords and my Hondas. Hondas are for people who do whatever everyone does, and they also have no clue what a good car is or isn't.

Id say thats fairly accurate, but with this in mind: Honda's of the 80s up to the late 90's were bulletproof (same goes for Toyota), while the Big 3 were struggling real bad. But it seems that as time as gone on, more and more problems are happening over at Toyota and Honda, including several severe recall issues (the latest being a potentially lethal Accord airbag issue). Quality has gone down, as well as interior materials in most Hondas and Toyotas, too. What Ive seen in the last 5 years from Ford has astonished me, for good reasons! What Ive seen in the last 5 years from Honda and Toyota has disgusted me. And while Honda and Toyota still pump out cars with reliability that is above-average, theyve gone downhill.

[mjd4277]

Signed up my 09.

[Robotaz]

Originally Posted by LongDucDong

Id say thats fairly accurate, but with this in mind: Honda's of the 80s up to the late 90's were bulletproof (same goes for Toyota), while the Big 3 were struggling real bad. But it seems that as time as gone on, more and more problems are happening over at Toyota and Honda, including several severe recall issues (the latest being a potentially lethal Accord airbag issue). Quality has gone down, as well as interior materials in most Hondas and Toyotas, too. What Ive seen in the last 5 years from Ford has astonished me, for good reasons! What Ive seen in the last 5 years from Honda and Toyota has disgusted me. And while Honda and Toyota still pump out cars with reliability that is above-average, theyve gone downhill.

What one, single factor do you see that Toyota and Honda have in common that is different from the same two companies in the '80s and early '90s? Place of assembly. My Hondas were very poorly assembled. I've never seen cars so poorly put together. The transmissions and differentials(mine leaked) were also assembled here. I think it has to do with being made in the USA, sadly. I have a cousin who has worked in many Toyota parts suppliers facilities and some of the stories that he tells me about quality control would bring tears of anger to a proud American. If Ford can keep the momentum up they only stand to gain on Honda and Toyota.

[LongDucDong]

Originally Posted by Robotaz

What one, single factor do you see that Toyota and Honda have in common that is different from the same two companies in the '80s and early '90s? Place of assembly. My Hondas were very poorly assembled. I've never seen cars so poorly put together. The transmissions and differentials(mine leaked) were also assembled here. I think it has to do with being made in the USA, sadly. I have a cousin who has worked in many Toyota parts suppliers facilities and some of the stories that he tells me about quality control would bring tears of anger to a proud American. If Ford can keep the momentum up they only stand to gain on Honda and Toyota.

Very true. Toyota and Honda models that are built in the States are shoddy compared to their Japanese brethren (minus the Corolla), IMO. I had a straight-from-Japan Toyota Paseo that lasted me a good 8 years w/o any major problems. I had an 02 sensor go bad, the radiator rotted away, the rear shocks went kaput, and a buttload of squeaks and rattles, but thats about it. My brother took delivery of the car after me (bought it from the dealer I traded it in at for my SVT) and not long after the tranny threw a carrier bearing which sidelined him until he got a new trans. Cool thing is that he got a used trans the next day for $150 and it works great. lol

Anyways, today Enterprise loaned me an '09 Sentra. Ick, ick, ick, ick, ick. Once again proves my point that many late Japanese models are just getting ridiculous in design and interior material, while the Americans are building more reliable and solid vehicles... that have POWER.

[mkaresh]

The Nissan Sentra doesn't count. It's partly the work of Renault. And Nissans were never as solidly engineered as Toyotas and Hondas.

Toyotas and Hondas haven't really gotten less reliable. Instead, GM, Ford, and others have improved, and so the reference point has changed.

In the past if a car had a few minor problems it still seemed great compared to the average. Today if a car has a radiator rot out in the first eight years it's a POS.

Stories from inside a parts supplier? Think there are no such stories within Japanese suppliers?

You never really want to know how the sausage is being made. The one you know about will always seem worse than the one you don't know about.

With any car you buy today you have a decent chance at having no problems, and some chance of having a number of problems. All that varies is the odds of each outcome, and the differences aren't night and day.

[Robotaz]

Originally Posted by mkaresh

The Nissan Sentra doesn't count. It's partly the work of Renault. And Nissans were never as solidly engineered as Toyotas and Hondas.

Toyotas and Hondas haven't really gotten less reliable. Instead, GM, Ford, and others have improved, and so the reference point has changed.

In the past if a car had a few minor problems it still seemed great compared to the average. Today if a car has a radiator rot out in the first eight years it's a POS.

Stories from inside a parts supplier? Think there are no such stories within Japanese suppliers?

You never really want to know how the sausage is being made. The one you know about will always seem worse than the one you don't know about.

With any car you buy today you have a decent chance at having no problems, and some chance of having a number of problems. All that varies is the odds of each outcome, and the differences aren't night and day.

All true, but I've heard some whoppers about junk going out the door and ending up "recalled", where the factory gets fed up and rejects vast quantities of approved parts, such as dashboards, for having too many defects because everyone was sleeping through the night while the parts came off the line. There are many others, too, with most of the worst relating to drugs and ethics problems. I really think it's a problem and I can't imagine Japanese managers allowing their workers to sleep on the job. I digress.

[greddy339]

i agree that ford is right with honda and toyota in reliability, however dodge and gm are severly behind in quality and reliability! they keep recycling the same junk and putting new badges on them..ie...cavalier, blazer, s10 pick up...they redsign the body and engine a little and out it goes to the public to repair daily! a lot of the reliability also has to do with the person maintaining the vehicle! some college kid that never changes the oil, coolant, does tune ups wonders why his car is junk in 5 years?

[mjd4277]

Originally Posted by mkaresh

And Nissans were never as solidly engineered as Toyotas and Hondas.

I beg to differ on that issue. Prior to 2004 before production switched from Japan to the U.S. the Maxima had less warranty issues and higher reliability.