[Katulec]

The mp3 player usually works without problems. there are only really 2 different annoyances i've had with it:

1. disc inserted doesn't play; instead, "MP3 Search" appears and stays that way. will work fine if u reinsert the disc

2. sometimes when advancing to the next song (especially when shuffle-all is on) it will do like mentioned in #1

this has ocurred in a 2000 and 2003 focus so i don't really know if i have really bad luck or if they are generally crappy. if anyone could shed some light on this, i'd appreciate it.

 

[Chick]

Take it to the dealer and have them look at it.

 

[Katulec]

does your focus have the mp3 player? i'm kinda "hoping" other people have this problem so i don't have to keep going the dealer and can just accept that the model is very finicky

 

[Fabster82]

i have the mp3 option on my car as well but i dont use it so i guess i cant help you out there. maybe you should take it to the dealer to see whats going on with it. maybe there is a wire loose thats making it act funny and they can just adjust that for you

 

[Chick]

No. I don't have the MP3 player.
Like I said, you should just take it to the dealer. You might get another stereo out of the deal.
I really don't know if I have it or not. I can play MP3's on it so I guess I do. [~]

 

[bluebisz]

I had the MP3 player HU for about two months in my car and during that time it worked without any problem. I listened to many MP3 discs, never had any problem with it - only with one album what it couldn't read from the CD.

I would say the same as Ashley, if the problem consistent or returns regularly have the dealer replace the unit and don't accept the excuse that it's usual because it's not. An other idea can be to clean it with a CD cleaning kit, as it seems that it might be the problem - or maybe your CDs are a little dirty/scratched.

Btw, the MP3 HU was first offered in the 2003 model year, so you couldn't have the same problem in a 2000 Focus - only if someone added the MP3 player afterwards.

 

[Katulec]

but it seems i have the same problem with 3 (of 3) of the mp3 players i've used (my dad's 2 cars and even my own). it doesn't happen very often, maybe once every few months. my dad called the dealer when it first happened on his about 3 years ago but i don't remember what they told him :/

it's not the cd's, cuz they aren't scratched or dirty. when it happens, i just eject and push back in a voila, it's starts playing. i only find it annoying because i have to re-find what album i was listening to.

i'll probably just deal with it and never ask the dealer. i'm lazy []

 

[Fabster82]

maybe there is something wrong with the disc itself and not the mp3 player

 

[Katulec]

it's happened with different discs

 

[spyride]

I have the same problem as well, I think its just the fact that this is one of the first models of MP3 players that ford has put in, so its a bit buggy.that, and the data is way compressed, to any scratch, dust, finger mark, anything is more likely to cause it to skip and get "lost".

 

[vicpac]

I have the CD/MP3 player and many of my mp3 cd's did not play. I found out that If there is a filename on the disc that is too long the player wont play the whole disc.

The player gets into the mode where it shows only two tracks and nothing plays.

I went back and using MusicMatch viewed the songs on each disc that would not work. MusicMatch would complain about the filename of at least one of the songs. I reburned these cd's and fixed the filename(s) and now I have no problems with the player.

Hope this helps.

 

[Egz]

I haven't had troubles with mine. My annoyance is that the random feature has favorites that it goes to, and sometimes plays the same song twice.

 

[DidHeFocus?]

The shuffle feature for MP3 discs does seem to play the same sequence or very close to it. When I stop the car while playing a disc in shuffle mode, it always backs up 5 songs and plays the same 5 songs and then continues rather than picking up where it left off.

It plays all my MP3 discs fine.

One tip for people with problems reading discs is to record them at a slower speed. In my experience, audio discs burned at 4x or lower will be read more easily by more different players.

Otherwise it is an excellent head unit overall.