This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I replaced the whole braking system, pads, rotors, drums and shoes in less than 10,000 miles, again in less than a year and in Nov. 2001 shoes were replaced and need new rotors and pads on front again for the third time in less than 2 1/2 years! please go to www.fordfocusbrakeproblems.com you will see this is a reaccuring problem and a malfunction of Ford.
Premature wear and tear of brake rotors caused brakes to grind. Had brakes/caliper, and rotors replaced twice. Problem still exists. Dealer and Ford manufacturer contacted.
This car has had so many problems it makes me sick. A quick list: Air conditioning leaked all over my interior, one tire replaced, one windshield replaced, now need new brakes, had transmission replaced on Friday, is always having strange little problems, cd player skips after 45 minutes of use, brakes have always squeaked unbelievably loud. I want to get rid of this car but I can't afford it because I owe more than it is worth. (tiresize: 15)
- Frederick, MD, USA
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2000 Ford Focus only with 23500 miles, mainly highway. Brakes started making grinding noise, shop replaced front brakes, pads and rotors. Car still making grinding noise. One week after replacing front brakes, shop replace rear drum brakes. Brakes are still making grinding noise. Have had brakes inspected and reinspected but mechanics states no problems with brakes. General comments from mechanics are that the Ford Focus brakes are bad, weak and will require replacing more than the average automobiles in the market.
2000 Ford Focus only with 23500 miles, mainly highway. Brakes started making grinding noise, shop replaced front brakes, pads and rotors. Car still making grinding noise. One week after replacing front brakes, shop replace rear drum brakes. Brakes are still making grinding noise. Have had brakes inspected and reinspected but mechanics states no problems with brakes. General comments from mechanics are that the Ford Focus brakes are bad, weak and will require replacing more than the average automobiles in the market.
Brakes have squealed fron about 1500 miles. Have had pads replaced, but squeals did not go away. Front brakes grind, at shop now. In November 2001 had to have struts replaced while having recall work done. Struts little over a year old. Engine makes a chirping noise at about 1000-2500 RPM, but dealer unable to duplicate. Also squeals or whines when making right turns. Windshield cracked when a small stone hit it. Will have insurance replace. Overall, not happy with car. Been in the shop three times in the last year!!
Front disc brakes - excessive squeal upon braking...took car to dealer. Determined front brake pads & rotors needed replacement. Only 16000 miles on car! also, rear drum brakes make squealing noise as well. Dealer replaced them and turned drums. Still squeals. Also, emergency brake lever has excessive travel and poor brake holding capacity. Took back to dearler twice, still poor emergency brake function. Power steering assist suddenly failed when started car cold. Steering was difficult and slow until car warmed up. Happened for several day until took to dearler. Said P.S. pump was bad and replaced it.
Brake pads will stick to the rotors when consumer is trying to accelerate, making it harder to accelerate when at a complete stop. Contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything.
Premature wear of front brake pads and rotors. Inside of brake rotors have worn. However, pads on the outside have not. Please provide additional information.
When brakes are applied a very loud squeaking noise occurs, cause unknown. Dealer has replaced brakes three times within one year. The consumer stated that to correct the problem the dealer replaced the front brake pads and machined the front rotors. But the problem still continued.
While driving 10 mph, vehicle unexpectedly accelerated to a speed of 50+ mph. Dealership has examined vehicle four times, but could not reproduce the problem. Consumer also stated there is a noise coming from the rear brakes, dealer replaced the rear shoes, also front brake pads were replaced.
Dealer cut warped rotor 17K--did not replace pads--at 23K rotor must be replaced at my cost--Ford says it is normal wear. My vehicles' brake rotors have always lasted the life of the car-140,000+miles--23,000 is not "normal wear. "
My brakes has consistantly had a loud grinding noise. After several complaints to the dealerships and customer service reps, I was told this is normal. The problem now is that 22,000 miles and 1 year later, I need new brakes. Also, the car was recalled for wheel bolts and nuts. I have seen many complaints about the exact problem. There is no way to tell if you have a problem with the brakes because of the loud noise. My belief is that the car is defective or poorly designed.
When applying brakes there was a squeaking sound. Dealer replaced front pads, and it did not remedy problem. On 11 Sep 2001, while applying brakes pedal went to floor. Dealer replaced front and rear pads and rotors.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Jefferson City, MO, USA