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.
Vehicle engine on a 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 w/ 2.0L DOHC zetec engine routinely stalls when going around corners. The failure has occurred numerous times when attempting to travel on highway on/off ramps. The vehicle has stalled twice in the middle of the curve which caused a temporary lost of control on the vehicle. After a few seconds, the engine will resume normal operation and continue. In both circumstances, I was attempting to get on the highway and accelerate out of a turn. The engine was checked out and is in normal operating order.
NHTSA recal 03V482000 concerning intermittent stalling. After recall repairs vehicle stalled without warning. Dealer determined that vehicle needed a new engine.
Took my 2000 Ford Focus to dealer for 30,000 mile service, and to have them fix whatever was causing the engine light to blink and the car to idle roughly, and to fix the problem with the car engine turning off while driving. The service was done and the fuel filter "recall" would fix the engine problem. Was told the computer did not register an error code and that the rough idleengine light problem was likely fixed as a result of the fuel filter replacement. The next morning, the engine light came on and stayed on and the car was still idling rough. Drove straight to the dealer and was told that my car had excessive carbon in the cylinder head and that the cylinder head might need to be replaced. They would try to clean the carbon, which they did and billed me $205. Don't understand why such a problem wasn't noticed the day before when I spent over $500. The problem is that this car has less than 30,000 miles on it and it makes no sense that not only do I possibly face having an expensive cylinder head repair, but I have already replaced the front pads and rotors (at 25,000 miles) and have had numerous recalls. I have consistently followed the scheduled maintenance plan and am concerned that not only is this car defective, but that it is unsafe. What are my options and what can be done to ensure Focus owners that the car is safe" is there some way to make this car reliable" it has some really great features (like the interior roominess), but it is proving to be a major disappointment.
(2000-Ford Focus zts - 29,536 miles) in addition to a prior incident when my car stalled on highway 635 when I was going approx. 60 mph in the center lane, it has stalled "twice" today within just 1 hour during my lunch break! in all incidents the car lost all power and the engine stopped without any prior warning whatsoever. In both occurences, I was driving at the posted speed limit and was neither accelerating nor decelerating when all of a sudden, the radio went out, warning lights came on and the engine died. I was stuck in the extreme left lane of 'us 75' and narrowly missed being hit by multiple vehicles.
- Dallas, TX, USA
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While driving 20-25 mph consumer heard a loud noise coming from the engine. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, and mechanic determined it was an engine problem. But, there was no recall.
Without any warning, the engine stalled while being driven 15 mph. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the mechanic indicated the timing belt was broke.
Timing belt broke due to defective belt tensioner bearing, causing engine to stop, vehicle had to be towed and timing belt and belt tensioner assembly were replaced. Incident occurred at 39,324 miles.
Around 6:00 a.M. on 01-14-04. While taking 9 yr. Old daughter to school and myself to work, driving at aprox. 55 mph. My 2000 Ford Focus engine suddenly caught on fire.
My car has a constant bad vibration that intensifies on right turns, going up grades, and over bumps. I have taken it to jim click Ford in tucson, AZ for a total of three times. Each time they come up with a different excuse and it never fixes the problem. I have been told at first it was, my tires, I replaced all four tires with top of the line michelins, then I was told that my fuel pump was going out and that is the cause of the vibration, now it is the coils. Not one of these has fixed the problem, I am still waiting on the pump to get in stock at jim click, and they did replace the coils at a charge of $370.88. In addition to the vibration it sporadically tries to stall and hesitates when turning. I also have my taillights, and back up lights constantly burning out, I have replaced them 3 times and the last time I had jim click replace them. (the back up light, passenger side is out again) I was also told the first time I took in my car to jim click Ford (before the fuel pump recall), I needed to replace a failing fuel pump and that would cost $680 to replace. (parts and labor) I could not afford it and took it out of their shop, I then brought it in after the recall and they told me that the fuel pump was not the problem that it was the coil and they could not replace the fuel pump since it was not failing. I then fought it out with them and they said they would replace the fuel pump when it came in stock late January 2004. They did replace the coils and the engine check light was on when I brought it in and that is how they determined that it was the coils. They fixed that problem and I got my car back and guess again the engine light came on the very next day and the vibrations are getting worse. I am starting to feel that this car is a lemon my car only has 64,000 miles and has so many recalls and service bulletins it is scary.
Engine stalling - the last two occurred while entering a freeway (from another freeway). I step on the gas pedal to accelerate and nothing happens - floor the gas pedal and still nothing. Then the car dies. Fortunately the first time there was no one behind me. The second time I immediately put on the flashers and the car behind me was miraculously able to swerve around me. This car is very unsafe.
2000 Ford Focus experiencing problems with engine. The consumer stated the engine died repeatedly when it was started and in neutral, the engine died at cold engine temperature when the transmission was engaged, it also surged and bucked at highway speeds and hesitated during acceleration. On several occasions when the vehicle was taken to the dealer, they were unable to duplicate the problem and after a few more visits the dealer replaced several componets such as the ignition coil and the air intake tube, but the vehicle continued to experience engine problems.
I have a 2000 Ford Focus sedan. I have experienced the "stalling" problem that seems to be so rampant with all focuses. Mine began to stall at when at a full stop. I took it into the dealership and they said there was a newly designed head to fix the problem. But it was out of warranty by less than a month. Even though they know it's their fault, since there is not a recall on the new head, I have to pay over $2000 in repair costs!
Hi, I own a 2000 Ford Focus and it has been nothing but trouble. I purchased the car brand new in 2000 and have had it in the shop so many times. I have had my rear passenger side window mechanism replaced by Ford, then personally replaced the driver front window mechanism and the driver back mechanism due to cable breaks. I have had it in with the radio 3 times and it still does not work correctly. I have had to have the brakes replaced, the ignition block replaced, the struts and shocks. The trunk release has never worked. Now it keeps breaking down on me if I drive for more than 1 hour non stop. This weekend I went to san antonio from corpus, it died on the highway 3 times going to sa and coming home 4 times & how safe is that! Ford said they cannot do anything for me unless it is messing up when I bring it in while it is acting up, however it always happens when I am away from town. They told me that if they hook it up to the machine it will not tell them anything. Also, on several occasions my accelerator has stuck and I cannot brake, I have to put the car in neutral and press on the brake hard while the RPM's are still revving and pull the emergency brake, the first time this happened I was pulling into a parking spot and went over the yellow divider. Is there anything I can do?
Leaking water into passenger foot-compartment. Isolated problem to plastic cover that sits beneath windshield, and is mostly accessible with hood open. The problem is that the plastic comes away from windshield due to some buckling in the plastic. Fixed problem by applying pressure to plastic to bend it back to shape so it snagged-up closer to windshield. Not seen problem since. Mastic to adhere plastic to windshield might be an option to other people. The fuel gauge sometimes refuses to work. Found this to be case when key is put into ignition and key-turned to start engine was done too quickly. If entering key into ignition and then turning key each click, giving each click a half-second, then gauge appears to be more reliable. When engine goes into slow-idling state, engine idles very erratically and is not smooth. Sounds like only some of cylinders are firing. This has only started to occur today and since reading comments on this website, I'm concerned. Have tried adding fuel-injector-cleaner to fuel tank, awaiting results of that. The trunk would not close. The problem here was fixed by removing the locking assembly from the trunk-lid and simply dowsing the mechanisms with WD40 and then bending some spring-loaded components.. there are 2 moving components in the lock. First is shape of a loop that you can easily move with finger/screwdriver. This component locks onto stub that you can see when opening trunk. The other component is hidden within casing and moves in front of other component to hold it in a locked position. Problem was with this component. Problem was component had "somehow" gotten bent and not free to leave casing and block other component. Bending this to a position freeing it of casing fixed problem. Engine lacked power when under load when accelerating, vehicle would shudder and decelerate instead of accelerate. Problem resolved when Ford dealer replaced spark-plugs plus leads and a full engine tune-up. $230 plus but fixed problem.
1st recall,6/2000 shop for A/C problem,9/2000 shop for 7 days for ac problem,1/2002 shop 7days for engine work, recalls X 4 or 5 not sure about dates there has been so many on this car, problems with not starting, gas gauge, tire replacement 3 sets in less then 3 years, hesitation, poor gas milage, brakes squealing, trunk does not close properly,10/2003 has been in shop for 3 weeks for possible engine work. Dealer can not seem to find or repair the problem, I am not happy with this car it has had serious problems from day one there are more to mention can not list them all I need help.
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- West Point, NY, USA