I purchased my 03 focus new in dec 03. within 1 year i'm fixing everything in the front end most not under warranty. by 60,000 miles (year 2) i'm replacing pads/rotors. I was told I'm hard on my brakes. Well, since then, I've replaced pads & rotors 3 TIMES A YEAR! NOT KIDDING!. Thankfully my mechanic recognized right away that this is a FORD problem not my problem. The replaced rotors and pads have been covered under factory 6 month warranty (because they wear out every 3-4 months) I've been paying a small fee of $50 to mechanic for the labor each time. It could be worse. Now I've been told probably need to replace calibers and pads and rotors but my mechanic suggests going to ford dealership for original ford parts instead of rebuilts because I might get 12 months out of them and he cant afford the 1/2 off labor costs anymore. FORD SUCKS. also, trunk latch never locks down so constant rattle. Wiper delay broke $350 repair that I'm not going to fix. Back window is a catch all for every bit of dust/dirt on the road thanks to their aerodynamic design...... NEVER BUY A FOCUS --- CAR SUCKS IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE.

This is the second Focus that I have owned. First was replaced under Lemon Law. So this one (2003) had squeaky brakes and awful grind noise coming from the front end. It was towed to the shop, I was told that it needed front pads and rotors. Now I really thought that they were, perhaps, smoking crack. Pads and rotors? I had a second opinion done at a dealership and the service adviser said" I haven't seen such wear since I worked at Volkswagen." I have since sent Ford a letter saying that either they can replace them at no charge OR I will see them in court. Ford knows there is a problem, after all, they have service bullitens, but its maintenance. I now have an anti ford license plate holder.

Unbelievable!!!! The dealership told me the rotors are designed to wear out when the brake pads do. They tried to explain it as it an European brake design. Leary of their explanation i had to have brakes so i went a head and replaced pads and rotors which cost approximately $250. I was complaining to someone in my office and his brother is an auto mechanic and owns a 2005 ford focus. He said that its a design flaw that was corrected in the 2005 models. The dealership and friend's brother both agreed getting 60,000 miles on the pads/roters were really good, that usually they don't last that long.

I bought this car used with just under 17k miles on it. I heard a grinding noise from the front left wheel as I was slowing down just before stopping completely. I figured that it would be covered under warranty for that low of mileage. The dealer said that if the calipers stuck or something similar, than it would be covered. Long story shortened, the brake pads on the inside were very worn, one to the metal, one to paper thin. The outside pads had hardly any wear on them. Plus, I was told that the rotors were too bad to resurface. I was told that they were not covered because it was normal wear and tear on the pads. I didn't really buy this line so I stopped at another dealership across town and asked questions. They were more willing to give me the benefit of the doubt and told me to hang on to the receipt and stop in for a brake inspection in 8000-9000 miles.

I had taken my car to 2 different mechanics and the dealership and they all told me different things. One even had me replace all my tires because he said that was the problem. Until I went to get my car inspected and was told that my brakes and rotors were shot. I was shocked because the car didn't have that many miles on it. I pitched a fit on the phone to Ford and at the dealership until they fixed it under my warranty. Unfortunately my car is making the same noise only this time I cannot afford to fix it and they won't cover it again.