2000 Ford Focus SE review from North America

Well, first of all one day I was out driving and stopped by my house for a minute and when I returned to my car it would not start. The engine would not even turn over (for about 5 hours). We had it towed to the dealership (under warranty) and the dealership called the next day saying that it magically just started up for them without any trace of the problem we described.

In the course of a few tire changes or rotations (about a 3 month period) 6 or so of the bolts holding the tires on sheared off (clean and smooth) in the lug nuts while being loosened. I bought and replaced 8 of them just in case those last 2 felt like following in their buddies' footsteps.

I also had to get the rotors shaved due to heat warping about 3 months ago. The warping constantly caused my tires to go out of balance.

The "lifetime" front brake pads had to be replaced after about 30,000 miles.

Had the front axle replaced due to loud engine noise that sounded like it was coming from the transmission which ford was nice enough to change for me before realizing it was NOT a transmission problem, they should have just left the new transmission in there for compensation. The noise is gone, but now I can hear about 20 other troubling noises coming from the front of the car.

I love my focus, really I do, in theory anyway. It was affordable for a young couple's first new car. I just expect any new car I buy to run well for more than 2 years! It really was not worth the money I paid for it.

I really think this car should not have been put on the market until they had all of these kinks worked out. I shouldn't have to be paying for their mistakes.